2024 NFL Rules Vote
Each off season I spend time going through past discussions of rules. While we
have not had many NFL rule changes in recent years, I still get feedback from
owners during the season. I track all this feedback and solicit suggestions to
decide if a rule vote is necessary each year. My primary focus is how we balance
that competitiveness and the overall league experience. This includes
opportunities of the changing NFL game, the Fantrax website capabilities and my
role as Commisioner.
Over the years, we have made significant changes and many minor tweaks to our
league in order to maintain the uniqueness of our fantasy league we have all
come to appreciate. Some changes work as intended, others not as much. I
encourage all owners to provide continued feedback on changes to help with my
annual review of the league rules process.
Our league is more competitive now than ever, and much of that is because of how engaged our owners are. Since the league is so tight, a few tweaks here and there can be good for the competitive balance. There is relatively little competitive advantage these days using Fantrax with all the fantasy info available owners have access to. Bottom line, you still have to make good draft picks, free agent claims and avoid injuries!
There are four proposed NFL rule changes we will vote on this year:
VOTE1
Waiver Wire (WW)
Our current rule is all players dropped in a free agent add/drop transaction
remain on waivers for 2 days before they can be claimed as a free agent. This
rule has been in place for a long time. The reason was so owners had time to see
players dropped and decide whether to make a claim. It came from a mindset of
not every owner checks things every day.
A couple years ago we added a rule that allows players dropped in IR moves to be
claimed the next day. This is done to prevent free agents not being available
when teams could use them. I am not sure differentiating a player dropped in an
IL move versus an add/drop move is necessary. Why not get all dropped players
available sooner?
As we have discussed multiple times over the years, the days of owners that only
check things a few times a week are long gone. Even if it is just checking
transaction emails or scores on your phone, owners are engaged on pretty much a
daily basis.
Managing your team during the year is crucial to success. Free agents are often
hard to come by as the season progresses. I think the quicker we can make free
agents available the better.
The proposed change is to change waivers to one day. Players dropped in any move
can be claimed as free agent the next day.
RULE VOTE 1
A) Keep the current rule, players remain on waivers for two day.
B) Change rule, players remain on waivers for one day.
VOTE 2
Transaction Deadline (TD)
Our current rule is transactions are processed daily at 8pm mtn time. That was
moved forward from 9pm mtn several years ago. I now live in Houston on central
time now and still work early in the morning. I often struggle to process moves
at night and frequently do them in the morning before work in all leagues. Some
owners live on the West Coast and getting moves in by 7pm local time can be
challenging as well.
Some owners for a variety of reasons wait until right at the 8pm
deadline. Sometimes I get multiple emails right at 8pm, or even a little past
8pm, which makes it challenging for me to process before going to bed. I would
like to consider changing the transaction deadline time and move it overnight.
This would allow all owners to submit claims any time during the evening and I
would process in the morning, normally before 7am.
I am proposing the following change:
1) Change the transaction deadline to
3AM mtn time daily. The first day to make transactions each week will be
Wednesday at 3am instead of Tuesday 8pm.
2) If there is an early Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday or Saturday game(s) transactions for players involved only will
be processed at kickoff of their game. (same as it is now)
On Sunday when final lineup changes are due, transactions would also still be
processed at the 1030 am mtn lineup deadline. Players dropped earlier Sunday
morning would not be eligible to be claimed at the lineup deadline as it is too
short of a window.
RULE VOTE 2
A) Keep the current rule, transaction deadline at 8pm mtn daily.
B) Change rule, transactions processed at 3am mtn daily.
Rule Vote 3
Playoff Transactions (PT)
For many years our league rule for transactions during the playoffs was no free
agent moves allowed and limited IR player transactions. If a team could submit a
lineup from existing players, no IR moves were permitted except for in two
scenarios: 1) If a franchise player was listed as questionable, they could be
replaced with a player from the same NFL team, same position 2) Any player
listed as doubtful or out (for any reason) can be replaced with any player.
Teams could not change their franchise player during the playoffs unless the
original franchise player was placed on the IR.
In 2020 due to Covid-19, we changed to our current injured player rule that
teams during the playoffs could replace any injured player with any player from
any NFL team. This was done due to the ongoing uncertainty of player status each
week. Franchise players currently can be changed during the entire playoffs.
Free agent add/drop moves are still not permitted during the playoffs.
It has been suggested to revisit this rule now that the Covid era level of
uncertainty on player status is no longer relevant. The concept of the rule
before the 2020 change was teams should have to go with the team that got them
to the playoffs, not changing franchise players weekly or picking up who the hot
free agent of the playoff week is. Since no free agent add/drop moves are
allowed, the frustration is when a team adds a hot free agent in the playoffs,
whether due to recent performance, weekly match up or change in role. A healthy
team in the playoffs does not have the same opportunity to add a potentially
game changing player. The same applies to a team changing franchise players
based on the potential to add a desired free agent.
The official NFL injury report still leaves a lot to be desired. It is not
uncommon for NFL teams to list multiple players as questionable when it is
extremely likely they will play in a given week. There remains a strong
likelihood teams may have the opportunity to make a playoff IR move involving
questionable players.
The late Sunday and Monday night games can potentially create a problem as exact
player game status is not known when lineups are due Sunday morning. Players
sometimes end up not playing in the late games and subs can come into play
during the playoffs, just as they do during the regular season on a regular
basis. A team potentially not having any subs due to being able to field a
lineup with existing players is a concern as well. We just chalked it up to bad
luck if a playoff team went a player short because of a dnp and no subs
available. I am not sure that is the best way to approach the possible scenario.
Based on all the scenarios of the old rules vs the current rules I am proposing
the following change:
1) No free agent add/drop moves will continue to not be
allowed once lineups are set for week one of the playoffs.
2) Franchise
players can not be changed once lineups are set for week one of the playoffs.
3) Any player that is questionable after playoff rosters are locked week one can
be replaced by a player from the same NFL team and same position only.
4) Any
player that is doubtful or out (for any reason) after playoff rosters are locked
week one can be replaced with a player from any NFL team, any position.
This would take the rule back to the pre-Covid rule, with one change that any
questionable player, not just a franchise player, can be replaced with a player
from the same NFL team, same position only.
RULE VOTE 3
A) Keep current playoff transaction rules.
B) Change playoff
transaction rules on franchise players and IR player replacement.
Rule Vote 4
IR Transactions/lineup changes Sunday late and Monday games (IR)
Our league has always had a hard deadline of setting lineups Sunday morning
before the 11am mtn games start. Once lineups are posted, no changes
are permitted. Every year, multiple times per year, teams are faced with
difficult decisions with GTD players in the Sunday late and especially Monday
night games. Owners are unsure whether to activate a player off the IR or start
a questionable player as the player game status is still unknown. There are also
scenarios to consider where player gets hurt in warmups or where a Sunday night
or Monday night player with no injury news is suddenly announced as out during
the day Sunday or Monday.
Our league philosophy has always been to make your best guess on who to start by
the Sunday morning lineup deadline, and you will get a sub if needed for any
players that do not play. That is why we have subs if a team has one available,
but I have heard and sometimes shared the frustration of owners. Owners have
asked could we consider allowing roster and/or lineup changes for late game
players? Either activating an IR player or replacing a newly injured player with
a player that hasn't played yet?
I don't think allowing teams free reign to make unlimited roster and/or lineup
changes (with players that have not played yet) after the Sunday lineup deadline
is a good idea. I like to enjoy watching football on Sundays too, I really don't
want to potentially process moves all day. In addition, I know many owners like
to follow how their game is going on Fantrax. Other than some dnp
player adjustments, Fantrax live scoring is correct. I don't want to change that
either.
I have struggled with this issue for years. I considered some options the last
few years, trying to see how it could play out. I took into account we do
already allow a "conditional" move with IR players on Thursday. Teams can
declare an IR player to be activated and a Thursday player who has already
played to be dropped once the Friday injury report comes out. I also weighed the
Fantrax live scoring being accurate. I believe most owners that see an opponent
with a starter dnp factor in the sub, even before I go in and manually change it
on Fantrax.
The other side of the issue is why change a core rule that has been in place
most likely since the league started? How often does a questionable or IR player
in a late game actually end up not playing? While it would be nice to have that
option when it is your player involved, we have dealt with the potential dnp and
that is just the way it goes sometimes. Teams potentially have a sub to use, why
have the sub rule in the first place. Most owners set a lineup Sunday morning
and spend the rest of the day watching NFL games, working or enjoying their
Sunday. Some owners would potentially not be following up during the day Sunday
even if given the option.
Here is the proposed change I have come up with based on all my evaluations:
Teams may make a conditional move to activate an IR player in a Sunday late or
Monday night game and declare which player will be dropped. This must be clearly
specified at the Sunday morning lineup deadline. Teams must also declare what
the lineup will be with or without the IR player. The conditional move will be
posted as such on our website, and can not be changed after the Sunday morning
lineup deadline. If the IR player is active for the late Sunday or Monday night
game, the move will automatically be processed. If the IR player is not active,
the conditional move is no longer applicable.
To be clear, this would only apply to players currently on the IR and still
eligible to be there. For example, RB Smith is on a team's IR. Smith is
questionable for his Monday night game and expected to be a Game Time Decision.
Smith would be eligible for the conditional activation from the IR.
What is not part of this rule is any players active on a roster and potentially
replacing them after the Sunday morning lineup deadline. For example, RB Smith
is listed as the starting RB at the Sunday morning lineup deadline but is
questionable for his Sunday night game. It is announced late Sunday afternoon
Smith is out. Adding a free agent or changing the lineup during the day on
Sunday would still not be permitted.
Also, any player with no injury status that is suddenly announced as out for a
late Sunday or Monday night game would also still not be permitted to be
replaced.
Bottom line, I don't feel allowing transactions all day Sunday is what we (and
especially me as Commish) want to do. This proposed change is just for those
situations where a player is already on the IR, playing in late game and now
having an option when submitting a lineup by Sunday morning. It is a step
forward but not the all day Sunday moves some have asked about.
RULE VOTE 4
A) Keep the current hard Sunday morning lineup deadline.
B)
Allow conditional IR player activation when submitting a lineup by the Sunday
morning lineup deadline.