The GoTFFL will consist of 12 different teams, broken into three divisions of four teams each. The schedule will be randomly generated, with each team playing their division opponents twice and every other team once in head-to-head match-ups for a 14 game regular season.
3.1 Keeper Draft Rule
The GoTFFL is a Keeper 3 league. Owners may keep up to 3 players. Free agents in the off-season are not eligible to be kept. Traded players in the off-season must be declared as keepers. Once a player is kept, that player is assigned a value based on the Keeper Player Draft Value definition described below. Keepers must be selected before the keeper deadline, which will be posted (generally a week before the draft date).
3.1.1 Keeper Player Draft Value
A player who is designated as a keeper will automatically be drafted based on the rules outlined below. A player can be kept for a maximum of 4 consecutive years (declared as a keeper 3 consecutive times), including the year the player was drafted, or acquired in free-agency. Contract years will be used to determine how many years are left. Drafted players are playing in their first contract year. Traded players need to follow the rules outlined in the Trade section below. This limitation helps promote league parody.
- Keeping a player will cost one draft pick earlier than that player was drafted.
- Example: If an owner drafted a player in the 15th round in 2020 and wanted to keep him in 2021 then that owner would have to give up their 14th round draft pick in 2021.
- A 1st round player cannot be declared a keeper.
- If more than one player who is designated as a keeper is to be drafted in the same round in a single fantasy season’s draft then one of the players designated as keeper will need to be valued at an earlier round at the fantasy team owner’s discretion.
- For example an owner wants to keep player A and B and they are both worth an 11th round draft pick then that owner will be required to choose to have either player A or player B as the 10th round draft pick because both players cannot be drafted in the 11th round if designated as keepers.
- Exception: If an owner acquires additional draft picks in trades, that owner can use that added draft pick to keep a player with the same value as long as they declare their keeper before the keeper deadline and does not go over the allotted 3 keeper maximum. Acquired draft picks allows an owner to keep more than one player in the same round.
- Contracts: To track time spent as a keeper (regardless of how many teams owns the player), players are assigned contracts. All drafted players receive a 4-year contract (only 3 players can be kept). Contracts are adjusted after the conclusion of the fantasy football season. Draft values can reduce the years a player can be kept. 1st round players cannot be kept. 2nd round players can only be kept once, 3rd round players can only be kept twice. 4th round and later picks can be kept for the full contract.
- Example:
- 2020 Player A is drafted and acquires a 4yr contract. (Drafted in the 6th round)
- 2021 Player A has 3yrs remaining (including 2021) and is kept. (Kept in the 5th round)
- 2022 Player A has 2yrs remaining and is kept but then traded in-season. (Kept in the 4th round)
- 2023 Player A has 1yr remaining and is kept on the new team (Kept in the 3rd round)
- 2024 Player A has 0yrs remaining and returns to the draft pool regardless if he was dropped and picked up or traded the previous season.
- Note: The trade in the example is just to illustrate that contract years do not get extended when changing teams. Contract years only get reset when the player is drafted.
- After the keeper deadline and before the draft: If any player gets an injury that forces that player to miss regular season games or if they get suspended, the owner has the right to drop that keeper before the draft. They would then redeem that pick at the end of the round the keeper was dropped.
- For the sake of simplified paper management, the kicker and defense positions cannot be declared keepers. Only quarterback, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends are eligible positions.
3.2 Trades
Trading is allowed and encouraged in the GoTFFL, and may be conducted between any owner. Trades may include multiple players from any position, as well as draft picks for current and future drafts. Conditional draft picks are allowed if owners decide they would like to add certain conditions to draft picks. (Example: if the team in trade makes the playoffs, draft pick changes from 4th round to 3rd round). Trades must include the same number of players and/or draft picks from each side to avoid any roster limit conflicts. Owners may not make trades during any given week once that players game has started. Owners are free to trade once the final NFL game of the week is complete. The trade deadline is around week 12 and no trades will be allowed until the conclusion of the fantasy football season where off-season trades are permitted.
- Players traded can be kept by the new team as long as that player has years left on their contract. Keeper rules 3.1.1 apply to traded players.
- Players traded in-season who do not have years left on their contract cannot be kept the following year.
- Players who do not have years left on their contract cannot be traded in the off-season.
- Players traded who were not previously kept and therefore are not on contract may be kept based on rule 3.1.1.
- Any player traded in the off-season must be declared as a keeper and count toward the 3 keeper maximum. (Players traded during the season do not need to be declared as keepers the following year)
- Owners may not acquire more than 3 players in the off-season with trades since you can only keep 3 players.
- Off-season trades for players do not need to have the same number of players from each side.
- Off-season trades for draft picks must include the same number of picks from each side to avoid roster limitations at the end of the draft.
- Traded players value increases from the previous year draft spot. (A traded player who was drafted in the 10th round would be a 9th round value the following year for the new team.) If the traded player was un-drafted and acquired in free agency then that players value maintains a 16th round pick.
3.2.1 Trade Veto
The executive committee reserves the right to reverse any trade that they deem inconsistent with league competition and fair-play standards. This veto will only be invoked in extreme cases where it is obvious that one owner is trying to give another owner an unfair advantage. The owners in question may offer reasons why the trade should be allowed, but the decision of the executive committee is final once it has been rendered. If the trade involves a committee member, they may offer reasons for the trade to be allowed and will not have a say in the final committee decision.
3.3 Division Makeup
Teams were placed in a division randomly during the first draft in 2014 and are assigned to divisions based on draft order each year.
The Crownlands Division will host teams drafting in the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th spots.
The Westerlands Division will host teams drafting in the 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th spots.
The North Division will host teams drafting in the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th spots.
3.4 Division Rankings
Teams will be ranked within each division based on the following criteria:
- Overall Winning Percentage
- Head-to-Head Record
- Divisional Winning Percentage
- Points Scored For
- Points Scored Against
- Coin Flip
3.5 Playoffs
After the completion of the regular season, the top six teams will make the playoffs. All division winners will be awarded a playoff spot and a Quarterfinal bye. The 3rd seed will face the 6th seed and the 4th seed will face the 5th seed. In Week 16, the 1st seed will play the winner of the 4th and 5th seed match-up and the 2nd seed will play the winner of the 3rd and 6th seed match-up. The winners from Week 16 will play each other in the Game of Throws Iron Bowl during Week 17 of the NFL regular season.
1.0 League Overview | 2.0 League Financing | 3.0 League Setup and Competition
4.0 Rosters and Lineups | 5.0 Scoring System | 6.0 Off-Season Activities