2021 GMRRFFA Rules

2021 GMRRFFA League Rules

Dues & Payouts:

For all 14 teams, dues to participate are $100, and the deadline to submit dues is at the conclusion of Week 2. Those who do not pay dues by the conclusion of Week 2 will have their free agent budgets frozen beginning Week 3, and rosters locked beginning Week 5.

At the conclusion of the postseason, first place will receive $800 (or 57% of dues money collected); second place will receive $200 (or 14%), third place will receive $125 (9%); and, fourth place will receive $75 (5%). Additionally, both division winners will receive $100 as a bonus for their successful regular seasons.

Draft:

Drafts will be auction style, and each team will begin the season with a $300 budget for the draft. Keepers’ salaries, as well as potential trades from previous seasons, will count against the $300 draft budget for each team. Contingent upon owners’ schedules, the draft will be scheduled as close to the third pre-season game of the season as feasible.

Roster Size:

Each team will have 16 active roster positions and one Injured Reserve spot, including 9 starters (1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 D/ST, 1 Kicker) and 7 bench positions. Each team can have up to 2 QBs, 6 RBs, 6 WRs, 3 TEs and 2 D/STs on its roster at any given time (not including the IR spot). The league and its owners will honor the position eligibility set forth by ESPN for each player and adjust accordingly as necessary.

Playoffs:

Playoffs will be the top 8 teams — including 2 division winners receiving top two seeds (no byes), and remaining 6 spots decided by win/loss records, including all tie-breakers for receiving a playoff spot in case of a tie. The playoffs will occur Weeks 14–16 following a 13 week regular season.

In addition, the previous season’s champion can determine one team to be placed in the opposite division for the upcoming season.

Tiebreakers:

If two teams finish tied at the conclusion of the regular season, the determining tie-breakers for division titles, playoffs, seedings and the LB6 will be head-to-head record, followed by total points for: (1) intra-division record; and (2) total points against (in that order). If two teams are still tied, a coin flip by the commissioner will be the final determination. (Each owner subject to the coin flip will have an opportunity to view the coinflip by digital means) In all other instances in which multiple teams finish tied, regular season total points for will be the ultimate tiebreaker.

Acquisition of Free Agents:

In place of a traditional waiver wire, free agent player acquisitions will be made each week at 12:00 PM Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and each eligible player will go to the team with the highest bidder. Minimum bids for acquisitions start at $0, and each team has a $300 free agent acquisition budget for the year. There are no limits on the number of free agent acquisitions. In case multiple teams bid the exact highest bid, the winner will go to the team with the highest waiver priority, or the inverse order of the league’s standings (i.e. the worst team).

Trades:

An in-season trade period will occur every season, beginning the day after the league draft until the onset of Week 13 of the NFL season. There are unlimited trades in the league. Each trade will have a one-day review process, and 10 teams must oppose a specific trade for that trade to be vetoed. In addition, owners are allowed to trade the upcoming season’s draft and FAAB acquisition dollars (see rules as agreed upon below).

● Trades With Future Draft Dollars:

For any trades involving future draft dollars, both owners must confirm future draft dollars are being traded via email to the commissioner. Subsequently, regardless of players or draft dollars being included, the commissioner or one of the owners will send a league-wide email highlighting the deal, and traditional league veto voting procedures are followed via email to the commissioner (24 hour review plus 10-vote veto needed).

In addition, both owners in the trade are automatically confirming their participation in the following season. Any participating owner who wins prize money in the league at the end of the season will first be paying the following season’s league dues before receiving any prize money. For example, if an owner won the championship, the commissioner would withhold $100 of the $800 to ensure that owner’s dues are paid the following season.

For every trade above $5, a $1 tax will first be collected in increments of 5, meaning a $7 trade (or $10 trade) would include $1 in taxes, a $12 trade (or $15 trade) would include $2 in taxes, etc. No trade involving $5 or less will be taxed.

There is no cap on the minimum future draft balance for any team, but all teams must have $225 or more for the following season’s draft by the end of the in-season trade deadline.

The commissioner will be responsible for providing owners with updates surrounding any and all future draft dollars by team as well as the league tax throughout the course of the season

● Trades With Free Agent Auction Budgets:

Beginning in 2019, owners will be allowed to trade upcoming/in-season FAAB dollars. All other aspects of said trades will fall under the “Trades With Future Draft Dollars” section, including league tax and funds dedicated to the LB6 bracket and future draft dollars.

In addition, an off-season trade window will commence annually on March 15th and expire at 12:00 pm on the day before the league’s assigned keeper deadline. In addition, FAAB are allowed to be traded during this period and, beginning in the 2021 off-season trade window, future draft dollars (for the upcoming season) will also be allowed to be traded. All other trade procedures will follow in accordance with previously established rules.

Loser Bracket Tax Benefit (LB6 Tournament):

All tax dollars collected via trades involving future draft dollars will be awarded to the winner and runner-up of the Losers Bracket (LB6) tournament, specifically Game C7 of Round 3, for the following year’s auction draft. The first place team will receive 75% of taxes collected while the second place team will receive 25%. Any additional dollars that can not be properly split between the two teams will be rewarded to the winner.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the six teams that do not advance to the playoffs will participate in the Losers Bracket 6 tournament. In Week 14, all six teams will face off and the top four performances will advance to a semi-final tournament which will be properly re-seeded ahead of Week 15.

Keepers:

Each team will be eligible to keep 3 players per year, and, beginning in 2019, the cost for keeping said player will be either that player’s draft price or the highest FAAB waiver claim price during the season, whichever is greater.

Keeper costs will increase by $10 per season for the duration of the three-year keeper period. Additionally, players can only be kept for two successive seasons (three consecutive seasons), regardless of which team owns his rights.

Players eligible for keeper status — via draft, trade, or waiver wire acquisition — MUST BE ON ROSTERS at the beginning for Week 13 (the final week of the league’s regular season) through the duration of the post-season.

Beginning in the 2020 season, if a player’s FAAB waiver claim is greater than their draft price AND that player is not within the top 15 at their said position in scoring for that season, their base salary will be $10 regardless of waiver acquisition price. Subsequently, for keeper purposes, that player’s keeper price will be $20.

For players whose FAAB waiver acquisition is higher than draft price AND finish within the top 15 in scoring at the conclusion of the last season, their keeper cost will be the waiver acquisition cost plus $10.

Any player who is on your roster but kept inactive (on IR, PUP, COVID, Paternity Leave Commissioner’s Exempt, weekly inactives, other similar designations that may emerge, or out of the NFL) for eight consecutive games between the NFL’s Week 1 through the end of the GMRRFFA fantasy season (currently Week 16 of the NFL season), that year of eligibility is not counted towards the player’s three-year keeper retention limit.

In-Season Dispute Resolution Procedures:

If there is good cause for an interpretation of a current rule or a challenge to a decision of the commissioner based on an interpretation of a rule, a request shall be made by the aggrieved party within 24 hours of the commissioner’s decision, requesting an immediate appeal of the rule. A panel of 3 arbiters shall make a final determination as soon as practicable, but in no event later than the upcoming game for the player in question. The panel of arbiters shall consist of the league winner, the LB6 winner and an owner chosen at random out of a hat. If one of the arbiters is the owner bringing the grievance, then another owner will be chosen to hear the controversy. (2nd place, 2nd place LB6 etc.). The aggrieved owner will have an opportunity to present evidence and testimony, and the hearing can be held over video conference or on papers (email).

Removal from League:

If the 13 other owners agree via vote, an owner can be removed from the league and replaced.

ESPN Do Not Drop List:

The league will not honor the ESPN “Do Not Cut”/Undroppable list.*

League Changes:

At the conclusion of each season, owners can submit potential league rule change proposals to the commissioner, who will put forward changes for a league-wide vote. For any proposal to be adopted, 10 owners must vote in the affirmative, or current rules will remain applicable.