The League Rules

a. League size consists of 12 teams b. One position for Chief Journalist and Jester (CJJ) c. League play format is Victory Points - VP consists of one opponent per week per team, awarding a win to the highest scoring team in the match up - In addition, all teams in the top half of league scoring for the week are awarded a win, and all teams in the bottom half of league scoring for the week are awarded a loss d. There is no divisional separation of teams e. Regular Season Schedule is randomly determined by sleeper upon conclusion of the rookie draft each year - 12 team leagues: Play 9 teams once and 3 teams twice (14 total games) f. Initial Roster allocation will be via the Initial Draft in the first year of the league

a. Draft will only be held in the inaugural year to ensure fair distribution of all players b. Draft will be conducted using the sleeper website c. Draft will start after the 2022 NFL Draft and include the rookies within the draft

a. There is no roster minimum b. There are four (4) injured reserve (IR) spots in addition to the maximums listed below c. The roster maximum is 36 1. Maximum is waived during post draft grace period 2. Grace period will be 3 weeks from the conclusion of the draft (defined by the third Sunday from the last pick at Noon) 3. Grace period only applies if your drafted players cause you to exceed 36 players d. The IDP starting lineup is: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 2 flex RB/WR/TE, 1 superflex QB/RB/WR/TE, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DL, 2 LB, and 2 DB e. The deadline for submitting a starting lineup is at kickoff of each player's game f. After kickoff of each game, players are locked into or out of the starting lineup g. If no lineup is submitted, the lineup shall default to last week's submitted lineup, or the highest drafted or highest salaried players h. Intentionally submitting a less than optimal lineup (i.e. starting known injured players or benching star players) will result in a loss of draft picks in the Annual Rookie/FA Draft. Each incident results in one lost draft pick.

a. Teams may keep all players from last season's roster, as well as those that were placed on IR b. The roster maximum is not to be exceeded, thus owners may need to drop players in order to make room for draft picks made in the Annual Rookie Draft or for players being activated from IR c. Roster must have adequate space to account for the number of draft picks in the rookie draft 14 days prior to the Rookie/FA draft, however, cuts will be limited to a maximum of 5 (i.e. 4 draft picks = cut 4 players, also 8 draft picks = cut 5 players) d. No players can be listed on IR 14 days prior to the rookie draft

a. No players may be on IR 14 days prior to the Rookie/FA Draft (See Sec IV.D) b. To place a player on Injured Reserve (IR), the player must be able to be switched to the IR slot c. If a player designated for Injured Reserve on your roster does not meet the required Injured Reserve designation(s) your roster will be considered invalid d. There when special designations may be added: 1. Pandemic Designations (2020): - C = Covid - H = Season opt out Covid

a. Slow Draft picks are made via the league website b. The draft timer is set for 24 hours per pick c. If the timer expires, the league software automatically selects a player d. At his discretion, the commissioner may pause the draft timer due to technical difficulties

a. The Annual Rookie/FA Draft is used to allocate players in years following the initial roster allocation b. The draft is conducted on the sleeper league website c. The draft will begin based on league decision d. The draft will consist of 4 rounds e. The draft order will be set based on the teams' prior year's record (VP) using all standard tie-breakers f. For teams that made the league playoffs, they will be ordered based on their finish in the playoffs (Reverse Playoff Seeding is the tie breaker) g. The draft order will be from worst to first for all rounds h. The draft timer is set for 24 hours per pick i. If the timer expires, the league software automatically selects a player j. At his discretion, the commissioner may pause the draft timer due to technical difficulties k. Rookie/FA Draft Picks may be traded up to two years in advance. The start of the Rookie/FA Draft signifies the start of the year, thus two years of future picks may be traded from that point (including the current draft)

a. Team owners may propose trades to other team owners via the league website b. The owner receiving the proposal may accept the trade via the league website c. The owner proposing the trade may revoke the proposal prior to the other owner accepting it d. Once the receiving owner accepts the trade, the league website will automatically update the rosters. Be careful with trades made while games are being played - starting lineups will be affected! e. The commissioner has the right to veto trades in the event that collusion is suspected or that a trade is deemed competitively unbalanced f. For the purposes of the league, collusion is defined as "a trade in which one of the owners knowingly and purposely aids another owner without benefit to his own team" g. Seemingly unbalanced trades may be allowed provided collusion isn't suspected, dependent upon Commissioner approval h. Owners may protest a trade to the commissioner but the commissioner makes the sole decision on allowing or vetoing the trade i. The trading deadline is prior to kickoff of week 12 j. Owners may not make trades in the following season until they have paid their entry fee in full

a. Free agent pickups follow the weekly schedule outlined below **Blind Bidding Waivers (BB):** Team owners bid for free agents i. Owners may submit bids on Free Agents between 1:15 PM Sunday and 9pm Eastern Wednesday ii. Each team is allotted 500 credits at the beginning of the season iii. Unused credits do NOT carry over to the following season iv. No additional bidding credits will be allotted v. Bids must be a minimum of 1 credit, and in increments of 1 credit above that vi. The earliest submitted bid wins a tie-bid situation vii. Owners may submit conditional bids as the league website software allows viii. The league software will automatically process the bids shortly after 9pm Eastern Wednesday b. BB periods start the first Sunday after the Rookie/FA Draft concludes c. Free Agent pickups are unlimited and first-come, first-serve (FCFS) between 9:15pm Eastern Wednesday and 1:00 PM Eastern Sunday starting the week prior to week 1 d. There are no FCFS periods during the pre-season until the week prior to week 1 of the season e. Players are locked during FCFS periods once their game has kicked off for the week f. Dropped Players are locked until 1:00 PM Eastern on Sunday g. Players that are picked up and dropped during the same FCFS period may be unlocked with an owner's request to the Commissioner h. The waiver-wire, blind bidding, and/or free agency pickup periods are open throughout the entire season, including the playoffs, concluding in week 17 i. The commissioner has the right to freeze the roster of an owner that intentionally drops players for the purposes of sabotaging the league

**Playoff berths and seeding are based on the following criteria and tiebreakers:** i. Overall Record (Victory Points) ii. Most Points Scored iii. Most Points Against iv. Head to Head **Playoffs:** i. The top 6 teams make the playoffs ii. Week 15: Seed #3 plays Seed #6; Seed #4 plays Seed #5; Seed #1 and Seed #2 automatically advance to week 16 iii. Week 16: Seed #1 plays highest numbered winning Seed; Seed #2 plays lowest numbered winning Seed iv. Week 17: Winner of 1vX plays winner of 2vY for Championship **Tiebreakers in playoff games:** i. Highest Scoring Non-Starting Player ii. 2nd Highest Scoring Non-Starting Player iii. Next Highest Scoring Non-Starting Player, until the tie is broken iv. Earliest paid entry fee v. Online Dice-roll simulation randomizer

a. The "points leader" is the team that accumulates the most points from week 1 through week 16 b. All team owners should continue to submit lineups through week 16 in an effort to win the "Points Leader" prize c. There are no additional fees during the season beyond the initial entry fees d. In subsequent years, entry fees must be paid 14 days prior to the start of the Annual Draft e. Team owners that are delinquent with entry fees will have their teams sold as Orphaned teams **Prize Structure (12 Teams)** | Category | Amount | |----------|--------| | Entry Fee | $30 | | 1st Place | $240 | | 2nd Place | $60 | | 3rd Place | $30 | | Regular Season Winner | $30 |