UFFL LEAGUE RULES
EFFECTIVE SEASON 2021

I. General Rules

1.  Each owner must have a valid e-mail address.

2.  Each person may be GM for only one team at a time.

3. All games are commissioner simmed using Front Page Sports Football Pro 98. It is recommended that each GM owns the game, but it is not required.

4. Sportsmanship - Owners are encouraged to use the Forum for team news, trade offers or friendly trash talking. Personal attacks on individuals in a malicious or derogatory manner will not be tolerated and may be grounds for dismissal from the league. We are here to have fun managing a fantasy football team and only light-hearted, friendly ‘trash-talk’ is encouraged.

5. Switching teams – Can only be done on extenuating circumstances, and will be approved by the commissioner.

 II. League Participation

1. Each owner is expected and required to participate in the weekly operations of his team in the UFFL.

2.  Each owner is expected to send at least one e-mail to the commissioner at least every two weeks with either roster changes or if no changes are needed then an e-mail saying "no changes" is required. Owners are also highly encouraged to post messages about their team on the Forum or send out a press conference email about their team.

3.  If an owner fails to comply with the above, he will receive an e-mail warning him that he failed to do so and to make sure to comply with the rules. A second offense in a season could lead to expulsion from the UFFL at the discretion of the commissioner. If an owner expects to be out of email contact for more than 2 weeks, or will be unable to complete key offseason duties, he is EXPECTED to contact the commissioner in advance to plan accordingly.

4.  Required league duties include the following, failure to comply may result in the loss of GM status.

   1. Semi-weekly roster move emails.

   2. Timely completion of contract extensions.

   3. Attending live draft or emailing the commissioner a draft list.

   4. Filling roster between league minimum and maximums and staying within the salary cap.

   5. Participating in free agency (optional)

   6. Completing training camp percentages (optional)

  III. Regular Season Activities

1.  Roster changes - must be emailed to the commissioner by SATURDAY nights at 11 pm Eastern time each week unless otherwise specified.

2.  Free-agent signings - must be sent in to the commissioner by THURSDAY night at 5pm Eastern. This is done to allow the commissioner time to sort out any ties in bids for a player

3.  If two teams have the exact same bid for a player for the week, the two teams will be notified and allowed to make a 2nd bid on the player. Please indicate who to cut (if necessary) based on which free agents are being signed.

4.  Bid emails should contain the Player Name, Offer Amount Per Year, and Length of Contract (1-3 years).

5.  Bidders who email by Tuesday at 5pm will be notified if they signed the player or not Wednesday morning. Any bids made later than Tuesday may still be processed but without confirmation and priority goes to teams who bid before the Tuesday deadline.

6.  Trades must be received before 5pm Eastern on Thursday in order to be processed for the week’s sim.

7.  Active/Open/Inactive Slots (MIN = 50, MAX = 58)

                                                 Quarterbacks                                         2
                                                 Running Backs      (HB & FB)               3
                                                 Receivers          (WR & TE)                  5
                                                Offensive Linemen  (C, G & T)               6
                                                 Defensive Linemen  (DT & DE)             4
                                                 Linebackers                                           5
                                                 Defensive Backs    (CB & S)                 7
                                                 Kickers                                                 1
                                                 Punters                                                  1
8. Minimum requirements for Active (A) slots: 34
9. Open slots for any position: 12
10. Inactive slots: Between 4 and 12 (including up to 5 IR slots).
11. Only certain positions are interchangable:

HB and FB
C, G, and T
DE and DT
CB and Safety.

IV. Gameplans/Profiles

1. The UFFL uses the 2002 VPNFL gameplans and profiles. These are gameplans and profiles put together to make the results of Football Pro 98 more accurate.

2.  A team's gameplan is a collection of certain types of plays and formations that can be selected from during a game. Owners can select what gameplan to use for both offense and defense. Each team's gameplan uses different sets and plays, which can be viewed by clicking here. Teams may change gameplans and profiles from week to week but the 1st half plans/profiles must be the same as the 2nd half plans/profiles. Substitution patters are determined by the profile chosen (see VPNFL Info page for more).

3.  Example gameplan and profile setup for Team X:

   • Offensive gameplan - Chicago
     Defensive gameplan - Denver
     Offensive profile – 2A
     Defensive profile – 3E

4. No custom plays, plans, or profiles (PPPs) may be used.

V. Trades

1. The league trading deadline is week 14 meaning no trades may be made after Week 14's games are simmed. Trading may resume after the UFFL Bowl and contract extensions are completed. Players who are not re-signed when their contract expires may NOT be traded.

2.  When traded, a player keeps his same salary and contract length on his new team. The only exception is if the original team agrees to pay up to ½ of the player’s salary for up to the length of his contract (see part e.)

3.  Trades can involve any number of players or draft picks up to three years in advance at any given time (eg. in the 2018 season, teams can trade picks from the 2018, 2019, and 2020 drafts). In this example, a team would not be allowed to trade draft picks from the 2021 draft until AFTER Week 1 of the regular season.

4.  Injured Players - Teams can trade injured players but the player will not switch teams until he is fully healed. If the player is out for the whole season, he will be moved at the end of the year. The former team must agree to keep that player on their roster until he is healed. All other parts of the trade plus the salary changes can take effect immediately if both parties agree.

5.  Trading Partial Salaries - When working out a trade, a team can offer to pay for up to 50% of the player they are trading. This will be tracked at the bottom of the Team Salary page like the "released players" section. This is charged for the entire length of the contract

6. If that player retires, all teams paying a portion of his salary are relieved of their commitment. For instance, say Player X makes 4 million per year for 3 years. If Team A trades Player X to Team B and each decide to pay him 2 million per year for 3 years, then Team B cuts Player X, each team will then be charged 1/2 of what they were paying him (so 1 million each). Or, instead of cutting him, Team B is also allowed to go and trade Player X to Team C and pay up to 50% of the 2 million (say 500k for Team B and 1.5 mil for Team C). Then let's say Team C cuts him, so Team A's penalty is reduced from 2 mil to 1 mil, Team B is reduced from 500k to 250k, and Team C pays 750k. The league cut rule applies, so if this cut happened after Week 14, all teams are charged this for the next season

7.  The only restrictions are that the team receiving the player must be paying him at least the league minimum, and the total amount being paid to traded players for one team does not exceed 5 million per year. This does NOT mean teams get an extra 5 million of cap space.

8.  Trade confirmations must be sent in by BOTH owners in order for a trade to go through. Also, if a trade will put them over the maximum player limit or salary cap, they must specify to the commissioner who to cut or some of the newly acquired players may be left inactive for the week.

9.  Trades that appear to be suspicious or lopsided may be reviewed by the commissioner and asst. commissioners before the trade is processed. ANY trade can be reviewed and rejected by the league office if it is deemed to be unfair or came about in conspiratorial terms. Trades made by newer owners may be inspected even more carefully to ensure that the owner does not make a trade that is a major disadvantage for their team.

VI. Salary Cap Rules

1. Salary Cap - The league will have a set salary cap. The salary cap will be $75,000,000 effective in the 2018 offseason. This figure is NOT expected to change from season to season and each team is expected to comply with this number. At no time may a team go over the cap limit when making bids on free agents. So if a team has 2 million in cap room, they may not make any bids that total more than 2 million dollars.

2.  There will be no bonus money or bonus cap or trading money.

3.  Salaries do not increase from season to season. If a player is signed for 3 years at 5 million dollars he is paid 5 million dollars for each of those 3 seasons.

4.  Owners are able to offer contracts of any amount (in accordance with minimum salaries) and may have as many 1, 2, or 3 year contracted players as they wish.

5.  Minimum salary for any player from "Rookie" to "3" is 250,000; any player older ("4" and up) must receive a minimum of 400,000 per year.

6.  Player contracts can be between 1-3 years in length.

7.  When attempting to sign a player, use the following format: player, per year amount, number of years. QB Joe Superstar, $1 million, 2 years. This means that the team is trying to sign Joe Superstar for $1 million PER YEAR for two years.

8.  Teams must carry at least 50 players on their roster at all times and at most 53 during the regular season.

9.  Drafted rookies will be assigned their salaries based upon their pick in the draft. The pay scale for draft picks may be seen by clicking here. Rookies will automatically receive contracts of 4 years in length effective with the 2017 rookie class.
   

VII. Releasing Players

1. If a player with a contract greater than or equal to 1 million dollars is released at any point, the team is charged for half of his salary, for the remainder of that season only. Additional years are not charged unless he is cut after Week 14 of the regular season. This is done to prevent teams from signing excess free agents to hog them during free agency, only to release them later.

2.  The deadline for cutting a player and not being charged half his salary the FOLLOWING SEASON is Week 14 (same as the trade deadline). This prevents teams from cutting players at the end of the season if they aren't going to make the playoffs, thus having them for a whole season and not being penalized for cutting them.

3.  During the season, once a player is cut, all 30 teams are free to bid on him. However, if a team abuses this rule by consistently cutting players in order to resign them for less, their re-signing rights may be restricted by decision of the commissioner.

VIII. Contract Extensions

1.  Re-signing - At the end of the season after retirements are posted, teams must choose which players contract to extend if his contract has expired. Teams may extend a player for one, two or three more seasons. The player's salary is increased by 25% for a one year extension, 35% for a two year extension, or 50% for a three year extension. There is no limit to the number of players that a team can resign at the end of each season, as long as the team remains under the salary cap.

2.  Franchise Players - Before each free agency period a team may designate one franchise player. The franchise player gets a one year contract at the average of the top ten paid players at his position if he is not signed by another team. If another team makes an offer to the player, the team of the franchise player has the opportunity to match the exact offer. If they choose not to match, they will recieve compensation in the form of one future 1st round draft pick and one 2nd round draft pick from the team that signed him. These picks must be sometime within the next 3 drafts. If a team does not have the necessary picks available in the next 3 drafts, they may not bid on a franchise player.

3.  Free Re-sign - Teams can choose 1 player each offseason whose contract is expiring to re-sign for ‘free’. This player MUST be age 7 or older at the time of free agency (so after the new season starts) and can only be given a 1 year extension. There is no limit on the number of times a certain player can be re-signed for free, as long as he is 7 or older. This player may also still be traded to other teams.

4. Restricted Free Agents - Any player who has played three or fewer years (exp.= 3 or less at time of free agency period) will be a restricted free agent. This means that when the highest offer is submitted for that player, the original team has the right to match that EXACT offer or to let the player go. If the team does not match the offer, they get no compensation for the player. Any player with more than 3 years experience is considered an unrestricted free agent and will sign with the highest bidding team. THIS WILL BE PHASED OUT WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 4 YEAR ROOKIE CONTRACTS.

    

IX. Off-season Free Agency

1.  Once a player's contract runs out he is considered a free agent (unless he is designated as a franchise player or he is re-signed).

2.  After the rookie draft, there will be a free agent signing period for approximately 2 weeks. Bidding occurs on the UFFL Forum in which we have ‘open bidding’ on any free agent.

3.  When a player receives an offer, or ‘bid’, the bid must stand without being ‘topped’ for 48 consecutive hours for the player to accept the contract. This time limit may be reduced to 24 hours in the 2nd week of free agency per decision of the commissioner.

4.  Teams should submit bids on the UFFL Forum in accordance with the proper format on the board and in the format of player name, contract offer and years offered for.

5.  Bids must follow league minimum requirements and must be at least 20% higher than the current highest bid listed.

6.  A three year contract will be taken over a two or one year offer for an equal value (e.g. Player X will take a 5 million deal for 3 years over a 5 million deal for 2 or 1 years). Players will also take the contract with the greatest sum of money over the entire contract. For example, a 1 year contract for 10 million will be taken over a 3 year contract for 2 million per year. A 3 year offer of 3 million per year is higher than a 2 year offer of 4 million per year.

7.  No team may have total bids adding up to more than they have room under the cap. Failure to comply will result in a deletion of the most recent bid and a warning to the owner commiting the infraction. Multiple offenses may result in a 24-hour ban from the Forum or possibly longer.

8. During the offseason, if a team signs players that puts them over the maximum 58 players allowed, they have 48 hours to send me their cuts to get down to the limit. If they do not, the commissioner will make a cut for the team. The only EXCEPTION to this rule is that it will NOT be in effect starting at the beginning of the rookie draft lasting until free agency begins (generally 2 days). If a team is still over the cap when free agency begins, the team will not be allowed to make any bids and will have 48 hours to make the necessary cuts or the commissioner will choose the players to cut.

9.  

X. Training Camp

1.  Training Camp is run using the Camp Complete (aka CCLite) individual training camp program.

2.  For training camp, no team may allocate a percentage greater than 40% to any one category for each player.

3.  No category may have a 0% rating, there is a 5% minimum. This is because players ratings will decrease if a 0% is allocated.

4.  Training camp will be run for all free agents to help increase the FA pool talent.

5.  Towards the end of free agency, the commissioner will announce a date that the league files become ‘locked’. Any players that are not SIGNED to a team by then will NOT make their roster for training camp and owners will not be able to select individual percentages for that player.

XI. League Rule Changes

1. The League Rules may be amendend or changed for any future season by commissioner decision. Rule changes will not go into effect during the current season and will instead be implemented in the following season at the earliest.

2. Owners unhappy about a rule or with an idea for a new rule should e-mail the commissioner before emailing the entire league with a complaint. 

3. The commissioner will generally in good faith comprise a ballot for league owners to vote on new ideas. The results of the voting are not the ‘final’ decision necessarily but will heavily factor into the commissioner’s decision.