No FA league

[df_sarc]

Does anyone else play in a league where you can't pick up free agents. Draft only? I've never heard anyone discuss it. I really like it, makes the draft more fun, having last years surprises in it. It makes valuing draft picks a lot harder. Not too many or no 'veterans' will make the 1st round this year. Someone may pick T Hill or Tyrell Williams (personally not interested in those two).

[Never Veto1]

I've never heard of this but it's kinda interesting

[Goddard]

It's an interesting concept, but I feel like part of being a good owner is being able to make good free agent pick ups throughout the season. If you take that out, it takes away a strength of an owner and gives the not so shrewd owners an advantage.

[TheChicken]

Injuries will be 'annoying' .... As long as rosters are deep and trading is encouraged (i.e. no veto, deep rookie/FA draft (6+ rounds), multiple future years available) it could work. I'd worry that a team could easily and quickly become awful and an owner leave, some rights to the FA pool for a new owner should be part of the league Constitution.

[Monkey]

Like TheChicken elluded to, I could see teams getting really bad, all they have to do is draft poorly and either not really trade or trade poorly as well.

Having a really bad team in a league can be a bit of a sore. One of my leagues had a team get really bad and the owner leave and we had zero takers on trying to get it adopted. Eventually we had to lower the prize pool one year so the new owner could play his first year free. They did a supplemental draft where another lower team opted in and the two owners picked between what was available, and it still ended up with two lesser teams.

That would be my fear on something like this, but I just couldn't do a league like that anyway. The hope would be that you fill the league full of guys that love to trade.

Most championships are to some degree "who's team stayed healthy?", to me this would be even more the case. I'd rather play a best ball league.

[MEuRaH]

Someone mentioned a league like this a few years ago. 3 drafts total:

1) Rookie/Vet Draft in May.
2) FA Draft In August.
3) FA Draft In November.

Same order in all 3 drafts. No waivers allowed. I think the other 2 drafts were shorter.... like 2 rounds each or something. Or did he make the draft 8 rounds and then pause the draft after rounds 4 & 6? Damn I can't remember.

Drafting is the most fun part, so this owner made it the only way to acquire free agents. I kinda liked the idea. Never tried it out.

[sloth8u]

i dont see a major issue with it. everyone is playing by the same rules. i can see the poor team theory, but from my experience's the owners destroying their team via bad trades arent typically the owners scouring that ww for the gems. not sure it would impact those teams at all. in fact, i think the better teams usually use their ww adds to take advantage of the poor teams. for example....you wouldnt have the owner who earned a top 5 pick trading for a ww player in the middle of the season or things like that.

[df_sarc]

I've played in this league for a few years. It does make it more even as less active players don't have to worry about FA.

Sometimes people are stuck starting no one due to injuries (happens very rarely- mostly due to the 2TE starting). Sometimes people do trades they dont want to do to cover for injuries.

I would highly recommend this concept, it's a low investment draft heavy, a bit like MFL10's.

(The league is 8 teams, roster of 30. 2QB, 2TE, 3WR, 3RB, 1flex. No defense or kickers)

I do like the idea of having a mid-season draft for FA. The league has been going too long so I can't see us making the change.

[slacker]

No way. Working the wire and finding mid-season gems buried in the mud is half the fun of Fantasy Football.

[ArrylT]

The Nasty 26 Best Ball Dynasty leagues were set up with no FA moves or Waivers originally. You had the startup draft, an FA Draft & a Rookie draft. I have no idea if the concept would have caught on because the majority of the leagues folded after 1 year when Justin H. stepped down as Commissioner.

[NCFF]

The NCFF does not have any player additions during the season (no free agency/waiver wire; no trades). The roster you take into the season is the one that you have for the entire season.

Our primary reason for this is theme. The concept of the NCFF is to look like college football, where there are no in-season adds or trades.


One benefit of such this league is the little time commitment it takes to manage your roster during the season, because all you can do is set your lineup. So many people play in a bunch of leagues, it can be nice to have one that you can manage in just 10-15 minutes a week. This would be different if a no-FA league allowed trades, though.

This format is not for everyone. I've had a lot of people decide against joining because of this feature. I've had some give it a try but leave because of this setting. But for the right group of people, it can definitely work. The predecessor to the NCFF is a league called Gladiator8, using this same setup; it is entering year 11.

[dlf_jules]

I play in one league like this. We have a rookie/vet draft in June, another in August, and then two in-season free agent drafts. I strongly prefer this setup, as I find waivers tedious.

I also have a best ball league with almost no free agency. 10 rounds of rookie/FA draft split between May and August, plus a short free-for-all free agency period right before NFL kickoff.