mmason Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 (edited) 2022 ZEALOTS FIELD AUCTION-CONTRACT (ZFAC) LEAGUE RULES Changes for the current season are highlighted in red. Format-specific rules are in blue. I. ADMINISTRATION AND CODE OF CONDUCT RULES IN COMMON INTRODUCTION Zealots Field Leagues (ZFL) are dynasty leagues. Founded in 2002 by Oscar Knight, Zealots Field is designed to reward the fantasy football zealot by incorporating some of the best rules in the world of fantasy. NFL-size rosters, offensive and defensive players, extensive scoring, unlimited trading and free agency periods and zealous owners combine for the ultimate fantasy football experience. Zealots Field will always be a non-payout league, so the only price for joining ZFL is a small administrative fee and blood, sweat and tears; the only reward is the right to be called the best of the best. GOVERNANCE & ADMINISTRATION OF ZEALOTS FIELD Zealots Field is owned by Sandi Soto. Owners have traditionally anointed themselves as Lord Zealot. Sandi prefers to be Chair of the Vice Lords. Five Vice Lords work as a Board to administer the Zealots empire. The Vice Lords will name a staff of Czars to administer Zealots Field and other projects to keep the community running with as much fun and efficiency as possible. Syndicate Czars are responsible for naming league commissioners. Each Zealots Field league shall be run by a League Commissioner. FEES AND PAYMENT OPTIONS Zealots Field will be run as a not-for-profit Fantasy Football Community. Every year the fee for participating in Zealots Field will be posted in the Field House and e-mailed to all owners. The fee will be based upon the costs associated with using the internet management service and message board service of our choice. Management will always undertake to negotiate the lowest possible cost for owners with the greatest possible service. Owners are required to follow all steps required as part of the payment process, including completely filling out online forms to document their payment. Owners who do not fill out the proper forms will NOT be marked as paid and will delay their league's participation in off-season activities. Payments may be made through PayPal or through check made payable to Sandi Soto. In situations where a team is offered free of charge for services rendered to Zealots (commissioner, etc.), the owner receiving the free team MUST fill out the appropriate online forms to document their complimentary team. Any funds received in excess of the required fee will be accounted for on the message board and used to improve services or to expand operations at Zealots Field. A contingency fund will be maintained to cover unexpected cost increases for services. DISHONESTY IN FINANCIAL MATTERS All owners join Zealots Field with the understanding that it is a non-payout league. There is no financial betting or wagering allowed. No monetary rewards and no collection of a pool of funds for distribution based upon finish are permitted. If it is discovered that any owners or commissioners publicly or privately are engaged in these prohibited activities, they will be immediately banned from Zealots Field. There are several opportunities in the world of fantasy sports to engage in these activities, but this is not one of them. SYNDICATE CZAR RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Respond to E-Mails, PMs, and threads in the administrative realm 2. Monitor and provide oversight of all Commissioners and leagues within their designated syndicate. 3. Keep Zealots Staff informed of potential issues with Commissioners or their leagues so they can be resolved in a timely and efficient manner, protecting against conflicts of interest by having the Operations Czar or Vice Lords assist with any leagues in which they are a member. 4. Assist Commissioners with Code of Conduct and Rules Document enforcement, following documented procedures and communicating with other Zealots Staff as necessary. 5. Maintain contact with Commissioners throughout the year to ensure they are aware of upcoming deadlines, rule changes, or accommodations. 6. Assist with filling all syndicate league openings for Commissioners and owners. 7. Post changes to team ownership in the Member List Changes thread to aid the Operations Czar in maintaining it accurately. 8. Verify all syndicate leagues are paid in full in Bank & Trust prior to RFA. 9. When necessary, act as a proxy owner to aid with roster compliance issues or draft picks. 10. Convert syndicate leagues on MFL each year in preparation for the upcoming season. 11. Specialty Czars will work with the Operations Czar in disseminating rule changes and conducting Rule Change Committees after the annual Zealots Field Classic/PPR Rules Committee has concluded. COMMISSIONER RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Respond to E-Mails, PMs, and threads in the czar realm 2. Keep the Czar informed of any potential league issues so you and your Syndicate Czar can work on potential solutions in a timely and efficient manner. 3. Enforce the Rulebook and Code of Conduct and work with the syndicate czar when disagreements on interpretation occur. 4. Preside as chief record keeper for the league. 5. Maintain a thread with updated owner contact information. 6. Oversee four mandatory league check-in periods: a. When owners are required to state their intentions on returning for the following season. b. Free Agency deadline c. Beginning of the rookie draft d. By the Thursday three (3) weeks prior to the start of the NFL regular season to ensure all owners will be ready to go for the upcoming season. 7. Post team name changes in the Team Name Changes thread in the Commissioners Hall to aid the Operations Czar in maintaining an accurate Member List. REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF AN OWNER The removal of an owner is a serious and unpleasant matter, which the league will seek to avoid if possible. An owner may be removed under the following guidelines: 1. The commissioner can ask the Syndicate Czar to immediately remove and replace an owner. The czar will not remove an owner until a review of the situation has occurred and approval has been given by a Vice Lord. 2. The commissioner may ask for an owner removal vote. 3. Three league owners together may ask for an owner removal vote. 4. The owner will be removed if eight owners vote to have the owner removed. REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF A COMMISSIONER Removing a leader is also an extremely serious situation. A commissioner may be removed under the following guidelines: 1. The Syndicate Czar may remove a commissioner with approval from a Vice Lord. 2. Three league owners may ask the Syndicate Czar for a commissioner removal vote. 3. The commissioner will be removed if a simple majority of the league owners (7 of 12) vote to remove the commissioner. DISCRETIONARY REPLACEMENT Zealots Field retains the right to remove an owner from one or all Zealots leagues at any time, at their discretion and without a Conduct Review, for the reasons listed below. Owners who are removed after the RFA period may not receive a refund. 1. Failure to pay annual dues by the deadline indicated in the Calendar of Important Dates. Owners who have a legitimate financial constraint should communicate with a Vice Lord. 2. Refusal or inability to respond to Staff inquiries. 3. Situations which are so severe that they require immediate removal based on a review by the Vice Lords. MFL AND UNIFORMITY GUIDELINES The appearance of our MFL management sites may be altered in minor ways to reflect the preferences of the commissioner, but should not depart from the overall image promoted and approved by Zealots Field. Owners should be reminded to use only acceptable logos in their profile and icon sections. The icon section of the owners profile setup contains the image used for the front page standings report and should not be altered by the commissioner or an owner. Any changes other than appearance must be approved by Zealots leadership in advance. All MFL setups regarding scoring, general league setup, security, transactions, lineups, etc are uniform throughout the Zealots empire. DICE ROLL INSTRUCTIONS A. The following instructions are for use in Dice Rolls use to determine tie-breakers, ROD draft orders, or RWD draft orders. 1. Use the dice roll server located at http://www.cyrnus.com/cgi-bin/rollem.cgi 2. For "Character Name" owner will enter their Zealots ID. 3. For "Roll" owner will enter 1D1000 (leave the last box blank). 4. Do not check drop high, drop low or reroll. 5. For "What is this roll for?" owner will enter their Zealots League Name & Team Name (i.e., Z51 Patriots) 6. For "Your E-mail" owner will enter their email address. 7. For "DM's E-mail" owner will enter their commissioner's email address (if commissioner is involved in the Dice Roll, use Czar's email address). 8. Select "Rollem". ZEALOTS FIELD CODE OF CONDUCT This Code of Conduct is to be followed by all Zealots Field owners, regardless of their position or role. These rules should be enforced by Zealots Field Staff without exception. Failure to adhere to the Code of Conduct, whether by intention or indifference, is grounds for Conduct Review. A. PARTICIPATION 1. Owners are expected to participate in league activities, such as the rookie draft, free agency, and waivers. 2. Owners are expected to submit competitive weekly lineups during the regular season. 3. Owners are expected to take part in any league votes necessary to fulfill procedures outlined in their format Rules Document. 4. Owners are expected to respond during all mandatory check-in periods. 5. Owners are expected to make draft picks in a timely manner. B. AWARENESS OF LEAGUE RULES AND DEADLINES 1. Owners are expected to be acquainted with the Zealots Field Rules Document and all dates listed on the League Calendar. 2. Owners are expected to submit payment by the league deadline, following the procedures listed under FEES AND PAYMENT OPTIONS. C. COMMUNICATION 1. Owners are expected to regularly visit the Zealots Field forums in order to be up-to-date on realm- or league-specific news. 2. Owners are expected to respond to emails from Zealots Field Staff in a timely manner and adhere to stated deadlines. 3. Owners are expected to keep their contact information up to date on the league's MFL site and in the appropriate league forum thread. If contact information is out of date, the owner is held responsible for anything that is missed. 4. Owners should avoid advertising or engaging in any form of commercial solicitation without approval from Zealots Field Staff. 5. Any forum or email communication that constitutes spam (multiple copies in one area, or the same message spread across several subforums) is not allowed. 6. The dissemination of information or material that advocates or discusses illegal activities with the intent to facilitate them is not allowed. This includes distribution of copyrighted material, or links to copyrighted material. D. COMPETITIVENESS 1. Collusion – Two or more owners conspiring to provide an unfair advantage to a single team is not tolerated. Examples of this include throwing games, renting players (when a player is traded to another team with the understanding the player will be returned to the original team at a later date), dumping players (in an attempt to give another team a waiver advantage by giving them inside knowledge of player availability), or owning multiple teams within a single league. Owners found guilty of collusion will be immediately removed from the league without refund. 2. Tanking and Neglect – Owners are expected to submit competitive weekly lineups, and make the necessary transactions to ensure this occurs. Players who are injured, suspended, or on bye are not considered viable starting lineup options. Similarly, players who have no reasonable expectation of scoring points should not be started over more viable lineup options. E. SPORTSMANSHIP & DECENCY 1. Owners are expected to treat each other with respect, even when disagreements occur. 2. Zealots is a family-friendly site. Foul language will be automatically censored by the forum software. Attempts to circumvent the forum software by using replacement characters will not be tolerated. 3. Offensive humor is not allowed. Jokes involving mockery of race, religion, political affiliation, or gender are not allowed. 4. Personal attacks, unwelcome attention, or harassment may result in removal from the league. 5. Personal avatars or signature graphics may not contain full or partial nudity, simulated sexual activities, foul language, violence, or drug use. 6. Owners are expected to understand that each owner values players and draft picks differently. If there is an issue with the perceived fairness of a trade, owners should follow the appropriate procedure for contesting trades, and refrain from complaining, berating, or insulting the other owners in private or public. PROCEDURE FOR CONDUCT REVIEW 1. If an owner has three or more Code of Conduct violations within the last 365 days, a league Commissioner or fellow owner may ask for the Commissioner to initiate a Conduct Review. 2. A Conduct Review may be initiated at any time if an owner violates the Zealots Field Sportsmanship and Decency guidelines. Zealots Field Staff will act according to the severity of the offense. 3. The Commissioner will contact the owner whose conduct is in question via email and forum PM, with a copy of each to the Syndicate Czar, to solicit an explanation for the violations. a. If the violating owner is the Commissioner, the Syndicate Czar will contact the owner, along with a Vice Lord or the Operations Czar. b. If the violating owner is the Syndicate Czar or another member of Zealots Staff, the Commissioner will contact the Operations Czar or a Vice Lord, who will contact the owner. 4. If a reasonable explanation is provided, the violating owner will be given a chance to immediately rectify their behavior going forward. If this occurs, no further action will be taken unless the behavior recurs. 5. If an explanation is not given, or is deemed unreasonable or false, the owner will be notified of their removal from the league. Until a replacement is found, the Czar will set weekly lineups for the team. 6. If the Commissioner and Czar are unable to agree on the quality of explanation, they will bring in a Vice Lord or Operations Czar to provide further input. 7. After a Conduct Review has been completed, if a fourth violation is accrued within the following six months, the owner will be notified of their removal from the league. 8. If a second Conduct Review is required on an owner within a year of a previous Conduct Review, the owner will be notified of their removal from the league. II. GAMEPLAY RULES IN COMMON Specialty formats reserve the right to modify Gameplay Rules in Common via vote. Once a subject heading no longer complies with the Rules In Common, it is moved to Section III. FORMAT-SPECIFIC RULES. A placeholder heading will remain in blue below to signify which RIC have been altered. An exception is made for the Calendar of Important Dates. Any Calendar changes that are format-specific will be noted in blue in this section. In Auction-Contract leagues, the following rules have been moved to Section III: INJURED RESERVE, TEAM FINANCES, FREE AGENCY AND WAIVERS, INAUGURAL VETERAN DRAFT, OWNERSHIP LIMITS, REPLACEMENT OWNERS, & RULE CHANGES. TEAM IDENTITIES Team names will be selected from a pool of existing NFL team names. ZFL team images, sounds and other identifying team characteristics should be consistent with their NFL counterpart. An NFL team is not permitted to be used twice in the same league. CONFERENCE ALIGNMENT A. Twelve teams are placed into a single conference divided into three divisions. SCHEDULE A. ZFL has a 14-game regular season. ZFL plays a 14-week regular season schedule with one game each week. B. Each team plays division opponents twice and non-division opponents once. PLAYOFFS: A. The three division winners and three wild card teams qualify for the playoffs. The following steps shall be used to determine those teams and their playoff seeding. B. Determine the three Division Winners, using the following tiebreakers within the division. 1. Overall winning % 2. Head-to-Head Winning % 3. Division Winning % 4. All-Play Winning % 5. Total Points Scored 6. Total Points Against 7. Dice Roll C. Determine the three Wildcard teams from the nine remaining teams, using the following tiebreakers: 1. Overall winning % 2. All-Play Winning % 3. Total Points Scored 4. Total Points Against 5. Dice Roll D. From the three Division Winners, determine seeds #1 and #2 using the tiebreakers from Step C. E. From the remaining Division Winner and three Wildcard teams, determine seeds #3-6, using the tiebreakers from Step C. [Note: The third Division winner is only guaranteed a playoff spot. They may or may not end up as the #3 seed.] F. First round playoff games - Three weeks prior to the last week of the NFL regular season, the following matchups will occur: · #1 Seed & #2 Seed (byes) · #3 Seed vs #6 Seed · #4 Seed vs #5 Seed G. Semifinals - Two weeks prior to the last week of the NFL regular season, the following matchups will occur: · #1 Seed vs #4/#5 Winner · #2 Seed vs #3/#6 Winner H. Zealots Championship - One week prior to the last week of the NFL regular season: Semi-Final winners meet in the Championship Game I. The following tiebreaker is used if a playoff game ends in a tie: 1. Home field advantage: Higher seeded team advances INJURED RESERVE SCORING CHANGES AND APPEALS 1. Each league's MFL site will be configured to automatically process MFL's scoring changes each week. 2. Scoring each week is considered final when MFL processes the weekly scoring changes. TEAM FINANCES TRADES A. Any combination of players, ZBs, and/or draft picks may be traded. 1. These are the only assets that qualify as tradeable. 2. Both teams must send and receive one or more qualified assets for a trade to be considered valid. B. No trades may be made that include real cash, future considerations, or a player to be named later. C. When draft picks are involved in a trade, only draft picks for the current draft year (January 1 through December 31) and/or the following draft year may be traded. For example: After the 2006 draft through the end of the season, only picks for the 2007 draft are available. After completion of the 2006 season up to the 2007 draft, picks are available for the 2007 and 2008 draft. D. No player can be involved in a trade for the rest of the week after their game starts. MFL considers the week to end four (4) hours after kickoff of the last game of the week. E. Any trade that appears to be suspicious or detrimental to the integrity of the league may be vetoed by a super-majority (2/3) vote of the owners not involved in the deal. For example, in a 12-team league with a 2-team trade, 7 yes votes would be required for a veto. 1. During the season, owners will have 24 hours from a trade’s consummation to contest it. During the off-season, owners will have 7 days from a trade’s consummation to contest it. 2. The owner wishing to contest a trade must: a. Post in the league forum announcing intent to contest the trade b. Include details of the teams and players involved c. Send a leaguewide email from the MFL page alerting everyone to the thread d. Contact the Syndicate Czar to let them know the protest has been initiated. The Syndicate Czar is responsible for overseeing the process and assessing the status of the vote, thus ensuring there are no conflicts of interest for the league Commissioner. e. If the Syndicate Czar is in the same league as the contested trade, the Czar will contact the Operations Czar or a Vice Lord to oversee the process. f. The designated overseer will create a poll in the league forum detailing the contested trade and outlining the details of the voting process. g. Voter names will be set as public, not anonymous. h. The poll will have two choices: "YES" to vote in favor of the veto or "NO" to vote against. No other poll options may be submitted. 3. During the season, the owners involved in the contested trade must list a substitute starter for each player in the trade if they are starting, in case the trade is vetoed. a. The substitute player must be listed in the contested trade thread. b. Substitute players must not have already played for the week. c. Failure to post a substitute starter will result in a 0 for any vacated starters. d. If the owner replaces a player from a contested trade with a different player in his lineup on MFL, the player started on MFL will override any substitute starter submitted on the forums. 4. If a super-majority is not reached within 48 hours of the poll (during the season) or 7 days of the poll (during the off-season), the trade will not be vetoed. 5. If a super-majority is reached within 48 hours of the poll (during the season) or 7 days of the poll (during the off-season), the trade will be vetoed. F. No trade may be made between the start of the first NFL game in Week 11 and the completion of the deadline to state intention to return for the next season. FREE AGENCY AND WAIVERS ZEALOT DRAFTS A. Commissioners will use an informal 24-hour draft clock to ensure the draft proceeds in a timely manner. 1. Commissioners will not use the MFL draft timer, as MFL does not provide satisfactory automatic options. 2. Any violation of the informal 24-hour clock will count as a CoC violation. a. If an owner will not be able to meet the demands of the draft timer due to pre-existing obligations or circumstances, that owner must notify their Commissioner and Syndicate Czar prior to the draft starting to determine reasonable accommodations. b. The league must be notified of any accommodations. If necessary, the draft clock can be extended for the league to ensure all owners receive the same amount of time on the clock. B. If the clock expires, the draft will be paused. The Commissioner will contact the Owner via email and forum PM, with a copy of each to the Syndicate Czar, who will be designated as a Proxy for drafting purposes. If the Syndicate Czar has a conflict of interest, they will further contact the Operations Czar or a Vice Lord to act as Proxy instead. 1. The Proxy will make a reasonable player selection based on their interpretation of roster needs and player value. 2. No trades will be accepted by the Proxy while acting in lieu of an owner. 3. If the Owner makes their selection prior to the Proxy, the pick will be allowed to stand. However, the Owner must confirm with the Commissioner that they are prepared to make their subsequent draft picks within the designated time limit. 4. The Proxy will make subsequent draft picks until the Owner responds to confirm their participation for the rest of the draft. If the Owner does not respond or confirm their participation, at the conclusion of the draft, the owner will undergo a Conduct Review. INAUGURAL VETERAN DRAFT ANNUAL ROOKIE DRAFT A. A six round rookie draft will be held every year. B. The annual rookie draft is not permitted to start until all owners have completed the rookie draft check-in and state they are aware of the rookie draft date. C. The annual rookie draft will begin no later than June 1st. Commissioners must get approval from their syndicate czar to start the rookie draft after June 1st. D. All rookies listed in the MFL player database are eligible for the annual rookie draft. 1. If a rookie is not listed in the MFL player database an owner can request that the commissioner create a custom player provided that the player meets one or more of the following criteria: a. The player was drafted in the current season's NFL draft b. The player was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent subsequent to this season's NFL draft c. The player appears on the draft prospects list for the current year at any of the following sources (ESPN, CBSSports, NFL.com, DraftTek) E. The annual rookie draft order will be determined by: 1. The Zealots Championship winner will pick 12th. 2. The Zealots Championship loser will pick 11th. 3. The Semifinals losers will pick 9th and 10th. See tiebreakers section below. 4. The losers of the first round playoff games will pick 7th and 8th. See tiebreakers section below. 5. The non-playoff teams will pick 1st through 6th. See tiebreakers section below. G. Tiebreakers 1. All rookie draft tie-breakers are based on the standings at the completion of scoring changes in the last week of the Zealots regular season. These standings can be found on MFL at "Reports => Standings => Power Rank => Power Rank as of Week 14 2. Team with lower winning percentage (or points) picks before team with higher winning percentage: a. Overall winning % b. All-Play Winning % c. Total Points Scored d. Total Points Against e. Dice Roll OWNERSHIP LIMITS REPLACEMENT OWNERS RULE CHANGES ZEALOTS FIELD CALENDAR OF IMPORTANT DATES (All deadlines are 11:59PM Eastern unless specified differently) January 10th: 1. Mandatory Check-In period - Owners state their intentions to return for following season. 2. Deadline for returning teams to activate any players on IR and enter compliance with off-season roster restrictions. If there is no room on the active roster, players will be cut. 3. The Commissioner will cut any players remaining on IR after the deadline. If a team requires a replacement owner, that owner will be granted a one-week grace period (from the time they assume control of the team) to make the cuts once they assume ownership of the team. January 11th: 1. Commissioners will restore the owners' ability to propose and accept trades. 2. Commissioners communicate with Syndicate Czar on openings and owners who have not met the intentions deadline. February 1st-15th: 1. Zealots administration will send instructions to upgrade the MFL site for the following season. 2. Lord Zealot sends payment information to all owners this time of year. February 28th: 1. Deadline for owners to name Rookie Free Agents and designate Franchise and Transition tags. This counts as a league check-in. 2. Commissioners release any remaining expired contracts and prepare for Restricted Free Agency to begin. 3. Commissioners will list all players and pertinent compensation information, including MQOs, in a master thread on the league forum. Two Days After the Start of NFL League Year (March 18, 2022): 1. Deadline for owners to complete dues payments for the season. 9 Days After the Start of NFL League Year (March 25, 2022): 1. The RFA period begins. The Syndicate Czar must approve any request to begin RFA later than the time delineated above. April: 1. Unrestricted Free Agency will begin at least one day after the completion of RFA period and remain open until the NFL Draft. 2. Commissioners will hold a mandatory check-in period where all owners state they are ready for the rookie draft, and they are aware of the rookie draft date. May: 1. All leagues should begin their annual rookie draft. (NOTE: The ability to start a new auction should be turned off during the Zealots rookie draft.) June 1st: 1. All rookie drafts must have started by now unless permission was granted by the syndicate czar for a delay. 2. After completion of the rookie draft, commissioners will restore the ability to start auctions. August 1st: 1. Commissioners send e-mail to league members to remind them of the upcoming Payday deadline. August; Thursday 3 weeks prior to the start of the NFL regular season (August 18, 2022) 1. Deadline for owners to check-in for upcoming season. August; 11:59PM ET on the Tuesday 9 days before the first NFL regular season game (August 30, 2022) 1. Deadline to start a new auction will be 11:59PM ET on the Tuesday 9 days before the first NFL regular season game. Any auctions started after that time will be removed by the Commissioner. 2. Commissioners will turn off owners' ability to start a new auction in MFL. 3. Commissioners will change MFL setting to allow owners to put players on Injured Reserve. August-September: On the Sunday 4 days before the first NFL regular season game: (September 4, 2022) 1. Commissioners will begin processing Payday. 2. Commissioners will ensure all rosters are in compliance with salary cap and roster limits. 3. Commissioners will reduce Taxi Squad size back to 6. 4. Any Taxi Squad not in compliance is subject to the Payday Activation Rules. 5. After Payday is processed, Commissioners will restore owners' ability to start a new auction in MFL. November: First NFL game of Week 11 1. Trade Deadline; Commissioners will remove owners’ ability to propose and accept trades. December; End of last Zealots regular season week: 1. Commissioners will set playoff brackets at MFL. 2. Syndicate Czar will capture scoring data and assign V+ and R+ designations. December; First NFL game three weeks prior to the last week of the NFL regular season: 1. Commissioners will remove the ability to start auctions. December; End of Zealots playoffs (Beginning of Off-season): 1. Commissioners will post the rookie draft order for following season. 2. Commissioners will remove ZBs in excess of $500 from each team. 3. Commissioners will make accounting adjustment for the yearly $5500 ZB allocation. 4. Commissioners will restore owners' ability to propose and accept trades. (Steps 2-4 must be completed before trading can be turned on). 5. Commissioners will change MFL setting to allow draft pick trades for two years out. 6. Commissioners will remove any salary cap penalties that have expired. 7. Commissioners will update player contracts to V+ or R+ as appropriate. 8. Commissioners will communicate to their league members that there is a January 10th mandatory check-in period. End of Season: 1. Commissioners may promote players on IR for teams that will not exceed the active roster limit. Any owned teams needing to release players to make room for activated players will have until January 10 to do so. See January 10 entry above. 2. The Lombardi Czar will post the list of V+ players for the upcoming season. Commissioners will update contracts accordingly. III. FORMAT-SPECIFIC RULES (AUCTION-CONTRACT) ROSTERS A. Rosters are limited to 53 active players. B. Teams will have a 6-player Taxi Squad. C. Immediately before the start of the ZFAC Rookie Draft, the Taxi Squad will be expanded to 12 players. D. Immediately before the start of the ZFAC Rookie Draft, the active roster will be expanded to 60 players, for the sole purpose of allowing a team to draft rookies with the intention of immediately demoting them to the Taxi Squad. MFL limitations do not allow drafting to the taxi squad directly. E. Following the completion of the ZFAC Rookie Draft, the active roster will be returned to a maximum of 53 players. STARTING LINEUPS AND POSITION ELIGIBILITY A. Each ZFAC team must consist of the following starting lineup during each week of the season: 1 QB 1 RB 2 WR 1 TE 3 O-Flex (RB/WR/TE) 1 PK 2 DL 2 LB 2 DB 2 D-Flex (DL/LB/DB, max 3 starters of any one position) B. MFL is the official position source. C. If no lineup is submitted by a team, their previous week’s lineup will be used. The MFL setting for this is as follows: Copy Previous Week's Starters For Franchises Without Lineups: (1) "As Soon As The Previous Week's Results Are Available". D. Partial lineup submissions (i.e. lineups with less than the required 18 players) will be dis-allowed, by utilizing the "No, partial lineups are never allowed" option in MFL. E. Players cannot be moved into or out of the starting lineup once MFL locks their status shortly before kickoff of their game. SCORING SYSTEM A. ZFAC leagues will use the following scoring rules: All Touchdowns (including Passing, Rushing, Receiving, interceptions, fumble recovery, special teams - blocked FG, punt, Missed FG): 6 pts All 2-pt Conversion (Passing, Rushing, Receiving): 2 pts Each Rushing or Receiving Yard: 0.1 pts Each Reception (RB): 0.5 pts Each Reception (All Other Positions): 1 pts Each Passing Yard: 0.04 pts Each Interception: -2 pts Fumbles (lost to Opponent): -2 pts Field Goal Made (30 yards or less): 3 pts Field Goal Made (greater than 30 yards): 3pts plus .1 point for every yard over 30 yards Extra Point Made: 1 pt Safety: 4 pts Interceptions: 3 pts Fumble Recoveries (from Opponent): 2 pts Forced Fumble: 2 pts Sack: 3 pt (1/2 sack = 1.5 pt) Tackles for Loss: 2 pt (1/2 TFL = 1 pt) Blocked Punt/FG: 3 pts Length of Blocked Punt/FG TD: 0.1 pt Blocked Extra Point: 1 pt Passes Defended: 1 pt Kickoff Return Yard: 0.025 pt Length of Missed Field Goal Return TD: 0.025 pt Punt Return Yard: 0.05 pt Interception Return Yard: 0.1 pt Offensive Fumble Return Yard: 0.1 pt Defensive Fumble Return Yard: 0.1 pt Tackles (Linebackers): 1.5 pts Tackles (All Other Positions): 2 pts Assists (Linebackers): 0.75 pts Assists (All Other Positions): 1 pt Defensive Conversion Returns: 2 pts Safeties for 1 Point: 2 pts TEAM FINANCES A. ZFAC denotes its currency with a dollar sign ($). It may be referred to as “Z-Bucks” (ZB) or “dollars”. Z-Bucks are used to pay player salaries on Payday, make Free Agency bids, and as a trading commodity. B. No team is permitted to have a negative balance at any time. C. There are no fractional ZBs. The smallest increment is $1. Any computation called for in these rules that results in a fractional ZB will always be rounded DOWN to the next smallest whole ZB. (e.g., An $88 salary that is increased by 20% becomes $105.6, which is then rounded down to $105.) D. ZBs can be obtained in the following ways: 1. When a new league is opened, each franchise is awarded a starting amount of $5500. 2. Each franchise receives an additional $5500 at the start of the offseason. 3. At the start of the offseason, commissioners will cut any funds held by teams in excess of $500. Any remaining funds may be carried over into the next season. 4. ZBs may be obtained via trade. TAXI SQUAD A. Teams are allocated a Taxi Squad (or PS) of up to 6 players. B. From the start of the rookie draft until Payday, the Taxi Squad is expanded to 12 roster spots. C. Only rookies selected during the current league year’s ZFAC Rookie Draft may be placed on the Taxi Squad. Rookies won via auction are not eligible to be placed upon the Taxi Squad. D. A player may remain on the Taxi Squad for a maximum of 2 years, after which he must be promoted or released. The PR contract expires the Payday immediately preceding the start of the NFL Regular Season following their contract designation (e.g., a rookie drafted in 2014 will have an $X-2015-PR contract. The player must be promoted or released by the Payday immediately preceding the 2016 NFL Regular Season.) E. Taxi Squad salaries must be paid on Payday but do not count against the salary cap. F. Owners may promote players from the Taxi Squad to the active roster at any time. 1. During the offseason, Taxi Squad players may be promoted and demoted freely prior to the Payday contract declaration deadline. 2. In-season, if a Taxi Squad player is promoted they may not be demoted again, even if traded. 3. Players promoted in-season must immediately be assigned a contract at their current salary. The team must remain compliant with the salary cap. G. Owners may release players from the Taxi Squad at any time. 1. There is no penalty for releasing a player from the PS. 2. Any salary paid on Payday is not reimbursed. H. On Payday, the Taxi Squad returns to a maximum of 6 players. All rookies in excess of this amount must be: · Promoted to the active roster and assigned an “R” contract; or · Left on the Taxi Squad if their “PR” contract has not expired; or · Released without penalty. Failure to comply will result in the commissioner immediately following the Payday Activation Rules. I. If a team exceeds the Taxi Squad limit at a time other than Payday, the owner has one week following completion of the draft/trade to activate, release, or trade enough players to adhere to the PS limit. Failure to comply will result in the commissioner following the Payday Activation Rules. J. Payday Activation Rules 1. Promote the highest-salaried rookie on team's Taxi Squad to the active roster 2. Assign that rookie a 3-year contract 3. Continue until either the active roster cap of 53 is reached or the PS is within the 6-man limit 4. If roster is at 53 and PS is still above 6, the commissioner will release the lowest-salaried PS players one at a time until the limit is met. 5. If forced promotion causes a salary cap violation, the owner will be fined $100 per day and will forfeit any games while in violation. INJURED RESERVE A. Each team will be limited to 6 Injured Reserve slots. B. Owners may place any player on the injured reserve list only if he is listed as "(I)" by MFL. (Other designations may be added by NFL and approved by Zealot Staff if situations occur requiring a modification.) C. Before being placed on injured reserve, that player must reside on the team's active roster for at least one week. Players cannot be signed directly to IR from free agency. D. Players may be placed on Injured Reserve starting at 11:59PM ET 9 days before the first NFL regular season game. (This should be a Tuesday night if the NFL's first regular season game is on a Thursday). E. Any player placed on IR frees up salary cap space equal to exactly half of his salary, rounded down. F. An owner may activate up to two players from Injured Reserve during the course of the season if that player has also been activated by his NFL team. All activations must be posted to the appropriate league forum. Any other players on Injured Reserve must remain on the list until the start of the offseason, or their release. G. When activating a player from IR to the active roster, his salary will once again count in full when applying to the salary cap. Any team that is not compliant with the salary cap or active roster size will be fined $100 per day and forfeit any games while in violation. H. A player on Injured Reserve who is traded to a new team is placed on the active roster of the new team. The new team may choose to deactivate the player if there is enough room on IR. SALARY CAP A. The salary cap is the maximum amount of player salaries that may be on a team’s active roster. B. The salary cap is fixed at $5000. C. “Offseason” is defined as the period from the day after the ZFAC Super Bowl until Payday. During the offseason, the salary cap is not enforced. All rosters must return to salary cap compliance by Payday. D. Payday occurs three days following the last NFL preseason game of the current league season. In the event this falls on or after the first regular season game of the year, Payday will be on the day before the first regular season game. E. “On-season” is defined as the period from Payday to the ZFAC Championship. During the season, the total of all salaries and early release penalties on the active roster may not exceed the salary cap. Any team exceeding the salary cap will be fined $100 per day and will forfeit any games while in violation. CONTRACTS A. The minimum contract length is 1 year. The maximum contract length is 3 years. The maximum a qualifying contract can be extended is 2 additional years. B. The contract year lasts from the day after the ZFAC Championship until the following ZFAC Championship. C. Contracts will be designated on MFL with a salary, a year and a letter. The year corresponds to the start of that NFL season, with the player contract expiring at the end of that season’s ZFAC Championship. The letter refers to the type of contract, as explained in CONTRACT TYPES. D. Players are separated into three classifications that determine the salary assigned them in the Rookie Draft Table, as well as certain RFA compensation. These classifications are: · Group I Players: Quarterbacks, Running Backs, & Wide Receivers · Group II Players: Tight Ends & Linebackers · Group III Players: Place Kickers, Defensive Linemen & Defensive Backs E. Upon detection, any contract found to be incorrectly assigned (or not properly updated) must be retroactively corrected to the appropriate contract as determined by rule or prior assignation on the appropriate forum thread. Owners are not allowed to assign a different contract at the time of correction. F. CONTRACT TYPES 1. Veteran (V) contracts are assigned to players won via auction, with a salary equal to the final bid. Veteran contracts can be extended for a maximum of two years during the offseason prior to the Payday of their final contract year (e.g., a 2020-V contract can be extended during the offseason immediately preceding the 2020 NFL Season). Any “V” contracts thus extended become “E” contracts. 2. Veteran Plus (V+) players are “V” players who ended a ZFAC regular season ranked in the top 12 at his position in points. These players can be extended in the same manner as “V” contracts. At the conclusion of the regular season, these players are automatically upgraded from “V” to “V+”. This designation does not change the player’s salary or contract length, unless the player is extended, given a Franchise or Transition contract, or released. If a player changes positions, the designation will be removed, with the exception of moving between DT/DE, or CB/S. 3. Extended (E) players are veteran contracts that have been extended. Their salary is determined per the CONTRACT EXTENSIONS section. “E” contracts may not be extended. 4. Taxi (PR) players are those acquired during the ZFAC Rookie Draft. While they remain on the Taxi Squad, they will have this designation. “PR” salaries are determined by the Rookie Salary Table. These contracts may not be extended, but must be promoted or released before expiration. If promoted, they become “R” contracts. PR contracts expire on the Payday immediately preceding the start of the NFL Regular Season following the season listed in their salary designation (e.g., a 2019-PR contract expires on the Payday preceding the start of the 2020 Regular Season). 5. Rookie (R) players are those acquired during the ZFAC Rookie Draft who have been promoted from the Practice Squad. “R” contracts may not be extended. 6. Rookie (R+) players are those acquired during the ZFAC Rookie Draft who have been assigned an R contract, and subsequently ended a ZFAC regular season ranked in the top 12 at his position in points. At the conclusion of the regular season, these players are automatically upgraded from “R” to “R+”. This designation does not change the player’s salary or contract length. If a player changes positions, the designation will be removed, excepting a move between DT/DE, or CB/S. 7. Franchise (F) and Transition (T) players are tags given to players with expiring contracts who wish to retain their services for one more year. Only one type of tag can be granted. See the RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY – GENERAL section for more information. G. TRADING CONTRACTS 1. Players traded from one team to another retain their existing salaries and contracts. Receiving teams will not pay the salary for on-season trades but will take the salary cap hit associated with the traded players. 2. Receiving teams will have 24 hours from the time of the trade to make any necessary transactions to remain in salary cap compliance, or they will be subject to the penalties described under “SALARY CAP” above. 3. Teams losing players in a trade are relieved of the salary cap hit but receive no reimbursement for ZBs paid toward the player’s salary. 4. A player with an “R” contract, if traded, cannot be placed upon the PS of his new team. 5. A player on the Taxi Squad, once traded, has 24 hours from the completion of the trade to be placed upon the PS of his new team or assigned an “R” contract, at the new owner’s discretion. If demotion causes the team to exceed the number of available PS slots, another player must be promoted or released to make space. H. CONTRACT EXTENSIONS 1. “V” or “V+” contracts may be extended for a maximum of two years during the offseason prior to the Payday of their final contract year. (e.g., a 2020-V contract can be extended during the offseason immediately preceding the 2020 NFL Season). Once the season begins, they can no longer be extended. 2. Veterans who have their contract extended receive automatic and immediate pay raises in accordance with the highest value found as a result of the following calculations: One-year extension: Current salary+20% Current salary+$20 Ave (pos)* (“V+” only) Two-year extension: Current salary+35% Current salary+$40 1.15 x Ave (pos) (“V+” only) *Ave (pos) is defined as the average of the top 20 salaries for each position. Example 1: RB Willie Parker has a $10-2014-V contract in the offseason before the 2014 NFL Season. Before Payday, the owner wishes to extend him two additional years. His salary is computed using the table above: $10+35%=$13.5 (rounds to $13) $10+$40=$50 $50 is highest, and becomes his new salary. His contract is changed to $50-2016-E. Example 2: QB Jeff Hostetler has a $10-2014-V+ contract . The Ave(QB) = $300. Before Payday, the owner wishes to extend him two additional years. His salary is computed using the table above: $10+35%=$13.5 (rounds to $13) $10+$40=$50 $400 (V+ contract) $400 is highest, and becomes his new salary. His contract is changed to $400-2016-E. Example 3: PK Morten Andersen is signed to a $10-2014-V contract. The Ave(PK) = $32. Before Payday, the owner wishes to extend him two additional years. His salary is computed using the table above: $10+35%=$13.5 (rounds to $13) $10+$40=$50 $32 (V+ contract) $50 is highest, and becomes his new salary. His contract is changed to $50-2016-E. PAYDAY A. On Payday, each owner pays the following from team accounting: 1. Salaries of active roster players, including full salaries of players on Injured Reserve 2. Salary adjustments (also known as cap penalties) being applied to the active roster 3. Salaries of all Taxi Squad players 4. 50% of the salaries of players signed and released during the same (current) offseason. These should have already been inputted at time of release, but if not, add them now. 5. Any guaranteed salary due to "F" or "T" players signed and released during the same (current) offseason. These should have already been inputted at time of release, but if not, add them now. B. The Commissioner will make all Payday adjustments to team accounting records before the start of the NFL season. C. Any team that is not compliant with the salary cap or active roster size will be fined $100 per day and will forfeit any games while in violation. D. Any team whose Taxi Squad is not compliant will be subjected to the Payday Activation Rules listed in the "Taxi Squad" section above. FREE AGENCY A. GENERAL AUCTION RULES 1. Free agents are acquired during the regular season only via auction. All auctions must be conducted on the league management site (MFL) and set up with bid via proxy permitted. 2. All ZFAC auctions are run with a rolling deadline from the time of the last change in high bidder. The highest bidder will then be awarded the player. a. On-season auctions will close after 24 hours have passed without a change in high bidder. Salaries are paid immediately upon acquisition and must fit within the available cap space. b. Offseason auctions will close after 48 hours have passed without a change in high bidder. Salaries are not paid until Payday. 3. During Restricted Free Agency, owners may start a maximum of four (4) auctions. 4. During Unrestricted Free Agency, there is no limit to the number of auctions owners may start if they have the ZBs to cover those auctions. 5. There is a $10 ZB minimum bid. Bids are done in increments of $1ZB (i.e. - no decimals). 6. Players designated as "Franchise" or "Transition" players during the RFA Period must receive a Minimum Qualifying Offer, as detailed in Section C2 (FRANCHISE AND TRANSITION TAGS). 7. No bid may be withdrawn. Commissioner discretion may be used for accidental free agent bids started on the wrong player, provided the error is immediately brought to the Commissioner’s attention. B. OFFSEASON FREE AGENCY PERIOD 1. There are two general classifications of free agents: Restricted Free Agents and Unrestricted Free Agents. 2. The deadline to designate Restricted Free Agents is 11:59PM ET on February 28/29th. 3. Non-designated players whose contracts have expired are considered Unrestricted Free Agents. These players are released from their teams on February 28/29th. 4. The Zealots off-season RFA period will begin the day after the start of the NFL League Year. Free agency is not permitted to start unless all twelve franchises have owners and all owners have paid. Commissioners must receive approval from their Czar to begin the RFA period. Czars will confirm leagues are paid in full with the appropriate posts in the Bank & Trust forum. 5. Any auction on a RFA must be started within 4 weeks of the start of the off-season free agency period. 6. Unrestricted free agent auctions are available per the schedule designated in H. UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENCY. Any auctions that begin during an open period will be allowed to finish. 7. Player Eligibility a. Auctions cannot be started on players who will be rookies for the upcoming season until after the completion of the Zealots annual rookie draft. b. Players in the NFL Supplemental Draft become free agents at ZFL at the completion of the Supplemental Draft. c. All other players listed in the MFL player database are eligible for auctions d. Players not listed in the MFL player database are eligible for off-season auctions under the following conditions: i. The player has been signed to a contract with an NFL franchise, and that contract can be verified through legitimate news outlets (ESPN, NFL.com, Rotoworld, official team site, etc). In the event of a dispute, the Zealots Field Staff will be responsible for deciding the validity of the news source. ii. An owner must request that the commissioner enter the player as a custom player in the league's site. Using an existing player as a proxy for the player that is not in the database is not allowed. C. RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY – TAG DEFINITIONS 1. ROOKIE TAGS a. Players assigned a “Rookie” tag are eligible to be signed to a 1-, 2-, or 3-year “V” contract after the auction process is completed. b. The Rookie Tag Compensation Table (see below) lists the mandatory draft pick compensation for players with an expiring R contract. It is calculated by the league Commissioner prior to the RFA process, by compiling a list of all players paid a salary since Payday of the previous league season. c. The Compensation Table specifies the draft pick provided by the winning owner to the owner who tagged the player. d. In the event two levels of salary are identical, the lower round is not used for compensation. e. The MQO for players with an expiring “R+” contract will be calculated as the highest of the following numbers: · 110% of the player’s current salary · The 12th highest salary of that player’s position, as identified during the preparation of the Rookie Tag Compensation Table For example, in 2021, the 100th highest salary was $120. The 110th highest salary was also $120. During the 2022 RFA season, no 5th round draft picks will be awarded in compensation. Instead, compensation will progress from Round 6 (if above the 120th salary but below the 110th) to Round 4 (if above the 110th but below the 90th). f. The final salary of the “Rookie” player, after bumping (see below), is compared to the salary levels indicated in the Compensation Table to determine appropriate compensation. Rookie Tag Compensation Table ≥ 50th highest salary: 1st round pick ≥ 75th highest salary: 2nd round pick ≥ 90th highest salary: 3rd round pick ≥ 100th highest salary: 4th round pick ≥ 110th highest salary: 5th round pick ≥ 120th highest salary: 6th round pick ≤ Salary 121: No compensation required 2. FRANCHISE AND TRANSITION TAGS a. Players designated with a “Franchise” or “Transition” tag will be assigned a Minimum Qualifying Offer (MQO) that is calculated by the league Commissioner. b. The MQO for “Franchise” tags must be equal to or greater than the average of the top five salaries at that position from the prior year. c. The MQO for “Transition” tags must be equal to or greater than the average of the top ten salaries at that position from the prior year. d. All MQO must be greater than or equal to the player's previous year’s salary + 20%. e. The Franchise and Transition Tag Compensation Tables list the mandatory draft pick compensation surrendered by the owner winning the auction. f. After the auction process is completed, if the original team matches the final bid, the tagged player remains on their team and is automatically assigned a 1-year contract with an "F" or "T" designation. If the original team does not match the final bid, the winning team may sign the player to a 1-, 2-, or 3-year "V" contract. Franchise Tag Compensation Table Group I (QB, RB, WR): TWO 1st round picks (may be same year or consecutive years) Group II (TE, LB): 1st and 3rd round picks Group III (PK, DL, DB): 2nd and 4th round picks Transition Tag Compensation Table Group I (QB, RB, WR): 1st and 3rd round picks Group II (TE, LB): 2nd and 4th round picks Group III (PK, DL, DB): 3rd and 5th round picks g. Franchise or Transition players that are signed in RFA, whether by the original owner or auction winner, may be released prior to the start of the season. However, the signing owner is still responsible for paying the full salary at payday, in addition to whatever salary cap penalty is accrued. If the player is signed by another team after release (but before Payday), the Payday salary obligation is lowered to the difference between the original guaranteed salary and the salary being paid by the new team. D. RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY – TAGGING PROCESS 1. Each owner may assign a “Rookie” tag to no more than four players with expiring “R” contracts. 2. Each owner may additionally either: a. assign a “Transition” tag to one or two players with expiring contracts b. assign a “Franchise” tag to one player with an expiring contract c. The Transition and Franchise tags can be assigned to any expiring contract. They may be used on the same player in consecutive years. 3. No team is required to designate or tag any expiring contracts during RFA. 4. All tag declarations must be posted on the appropriate league forum thread prior to February 28/29th. E. RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY – OPENING AUCTIONS 1. Owners are allowed to open a maximum of four (4) Rookie, Franchise, or Transition players at a time. When a sponsored auction ends, regardless of who won the auction, an owner may sponsor one additional player. 2. If an owner opens more than four (4) auctions, the first four auctions by MFL time stamp will be allowed to remain. Each other auction will be deleted and a warning sent to the owner. Further violations will cause the owner to lose the ability to open auctions. 3. Owners are not allowed to place bids on their own Rookie, F, or T players. F. RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY – ILLEGAL BIDDING 1. During the RFA period, an illegal bid occurs when one of the following occurs: a. An owner places a bid on their own tagged player b. An owner bids on a player without having the required compensatory draft picks available 2. If an illegal bid is made, the auction is deleted and reopened by the Commissioner. a. The Commissioner will determine the previous high bid, and the previous proxy, by using the Transactions menu to determine at what amount auction control changed from the original team to the illegally bidding team. b. The Commissioner will bid, with their own team, to an amount one dollar below the previous high bid. If the previous high bid was $10, skip to step C instead. c. The Commissioner will bid with the team that was the previous high bidder, to the amount of their proxy bid. For example, Atlanta has the current high bid on a player. Buffalo bids illegally and takes control of the auction. In the Transactions menu, the bids for that player say: Buffalo bid $72 on Smith, John FA TE (illegal bid) Atlanta bid $46 on Smith, John FA TE Philadelphia bid $10 on Smith, John FA TE This shows us the following: Previous high bid: $46 by Atlanta Proxy: $71 by Atlanta Thus, the Commissioner first opens the auction by bidding $45 with his own team. He then bids $71, as Atlanta. The result is that the high bid is now returned to $46, and the proxy matches what existed previously. d. This will create a new 48-hr clock. Current MFL restrictions do not allow adjusting the time remaining on the auction, though future advances in MFL capabilities may permit this refinement, and this ruleset will be adjusted accordingly if/when this occurs. 3. The team which made the illegal bid is banned from participating in the auction for the player in question and will be notified by the commissioner why the bid was not allowed. 4. A second illegal bid in the same RFA period will result in a ban from participation in the auction(s) in question and a $250 fine paid out of Cash Accounting. 5. A third illegal bid in the same RFA period will result in a ban from any participation in the remainder of the RFA period. Any legal high bids already in place will be allowed to finish normally and follow the completed auction process. A third-time offender pays an additional $250 fine (for a total of $500) out of Cash Accounting and will begin the following year's RFA process with one strike already in place. 6. By commissioner's discretion, newcomers to ZFAC leagues (that have not taken part in at least one RFA period) may receive one warning prior to the above consequences being applied. G. RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY – COMPLETED AUCTION PROCESS 1. BUMPING AND DECLARING COMPENSATION a. Upon auction completion, the auction winner has 24 hours to post on the appropriate forum thread any intentions to increase (or "bump") the final bid. b. Instructions may be provided to the Commissioner if the auction winner will be unable to post during that time period. c. Failure to post or communicate intentions defaults to "no increase". d. Any forum post regarding the final bid that is subsequently edited will default to "no increase". e. Bumping is not required. However, Franchise and Transition players will have their final bids automatically raised to meet the MQO detailed in section C2 (FRANCHISE AND TRANSITION TAGS). f. The auction winner must post which draft pick is being offered as compensation. Rookie players receive a single draft pick as compensation. Franchise and Transition players receive two draft picks as compensation. The Compensation Tables are shown in sections C1 (ROOKIE TAGS) and C2 (FRANCHISE AND TRANSITION TAGS). g. Compensation draft picks must be from the current draft year, except for Group I Franchise Players. For Group I Franchise players, one first rounder can be from the subsequent draft year. h. If the auction winner has multiple picks of the appropriate compensation round, the default pick lost is the latest in the round. The winning team reserves the right to offer the earlier pick in the round if desired. i. If the auction winner does not have a draft pick of the appropriate round, a draft pick of a higher round may be used in compensation instead. A team without a 1st round draft pick may not place bids on a player which, if won, would require a 1st round pick in compensation, nor bump the final winning bid to an amount that would require a 1st round pick. In the event the winning team has multiple picks in this higher round, the later pick is given in compensation. j. The winning team is not allowed to trade any draft picks declared as compensation until the final disposition of the player is determined. Any draft picks declared as compensation must have been possessed by the winning team at the time of auction end. 2. MATCHING a. The original owner of the player has 72 hours from auction end to post on the appropriate forum thread their intention to match the final bid. b. These intentions may not be posted until after step (1) above, although instructions may be provided to the Commissioner if the original owner will be unable to post during that time period. c. Failure to post or communicate intentions defaults to "no match". d. Any forum post regarding matching that is subsequently edited will default to "no match". e. Once the matching determination has been made, the winning team is once again allowed to trade draft picks previously declared as compensation. f. If a single team wins multiple players requiring compensation, the auction completed first should have compensation declared first. g. If compensation is required, draft picks are transferred immediately by the Commissioner. h. Contract lengths are determined by the player’s assigned tag, per section C. RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY – TAG DEFINITIONS. H. RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY – END OF RFA PERIOD 1. Owners must post on the appropriate league forum thread when they are finished opening new auctions. This does not preclude them from bidding on auctions other owners have started. 2. Rookie Free Agents that are not bid on by the end of the RFA period are made available to their original team for the league minimum salary ($10). The original team has 72 hours from the declaration of the end of the RFA period to offer this salary and sign the player to a 1-, 2-, or 3-year contract. If they decline, the player in question becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent. 3. Franchise or Transition players that are not bid on are placed on the original owner's roster at the Minimum Qualifying Offer, with a one-year F or T contract as appropriate. I. UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENCY 1. All Free Agents who are not Restricted Free Agents as defined above are classified as Unrestricted Free Agents. Additionally, RFAs who are not bid on nor offered a contract (league minimum) by their original team also become UFAs. 2. Any team may bid on UFAs, including the original team, and the highest offer signs the player to a new contract. No match provisions or compensation are offered for UFA. 3. The free agency timeline is as follows: · Kickoff of the first NFL game in the week including the first Zealots playoff game – ZFAC Championship: UFA Closed · ZFAC Championship – 4 weeks after start of RFA: RFA Only · Day after end of RFA – NFL Draft : UFA Open · NFL Draft – ZFAC Draft Complete: UFA Closed · ZFAC Draft Complete – first NFL game in the week including the first Zealots playoff game: UFA Open 4. When a new player is acquired via auction, his salary will be set to his winning auction value. 5. Contract length designations must be posted to the appropriate league forum thread. 6. During the offseason, veteran contracts must be posted within one week of signing. Rookie contract lengths must be posted by Payday. 7. While on-season, both veteran contracts and promoted “R” contracts must be posted within 48 hours of signing. 8. Failure to announce a player’s contract length within the specified time limit will result in an automatic three-year contract being assigned. 9. Any player released from a ZFAC roster between the end of the ZFAC regular season and the start of the ZFAC playoffs is ineligible to be won via auction during that time period. EARLY RELEASE AND CONTRACT PENALTIES A. Players released by their ZFAC team prior to their contract expiring will incur penalties. 1. A player dropped in the last year of his contract will be charged a penalty equal to 20% of his salary for the remainder of the league year before expiring. 2. A player with 2 or more years remaining will be charged a penalty equal to 20% times the number of years remaining on the contract. This penalty will remain for the current and next league years before expiring. B. Owners are required to post the following information on the appropriate league forum thread when releasing players: · Player name · Salary · Contract expiration year For example, “John Smith $45 2020” is acceptable. Owners may choose (but are not required) to calculate the penalty amount. However, Commissioners are required to ensure the correct penalty has been calculated and assessed. C. Any salary adjustments so charged must be paid by the owner on Payday. D. Owners may release players from their MFL Taxi Squad at any time without penalty. E. If a player retires from the NFL, he can be released immediately without penalty. F. Players on an NFL Taxi Squad, but who have not been on an NFL gameday roster for three consecutive months, may be released at any time without penalty. G. If a player is released from his NFL team and not resigned by another team for three months, he may be released without penalty. This three-month period is contingent upon release from the NFL, not how long the ZFAC team has owned the player contract. 1. Players released early (incurring a penalty) who subsequently meet the 3-month rule or player retirement can have their penalties immediately removed. 2. The owner must post on the appropriate league forum thread for penalties to be removed. 3. The team does not regain any ZBs lost as a result of the penalty. Only the salary cap penalty is removed. H. Expired salary cap penalties are removed on the first day of the offseason of the following league year. I. Players signed during offseason free agency, but released during the same offseason and before Payday, are guaranteed half of the salary amount paid on Payday. No penalty is applied to the salary cap. 1. The Commissioner should record this salary guarantee on MFL at the time of player release, using the Edit Accounting Records function. INAUGURAL VETERAN AUCTION & DRAFT A. All teams begin with $5500 and no players. B. Players will be acquired by open bidding with a moving deadline. C. Each owner may sponsor up to three players at a time. When a sponsored auction ends, regardless of who won the auction, an owner may sponsor one additional player. D. The inaugural auction will be considered complete when all owners have sponsored “NOBODY”. E. For the inaugural auction only, no less than 20% of a team’s players must be assigned to each available contract length (1, 2, or 3 years). 1. The remaining players may be assigned any length of contract, up to the maximum of 3 years. 2. All contracts must be submitted to the appropriate personnel within two weeks of the completion of the inaugural auction. a. The League Commissioner’s contracts will first be declared by private email to the Lombardi Czar, or the Operations Czar. b. After receipt of the contacts is confirmed, all other owners reveal their contracts to the commissioner. c. All league contracts should be revealed simultaneously on the appropriate league forum. F. The initial six-round Inaugural Rookie Draft is scheduled in accordance with the ZFL rules, or within two weeks of completion of the inaugural auction, whichever is later. Rookie draft order in the inaugural year will be randomly determined and non-serpentine. G. If desired by the league owners, the inaugural auction and rookie draft may be combined into one auction event, provided it is held after the NFL Rookie Draft. In that case, the Rookie Salary Table does not apply, and rookies will instead be assigned the auction value at which they were won. Those rookies will be assigned “V” contracts and will not be eligible for the Taxi Squad. ROOKIE SALARY TABLE A. The salaries of rookies drafted during the ZFAC Rookie Draft are determined by the following table. Group I (QB, RB, WR): Rd 1 = $300, $15 steps, $180 minimum Rd 2 = $150, $10 steps, $80 minimum Rd 3 = $60 Rd 4 = $45 Rd 5 = $30 Rd 6 = $20 Group II (TE, LB): Rd 1 = $120, $10 steps, $90 minimum Rd 2 = $80, $5 steps, $50 minimum Rd 3 = $40 Rd 4 = $35 Rd 5 = $30 Rd 6 = $20 Group III (PK, DL, DB) Rd 1 = $100, $5 steps, $80 minimum Rd 2 = $70, $2 steps, $60 minimum Rd 3 = $35 Rd 4 = $30 Rd 5 = $25 Rd 6 = $20 B. The first player drafted in a position group in the specified round has their salary set to the maximum listed. C. Each subsequent player drafted in a position group has their salary reduced by the listed "step", not to go lower than the minimum salary for that round. (e.g., RB1 is drafted at 1.01. As the first Group I player, his salary is $300. WR1 is drafted at 1.02. As the second Group II player, his salary is $300-$15, or $285. LB1 is drafted at 1.03. As the first Group II player, his salary is set to $120.) D. If no steps are listed, all players in that position group are assigned the same salary. OWNERSHIP LIMITS A. Any new Zealot may own only one ZFAC team, with no exceptions. B. Veteran ZFAC owners who are in good standing may own multiple teams. C. No current ZFAC owner will be permitted to drop an existing team for the purpose of starting a new team from scratch. Such acts are seen as attempts to disregard the integrity of Zealots Field and are considered a violation of our Code of Conduct. D. In the event of an oversight, an owner who exceeds the team ownership limits will be required to drop teams to comply with these limits. E. All instances of team ownership in Zealots Field are subject to review by leadership at any time to ensure that owners are meeting their responsibilities. Owners can lose a team(s) based on the leadership review. F. Team limits are put in place to avoid major disruption should an owner resign or be banned from Zealots Field. REPLACEMENT OWNERS A. ZFAC leagues do not conduct a replacement owner draft in the event two (or more) owners are replaced at the same time. All replacement owners inherit open teams as-is. B. If there are multiple openings, replacement owners may choose which team to take over. This is done on a first-come, first-served basis. C. At their discretion, League Commissioners may allow replacement owners some leeway in complying with league deadlines. RULE CHANGES A. Changes made to any Classic/PPR Administrative and Code of Conduct Rules In Common will immediately apply to all Auction-Contract leagues without being brought for vote. B. Changes made to any Gameplay Rules in Common shared by the Classic/PPR format and Auction-Contract leagues will immediately apply to all Auction-Contract leagues, unless Auction-Contract leagues subsequently choose to initiate a vote to reverse or modify the rule change, following the Auction-Contract leagues' Rule Change process. C. Any Gameplay Rules in Common previously altered by vote or ruleset implementation, or Format-Specific Rules, are amended when they receive support of more than 2/3 of the votes cast by the format's membership. 1. Each owner receives one vote, regardless of number of teams owned in the format. 2. An owner is not required to vote. If an owner does not vote, his vote will not be counted in the total used for ratification. D. Zealots Field retains the authority to retroactively clarify potentially confusing language, as well as ensure compliance with any previous rule changes that may have been inadvertently omitted from the Rules Document. E. Changes to the Rule Change process itself are determined by Zealots Staff. DISCUSSION PROCEDURE A. No later than one week after the annual Classic/PPR Rules Committee Summary is finalized and posted to membership, the Operations Czar will create format-specific threads in the format Convention Hall to outline any inherited Rules In Common changes, and solicit input for any potential rule changes. Specialty leagues with only one instance will host the thread inside the league's forum. In the inaugural seasons of new formats, no format-specific rule changes will be considered. 1. Any common rules being applied (without being brought to vote) will be posted in this thread. 2. Owners may create separate threads in the format Convention Hall to discuss potential rule changes. The Syndicate Czar will act as facilitator. 3. For a potential rule change to be brought to a vote, two things must exist: a. Proposed language as it would appear in the Rules Document. b. Another owner seconding the proposed language to move it to a vote. 4. Proposed language that contradicts existing rules must include revisions to the language of those rules. 5. Zealots Staff retain the right to adjust proposed language to ensure compliance with Rules Document templating. B. When discussion of all potential rule changes is complete, as determined by the Syndicate Czar and/or thread inactivity, the Syndicate Czar will create individual voting poll threads for all seconded proposals. An announcement will be sent to the league that voting is commencing. C. All votes will begin at the same time, and close within 10 days of the poll thread’s creation. D. The discussion and voting process should be finished by or near the start of NFL Free Agency. E. Rule changes shall be incorporated into a new version of the Rules Document, so that the prior Rules Document can be archived. Edited July 24, 2022 by mmason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmason Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 Edited to include new R+ language, clarify that free agency will follow the standard timeline set by the Rules Committee*, and update the formatting for readability. *Due to the late reveal of the timeline change, for 2022 teams were allowed to start early, provided that the league was confirmed as paid in full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmason Posted April 7, 2022 Author Share Posted April 7, 2022 Edited for correction regarding who is eligible for free release, pursuant to discussion in Convention Hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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