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Quick Rules Summary
Franchise League Football is a contract-based keeper league with a $100M pre-season salary cap and no cap during the season. Franchises manage a 14-player active roster (plus 2 reserve spots) with multi-year contracts, free agents (FAs), and restricted free agents (RFAs). Contracts are 3 years by default, with optional extensions starting in Year 3 at a fixed cost per year. College players can be stashed on reserve and enter as low-cost RFAs.
Before the season, each team protects 6–9 players and participates in a three-part auction: RFA, FA, and a one-round College Draft. In-season player acquisition uses a weekly $100M supplemental budget, with free agents available afterward. No direct reserve signings allowed.
Lineups must be submitted before each player's game. Scoring is half-PPR. The 14-week season culminates in a 4-team playoff round robin in Weeks 15–17. Non-playoff teams compete for next year’s draft order.
Full Rulebook
League Overview
A. Franchise League Football is a contract-based keeper league where each franchise manages a roster of players with varying contract statuses.
B. Players can be under one of three main contract statuses:
Regular Multi-year contract
Free agent
Restricted free agent
C. Salary Cap:
Each franchise operates under a $100M salary cap, which applies only during the pre-season auction.
There is no salary cap during the regular season.
Salary Cap
A. Active Rosters:
Each franchise may have up to 14 players on their active roster at all times during the season.
B. Starting Lineups:
Personnel - Each franchise will start one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one flex (a running back, wide receiver, or tight end), one kicker, and one DST each week.
Players may only start at their primary position.
Franchises will receive points scored by a player if that player lines up at a position other than their primary one (for example: if a TE or RB splits out as a receiver or if a RB takes a direct snap).
The point totals for five non-starting players will not count towards the franchise total.
Submitting Lineups – Official lineups are kept on the app. Franchises have up until five minutes before the start of their players' games to make lineup changes.
C. Reserve Roster:
Two players maximum per franchise may be on the reserve roster at any given time. This includes the college farm player.
There is no injury requirement for being placed on the reserve roster.
If a franchise places a player on the reserve roster, that player must stay on the reserve roster for a minimum of four weeks, unless released. Once released, a player, including a college farm player, is eligible to be picked up by any other franchise.
After Week 12, the four-week minimum is waived.
During the playoffs, players may be activated from the reserve roster, but no additional active spots will be allowed. A player placed on the reserve roster during the playoffs must remain there through the playoffs.
NFL players may not be picked up directly onto the reserve roster – they can only first come from the active roster but may immediately move from active to reserve roster.
Players traded from one reserve roster must go to the new franchise's reserve roster.
College farm players are placed directly onto the reserve roster. Each franchise can carry one college farm player on their reserve roster at any time, and that player counts towards the two player maximum. These players cannot start and cannot accumulate points (given they are not playing in the NFL). For college farm draft details, see Rule 4.I.
Player Contracts
All contracts are initially for three years, with the salary determined during the auction.
Third-Year Options and Extensions:
In the third year of a contract, franchises can:
Drop the player.
Retain the player for the same salary for one final year.
Extend the player’s contract for additional years at a fixed price increase per year.
Example:
If Saquon Barkley is signed for $24M, he can be:Kept at $24M for the second year.
Extended in the third year for $2M per additional year (e.g., 5-year extension = $34M salary).
Regular Season Roster
A. All contracts are initially for three years, with the salary determined during the pre-season auction.
B. Third-Year Options and Extensions:
Heading into the third year of a contract, franchises can:
Drop the player.
Retain the player at the same salary for one final year. That player will become a free agent at the end of the year and will not be eligible to be protected the following year.
Extend the player's contract for additional years at a fixed price increase per year. The player's new salary will be determined by the formula below. The number of years is up to the franchise. Once the extension ends, that player becomes a free agent (a player may not be signed to a second extension).
By the league determined keeper deadline, franchises must declare all contract extensions.
Extension Salary Formulas:
New Salary (for QBs/RBs/WRs) = Old Salary + (# of years extended) * $2M
New Salary (for TEs/Ks/Def) = Old Salary + (# of years extended) * $1M
Example:
A running back is initially won in the pre-season auction for $24M,
That player has a new 3-year contract, with a salary in Year 1 of $24M.
The player can be dropped at any point during the season, and if a new franchise picks them up, they assume that contract.
If no franchise has that player on their roster at season’s end, that player is once again a Free Agent.
In Year 2, assuming the player remains on a franchise’s roster at the end of season 1, the franchise can either keep the player at a $24M salary, or release that player.
In Year 3, that player is now in the Extension Zone, and the franchise must decide to drop the player, keep for $24M in the final contract year, or extend the player for $2M per additional year (e.g., 5-year extension = $34M salary). If extended for 5 years, the player’s new salary, starting that season, will be $34M, and the player can be kept at a salary of $34M for the next 5 seasons.
C. College Farm Players: If a franchise is activating a player from their college farm system, they must do so by the keeper deadline. College Farm Players will be RFAs at the end of their initial contracts. The salaries for this player are:
Year 1 $2M
Year 2 $4M
Year 3 RFA – with a base salary of $6M
Pre-Season Auctions
A. Timeline:
Each league will determine the specific timeline for their auction. This includes when the auction starts, as well as the amount of time allowed for each nomination (for FA auctions) and blind bidding process (for RFA and FA auctions).
The reaching of the league’s keeper deadline will initiate the auction functionality in the app.
The preseason auctions will consist of RFA rounds, regular FA rounds, and a College Farm Draft.
B. Keepers:
Prior to the pre-season auction, franchises must designate between 6 and 9 players to keep on their roster.
These designated players will remain under their current contracts heading into the new season.
This includes Restricted Free Agents (players not drafted the previous year and picked up midseason) and activated college farm players.
Each franchise will submit their list of protected players via the app, prior to a deadline set by each league.
Each franchise must be under the salary cap at this time (taking into account that additional players will be needed at a minimum of $2M per player).
C. Restricted Free Agent Auction:
Any player that has been kept but was not under contract the previous year (and thus picked up mid-season) is a Restricted Free Agent. College players kept and entering their third year under contract are also RFAs.
RFAs will be bid on in alphabetical order by last name.
During this auction, every other franchise has the ability to acquire a player off another franchise's roster by bidding an amount greater than that player's assigned salary. The initial franchise will have the opportunity to match the winning bid.
Bidding will open and close at a time determined by each league. When bidding closes, the winning bid is simply the highest of all those submitted. That winning bid is now considered the player’s salary, and the start of a new 3-year contract.
The franchise that originally had the player now has a pre-designated amount of time to match the new salary and retain the rights to that player.
In the absence of a declaration of matching, it is presumed the franchise does not match.
For RFA and pre-season FA auctions, a franchise cannot outbid their cap. The salary cap is $100M. A franchise must always have enough to bid at least the minimum ($2M) for every remaining roster spot. For example, if a franchise currently has 6 players, it must maintain at least $16M for the remaining 8 players. If it has $40M left, and is bidding on 2 players in a given round, then it must assume it wins both of those players, and leave $12M for the 6 remaining players - and thus can bid a max of $28M on those two players.
If no franchises bid on a RFA player, that player will enter the FA pool.
D. Regular Auction:
Franchises will participate in a multi-round auction until all franchises have filled their 14-player roster.
Franchises will take turns nominating FA players for bids (in a randomly determined order).
As with the RFA round, franchises will place blind bids within the allotted time and the franchise that submitted the highest bid wins the FA player. The player is then under a new 3-year contract with that franchise at a salary of the winning bid.
Once a franchise's roster is full, they can no longer nominate players.
As with the RFA round, franchises cannot outbid their salary cap.
In the case of tying bids, the first one submitted will win the player.
F. College Player Draft:
After the pre-season auction, a one-round college player draft is held.
In Year 1 of a new league, the college player draft order is randomly determined. In subsequent years, college player draft order is determined by a combination of the Week 15-17 seeded tournament of non-playoff franchises, and the finishing order of the playoff franchises.
The non-playoff tournament will pit franchises by power ranking, removing the four playoff franchises.
In a 12-franchise league, Franchise 5 plays 12, 6 plays 11, 7 plays 10, and 8 plays 9. The winner of each matchup advances, and losers are ranked by points scored in that week's game.
The non-playoff tournament winner earns the first college pick, runner-up earns the second pick, etc. through pick 8.
In a 12-franchise league, the 9th through 12th picks will be determined in reverse order of playoff performance (thus the Champion picks last).
Franchises can draft any college player or retain their previous draft pick if still in college.
The college player occupies one of the two Reserve Roster spots that each franchise has. A college player can be dropped during the season and that Reserve spot used for another player. College players who are dropped can be picked up by another franchise - but only picked up into a Reserve spot. College players can also be traded. For contract details of college players entering the NFL, see Rule 3.C.
College Farm Players that return to college – If a franchise's player returns to college, the franchise may choose to keep the rights to that player still in college, however, forfeits their pick in that year's draft.
The decision on whether or not to keep a player (and forfeit pick in that year's draft) must be made prior to the start of the college draft..
Scoring
A. Points:
A franchise will receive points based on the number of points one of their players produces for his NFL team, based on the following system:
Touchdown Scored: 6 points
Touchdown Thrown: 4 points
Interception Thrown: -1 point
Lost Fumble: -1 point
2 Point Conversion Scored: 2 points
2 Point Conversion Thrown: 2 points
1 rushing + receiving yard: 0.1 point
1 passing yard: 0.04 point
Reception: 0.5 point
Safety: 2 points
Defensive Interception: 1 point
Defensive Fumble Recovery: 1 point
Sack: 0.5 point
Field Goal <39 yards: 3 points
Field Goal <49 yards: 4 points
Field Goal <59 yards: 5 points
Field Goal 60+ yards: 6 points
Missed Field Goal <39 yards: -1 point
Extra Point: 1 point
Missed XP: -1 point
B. Defensive Points:
Defenses will receive bonus points based on how many points they hold their opposing NFL offense to:
Shutout: 10 points
1-6 points: 8 points
7-13 points: 6 points
14-20 points: 4 points
21-27 points: 2 points
28 or more points: 0 points
C. Special Teams Points:
All fantasy points earned by Special Teams are awarded to the D/ST, not to the individual player(s).
In-Season Transactions
A. Supplemental Draft:
Logistics - Supplemental will be conducted every week at a set date/time.
FAAB System - Each franchise will have a supplemental budget of $100M for the season. In reverse power ranking order, franchises will nominate a player to be auctioned, and bidding will commence. Bidding will continue until only a high bidder remains. The player will then be awarded to the highest bidder, and that franchise will subtract the bid amount from their supplemental budget.
Players dropped during supplemental are eligible to be nominated right away. The auction ends when no other franchise nominates a player.
After the supplemental auction, all free agent players are eligible to be picked up with no impact on the supplemental budget. Players dropped after the supplemental auction are available to be picked up immediately.
Supplemental will occur through the playoffs. However, a player picked up in supplemental beginning with the supplemental prior to the first playoff game will not be eligible to be kept the following year.
A winning bid amount will have no impact on a player's contract status or salary. A free agent who is kept will be a restricted free agent the following season. A player under contract who is picked up will retain the same contract going into the following season.
B. Free Agents:
Once the supplemental draft is complete, franchises can add/drop players on a first come first serve basis using the app.
A player can only be signed to the active 14-man roster. A player cannot be signed directly to the reserve roster.
DST can be added and dropped just as any player is. However, all franchises must have at least one DST on roster at all times.
C. Trades:
A trade is final once agreed upon by two consenting franchises and officially announced to the league via the app.
The commissioner has the discretion to reverse a trade if the trade may have been unfair or unethical (e.g., collusion between the two franchises).
Trading Deadline – no trades may be made once Week 12 has begun.
No "Player Rentals" Rule – Once a player has been traded, he may not be traded back to his former franchise for at least two weeks.
Trading resumes after the fantasy playoffs conclude.
Regular Season Gameplay
A. Regular Season Schedule:
Each franchise will play a 14-game schedule, played during weeks 1-14 of the NFL season.
The schedule will be randomly determined at the start of each season.
B. Starting Lineup:
Franchises compete in traditional fantasy football matchups using the following starting lineup:
1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex (RB/WR/TE), 1 DST, and 1 K
C. Injury Replacement Rule:
If a starting player is declared out mid-game, a designated bench backup will replace their points for subsequent quarters (e.g., backup scores from Q3 onward if the starter exits due to injury at halftime).
Playoffs
A. Number of Franchises in Playoffs:
There will be four franchises total in the playoffs - These are the top three franchises with best overall record and one wild card franchise.
B. Determining the Wild-Card:
The wildcard (4th playoff spot) will go to the franchise with the highest power ranking based on 1/3 record, 1/3 points, 1/3 matchup, with franchises ranked 1-12 on each dimension and given an average score based on their rankings in each).
Tiebreakers will be: a. Head-to-head b. Overall record c. Most points
C. Seeding/Matchups:
The #1 seed will pick the order of who they play in the three round robin games.
The decision must be made by 11:59 pm Tuesday of Week 15, or else it automatically defaults to #1 vs #4 then #1 vs #3 then #1 vs #2.
D. Round Robin:
The four playoff franchises will participate in three playoff games during NFL Weeks 15, 16, and 17.
To determine the Champion and Runner up, the following order will be used: a. Record – The record of the three playoff games played. b. Points - Total points scored in the three playoff games. c. Head to Head – in the playoff game between the franchises that are tied.
If there is a 3-0 team, that team is the champion. If not, then the Champion is determined by the 2-1 team with the most points – and if tied for points, then the head-to-head between 2-1 teams.
E. Playoff TieBreakers:
Tie for best record (two franchises tied). If franchises are tied in record, the tie for a playoff spot and/or seeding will be broken as follows: a. Head to head record b. Total points scored for season c. Franchise that has a longer draught of not making the playoffs d. Coin flip
Tie for wild card: Tiebreakers will be: a. Head-to-head b. Overall record c. Most points
Multiple Tie for Playoffs – If multiple franchises are tied in record, the tie for both a playoff spot or a seed will be broken as follows: a. Head to head between all franchises b. Total points scored for all season c. Franchise with longer draught of not making the playoffs
If at any time a franchise is eliminated by the above tie-breakers, the tie-breaker starts over with the remaining franchises.
F. Non-Playoff Franchises:
Compete in a three-week tournament to determine the draft order for the next college player draft.
