Indecent Proposal: Let’s Hit Reset

* THIS RULE HAS FAILED *

DISCLAIMER:  Though not strictly necessary, it’s probably a good idea to go back through this off-season’s articles on proposed rule changes before reading this article.

Concept:  Let’s restart the SCUFFLE Immersion by wiping the rosters clean and having another auction this year for all roster positions.

Rationale:  WHAT THE F&@K?!?  Okay, so it’s extreme and I can already hear Hammond typing away that he wants to keep his championship team intact to defend his title.  Fair enough, the man deserves to let his champs ride.  For the other 11 teams…

1) There have been MAJOR changes to the salary cap system this off-season.

And I love them.  I think that it’s going to be great for the league to have the static $350 ceiling and static a floor.  We’re also debating how to make allowances for owners that planned for the original cap structure way back in 2010 and are now in distress.  What about the expansion teams?  Wouldn’t they have benefited from founder teams being forced to cut good players to slash cap?

Further, we’ve been talking about how player salaries will balance themselves out in a year or two.  How about doing that right now?

2)  We’ve also promoted several other rule changes to implement.

Not that we have to do a re-auction for every single rule change.  In fact, the current system isn’t broken, just getting polished.  But when you start to add changes to the number of rounds in the draft, holdout policies, and the trade deadline to the aforementioned cap change and you’ve got yourself a fair amount of change to get used to.  Why not start fresh while…

3) We have a much better grasp on what we’re doing in this league.

Admit it, the 8 of us in the initial auction had very little idea of how things were going to go.  Some auctioned aggressively as a strategy, some conservatively, but we all made mistakes and would like another shot at it.  The two returning expansion owners may have a handle on their rebuilding gameplan, but their current rosters are a bit stark.  As for the new owners, well, this move would be…

4) Good for competitive balance.   

A) The 2 new owners are inheriting weak teams.  Super weak.  Check out those rosters, taking out all the players with 0 in the years left on contract column.  Ugh.  And that’s WITHOUT the holdouts like Matt Stafford and JPP listed.

B)  Overall, the 4 expansion teams have a TOTAL of 57 players under contract.         Almost enough to field two rosters.  By comparison, the Silvertips alone have 33 players under contract.

We all want to have a fun, competitive league with all-in owners.  I argue that the best way to accomplish that is by ensuring that each owner feels that their team is really theirs and not something that got dumped on them.

Mechanics:

1) Have a start-up auction this summer with every player (including rookies) available.

A) All teams start with their full allotment of $350 per new Salary Cap proposal

B) Must roster 30 players and be able to field a starting lineup per league by-laws

C) Don’t want to lose your favorite player?  It’s an AUCTION – go get ’em big boy.

2) No rookie draft  & all draft pick trades regarding future drafts are nullified

A) Teams that traded away picks no longer enjoy the advantages of owning a certain player, so it’s unfair to allow other owners to enjoy the advantages of additional draft picks.

B) Don’t worry about me, I’ll swallow my two 2012 first rounders and do my best to stockpile a bunch of 2013 1st and 2nd rounders again.

C) RE Hammond.  If he keeps his team in tact, he loses out on a rookie draft that includes 2 first rounders.  But really, the 4th overall is the one with value.  Thus, I propose that if, after the three rookies have been nominated in the Auction, Hammond has not won a rookie, he can call “4th pick in the draft”.  At that point, the Auction pauses and he can choose a rookie for the $14 slotted salary as if he were the 4th pick in the draft.  After that, the auction is back on like Donkey Kong.

3) Teams can designate players from this auction as RFAs based on a 5-round rookie draft such that once the auction is complete, owners may select:

A) Any 5 players and give them 1-year contracts.  Those 5 players will become RFAs in 2013 as if they were drafted in 2010.

B) Any 5 players and give them 2-year contracts to become RFAs in 2014 as if they were drafted in 2011.

C) Any 5 players and give them 5-year contracts to become RFAs in 2015 as if they were drafted in 2012.

Bold, huh?  Agreed.  But I think it’s so crazy it just might work. You in?

© 2012, Adam Franssen. All rights reserved.