TFL 2007 Rulebook

Changes

Player Trades: A Player trade section will be added prior to the start of the 2007 season. There was a discussion in 2006 that contract years might be extended through a purchase program, the decision has been made not to add this option at this time.

Injured Reserve and Scoreboard System Of Record: The official system of record for the TFL has been changed from ESPN to CBS Sportsline. All Injured reserve and final scoring decisions will be based off the posting on the CBS website.

Keeper Slots: It has been decided that keeper slots will be reduced this year. The exact amount of the reduction is still undecided.

Rulebook Archives

2006

Official Tools

League Management Software: CBSSportsline
Draft Software: Fantasy Auctioneer

Roster Information

There are 22 roster slots available which can be filled with any position (13 active players + 9 players on your bench). The owner is responsible for fielding a full team, if they are unable to do so then they will forfeit all points until they field a legal roster.

Required Positions

1 - QB
1 - RB
1 - WR
1 - TE
1 - K

Offensive Flex Positions

3 - any combination of WR,RB or TE

Defensive Flex Positions

5 - combination of DL, DB or LB (only 2 may be Linebackers)

Bench

9 - any combination of position

Injured Reserve

In addition to the roster slots, there are 2 spots reserved for injured players (IR). Players being placed on the IR must be designated "OUT" on the Injured Reserve List at Game Time. Player salaries will be reclaimed for the duration of the injury. The TFL official IR list is located on CBS Sportsline at: http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/injuries

When a player comes off of the IR (designated less than "OUT"), they must be either cut or returned to the roster. Failure to comply* will result in zero (0) points scored for the offending week(s).

Illegal Roster

The penalty for an illegal roster will result in the highest scoring ineligible player being disqualified and replaced with your lowest scoring reserve. The responsibility for setting a valid roster falls upon the owner, and not on the TFL toolset.

NOTE: Judgment of abuse is left up to the commissioner

Scoring

The following table shows the break down for fantasy points awarded to athletes. The fantasy points for each one of these stats is added together for each athlete to get their fantasy points total. All of the active athletes on your roster are combined to give your team a weekly fantasy points score. If your fantasy points are more than your opponent's for the week, then you win and your opponent loses. The team in the league with the best win-loss record at the end of the season will win the league.

NOTE: Athletes receive yardage points only for full 15, 25 or 30-yard increments. For example, a running back rushes for 102 yards and catches passes for another 58 yards. That athlete scores 9 fantasy points; 6 points for 90 yards rushing (drop the extra 12 yards) and 3 fantasy points for 45 yards receiving (drop the extra 13 yards). YOU DO NOT GET PENALIZED FOR NEGATIVE YARDAGE TOTALS.

Offense Scoring
Scoring Method	Points
TD	6
2 Point Conversion	2
Rushing/Receiving Yards (every 15 yards)	1
Passing Yards (every 30 yards)	1
Fumble (only if lost)	-3
Interception (throwin)	-3
Defense Scoring
Scoring Method	Points
TD	6
Solo Tackle	1
Assist	.75
Sack	3
Interception (caught)	4
Fumble Recovery	4
Safety	5
Special Team Scoring
Scoring Method	Points
TD	6
Field Goal (0-39)	3
Field Goal (40-49)	4
Field Goal (50+)	5
PAT (kicking)	1
20 Return Yds. (Kickoff Ret./Punt Ret./Int Ret.)	1

The TFL official scoreboard is CBS Sportsline: http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/scoreboard

Defensive Adjustment Scoring explained

This scoring system is based on head-to-head competition with the other owners in your league. Your team can affect the fantasy points scored by your opponent's team. Your goal is still to score more fantasy points each week than your opponent, and if you do, then you get a win and they get a loss.

In this type of scoring system, the defensive athletes you decide to have in active slots for the week will either subtract or add fantasy points to your opponent's score. The strategy basically works around your defense against their offense, and your offense against their defense. The three athletes you start in the Def. Flex positions can increase or decrease the fantasy points earned by your opponent's Wide Receivers (WR) and Running Backs (RB). Here's how athletes match up:

Defensive Linemen hit the holes and go for the ball when it's behind the line of scrimmage. They feast on a team's running backs. A team's fantasy points from Running Backs will be penalized by 15% for each DL starting against them. Of course, a Lineman isn't very effective in the secondary and will usually get burned any day of the week. A team's fantasy points from Wide Receivers will receive a bonus 10% for every DL started against them.
The Defensive Backs are the quick guys who love to do their best Mack truck impression on an unsuspecting Wide Receiver over the middle. They make a living by making the opposing team's air attack useless. A team's fantasy points from their Wide Receivers will be penalized by 15% for each DB starting against them. In order to pester the receivers and watch the QB, most Defensive Backs play off the line and fall into coverage leaving the run stoppage to the big guys up front. A team's fantasy points from Running Backs will receive a bonus of 10% for every DB started against them.
The middle men of the game who try to do it all are the Linebackers on defense, and the Tight Ends on offense. The Linebackers don't put a bonus or a penalty on the opposing team's offense. Likewise, Tight Ends do not receive a bonus or a penalty from the defensive athletes started against them. The bonuses and penalties are added up with the rest of your fantasy points each week to determine your total points for the week. If you have more points than your opponent, you win that week's game. With three Def. Flex positions and three Off. Flex positions, the coaching goes from the front office to the field.

Strategic Adjustments
Defensive Adjustments	Receiving	Rushing
DL (per each played)	+10%	-15%
LB (per each played)	0%	0%
DB (per each played)	-15%	+10%

Salary Cap

The current TFL salary cap is set at $220 ($10/player average). Following are some rules regarding the salary and how it is applied throughout the year. This list represents a high-level overview of top questions regarding the TFL Salary Cap. The commissioner reserves the right to make judgment calls as the season progresses.

The total of your roster must not exceed the salary cap ($220). This includes active players and bench players.
Players on your Injury Reserve (IR) do not count against the cap. Their salaries may be reclaimed to pursue free agents. However, to reactivate an IR player you must make room on your roster to accommodate the reactivated player.
Teams are responsible for the full salary value of any players acquired via trade. They must make room in their salary cap to accommodate any player they pick up. This can be done via trading other players or through dropping a player to free agency -- this must be worked out prior to any trade being approved.

Franchise Tags (keeper rules)

Following is the official Franchise Tag information. Note: the bottom 8 teams are allowed to keep a number of players at the previous year’s salary.

01-03: place: 3 players
04-07: place: 6 players
08-11: place: 8 players + 1 player "frozen"
12-14: place: 10 players + 2 players "frozen"

Note: the following restrictions apply to franchise tags

Owners may use any number of franchise tags, electing to use all, some, or none of them as they see fit
Franchise tags can be used in any position combination
Player salaries will increase $5 for every year they are "franchised'
No one player may be "franchised" for more than two (2) years. This allows a team to hold a single player for a total of three (3) years (draft year + 2 "franchise" tags).
If a team drops a player and submits the winning bid during that seasons draft or reacquires said player in free agency after using both franchise tags, the franchise designation is "reset."

Trades

Any owner may initiate a trade at any time during the year (season and offseason). Owners may trade players or keeper slots but frozen slots may not change hands. All trades are subject to commissioner review. Any owner may dispute the commissioner ruling by appealing to the league. To overturn a ruling the disputing owner must receive an overwhelming majority of owners voting in their favor (9/14 team approval). An owner does not need to be part of the trade to dispute a ruling. The commissioner will email all trade rulings to the league for review within one (1) hour of the trade being approved. Disputes must be submitted within 24 hours of this email notification.

Trades must be approved and executed during the "Primary" free agency period in order for the players to be active for the current week. Any trades approved after the "Primary" free agency period will be effective the following week. In other words, players traded after Tuesday of any given week will remain on the roster of the original teams and will not move to their new home until that weeks games have completed.

Free Agency

The TFL now follows a two-a-week free agency policy:

“Priority” Free Agency Deadline -- Every Tuesday, 21:00 PST (9pm)
"Scramble" Free Agency Deadline -- Every Wednesday, 21:00 PST (9pm)

The two-a-week format was devised to address priority bids (specifically the anomaly of winning a bid on your lower priority players), however owners are free to devise their own strategy on how to best to utilize this format.

Priority Free Agency

This free agency should be used to bid on the high priority players that you want to put on your roster. The idea is to only put bids on your number one choice by position so that there is no chance of you winning a bid on a player that was your second priority.

Scramble

This free agency period should be used to fill any holes that are left in your roster from failed "Priority" bids.

Keep in mind that this policy is not a guarantee that you will obtain the players you want. There is always the risk that your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd priority player will be picked up during the priority bidding so proceed with caution.

The sole purpose of this format is to allow you the ability to put in one bid for your top priority players, but there are no restrictions on the number of players that a team may bid on. Also, players that are dropped on Tuesday will not be eligible for the Scramble free agency period.