INDEX
7.2. Blind Bidding and Waivers
13. OWNERS’ ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. ROSTER
1.1. During the NFL season, the minimum roster size is 40 players and the maximum is 50 players.
1.2. In addition, each team may place an unlimited number of players onto the injured reserve (IR) list during the NFL season.
1.2.1. A player may only be put in IR if they are listed as IR (any formof IR – e.g. IR-PUP, COVID-IR) by MFL.
1.2.2. The salary of all players on the IR will count towards the salary cap.
1.2.3. In the off-season, these players will return to the standard roster.
1.2.4. The IR will open again on August 1st, and players may be moved to the IR as soon as they are designated as ‘IR’ on MFL.
1.3. In addition, each team will have a 10-man taxi squad.
1.3.1. Up to 5 players on the taxi squad may be second-year players. The remaining taxi squad spots are open only to rookie players acquired before the beginning of the NFL season.
1.3.2. The taxi squad will open after the Dynabowl draft. Players may be added to the taxi squad until midnight on the Tuesday before the first regular season game. Players may not be added to the taxi squad during the season.
1.3.3. While players remain on the taxi squad their salaries will not count towards the salary cap. However, no guaranteed money may be assigned to a player on the taxi squad.
1.3.3.1. A player being added to the taxi squad may have the structure of their contract changed only if the contract structure prior to being assigned to the taxi squad had guaranteed money in year one. In these circumstances, the structure must be changed so that no guaranteed money is in year one, unless the player has a $1 contract.
1.3.3.2. A player on a $1 contract on a taxi squad may be cut from the taxi squad without any dead money being assessed to the team cutting this player.
1.3.4. Players on a taxi squad may be claimed by a rival team at any time during the NFL season (i.e. any time after the kick off of the first game of the NFL regular season). In order to not surrender the player to the rival, the team which owns the player may choose to activate the player to their own roster instead. If they do not activate the player within 24 hours, he will transfer to the rival. The rival must place the player on their own active roster.
1.3.4.1. In order to claim a player from an opponent’s taxi squad, a GM must post a claim on the Taxi Squad forum or in the Dynabowl Announcements Channel on Discord, tagging the current owner.
1.3.4.2. Taxi squad claims can only be made after rosters unlock at the end of a game week and before the new game week begins.
1.3.4.3. If a team is unable to elevate a player to the Taxi Squad or drop their desired player in order to promote a player from the Taxi Squad within 24 hours of a Taxi Squad claim being made (usually because that player’s team has already played during the current week), the player who the team intends to drop should be announced in the Dynabowl Announcements Discord channel. The roster move must then be made by no later than 9pm on Wednesday of that week (prior to waivers running).
1.3.4.4. Example: On Friday, Team A claims Player A from Team B. Team B wishes to cut Player B to make room for Player A. However, Player B’s NFL team played on Thursday Night Football. Within 24 hours of the claim being made, Team B must announce its intention to cut Player B in the Announcements channel and then must cut Player B and elevate Player A by 9pm on Wednesday.
1.3.5. In the off-season, all taxi-squad players will be returned to the main roster
1.3.6. A team may agree a trade for another team’s taxi squad player and immediately place that player on their own taxi squad, provided that they have sufficient room on their taxi squad. The Commissioner will facilitate this if necessary.
1.4. In the off-season the maximum roster size is increased to 80 players and must be reduced to 50 (or fewer) players according to the following schedule:
| Before… | Max Players On Roster | Notes |
| Tuesday following Pre-Season Game 3 | 60 Active Players (soft limit) | (exc Taxi Squad, IR) |
| Regular Season Kick Off | 50 Active Players (hard limit) | (exc Taxi Squad, IR, must meet Salary Cap) |
1.4.1. If a squad is found to be over these limits, the Commissioner is within his rights to remove players to meet the limits. This will be done by releasing players on the smallest, shortest contracts first. Where contracts are equal in size and value the players will be released alphabetically.
2. STARTING LINE-UP
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2.1. A team’s weekly starting line-up consists of 22 players, broken down as follows:
Offense (11 players total):
1 x Quarterback (QB)
2-3 x Running Back (RB)
3-4 x Wide Receiver (WR)
1-2 x Tight End (TE)
1 x Place Kicker (PK)
1 x Punter (PN)
Defense (11 players total):
2-3 x Defensive Tackle (DT)
2-3 x Defensive End (DE)
2-3 x Linebacker (LB)
2 x Cornerback (CB)
2 x Safety (S)
Position designations for DT, DE and LB will be set using Pro Football Focus’s (PFF) player positions, as set out in each individual player’s page. The designations will be as follows:
| PFF designation | MFL designation |
| Interior defensive lineman (IDL or DL) | DT |
| Edge rushed (ED or EDGE) | DE |
| Off-ball line-backer (LB) | LB |
GMs may make a case for DTs, DEs or LBs to move to another position if they believe that PFF’s designation is perverse. The Commissioner will have sole authority to rule on these cases. For all other positions designated by MFL, MFL’s position designations will not be changed.
2.1.1. Each team must submit it’s strongest possible line-up each week. While this is subjective, obvious attempts to submit under strength line-ups for the purpose of losing games to improve draft position is punishable by the commissioner by any means at his disposal, up to and including expulsion from the league (see Section 11). Starting inactive players in early games (i.e. games kicking off before 9pm on Sunday) will usually be seen as an attempt to submit a under strength line-up. If a GM does not know if a player will be active and will not be in position to change their starting line-up once inactives are announced (usually around 90 minutes before games) for unavoidable reasons (e.g. due to travel) they should post in the Announcements chat to explain the change they wish to make, pending announcement of inactive players. The Commissioner will then change their line-up in line with this at the first available opportunity.
The Commissioner has the discretion to apply this rule, and has indicated that the standard initial punishment for this will be removal of a 4th round pick for a first offence, escalating by 1 round per offence.
2.1.2. In exceptional circumstances, the Commissioner may allow teams to nominate designated substitutes in the event that players are unexpectedly inactive. In such circumstances, all substitutes must be nominated prior to either game or the game of the player they would substitute for kicking off. The Commissioner will have sole discretion to decide when nominating substitutes will be acceptable.
2.1.3. In the event of an NFL game being cancelled or postponed, the Commissioner will have sole discretion of how to handle that for the purposes of scoring that week.
2.2. The starting line-up will be reviewed every season and may be adjusted according to the following rules:
2.2.1. Changes to the starting line-up will only be made with the approval of at least 66% of teams (1 vote per team, not per GM).
2.2.2. Changes will be agreed and announced at least 12 months before they are implemented unless there is 100% consensus within the league that they should be brought in sooner.
2.3. In the playoffs, except the final, the team seeded highest will have ‘Home Flex Advantage’. This means that the higher seed will determine the starting line-up requirements by designating the positions of the three flex spots (two offensive, one defensive).
2.3.1. The higher seed should announce via one of the Dynabowl Announcements Discord channel the roles to be played in the flex spots prior to the first game of the week, and must ensure that the opposing GM has seen the restrictions. Both teams must adhere to this line-up regardless of any injuries subsequently revealed.
2.3.2. MFL doesn’t police this rule so owners are responsible for ensuring they submit a legal line-up
2.3.3. Any breach of this rule must be brought to the attention of the commissioner by the opponent of the team breaching the rule before the start of the next game week. The commissioner will then dock the team in breach the number of points scored by the illegally fielded player(s).
2.4. In rare circumstances a player may be excluded from the league and placed on a commissioner’s exempt list. This requires a 100% vote from all teams.
3. SCORING
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3.1. Full details of the scoring can be found on the My Fantasy League website
3.2. Scoring will be reviewed every off season and may be adjusted.
3.2.1. Changes to the scoring will only be made with a minimum 66% approval from GMs.
3.2.2. Changes will be agreed and announced at least 12 months in advance of the season which they are to affect unless there is a 100% consensus within the league that the changes should be brought in sooner.
3.3. In the event of a regular season match finishing as a tie there will be no tie-break.
3.4. In the event of a playoff game finishing as a tie, the playoff decider will be highest scoring bench player.
4. ROOKIE DRAFT
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4.1. A rookie draft consisting of 12 rounds will take place every year, usually four weeks after the NFL draft has taken place. The Commissioner will set the date of the draft.
4.2. Any player considered a rookie by MFL will be deemed a rookie for fantasy draft purposes.
4.3. The first 6 picks will be taken by the teams who did not make the playoffs the previous season, in an order determined by regular season record, with the worst performer getting the highest pick and so on. The only exceptions being where these picks have been traded in advance of the draft or a team has been fined a draft pick.
4.4. The last 4 picks will go to the teams which made the post-season, with the last pick going to the DynaBowl champion and the second to last pick going to the runner-up. Teams losing the playoff semi-finals will be assigned picks in reverse seed order.
4.5. Where a team’s position is tied with another, the team with the fewest Potential Points (listed on MFL, under Reports>Standings>Power Rank) will get the earlier pick.
4.6. The draft will be a slow draft. This is a draft that takes place over a period of days or weeks and allows for trading of draft picks during the draft. The rules for the draft are as follows:
4.6.1. Each team will have a 24 hour period to make each pick. Teams are expected to make their picks as soon as reasonably possible. Other GMs are expected to heckle them as much as reasonably possible until they make their pick.
4.6.2. When a team makes a pick the clock will start for the next team.
4.6.3. Either in advance or when a team is ‘on the clock’ (OTC), they may trade their pick to other teams
4.6.3.1. If a trade is agreed for a pick that is OTC, the team moving up in the draft to the current spot OTC will NOT get a restarted clock. They will have to take their pick before the currently ongoing time elapses.
4.6.4. If a team fails to make a pick in time they will still be able to take their pick. However, the following team(s) OTC may take their picks first. MFL can be set to auto-pick to prevent this eventuality. If MFL will not allow a GM to may a pick under these circumstances, they must notify the Commissioner of the player they pick and may not select any player that has been picked since their time expired.
4.6.4.1. If a team fails to make a pick within their draft slot they will still be responsible for the salary associated with the pick they should have taken. Any team that overtakes them in these circumstances will also only pay the salary associated with their draft slot.
4.6.5. Teams may intentionally forfeit a draft pick if they do not wish to take a player for either talent or salary reasons.
4.6.6. If a team forfeits a draft pick they may still take a pick in a later spot, assuming they have a pick remaining (or trade to get a pick).
4.7. Rookie players picked in the draft will be given contracts according to the rookie scale outlined in section 5.6.
4.8. Draft picks for any future draft may be included in trades.
4.8.1. If a team trades a significant number of future draft picks, or picks a significant number of seasons in advance, they may be asked to pay league dues for future seasons. This is at the discretion of the Commissioner.
4.9. The winner of the Survivor and Confidence Pool side games will receive a 6th round pick. This pick will be placed at the end of the 6th round. Picks will be allocated in line with the teams’ existing draft order, alongside any picks allocated as a result of the Loser Ladder
4.9.1. Example: Team A finishes last (Pick #1) wins Survivor. Team B wins the Dynabowl (Pick #10) and wins the Confidence Pool. Team C finishes 5th (Pick #6) and receives a 6th round pick as a result of the Loser Ladder. Team A receives pick 6.11. Team C receives pick 6.12. Team B receives pick 6.13.
4.10. Discretionary Loser Ladder picks and picks won in side-games may be traded.
5. CONTRACTS
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5.1. A proportion of any contract will be guaranteed. The team supplying the contract will be responsible for paying this money even if the player leaves their roster. The only exceptions are if the player is traded to another team, in which case the new team becomes responsible for the value of the contract, including the guaranteed money, or if a player retires and stays retired (see rule 6.10)
5.2. The proportion of the contract that is guaranteed and the maximum length of the contract are determined by the rules in the following table:
| Contract Type | Contract Value | Maximum Length | Guaranteed Money (rounded up) |
| In-season Free Agent Acquisition | Any | 1 year | 25% |
| Drafted Rookie | $1-3 | See Rookie Contracts (Section 5.6.1) | 0% |
| Drafted Rookie | $4+ | See Rookie Contracts (Section 5.6.1) | 25% |
| Standard | $1-3 | 1 year | $1 |
| Standard | $4-6 | 2 years | 25% |
| Standard | $7-9 | 3 years | 25% |
| Standard | $10-12 | 4 years | 25% |
| Standard | $13-25 | 5 years | 40% |
| Standard | $26-50 | 5 years | 60% |
| Standard | $51+ | 5 years | 75% |
5.2.1. A player acquired via blind bidding may only receive a 1 year contract (see also rule 7.2.2.) but may receive a franchise tag extension per rule 7.3.
5.3. Contract Structure
5.3.1. A contract may be front or back loaded. This means that the guaranteed money can be distributed across the contract as the team sees fit. For example:
5.3.1.1. A player is signed on a $50 5 year contract. $30 of that contract, per year, is guaranteed – a total of $150 in guaranteed money. However, the team may distribute that money across the years however they choose. This may be evenly – $30 per year – or be stacked with larger amounts some years than others.
5.3.1.2. In the above example, the remaining $20 of the contract is the annual salary. This is paid every year that the player remains on the roster and cannot be restructured. However, if the player is dropped, this portion of the contract is no longer due.
5.3.2. Any player signed via open bidding or traded in the off-season must have their contract structure confirmed within 2 weeks. If this is not received, their contract will be evenly distributed (open bidding) or remain as per their previous contract structure (traded). The Commissioner has discretion on applying this rule, but will give teams fair warning of any deadlines which he will apply.
5.3.3. Any player traded during the season must have their contract structured before the start of the next game week. If this is not received, the player’s contract will remain as it was structured at his previous team.
5.4. Contract Restructuring
5.4.1. A player on a 4- or 5-year contract may have the remains of their contract restructured in the off-season, before 1 August, after exactly two contract years have been completed.
5.4.2. A player on a 3-year contract may have their contract restructured in the off-season, before 1 August, after one contract year has been completed.
5.4.3. Players on a 1- or 2-year contract may not have their contracts restructured
5.4.4. A contract may also be restructured if an extension is made (See 5.5).
5.4.5. A contract may also be restructured directly after a player has been received as part of a trade.
5.5. Contract Extension
5.5.1. A contract may only be extended in the off-season when a player has 1 year left on his current contract. All extensions must be submitted by midnight July 31st to the Commissioner.
5.5.2. If a player reaches August 1st with only 1 year left on his contract he will become a free agent at the end of the season (see Section 7 – Free Agency).
5.5.3. A contract may be extended to a maximum of 5 years, adding 4 years to the length of the contract, in line with the maximum contract lengths listed in rule 5.2.
5.5.4. To extend a contract, a GM must notify the commissioner that this is his intention, specifying the length of the extension.
5.5.5. Extension costs will be split into 5 tiers. The tier into which a player’s extension calculations falls will be determined as follows:
| Tier | Best Performance in Past 3 Seasons: All Positions exc RB, WR, LB | Best Performance in Past 3 Seasons: RB, WR, LB |
| 1 | 1st-3rd top scorer | 1st-5th top scorer |
| 2 | 4th-8th top scorer | 6th-10th top scorer |
| 3 | 9th-15th top scorer | 11th-25th top scorer |
| 4 | 16th-25th top scorer | 26th-40th top scorer |
| 5 | 26th+ top scorer | 41st+ top scorer |
5.5.5.1. The formula for calculating the cost of an extension is as follows:
Tier Average Contract * (1 + Tier Accelerator) = Extension Cost
5.5.5.2. The Tier Average Contract will be the average value of active contracts at the end of the previous season for the applicable players at the appropriate tier, as laid out in the table below:
| Tier | Contract Values: All Positions exc RB, WR, LB | Contract Values: RB, WR, LB |
| 1 | 1st-3rd most expensive | 1st-5th most expensive |
| 2 | 4th-8th most expensive | 6th-10th most expensive |
| 3 | 9th-15th most expensive | 11th-25th most expensive |
| 4 | 16th-25th most expensive | 26th-40th most expensive |
| 5 | 26th+ most expensive | 41st+ most expensive |
5.5.5.3. The Tier Accelerator is calculated as follows:
((Tier Frequency * 0.05) + ((Tier Recency * 0.05) – 0.15 * Tier Scaling
Where:
Tier Frequency = The number of times the player achieved their peak tier performance in the past 3 years, maximum 3
Tier Recency = How recently the player last achieved their peak tier performance, 3 for most recent season, 2 for 2 seasons ago, 1 for 3 seasons ago
Tier Scaling:
| Tier | Scaling |
| 1 | 1.0000 |
| 2 | 0.6667 |
| 3 | 0.4667 |
| 4 | 0.3333 |
| 5 | 0.2000 |
Therefore, the minimum and maximum Tier Accelerators, by tier, will be:
| Tier | Minimum | Maximum |
| 1 | -5.0000% | 15.0000% |
| 2 | -3.3333% | 10.0000% |
| 3 | -2.3333% | 7.0000% |
| 4 | -1.6667% | 5.0000% |
| 5 | -1.0000% | 3.0000% |
5.5.6. The guaranteed money will mirror that laid out in 5.2.
5.5.7. The value of the extension will only be valid for the additional years of the contract. The value of the final year of the existing contract will not be affected.
5.5.7.1. Where a player’s original contract was frontloaded (i.e. a team has allocated more per year than required from the guaranteed money on their original contract) the team will receive a salary cap credit for the additional amount paid. This will be reflected in the effective extension cost, set out within the Salary Cap Database spreadsheet, circulated by the Commissioner.5.5.7.2. Example: Player A has a 5 year, $20 contract ($8 per year of which is guaranteed). Team A assigns $16 of that guaranteed money in year 1, $8 per year in years 2-4, then $0 in year 5. When Team A extends player A to a 5 year, $30 contract ($18 per year guaranteed), it receives $8 in credit from the frontloaded aspect of the original contract.
5.5.8. After an extension has been agreed, all guaranteed money, from both the original contract and the extension, may be restructured.
5.5.9. A player due to receive a top-tier extension will not accept a reduced contract. If the extension cost based on the rules set out in 5.5.5. is lower than the player’s current contract, the extension will be at a cost equal to the player’s current contract.
5.5.10. The extension costs will be calculated at the end of the season, based on the players’ positions for the previous season. If a player changes position according to MFL during the off-season, this will not alter the extension costs.
5.5.10.1. The contract costs used to calculate the value of extensions will be all active contracts for players contracted for week 17 of the previous season. However, if a player was subject to an extension in the previous off-season and so has just completed the final year of his previous contract and is about to start the first year on his new contract, the higher valued contract will be used to calculate the extension cost.
5.5.11. For extending players signed to the Waiver Franchise Tag see section 7.3.
5.6. Rookie Contracts
5.6.1. The value and length of a rookie contract is determined by the position they are taken in the draft, according to the following table:
| Pick | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Rounds 6+ |
| 1 | $20, 4 years | $10, 4 years | $6, 4 years | $3, 4 years | $2, 3 years | $1, 3 years |
| 2 | $19, 4 years | $10, 4 years | $6, 4 years | $3, 4 years | $2, 3 years | $1, 3 years |
| 3 | $18, 4 years | $10, 4 years | $6, 4 years | $3, 4 years | $2, 3 years | $1, 3 years |
| 4 | $17, 4 years | $9, 4 years | $6, 4 years | $3, 4 years | $2, 3 years | $1, 3 years |
| 5 | $16, 4 years | $9, 4 years | $5, 4 years | $3, 4 years | $2, 3 years | $1, 3 years |
| 6 | $15, 4 years | $9, 4 years | $5, 4 years | $3, 4 years | $2, 3 years | $1, 3 years |
| 7 | $14, 4 years | $8, 4 years | $5, 4 years | $3, 4 years | $2, 3 years | $1, 3 years |
| 8 | $13, 4 years | $8, 4 years | $5, 4 years | $3, 4 years | $2, 3 years | $1, 3 years |
| 9 | $12, 4 years | $7, 4 years | $4, 4 years | $3, 4 years | $2, 3 years | $1, 3 years |
| 10 | $11, 4 years | $7, 4 years | $4, 4 years | $3, 4 years | $2, 3 years | $1, 3 years |
5.6.1.1. Contracts for players taken with compensatory picks will be the same as the pick directly before them in the draft.
5.6.2. All rookie contracts have 25% guaranteed, except those valued at $1-$3 which will have $0 guaranteed.
5.6.3. A rookie taken in the draft may be dropped before their first NFL season begins without the team being penalised guaranteed money.
5.6.4. If a rookie taken in the draft is dropped before the NFL season begins and is then picked up again by the same team, again prior to the start of the season, the terms of the original contract will apply.
5.6.5. The values of rookie contracts may be adjusted if the number of rookies picked is likely to be significantly lower or higher, or if the salary cap is increased. This is at the Commissioner’s discretion.
5.6.6. When drafting rookies, the structure and length of the contract should be communicated to the Commissioner by email within 2 weeks of the end of the draft or July 31st, whichever comes sooner. If this is not done the contract will be structured evenly and will be of the minimum length required by the draft slot. The Commissioner has discretion on applying this rule, but will give teams fair warning of any deadlines which he will apply.
5.6.7. All rookies who are undrafted in the Dynabowl Draft can be signed via free agency alongside veteran players. Contracts for these players are subject to the same rules as all veteran free agents.
6. SALARY CAP
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6.1. Each team will have a total salary cap of $600.
6.2. If a team has fewer than 50 players (excluding taxi squad but including injured reserve), it must have at least $1 available within its budget for each player fewer than 50 it has.
6.3. The salary cap is a soft cap which means it can be breached but there will be penalties in future seasons for breaching it.
6.4. In the event of breaching the salary cap a team will spend at least 1 season with their salary cap reduced according to the table below. This will be called a ‘Hard Cap’ though teams will be able to breach it (see rules 6.14 – 6.14.7).
| Offence Number | Cap Reduction | Hard Cap Period |
| Offense #1 | 1 x Overspend | 1 Year |
| Offense #2 | 1.5 x Overspend | 1 Year |
| Offense #3 | 2 x Overspend | 1 Year |
| Offense #4 | 3 x Overspend | 1 year |
| Offense #5 | 3 x Overspend | 2 Year |
| Offense #6 | Penalty according to result of league debate – maximum penalty possible expulsion from league |
The penalties in the table above are applied per week. EXAMPLE: A team is over the salary cap by $1 for 10 weeks. Their cap reduction for the following season will be $10. Multiple offences committed in the same season will only count as one offence, but all offences will be considered for the cap reduction. EXAMPLE: A team is over the salary cap by $10 in week 1. They are under the cap from week 2 to week 5. In week 6 they are $10 over the cap again. They are under the cap from week 7 to the end of the season. Their cap reduction for the next year is $20.
6.5. One year spent within the cap limit will reset a team’s Offense # to zero.
6.6. Penalties may be reduced in extenuating circumstances. A GM may petition the Commissioner if he feels he has a case for reducing the penalty given to his team. The Commissioner’s decision will be final.
6.7. A team may breach its salary cap midweek, between the end of the Monday night game and the start of the Thursday night game, and in the off-season without penalty. They must be within the cap limit on all game weekends, or will be subject to the above penalties.
6.8. MFL cannot monitor salaries in the way that the league requires. Therefore all contract and salary cap information will be recorded in an Excel spreadsheet available via league website, and through a GoogleDoc shared via the league website. The Excel spreadsheet will be the official, definitive record of salary cap information. It is up to the individual GMs to ensure the Commissioner has all of the information he needs to keep this information up-to-date and correct.
6.9. Guaranteed money owed to a player who is cut will remain on a team’s payroll and count against the cap as dead money, even if they are subsequently picked up as a free agent by another team (or the same team).
6.9.1. Before the Dynabowl trade deadline, the dead money can be consolidated into the current league year or left as an annual payment for each remaining year on the contract. It may not be restructured in any other way.
6.9.1.1. Example: Team A cuts Player A during his 5 year, $20 contract ($8 per year guaranteed, allocated to the cap at $8 in each year for this season and the following 4 seasons). Team A can choose to have $40 dead money assessed in the current year, or choose to have $8 dead money assessed in the current year and each of the following 4 years.
6.9.2. Following the Dynabowl trade deadline, any dead money included within the contract during the current year will be assessed against the salary cap in the current year. The team may then choose whether to consolidate the remaining guaranteed money into the following year or leave it as an annual payment for each remaining year on the contract.
6.9.2.2. Example: Team A cuts Player A during his 5 year, $20 contract ($8 per year guaranteed, allocated to the cap at $8 in each year for this season and the following 4 seasons), following the trade deadline. $8 dead money is assessed in the current year. Team A can choose to have $32 dead money assessed in the following year, or choose to have $8 dead money assessed in each of the following 4 years.
6.10. If a player retires with years left on his contract, the only dead money the team is responsible for is money that had been ‘backloaded’ on his contract over and above the average guaranteed money per year figure.
6.10.1. For example, a player on a $40 contract ($24 per year guaranteed) had his contract structured so that he was owed $30 guaranteed in each of his final 2 years, when he retires. In this case, the team who owned him would be responsible for $6 in dead money per year.
6.10.2. This dead money can be consolidated into the first year or left as an annual payment for each remaining year on the contract. It may not be restructured in any other way.
6.11. If a player pulls a ‘Favre’ and comes out of retirement, if he has been dropped he is a free agent and may be bid upon. If he has not been dropped, he remains at the team on the previous contract
6.12. A retired player may only be dropped, he may not be moved between squads – ie he cannot be moved from the main roster to the IR list
6.13. If a player is dropped during the season they may not be re-signed on a lower contract by their original team until after they have passed through one complete cycle of blind bidding free agency (BBFA).
6.13.1. A team may re-sign a player within this window. However, the player will join on a contract at least equal to that of his original contract. The team will be liable for the guaranteed money on the previous contract, along with any guaranteed money on the new guaranteed.
6.13.1.1. “One complete cycle of BBFA” means the full period from either Saturday to Wednesday or Wednesday to Saturday.
6.13.1.2. Example: Player A is dropped from his $2, 1 year contract on Tuesday by Team A. Team A is charged $1 dead money. If Team A resigns Player A before Saturday of that week with a $1 BBFA bid, Player A will return on a $2, 1 year contract, with $1 guaranteed. If Team A resigns Player A for $1 on Sunday or afterwards, Player A will join on a $1 contract.
6.13.1.3. This rule only applies during the season, when BBFA is in place. During the offseason, when open auction free agency is in place, the player is visibly available to the entire league and the 5-day rule ensures that all players have the opportunity to bid on the player.
6.14. In the event of a team exceeding a hard cap limit, the commissioner will remove a player or players until the team meets the cap limit.
6.14.1. The commissioner will attempt to release the fewest number of players possible in order to make the team hit the cap
6.14.1.1. For example – a team is exceeding the hard cap limit by $30. The commissioner will attempt to release one player with a cap hit of $30, rather than several players with cap hits of smaller amounts. In the event of no player contributing a cap hit of the precise amount required, the commissioner will release a player with a greater cap hit, if possible.
6.14.2. If the player to be released has guaranteed money, that money will still count towards the cap.
6.14.2.1. For example – a team exceeding the hard cap limit by $15 has a (rookie) player with a cap hit of $22, $6 guaranteed and a player with a cap hit of $25, $10 guaranteed. In this case, the $25 player would be released as the space freed is exactly $15
6.14.3. If the commissioner has to release more than one player, it will be down to his discretion which player combination should be released, while minimising the number of players to be released.
6.14.4. The commissioner does not have to notify a manager in advance of making a hard cap player release.
6.14.5. The previous owner may bid for the player, as long as they create the cap space to fit the player onto their roster.
6.14.6. If a team breaches the hard cap they will have a second consecutive season with a hard cap.
6.14.7. Basically, make sure you don’t exceed a hard cap limit
6.15. At the end of the season, 50% of any unspent money (rounded up) below the team’s cap limit, or under $600 (whichever is lower) will be carried over to increase the team’s cap limit the next season.
6.15.1. This will be calculated based the highest spend through the team’s season.
6.15.1.1. For example, a team spending $565 in its highest spending week of the season against a cap limit of $600 would have a cap underspend of $35 and so would carry over $18 and have a cap limit of $618 the following season.
6.15.1.2. A team spending $598 against a cap limit of $612 would only carry over $1.
6.16. The salary cap may be increased between seasons, depending on development of the league. This will be subject to a vote by the league.
6.17. All salary cap details will be available to all teams at all times.
6.18. The salary cap will apply from the first game of the NFL regular season until the completion of the Dynabowl season.
7. FREE AGENCY
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7.1. If a player has 1 year remaining on his contract on August 1st of any season, he will become a Free Agent at the end of the season.
7.1.1. Free agency will begin at 9am on a Monday with at GMs being given at least 2 weeks notice of the beginning of this period. It will end at 10pm on the Friday 2 weeks before the start of the Dynabowl rookie draft.
7.1.2. When free agency closes, no new players may be bid on. However, any auctions which have not yet currently been concluded will continue until the end of bidding as per rule 7.1.3.
7.1.3. Any player not on a DynaBowl roster and not part of the rookie draft is eligible for nomination and bidding.
7.1.4. To open bidding, a GM must place a bid using the tool on the league website (https://dynabowl.com/free-agent-bidding)
7.1.4.1. A GM may increase the bid for the player by offering a higher value contract. The hierarchy of contact values is displayed on the bidding page of the website, below the bidding form.
7.1.4.2. All bids are final. It is the responsibility of each GM to ensure that they understand the contact values hierarchy and the implications of any bid they place. The Commissioner has sole discretion to allow a GM to withdraw a bid.
7.1.5. Bidding on a player will close when no higher bid is placed for 5 days (120 hours). All active bids are displayed on the bidding page of the website.
7.1.5.1. In the event that a GM is unavailable for a period during UFA bidding, he may register proxy bids with either a) the Commissioner or b) a Deputy Commissioner. This person will then bid on their behalf.
7.1.5.2. Other than as specified in 7.1.5.1, bidding on a player as another team is a serious offence that will be subject to penalty, up to and including expulsion from the league. The penalty is at the Commissioner’s discretion. If a GM does this in genuine error, they must post in the Dynabowl Announcements thread as soon as they realise the error. The Commissioner will then rectify this error, but will still have discretion to decide whether to assess a penalty.
7.1.6. It is the responsibility of each GM to ensure they are up to date with all free agent bidding. A GM does not need to publicise a bid.
7.1.6.1. The Commissioner will not accept complaints of “But I didn’t realise that player was being bid on”. Everyone will have 5 days from the previous bid to catch-up and lodge their own bid. Ignorance is no defence.
7.1.7. A second period of free agent bidding will run from the Monday two weeks after the completion of the DynaBowl rookie draft (beginning at 9am) until July 31st at 10pm (BST) with the same rules in place (though players eligible for the draft and not picked may now be bid on).
7.1.8. If a player is dropped within the final 120 hours (5 days) of the first free agent bidding period, they cannot be bid on until the second free agent bidding period. If a player is dropped within the final 120 hours of the second free agent bidding period, they cannot be bid on until the start of blind-bidding free agency.
7.2. Blind Bidding and Waivers
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7.2.1. Starting from 8pm (GMT) on the first Saturday after August 1st, the weekly free agent schedule will begin.
| Day | Time | Event |
| Saturday | 8pm (GMT) | Previous blind bidding period ends, new blind bidding period opens |
| Sunday | All day | Blind bidding continues |
| Monday | All day | Blind bidding continues |
| Tuesday | All day | Blind bidding continues |
| Wednesday | 8pm | Previous blind bidding period ends, new blind bidding period opens |
| Thursday | All day | Blind bidding continues |
| Friday | All day | Blind bidding continues |
7.2.2. This will all be run via the MFL website and will occur automatically. All players taken in blind bidding will have a one year contract.
7.2.3. In the event of two equal bids being highest, the earliest submitted bid will win the player.
7.2.4. Blind bidding and waivers will end at 8pm (GMT) on the Saturday of week 17 of the NFL season – the final week of the DynaBowl season.
7.3. Waiver Franchise Tags
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7.3.1. Each team will have the option of using up to 2 Waiver Franchise Tags. These must be used between January 1st and the end of February.
7.3.2. The Waiver Franchise Tag may be applied by a team to any player they signed via blind bidding, as set out in rule 7.2.2. These players will only have a 1 year contract, expiring at the end of the league year.
7.3.3. By applying the Waiver Franchise Tag, the team may keep the player they signed via blind bidding for a further year. The cost of the Waiver Franchise Tag will be calculated in the same way as an extension, based on the previous 3 years of performance by the player.
7.3.4. To apply the Waiver Franchise Tag the GM should contact the Commissioner to notify the league of the intention to apply the tag in January or February. After this date the tag will no longer be available.
7.3.5. A player playing with the Waiver Franchise Tag may be offered an extension by the team who signed them originally any time before the start of week 9 of the NFL season. The extension will cost one tier higher than an extension ordinarily would. If the player would be due a tier 1 extension, the cost will be tier 1 + 10%. The length of extension available will be calculated in the normal way.
7.3.5.1. In addition to the previous three years of performance, the player’s performance in the current season will also be taken into account. For example, a player who was a rookie in year one when they were picked up via blind bidding and had a tier 3 value for the Waiver Franchise Tag would cost a tier 2 extension prior to the season beginning. However, if they performed as a top 3 player at their position in the opening weeks of the new season and then an extension was offered, the player would now cost tier 1 + 10% to extend.
7.3.6. Regardless of an extension being offered, the Waiver Franchise Tag cost will remain in place for the upcoming/ongoing season. The extension cost will only become active at the start of the following season.
7.3.7. The guaranteed money from a Waiver Franchise Tag may not be backloaded into an extension. The guaranteed money from the extension may not be brought forward into the Waiver Franchise Tag year.
7.3.8. When a team wishes to give a tagged player an extension, they should announce the extension in the Dynabowl Announcements channel..
7.3.9. Waiver Franchise Tags may only be applied by the team that signed the player in blind bidding. If they player is subsequently traded, they are not eligible for the Waiver Franchise Tag. A player on the Waiver Franchise Tag can only receive a contract extension from the team which applied the Waiver Franchise Tag. If a player is traded prior to a contract extension being made, they are no longer eligible for a contract extension. Once a contract extension has been made, they may be traded.
8. TRADES
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8.1. The trading season will open at the same time as free agency, as laid out in rule 7.1.1.
8.2. Trades may be made any time up to 10pm on the Thursday of week 11 of the NFL season.
8.3. Any player registered to a team may be traded, including those on the taxi squad or IR list. However, a traded player may not be moved into the taxi squad during the fantasy season unless they were traded from another team’s taxi squad.
8.4. The team receiving the player takes on the remaining contract of a player.
8.5. If a team trades for a player with 1 year left on their contract and it is 1 August or later, the contract may not be extended.
8.6. My Fantasy League does not cater for three-(or more)-way trades. Should teams wish to conduct a three-(or more)-way trade, the teams should reach an agreement and alert the commissioner. The commissioner will make the moves or instruct the parties how to proceed.
8.7. Trades may include future draft picks in any future draft.
8.7.1. When conducting a trade involving draft picks in a future draft (ie not a trade involving picks in a currently ongoing draft), the team losing the draft pick(s) must pay league dues for each year in which draft picks have been traded. This is to avoid a situation where an owner trades away draft picks and then abandons a team, leaving an undesirable orphan team. In this situation, the paid dues would enable a new manager to takeover the team for free. This rule will be applied with Commissioner discretion only and may be applied retrospectively should a GM leave.
8.8. Trades may have conditions placed on them based on elements such as (but not limited to) total player points or team performance in the current or future seasons (eg a 2nd round pick in the next draft will also be traded ONLY if player X scores >150 points this season or ONLY if the team receiving player X reaches the DynaBowl Final).
8.8.1. Conditions that lead to a player automatically reverting to their original team (i.e. the trade is functionally a loan) are not permitted. Any other conditions may be considered by the Commissioner, who has sole discretion to decide whether conditions are permissible. If conditions are not permissible, the trade will be nullified.
8.9. All trades involving any conditional element MUST include all conditions associated with the trade within the trade offer sent through MFL, which is then accepted. These are the official terms of the trade. It is the ultimate responsibility of each GM to ensure that they monitor the conditions of any trade that they are involved in. If a GM misses out on the benefits of a condition which was fulfilled because they did not check the conditions, they are not entitled to any restitution.
8.10. All trades will be allowed, except in exceptional circumstances, or where an owner contacts the Commissioner in a timely fashion to alert him to the fact that he accepted the trade in error. In either of these circumstances, the Commissioner has the right to veto and undo the trade.
8.10.1. If a trade is protested by at least 3 league members it shall be reviewed by the commissioner.
8.10.2. The commissioner will notify all league members the trade is subject to review and will deliver a verdict within 2 days (where possible/relevant this should occur before the kick off of the first game of the week)
8.10.3. If the trade involves the commissioner, another league manager will be appointed as an independent review body and will deliver the verdict.
8.10.4. If the trade is deemed to be collusive or to be so one-sided as to unfairly affect the competitive balance of the league, the players will be returned to the previous owners and any stats accrued for the new teams will be nullified and applied retroactively to the previous team, if necessary.
8.10.5. If any owner is found guilty of two or more collusive trades in a season, that owner will be subject to sanctions and could be removed from the league (see section 10).
9. LEAGUE STRUCTURE
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9.1. The league consists of 10 teams.
9.1.1. The 10 teams will be split into 2 Divisions, Peter and Tim.
9.1.2. Divisional alignment was arranged by random draw.
9.1.3. Each team will play a total of 14 regular season games. Each team will play every team in their own division twice each (8 games, and each team in the opposing division once each (5 games). They will also play one additional game against the team in the opposing division which finished in the same position as them in the previous year (i.e. the team which finishes 3rd in Peter in season 1 will play 2 games against the team which finished 3rd in Tim in season 2).
9.1.4. The top 4 teams will go into the playoffs with a single week semi-final and a 2 week final.
9.1.5. The top 4 teams will be the two division winners and the two teams with the best records, regardless of division.
9.1.6. To determine Divisional Winners:
9.1.6.1. If two teams are tied at the top of a Division, the tie breakers will be as follows: head-to-head record; divisional record; all-play record; total points scored; potential points scored.
9.1.6.2. If more than two teams are tied at the top of a Division, the same tie-breakers will be used on an elimination basis.
9.1.6.3. For example – Teams A, B and C are tied for the lead in Peter with a 7-6 record. Teams A and B split their series 1-1 and both beat Team C twice. Team C is eliminated for the Division title. Team A has a better Divisional record than Team B so wins the Division regardless of Team C’s Divisional record.
9.1.7. If two or more teams are tied for wildcard places, the following tie-breakers will be used: head-to-head record (see rule 9.1.7.1.); all-play record; total points scored; potential points scored.
9.1.7.1. Because the wildcard positions are cross-divisional, head-to-head records will only be used to determine allocations in the event of only two teams being tied by regular season record.
9.1.8. The two Division winners will be seeded 1 and 2. If both teams have the same record, the tiebreakers at 9.1.7 will apply.
9.1.9. Seed 4 will play seed 1, seed 3 will play seed 2
9.1.10. The bottom 6 teams will contest a loser ladder, with three draft picks available to be awarded. These picks may fall anywhere between the end of round 4 and the end of round 10.
9.1.10.1. The allocation of draft picks for teams on the loser ladder will be determined by the Commissioner, taking into account factors such as regular season record, total points scored and performance in loser ladder games.
9.1.10.2. The Commissioner’s decision in awarding these draft picks is final. The Commissioner is under no obligation to divulge the methodology used to determine the awards of these draft picks.
10. SANCTIONS
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10.1. Poor sportsmanship or breaching of rules can, at the discretion of the commissioner, be punished by any of the following, or any other punishment deemed appropriate: salary cap fine; prospective point penalty; retrospective point penalty; forced player release; removal of draft pick(s) in the future draft(s); being ejected from the league.
10.2. For more minor offences, suspended penalties may be brought in with the threat that a repeat (or different) offence will activate the penalty.
- 11. ANNUAL CALENDAR
| Start Date | End Date (if applicable) | Event |
| End of Fantasy Football Season | 28/29 February – 10pm | League fees due; Waiver Franchise Tag Assignment |
| 8 March, 9am | Week 11 NFL Season | Trade window opens |
| 8 March, 9am | Sunday before NFL Draft – 10pm | Free Agent Open Bidding |
| Mid May – 4th Saturday after the NFL Draft | DynaBowl Rookie Draft | |
| 2 Weeks after DynaBowl Rookie Draft, 9am | 31 July – 10pm | Free Agent Open Bidding |
| 1 August | Reduction of roster size program begins (see 1.4) Opening of IR and taxi squads | |
| First Saturday after 1 August | Week 16 of NFL Season – Saturday 8pm | Free Agent Blind Bidding weekly calendar (see 7.2) |
| August 31, 10pm | July 31 | Taxi squad closes for additions |
| Week 9 of NFL Season – Thursday 8pm | Deadline for extensions for Waiver Franchise Tag players | |
| Week 11 of NFL Season – Thursday 8pm (GMT) | 8 March, 9am | Trading Window Closed |
| End of Week 14 | Beginning of Week 15 | COTY voting etc |
| Week 17 | DynaBowl Final Awards Winners Announced | |
| 1 January | Closing of IR and taxi squads, all players returned to main squad. Increase roster size to 90 players |
- 12. TEAM NAMES
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12.1. Each owner should submit a Franchise Name. This name will be permanent during their ownership and will be the name inscribed on the trophy, should the team win in any given year. This allows for continuity should a team win multiple titles.
12.1.1. In an ideal world, each team will have/develop a logo that is, in some way, based on their Franchise Name.
12.2. A team may also, each year, submit a Team Name. This team name will be used on the site, but will not be engraved on the trophy.
12.2.1. A team does not need to submit a Team Name – it may use the Franchise Name – but it will need a Franchise Name.
13. OWNERS’ ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
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13.1. It is the responsibility of all owners to know the rules and the calendar.
13.1.1. All rules are listed here on a freely available website. Owners may ask the Commissioner for clarifications, but the Commissioner is not bound to answer those which he deems ‘stupid’ or ‘more than adequately explained in this rule set’.
13.1.2. The league will provide adequate notification of all league-wide events via the league’s Dynabowl Announcements channel on Discord as well as timetabling them on this rules page and, where possible, in the calendar on this website. If GMs miss league events because they are unaware of the dates of these events, that will be deemed unfortunate and the GM will be permitted to have a sad. However, events will not be rolled back just because they don’t know their months of the year yet. Deadlines for individual events (e.g. to move a player to the main roster after a claim is made) may be brought up in passing but are not part of the league’s responsibility. The Commissioner has sole authority to amend the timetable of events as they see fit.
13.2. All GMs will be expected to be able to operate the MFL website. It’s not difficult and there’s an extensive help section as well as a mechanism to ask specific questions. I’ve asked specific (and stupid) questions of their team before. I am sure you are capable of doing this too. It is not the Commissioner’s job to make sure you can operate a website.
13.3. If you wish to suggest an amendment to the rules for the league, there is a page via which to do so. Please use the form embedded on this page. Ideally, all rule submissions will be received no later than 31 January, to allow ample time to debate and vote on these prior to the start of free agency on 8 March.
14. CAVEATS
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These rules are not expected to be exhaustive of all potential situations encountered across the seasons. The Commissioner may make any changes to the league that are in the league’s best interests without agreement from, or notification of, league members. The commissioner can adjust rules or add additional rules or sub-rules to clarify situations as they are encountered, should a member find an ‘exploit’. Teams will not be punished for finding exploits, although if they continue to use them after a direct league ruling against the exploit, sanctions can be made.
This league is a friendly league. Common sense will govern rule challenges or disagreements and can override a strict letter-of-the-law approach where the latter could also be interpreted as ‘being a bit of a dick’.
All times quoted are either GMT or BST, dependent on which is in operation in the UK at the time of the event.