Chicago Dynasty League

League Overview

The purpose of this document and bylaws are to effectively ensure a fair and fun league for all managers involved and ensure the long-term viability of our league.  If an issue arises to where something has not been explicitly stated in this document, the commissioner will hold an immediate league vote to resolve the issue and institute a new rule. If there is a conflict between the league settings on Sleeper and this document, the league bylaws stated here will always take precedent between the two.  

Our league will be a Superflex, TE Premium, PPR (2.5 TE, 1.0 WR, 1.5 RB) Dynasty League split between two divisions, and rosters will fully carry over from year-to-year.  This will be a start 11 league.  Scoring settings have been created to generate higher weekly point totals (in theory at least).  They have also been set in a manner to attempt to balance scoring across positions to allow a manager even more flexibility in building a competitive roster.

The goal for our league is for each of our initial managers to be part of this league for years to come.

Dues and Payouts

• Yearly Dues

• 2024 Entry Fee: $100 (the annual $50 buy in + $50 for 2025 season)
• Annual Fee starting in 2025: $50
• This will ensure we always have league managers who have paid for the current and the following season prior to the annual rookie draft.
• This will give managers the ability to trade at least two years of draft picks at any time.

• Yearly Payouts

• 1st: $400
• 2nd: $150
• 3rd: $50

For a manager and/or team to participate in the Startup Draft, or any future yearly rookie drafts, dues for that year must be paid. All current and future dues will be held in Leaguesafe (you may prepay for additional future years by overpaying for the current year – this will be required if trading picks beyond two years). Doing so will allow you to lock in your place for future seasons as well as trade as many picks as you like for those years you have prepaid into. More details on this will be in the trades section further down.  Due’s will be due every year a month before the yearly rookie draft.

It is important to note that the buy-in in future years will continue to be $50.  Managers adopting orphaned teams will immediately pay the $50 for the next season (e.g. orphaned in 2025 season which is already paid for, adopting “manager A” will pay the $50 outstanding for 2026 before taking over the team).  That said, we want good managers that want to stick this out and hopefully we do not have to worry about any orphans.

Rosters

• 35 max players on a roster at any given time
• 5 IR Slots which are reserved for any players with the IR tag as labeled by the NFL and on Sleeper
• Managers with players over the roster limit (after a rookie draft) are unable to add free agents.  There will be a cutdown date equal to one week prior to the kickoff of the first regular season game of the year.  At this point, all owners over the 35 max player number must cut players to reach the limit.  If the ineligible roster carries over to the start of the regular season (after completion of the first game of regular season), the commissioner is granted power to remedy the situation in an appropriate manner (forcibly removing bench players with lowest Sleeper predicted score for the coming year).

• Starting Lineup will consist of a total of 11 starters:

• 1 QB
• 2 RB
• 3 WR
• 1 TE
• 3 Flex (WR/RB/TE)
• 1 SuperFlex (QB/WR/RB/TE)

• Bench/Taxi

• 15 Bench Spots
• 5 Taxi Squad Spots

Taxi Squad Spots

• Taxi Squad Spots are reserved for incoming rookies
• Maximum of 1 year on the Taxi Squad
• After year 1 they must be called up to your main roster or be dropped
• Once players are called up from the Taxi Squad, they are ineligible to return to the Taxi Squad if they are on your roster during the season
• PLAYERS CAN BE REMOVED FROM, BUT CANNOT BE ADDED TO TAXI SQUAD AFTER THE REGULAR SEASON BEGINS

Startup Draft

• The startup draft will start on August 18th at 12pm/noon CST.  
• Try to be there and be active during the draft, it will just make it more fun
• Startup draft order will be determined by randomizing on the Sleeper app 3 times
• Startup draft will consist of 31 rounds, snake draft type with third round reversal
• There will be a 4 hour per pick limit

• CPU will auto pick if you run out of time
• Please set a draft que if you know you will be missing a chunk of time to help you draft the roster you want

• You will be able to trade startup and future draft picks immediately upon the startup draft order determination

Annual Rookie Draft

• Every year we will hold a 4 round draft consisting of incoming rookies into the NFL
• The annual rookie draft will start the day after the NFL draft concludes

• Unless otherwise voted on and changed by the league (majority vote approval)

• Each rookie pick will have a 24-hour time limit.

• CPU will auto pick if you run out of time

• Draft type will be linear
• Draft order will be determined by:        

• Picks 1 – 6 will be determined by lowest Max PF

• In the event of a tie:

• First tiebreaker overall lowest win total
• Second tiebreaker will be head-to-head results

• Picks 7 – 12 will be the reverse order of finish in the championship/playoff bracket (league winner picks 12th, second place 11th, etc.)
• We will have a traditional consolation bracket for non-playoff teams

• The winner of this will be awarded an additional 2nd round pick
• This pick will be at the end of round 2, so it will be pick 2.13

Waiver Wire and Free Agents

• Waivers will be handled through FAAB (bidding on free agents with the allotted $500 FAAB)
• Minimum bid will be $0
• In the offseason, waivers will be processed every Wednesday
• In season, waivers will process daily

• Players who have played their respective week’s game will not be eligible for waivers until Tuesday’s processing

• Players dropped from a roster will be on waivers for 1 day

Trades

• There will be a 1-day review period for trades
• Trades will be passed unless:

• Future picks for unpaid years are included  
• In this situation, the commissioner will place the trade on hold until one or both owners have paid the annual entry fee for the picks involved

• You may only trade rookie picks if you have paid for that year
• This is to prevent teams going for broke and then abandoning a team will little to no assets

• Multi team trades are allowed
• The trade deadline will be week 13
• If there is a clear case of collusion, a trade can be contested by other owners and a poll regarding a reversal of the trade may be held at the commissioner's discretion

• I expect no issues here, we are all adults and let’s act as such.

• If a trade is accepted by accident, the offending manager must contact the commissioner within 5 minutes of the trade being accepted

• At this point, both managers will be contacted, and the trade may be reversed if both parties agree to veto the trade.  

Scoring

All scoring information can be seen in the Sleeper app but are also captured here as well.

Schedules

• Regular season will be weeks 1 – 14
• Playoffs will be weeks 15 – 17
• Schedules will be randomized in Sleeper at the start of each season

Standings, Tiebreakers, & Playoffs

• The top 6 teams based on records will qualify for the playoffs (championship bracket)
• The top 2 teams will receive first week byes
• All tiebreakers for playoff seeding will be determined by points scored
• Playoffs will be reseeded so that the highest ranked team will play the lowest ranked team

Tanking

• We want a fun and competitive league for everyone but understand that tanking is a strategy in dynasty
• Draft order is determined by lowest max PF, so please remember that not starting your best players does not do you any good as your won/loss record does not assure your rookie draft spot

Manager Activity

• The expectation is that all owners will be active year round
• This includes:

• Setting valid and competitive weekly lineups
• Responding to trade offers and direct messages in a timely manner
• Participating in league votes
• Chatting, getting to know each other, trash talking and meme posting

Orphaned Teams

• Any team that does not set a lineup for 3 consecutive weeks and is not actively responding to the commissioner will be considered abandoned and orphaned
• In this situation, the commissioner will assume control of the team until a new manager can be found
• During this time, the commissioner will set the line of the orphaned team using Sleeper projections for the highest amount of points per position with zero bias
• If a team is determined to be orphaned during the season the owner will not receive a refund and will be expelled from the league

• This is unless the owner makes the commissioner aware of circumstances that would warrant more discussion or a league wide vote

• Any new owner taking over an orphaned team must pay the next season’s dues since the current year will already have been paid
• If a team is orphaned at the start of the playoffs that team will be disqualified and the 7th best team will be awarded the playoff spot

• This would also alter the draft pick status for both the orphaned team and the 7th best team

Rule Changes

• All owners can suggest adding, changing, or removing rules during the offseason
• If there is enough interest in a rule change, a poll will be conducted, and the majority vote will win (this means at least 7 owners must vote yes for a rule change)
• If an unforeseen issue arises during the season with no rule in place, an emergency vote will be held, and this document will be amended to reflect the change.