Salary cap draft review

A year ago I wrote up the case for a salary cap draft ahead of my league's first season trying the format (in year 11). I wish we had switched sooner. Here I'll lay out the league reaction to salary cap, draft night observations, and a look back at how different strategies fared with the season behind us.

League reaction

Most importantly, the salary cap draft was super fun. Owners liked it across the board, even skeptics. There was no discussion about reverting to snake draft for year 12, which is the best signal that salary cap > snake (for us, at least). As an aside, I highly recommend an in-person draft. It's obviously hard to pull off logistically, but if you’re reading this you probably care enough about fantasy football to prioritize it.

A notable side effect of our format change was heightened activity throughout the season. There were 13 trades (and 2 vetoed trades), so about 1 per regular season week and up from just 4 in the prior year. That impact also touched the waiver wire with total transactions up ~43% from 389 in 2021 to 558 in 2022. Our league does FAAB waivers, so the draft may have primed the pump. One owner accounted for 152 of the 558 transactions last year (lol) after only transacting 61 times in 2021, so the jump wouldn't be quite as eye-popping without him. This also could totally have been correlation but not causation—maybe in-person draft or increased buy-in were bigger drivers—but I think the salary cap had a lot to do with it.

There's one other side effect from our format change that has potential to be most impactful over time, and that's willingness to consider future rule changes. The big debate and success of salary cap last year spurred more rule proposals for this season. Notably, we are adding a WR3 to the starting lineup, and there will be weekly payouts to the owner whose team scores the most points. I might write separate posts on those rule changes (among others that got voted down). DM me on Twitter with any interesting rules your league has loved!

Alright, let's talk draft night.

Stars and scrubs

"Stars and scrubs" is a commonly discussed strategy in salary cap drafts where you spend the lion's share of your draft budget on a few superstars and fill out the rest of your roster with thrifty bids. The idea is that you hit on some big names early and find dollar store gems later in the draft. For example, this year you might spend $160 of a $200 budget on Justin Jefferson, Austin Ekeler, and Jalen Hurts within the first 10 minutes of your draft then patiently fill out the majority of your roster with guys like Brian Robinson, Gabe Davis, and Kadarius Toney.

One team owner in our league spent $150 on 3 RBs before the first round of nominations was even over (3 out of the first 8 players off the board). He bid $55 for Dalvin Cook, $50 for Saquon, and $45 for Aaron Jones (who he later traded). He ended up missing the playoffs, but those picks just about met expectations with Saquon finishing at RB6, Dalvin at RB8, and AJ at RB9. That was the same owner who made 152 transactions (lol), so in-season roster maneuvering probably had more impact than draft night.

The second jaw-dropper of our draft came in the second round of nominations...

Bidding wars

On the heels of the 3 RB shocker in the first round (of nominations), another owner turned heads by forking up $20 for George Pickens. This is a prime example of salary cap draft intrigue—bidding wars as games of chicken. Pickens' pre-draft projected value was only $1, maybe $2, but a bidding war drove up the price 10-20x. It's a high-risk, high-thrill game emptying the pockets of another team in a bidding war, especially if you don't even want the player. If you know one of your friends covets a certain player—maybe they are wearing his jersey or already named their team Cooper Kupp O' Noodles or whatever—make 'em pay.

Rookies

The Pickens selection was representative of a broader strategy to draft rookies. That same owner drafted or later acquired Breece Hall, Drake London, Jahan Dotson, Rachaad White, and Tyler Allgeier. This is a fun strategy in Madden franchise mode fantasy drafts, but it's also interesting in this kind of fantasy draft. If your team can stay competitive early, you could peak perfectly later in the season when your rookies start getting more opportunities.

Two TEs

The same owner who went rookie-heavy also went TE-heavy, snagging Travis Kelce for $46 and Mark Andrews for $36 (41% of total budget). On an individual team level, it's novel but reasonable to play a TE at flex when you have Kelce and Andrews, the consensus top two last year. On a league level, I think it's pretty brilliant. You starve the league of TE talent, which is notoriously sparse, and allot yourself a valuable trade chip should you end up thin at another position from injuries or busts. That scenario played out handsomely with a mid-season trade of Mark Andrews for Aaron Jones, and the team finished runner-up.

Too patient

The opposite of stars and scrubs is constructing a deep, consistent roster of mid-round guys. This year that could mean targeting all of DeVonta Smith, Terry McLaurin, Alexander Mattison, Kenneth Walker, Justin Herbert, etc.

This can work, but the risk is waiting too long, ending up with a talented bench, and never knowing who to start each week. One team owner fell victim to this trap, and he paid the price, finishing 11 of 12 to narrowly avoid our league punishment (this year we sent the losing owner to the nearest airport on a Friday to buy the cheapest flight and spend the weekend solo in that city).

Steals

Salary cap drafts should create more opportunities for steals relative to snake drafts. In a snake draft, a popular player won't fall very far because everyone is staring at the projected draft position with each passing pick. But in a salary cap draft, major steals can happen when people are short on money, saving budget for other big names, or literally eating food and not actively bidding (warning: careful ordering wings for salary cap draft nights).

The steal that lingered in my mind last year was D'Andre Swift for $33, drafted by the back-to-back reigning champion and de facto league villain (he lost last year, phew). It bothered me both because (a) he had a strong team, and (b) I had just paid $40 for Leonard Fournette despite liking Swift more. Both Swift and Fournette disappointed, finishing as RB22 and RB17, respectively, so it wasn't consequential.

Year 2

My league's second annual salary cap draft is tomorrow. I'm excited and a little nervous as always, eager to see how it goes now that everyone knows the drill.

If you have any salary cap thoughts or other innovative rules/formats, DM me on Twitter—I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for reading.