'15 GML Rules, Info, & Timeline

[Mach]

THE BASICS:
Essentially you are taking over a team and running them through the NFL offseason from a certain point in time forward. If you've followed your favourite team during the offseason, you know the process. From that time point, nothing that happens in the NFL matters in terms of players cut or signed. You are taking over a roster and from then on everything occurs in the GML bubble. As for how our starting information is determined?

PLAYER SALARIES:
Salaries for individual players will be taken from OverTheCap.com. Restructures and updated information on contracts will be allowed if a reputable source according to Mach or GridIronKing34 or Witlon is provided.

SALARY CAP:
The salary cap for the GM League will be decided later. You will need to be under this number before the start of free agency and stay under for the remainder of the year. This is taken from the actual cap number used for the NFL. This may be updated to an extent before our league year begins.

ROSTER SIZES:
There is no initial limit, but there will be a final cutdown time where rosters must be at 53 with an optional 8 man practice squad. YOU MUST HAVE EXACTLY 53 PLAYERS AT THAT TIME.

STARTING OFF:
Teams will be assigned and from there you'll post your team page. Instructions on how to do so will be pasted in the stuck thread How to Post Your Team Page in the Team Pages forum. YOU MUST DO THIS BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY ROSTER MOVES.

From there you'll begin trading and cutting players. Some basics on that:

CUTTING A PLAYER:
There is a penalty for cutting a player (whether he was originally on your team or via trade), listed as “Dead Money” in the rosters handed out. If a player has a dead money value of $8,675,309 and you release him, the entire $8,675,309 is added to your cap.

JUNE 1ST CUTS:
There will also be 2 allotted June 1st cuts. These will not function entirely similar to the actual designation, but instead a team will be able to release up to 2 players for half of their dead money charge. You cannot use this exception on a player signed in FA or traded for, nor can you re-sign a June 1st cut player.

TRADING A PLAYER:
Once a player is traded his entire cap hit is transferred to the acquiring team. A player can be traded once without a dead money penalty. Any subsequent trades will involve the full dead money amount being charged to the cap of the team who traded the player.

FREE AGENCY:
At some point after all that, Free Agency will begin. For specifics on that, please see the Free Agency Rules thread stuck in the Free Agency forum.

DRAFT
After Free Agency will be the Draft (full 7 rounds) and Undrafted Free agency and Practice Squad signings. For how that works read the stuck Draft Rules thread.

Finally we get to the "payoff"

FINAL ROSTERS:
Teams are required to submit their final rosters with a depth chart. Write-ups are optional. Further information will be provided once rosters are completely frozen. As noted, you must be at 53 players with an optional (up to) 8 man practice squad when submitting these.

VOTING:
Each team has one vote (co-GMs cannot each vote) to keep things balanced. More information will be posted about the voting system in early May.

The point of the game depends on the person. I like to play it for roster construction. Some like to play it to try to win the respect and admiration of their peers. It may be a cliche, but the goal of the game is to have fun, and kill the offseason.

If you have any questions, please ask in this thread.

TIMELINE:
Conference Title Games 1/18: Team bidding starts
Pro Bowl 1/25: Teams assigned
NFL Waiver Period begins 2/2 12:00 AM ET: Rosters handed out, teams put up pages
NFL Waiver Period begins 2/3 11:59 PM ET: Roster moves allowed for teams that have put up pages
2/9 12:00 AM ET: Cut Free Agency begins, teams signing FAs must be under Cap.
3/2 11:59 PM ET: Tag & Tender deadline
3/3 1:00 PM ET: Free Agency starts with nominations, teams must be under salary cap
3/13 3:22 PM ET: Tagged & Tendered bidding period
TBD: Tagged & Tendered matching period
TBD: Comp picks announced
TBD: GML Draft period
TBD: Draft pick signing period
TBD: UDFA period
TBD: Rosters frozen - No more trades, signings, or cuts
TBD: Final Roster submission period
TBD: Nomination period
TBD: Final Voting period, awards handed out