Salary cap draft: The fantasy auction do's and don’ts

Salary cap draft: The fantasy auction do's and don’ts

Before jobs, kids and other unplanned life events splintered the group, my friends and I went to a fine local establishment about a month before our annual fantasy football snake draft to draw the draft order. It was always a special occasion.

Beer flowed. Stroke-triggering quantities of wings were consumed. Wild late night stories about drunk lawn mowing at midnight were rehashed. (Don't ask.) And in predictable fashion, I always got stuck with the 10th pick every friggin' year. Nothing felt worse than that unbearable, empty feeling knowing you have zero chance at Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb or Tyreek Hill.

Yippee.

If you've experienced a similar pre-draft sob story, there's a solution — a salary cap draft.

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This grassroots fantasy pigskin revolution, once only accepted in highly competitive baseball leagues, is gaining momentum in savvy circles. Similar to purchasing livestock, antique cars or a date with Screech Powers, salary cap drafts are the ultimate utopian experiment where equality is the norm. All it takes is a numbered paddle, a little strategy and a large pair of HUEVOS. The best part: Any player is fair game.

How does it work?

Each owner is given a budget, usually $200, to field a 15- or 16-player team. Based on a predetermined serpentine order, an owner queues a name and people bid for the services of said player, usually under a 1-2 minute time limit. The highest bid wins. It's that simple.

Salary caps are the trendy designer drug of fantasy football. The high you get forcing another dollar out of your budget — or someone else's — for a player is unparalleled. As a grizzled veteran of this addictive game, you'll never want to go back to antiquated serpentine drafts again.

Below are eight tips on how to rule your salary cap draft.

1. Never leave money on the table.

In a 14-team PPR salary cap league that Andy Behrens and I participated in last year (The Red Grange Invitational), one drafter left $7 on the table. Many probably think $8 may only seem like a six-pack of good times, but in the fantasy auction world, it's the equivalent of picking a fight with an incensed lion.

In average Yahoo auctions, that $8 could've won the services of David Njoku, DeAndre Hopkins or Gus Edwards. Always find a way to spend your cash, no matter what.

2. Be a pacifist — don't get into a bidding war.

Regardless of how large a man-crush you may have on a particular player, make sure to never go overboard. If you do, you'll likely empty your pockets.

Case in point: Eons ago in the Red Grange league, I idiotically engaged in a bidding battle over the services of then-buzzy Dolphins RB Lamar Miller. When everyone else bailed at $30, I absurdly ping-ponged back and forth with two other bidders for another $11. Dumb. Those who refused to sink their teeth into temptation not only fleeced money from my pocket but also allowed themselves to allocate cash elsewhere.

Remember: Each extra dollar saved could help you acquire a greater value later on.

3. You're not Jeff Bezos — establish a budget.

Before you jump in headfirst, create a concrete action plan. It's imperative before the draft to approximate your per-position allowance.

Typically, in a standard non-PPR performance league with a $200 budget, you want to set aside 50 percent ($100) for your backfield, 35 percent ($70) for your receiving battery (WRs and TEs) and 15 percent ($30) for your quarterback, defense and kicker. Overall, an organized approach will help you establish boundaries and prevent over-extension.

If you’re wondering why so little should be allocated for a quarterback in non-SuperFlex formats, outside the upper tier — Josh Allen ($22.7 average auction value), Patrick Mahomes ($22.3) and Jalen Hurts ($20.6) — most signal-callers have gone for under $20 this year.

4. Advertise the avoidable.

Before your draft, come up with a list of players you absolutely despise. When the time comes for you to nominate a player, simply look at your list and pick a needless name.

Focus on whittling down your opponents stacks, become a bully in the draft room and secure the players you believe are destined for greatness.

5. Set a ceiling.

Look, we're not Daddy Warbucks. Before the draft, ask yourself what your max is for a specific player. Ideally, if you want to win his services, aim to lock him up at roughly 80-90 percent of his perceived market value. Keep a cheat sheet of average auction values (AAVs) handy to use as a guideline.

Auction drafts should be conducted like buying a new car. Unless you're completely gaga for a player, never pay an excessive sticker price.

6. Play the patience game, but not for too long.

Axl Rose said and whistled it best: "All we need is just a little patience."

Take a tortoise approach and avoid going bonkers too early. Very rarely do I chase a big-ticket item within the first 10-15 nominations. Why? When people have a briefcase full of bills, they're going to spend lavishly and inflate player price tags.

Don't burn your cash stash too quickly. A good value is always a couple of nominations away.

The patience game can also be detrimental. If you wait on a position too long, you'll likely have to pay out the nose for the last player in a tier. Again, define your limits before your draft and have a cheat sheet nearby. When the well looks like it's about to run dry, be prepared to pay.

7. Keep tabs on other teams’ funds and rosters.

One of the best “in-game" salary cap strategies is to gauge the competition's remaining surplus and roster holes. This will give you a peek into how much money they might be willing to spend on a certain player or position.

For instance, in any salary cap draft, someone will turn into a ruthless dictator. This iron-fist ruler hoards money in the hopes of bullying bargains or overbids out of other owners in the later rounds.

To seize power, it's important for you to drain bank accounts by nominating players on your avoid list that could fill an opponent's need. You can achieve this by keeping close tabs on rosters to glean what they might be holding out for.

Playing the right cards can give you the perfect read on how to reduce a bully's power and give you, as George Costanza would say, "HAND!"

8. Honest Abe hates kickers and defenses.

Any kicker or defense, in a traditional scoring system, is worth nothing more than a crisp George Washington. Think of Ks and Ds as Taco Bell value menu items. The allotted budget spent on them shouldn't exceed anything more than the price of a bean burrito.

Squeeze out an extra dollar for Kimani Vidal and not Justin Tucker.

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