*What Would an NSFL Expansion Draft Look Like?

[Thiath]

This is another entry in my ongoing efforts to look at league expansion. I totally haven't forgotten about this series at all, I swear, the Brooklyn pitch is just taking much longer than I thought it would. In this episode, we'll be looking at how I think the NSFL should use an expansion draft.

Firstly, we must set some parameters. In this scenario we are going to be operating under the popular assumption that the league is adding four new teams sometime in the next to seasons.

Format

Each expansion team will be randomly assigned a number, the HO will then draw numbers thus determining draft order.

The draft will follow standard snake format

Each team will have two minutes to make their selection

failure to make a selection in two minutes results in forfeiture of the pick

Rules

Each expansion team will draft six players from the unprotected players pool

Each new team will have exactly one week before the draft to interview unprotected players.

Each expansion team may not selected more than two players from each team

Each NSFL team may protect a maximum of ten players.

Each team may not protect more than two players per position

Each NSFL team will select their protected players two weeks in advance of the draft.

Any non first year rookie under 350 TPE cannot be protected

Any player that would otherwise hit free agency cannot be protected if they have not signed a new contract

All contracts become the responsibility of the new team, excluding team bonuses.

Exemptions

The following scenarios will allow a player to be exempt from an expansion draft.

-First year rookies. Anyone playing in the NSFL in their first year is given first year protections and does not count towards a teams protection cap..

-Single position group. If a team only has one player at a position they are automatically counted as one of the teams protected players. This rule excludes kickers.

Final Thoughts

The difficulty is creating an expansion draft, is balance. With the parameters outlined above, I think there is equal incentive for both the expansion teams, and established franchises to make smart decisions. With a randomized draft order, and snake format, it will be difficult for one team to hold a strict advantage,

This draft is not supposed to be a method of building a franchise immediately, so it will be important to have proper protections in place. Ten protections, and six selections per team may be conservative to some, and excessive to others. However, in a four team expansion, with so much competition, I feel these are justified.

[gucci]

I like it more than the last NSFL expansion draft's rules!