RSO Off-Season Schedule
Welcome to the RSO off-season, where things can get even more interesting and exciting than during the season. Congrats to all of our 2015 league champions! Remember, it is never too early to start strategizing for 2016, and to help you better prepare for the upcoming season, please find some important dates and off-season rules/info below:
January 1st, 2015 to March 1st, 2015
From now until March 1st, we will be making enhancements and implementing necessary upgrades to our site, which will make our platform even better in 2015. If you have not completed our end of the year user survey yet, please take a few minutes to do so. Your feedback will help us make the site better for you in 2015 and beyond. Additionally, we will be rolling-over existing leagues from the 2014 season to the 2014-15 RSO off-season during this period. While you will be able to access and view your league during this period, lineups will be locked and no transactions will be able to be made.
Week of March 1st, 2015
The week of March 1st, 2015 is the expected official start of the 2014-15 RSO off-season. Last season, the NFL announced the 2014 salary cap on February 28th, and we expect them to do so again this year around the same time. The 2015 NFL salary cap is expected to be anywhere from $138.6 mm to $141.8 mm. Once the NFL announces the new salary cap for 2015, we will re-open the site and existing leagues will commence the RSO off-season, meaning teams can make off-season trades and cuts. Additionally, new league creation will be available at this time.
April 30th, 2015 to May 2nd, 2015
These are the dates of the actual NFL Draft. Once the NFL Draft is completed, leagues will be able to conduct their RSO Rookie Drafts and Free Agent Auctions. The NFL Draft is set to end on Saturday, May 2nd, 2015, and we expect to have all rookie information updated on the site by Monday, May 4th, 2014.
March 1st, 2015 to Three (3) Days Before Your League’s 2015 RSO Rookie Draft
Different for every league depending on the date set for your 2015 RSO Rookie Draft, this is the franchise tag designation period. During this period, team owners must decide whether to place a franchise tag on a player whose contract expired in 2014 (the tagged salary for each player can be found by clicking the “Tag” button on the Team-Contracts tab). At the end of this period, players on expiring contracts will be removed from your Team Roster (unless you franchise tag a player). Additionally, at the conclusion of this period, team owners must have enough salary cap space to fill their respective rosters through the Rookie Draft and Free Agency in order to avoid having players automatically dropped from their rosters to create cap space. A Salary Cap Health Overview feature located on the Team-Overview tab contains all the information team owners need to ensure they have enough salary cap space. Note: no trades will be allowed during the three-day period between the end of the franchise tag designation period and your 2015 Rookie Draft. Trading will resume after the conclusion of your Rookie Draft.
March 1st, 2015 to Three (3) Days Before Your League’s 2015 RSO Free Agent Auction
This period is the official duration of the RSO off-season for each league. The length of the off-season is important because of the rules surrounding off-season vs. in-season cuts. This is best explained by example. Assume you have Doug Martin under contract for $10mm in 2015 and $12mm in 2016. If you cut Doug Martin during the 2014-15 off-season, you will only owe him $5mm in 2015 and then $6mm in 2016. If you wait until the off-season concludes before cutting Martin, you will owe him his full $10mm in 2015 in addition to $6mm in 2016. Therefore, it is important to assess your roster and make desired cuts before your off-season concludes three days before your league’s 2015 Free Agent Auction.
September 3rd, 2015
Likely first NFL game of the 2015 season. It will be here before you know it!
