The salary cap has been set at 1320 for 17 players, not including the Supplemental Draft, which will serve as rounds 5-7 of the Rookie Draft. The full procedure with draft order is outlined below. Which expansion team will receive the No. 1 pick – Fort Worth or Portland – will be determined live on air with random selection during the Albuquerque @ Birmingham game Wednesday May 6 at 3 p.m. ET on YouTube.
Rookie Draft Order (same for each round):
1. or 2. Portland or Fort Worth
1. or 2. Portland or Fort Worth
3. London (2-10) – worst regular season record
4. Houston (4-8) – worst strength of victory among tied teams (5)
5. Carolina (4-8) – worst strength of victory among tied teams (4)
6. Louisiana (4-8) – worst common games record among tied teams (3)
7. Arizona (4-8) – common games loss to Lone Star
8. Lone Star (4-8) – common games win over Arizona
9. Tulsa (5-7) – head-to-head sweep loss vs. Denver, Florida
10. Denver (5-7) – split games against Florida, Tulsa
11. Florida (5-7) – head-to-head sweep win vs. Denver, Tulsa
12. Las Vegas (6-6) – best non-playoff record
13. Mexico City (6-6) – lost in wild card, No. 10 seed
14. St. Louis (6-6) – lost in wild card, No. 9 seed
15. Chicago (7-5) – lost in quarterfinal, worst record
16. Charleston (8-4) – lost in quarterfinal, No. 6 seed
17. Jacksonville (8-4) – lost in quarterfinal, No. 5 seed
18. Baltimore (8-4) – lost in quarterfinal, No. 2 seed
19. Queen City (8-4) – lost in semifinal, No. 7 seed
20. Vancouver (8-4) – lost in semifinal, No. 4 seed
21. Sioux Falls (8-4) – lost in championship
22. Atlanta (10-2) – champion
Rookie Draft Procedure:
Rounds 1-4 will operate like a regular SFL draft, in terms of the draft order and how teams forfeit picks to the next eligible team in the order after their team is full. Only players who played in the minor league are eligible.
Trades will be allowed in all four rounds of the draft – one-for-one trades will not be accepted and trades involving other players or future draft compensation are not allowed.
If all teams have reached 17 players before the fourth round is over, this portion of the draft will end early. If some teams have not filled to 17 players, the draft will continue into further rounds, but will not include pick trading.
The first two rounds of the draft, players can only be selected at their primary position they play in the minor league.
In rounds 3 and 4, and any necessary rounds to complete team builds to 17, players can be selected at their primary builds or secondary builds, which will be submitted to the league in the next few weeks of the minor league season.
A player who had perfect progression during the minor league season is eligible for a Training Camp Bonus.
If a player is at the silver or bronze level in the minor league, that player if eligible for the bonus could sign at base silver. If a player is at the copper level in the minor league, that player if eligible for the bonus could sign at base bronze. Players at base copper with no value could not receive a bonus, but the application of their check-ins would still apply, as it does for all players who receive no such bonus.
Rookies who played or did not play in the minor league can opt in or out of the Supplemental Draft (Rounds 5-7), the final three rounds of the draft. In this portion of the draft, the draft order will be determined by your team’s current cap status, with the team furthest from the cap getting the first selection. If multiple teams have the same cap number, last season’s record will be used to determine the order.
In the supplemental draft, all eligible players will be selected at base copper (or higher if the team has not yet reached cap) and can be selected at any position. This eliminates non-contract signings in Season 15 and beyond, with official roster sizes being capped at 20 players. Instead, new players will be allocated to minor league teams, where they will continue to progress their player in the SFLm off-season, albeit at a slower rate, through the banking check-in system.
SFLm locker rooms will be more full than major league teams as minor league teams will be built out beyond 20 players with adjusted substitution sliders allowing for all players to see the field in future seasons, while getting to be a part of the locker room experience with their peers who are all continuing to build value. The league will address the possibility of SFLm expansion at a later date.