Common Myths in Salary Cap Leagues

Photo: Ken Blaze, USA Today Sports

The Salary Cap Roundtable Series

Joining a salary cap league can be intimidating for even a seasoned fantasy football player. Fortunately, the Footballguys staff has experience in this format and will help you. Over the summer, we'll cover various topics ranging from basic to advanced strategies.

What are some common myths about Salary Cap drafting that you've come across and found to be inaccurate?

Drew Davenport

My biggest pet peeve is the one size fits all advice I hear from a lot of salary cap drafters that you should try and wait as long as possible to nominate the players you like in order to score a deal. There are certainly plenty of times when waiting is the right play. But there are many times when it is not. Timing on your nominations is massively important. For example, if I am intent on landing Darren Waller many people would approach this by trying to wait as long as possible to nominate him in the hopes that the money will dry up and he'll be cheaper. The problem with that is that it's Darren Waller. Nobody is going to forget about him long enough for that to become a reality. Instead, what you should be doing is nominating him before Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, and even Kyle Pitts and George Kittle. People who want a good tight end are less likely to put up a fight for Waller when they know Andrews, Kelce, and others, are still available. The timing of nominations is everything.

Christian Williams

One of the common myths I had heard prior to joining my first Salary Cap league was that the draft was more intense than a traditional redraft league. I have found that the processes to each of these formats are similar in that identifying targets beforehand and coming prepared is key.

Chad Parsons

One common myth is there is a big learning curve with Salary Cap drafting formats. Each league is unique, so having stringent rules for all of them is a recipe to be inflexible. Plus, with Salary Cap leagues not being the most common, little of your competition in a particular league would be well-versed, or more versed, than another. Creating a plan, being flexible from a team build plan, and staying engaged in the draft through each nomination are cornerstone and easily accessible strategies whether in your first or latest Salary Cap format.