Common Myths in Salary Cap Leagues

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.

Jason Wood

I think the biggest myth is that there's an ideal pace to your own spending patterns. A lot of articles each year in the industry put forth "optimum" plans calling for you to spend X% of your salary cap in the first hour and then Y% in the middle rounds, and ensuring you have Z% left for the end game. I've had successful drafts going heavy early, or hoarding until the end. The key is to have a plan for your own roster construction and be open-minded about how the draft unfolds.

Jeff Haseley

Don't wait forever to win your first bid. You may have a lot of money left to spend but if the players who are on the board don't match the cost value you will regret waiting too long. Also, spend all of your money. Don't leave the draft with money you didn't spend.

Maurile Tremblay

Finishing the draft with money left over is a common one. If you've got more than 3% of your cap left over at the end, you surely left expected fantasy points on the table. Consequently, it's better to err on the side of acquiring players too quickly rather than too slowly.

Jeff Bell

Some players believe holding money at the end has value, but it only takes one other league mate to wreck these plans, and often the few remaining significant players see salary increases. Target your players aggressively but maintain options. Focus on overall team construction and live with pivots off specific players, but in many drafts, you can not take the money with you, and stretching to fill your roster after winning players you like always beats walking out feeling that you had the money for one more significant win on the table.

Tripp Brebner

Patience is certainly a virtue of successful roster construction; however, hesitance to set the market can equal missed opportunity. The very first player at each offensive position can prove to be a bargain among league-mates waiting in the name of patience for someone else to make the first move.

Andy Hicks

That you don’t bid on the first 10 players thrown out. Some say a different number, but it doesn’t matter if it is 1, 10, or 100. The theory is that drafters spend like drunken sailors. All players, at any stage, have value. I’ve seen players in the first three names thrown out fall well below cost expectations. Build the best squad you can right from the first name thrown out to the last.