QB Rules

[Cincinnati Bengals (Chris)]

QB Rules

1. Every team must have a starter by Week 1 (Determined by Rotoworld Depth Charts after the last pre-season game, as always).
2. Starting Week 1, no team may bid on another starting QB.

During the regular season, a starting QB will be determined by either of the following:

• Listed as the starting QB by the Rotoworld Depth Charts
• Named as a starter by the player's team (As defined by an announcement by that NFL team's owner, General Manager, Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, or Quarterbacks Coach), this will include a QB that is named as a starter due to injury, suspension, or other extenuating circumstances, but not listed as the starter by Rotoworld Depth Charts. In this event, Rotoworld will be used as the official source for the story naming the player as the starter
• The only exception to the rule will be when a CDFL GM is placing a bid on a backup QB to his or another starting QB, who has NOT YET been named the starter at the time of bidding. If he becomes a starter after that bid has already been placed, the same rules outlined below in section 3 apply.

3. Every team must have a starter EVERY week (Not including byes), up until the week of the trade deadline (The last week of the regular season, Week 13), EXCEPT if a team has one starter and another QB on his team is also named a starter for that same week. In that case, and assuming that player stays a starter and is not just a 1-week fill-in/injury replacement, he has until the following week's trade cutoff (Thursday at 5 P.M. ET) to have posted and had a trade accepted involving one of the two starting QBs, EXCEPT FOR IN WEEK 13. The CDFL GM will have the amount of time in between to decide on which one he wants to keep and which he wants to trade away (Except for in Week 13, where he must choose by the Thursday 5 P.M. ET deadline THAT WEEK), or else the league will FORCE TRADE one of that team's QBs to a team with no QBs at its discretion. If the quarterback does not stay the starter for more than that one week, no action is required (Unless this occurs in Week 13).

QB Arbitration

• In the event that a team with zero QBs or multiple QBs does not acquire a QB/get rid of a QB, respectively, in order to comply with the QB Rules, those GMs will be referred to a panel of arbiters set up by the league.
• The panel of arbiters will be tasked with to making sure that every team complies with the QB Rules and that each team has exactly one starting (Or projected starting) QB headed into Week 1.
  
• The panel of arbiters will accomplish this by opening a discussion with each team in potential violation of the QB Rules and aid them in working towards a fair market value deal(s) to resolve such conflicts.
• The panel of arbiters will be made up of any of the following in a given year: League Managers, Trade Review Committee members or members elected to this position by the league.
• The panel members will be announced publicly by LMs before the pre-season begins.
• The panel of arbiters is authorized by league majority vote in the QB Rule Reform poll to force sign, release or trade (If a trade(s) are necessary to accomplish this goal) a player from a team in potential violation of the QB Rules as a last resort.
• The definition of a "last resort" in the arbitration process is a complete breakdown of communication with a GM or refusal by said GM(s) to accept the league's solution to avoid their potential violation of the QB Rules at the last step in the process outlined below.
  

QB Arbitration Process

• The panel will use the following steps during their arbitration to bring a resolution to the situation for all teams involved:
  1. Once the teams in potential violation of the QB Rules are identified by the league and brought to the attention of the panel, a panel member will reach out and make contact with all parties involved.
     • In the initial contact, the panel will provide the GMs of the teams in potential violation of the QB Rules with the names of other such teams if a trade is necessary or potential starting QBs that are in the free agent pool.
       
  2. The panel will then ask the GMs of the teams in potential violation of the QB Rules to either make contact with the other such teams/make a free agent signing of a starter within 48 hours of receiving notification from the panel.
     • If a trade(s) between such teams is posted/signing is made to comply with the QB Rules within 48 hours of receiving notification from the panel, the panel will ask GMs of each team involved to verify they were contacted by other such teams.
     • If no contact is has been made by the teams involved, and the panel does not receive a response from an unresponsive GM within 24 hours, they will be deemed non-compliant and the panel is authorized to skip to the last step.
     • If contact has been made by the teams involved, and the teams stipulate that the talks are positive and they are moving towards a deal, the panel will allow a 24-hour grace period to allow the teams to come to a deal on their own.
     • If no deal is reached by such time, however, the panel is authorized to skip to the next step.
     • If contact has been made by the teams involved and there is no progress towards a deal, the panel could make suggestions about how to construct a framework to get a deal done, asking for small concessions on each side or spelling out the non-starters from the other team(s) to eliminate the sticking points.
     • If this is unsuccessful, the panel will then step in and solicit a list of player names/assets each GM is interested in on other such teams, in addition to the pieces necessary to comply with the QB Rules, to begin the arbitration. They would also solicit a list of player names/assets that said teams would be willing/wanting to give up to acquire a player that allows them to comply with the QB Rules.
       
     • If a signing is made to comply with the QB Rules within 48 hours of receiving notification from the panel, the arbitration process is not needed and the problem is solved.
  3. The panel then analyzes those names/picks, conducts an intensive study/research of the values of said players relative to their contracts, production and importance to the current owner. 
  4. The panel decides on an appropriate compensation package and forwards it to all teams involved. Upon notification of the panel's decision, teams involved have a 24-hour window to come to different terms with another team to comply with QB Rules.
  5. If that cannot motivate the GMs to make the trade, the panel becomes authorized to force the trade based on the appropriate compensation package in their findings so that all parties will be in line with the QB Rules by Week 1.