expansion team

[renojedi]

This is a great thread and I am glad I'm not the only one who does this. My formula may be a little complex but it is fairly realistic and will give you a good challenge running an expansion team.

1. Wait for the first roster update of the regular season (usually comes about a week or two after the first game)

2. Replace one of the three teams with the worst record from the previous season (this year I will replace KC, MIA, or STL).

3. For the draft, you have to select the guys you want BEFORE you do the create a team portion. These come from the dispersal draft (#4), entry draft (#5), and expansion draft (#6).

4. For me, I allow myself to pick any one player from the team I am replacing. All others will be released to free agency in a later step except for the draft picks. This replicates how a dispersal draft would probably happen if a team folds. Being the new team, picking first is most likely.

5. To replicate that an expansion team will get the first pick in every round of the entry draft (like Houston did in 2002), I select one player from each actual round of the draft. I then trade the replaced team's pick to the team I took the pick from. So, if I replace KC and in round one I decide to take Michael Crabtree in the first round, I would send Tyson Jackson to the 49ers. If the pick is not on the team, move him from free agency. If he is not in the game at all, pick a similar player from the free agency pool or re-create him.

6. Next I rank all teams by rating and allow myself to fill my roster with anyone in the bottom 5 of ratings who is not a rookie from each team. So, if a team has two rookies in the bottom five then I could select from the last seven.

7. Next, and MOST IMPORTANT, transfer all the players you will pick to the team you will replace. This will ensure there are no duplicate players in the league once you replace that team. Because of position restrictions, this may take some time as you can only sign and release so many players. But the time is worth it, especially if you play a few seasons of franchise.

8. Create your team and move the players to your team that you already selected.

9. Start the season. Do not select any of the players from the replaced team until week two of the season. This will give other teams a fair chance to sign them. With a dispersal draft, most of the good players would be gone so this replicates that.

And that is it.

[lostrelms]

What i did was VERY tedius.


basically, i selected 5 players form every eam, including the team i was replacing.

And i did traditional Expansion draft rules.

You MUST select 25 players from other NFL teams.

For example, lets say i chose WR Hank baskett from Philly, Phily could then remove one of the remaining 4 guys they exposed from the available list.

If i select another Eagle, they have the optionof removing all the rest of their players.

Low OVR low POT guys, High pricd vets, who aent as good as the contract dictate, are typicaly players teams will leave available in an expansiondraft.

Once i got my 25 guys on paper, i start to build a roster.

IE, i selected Browns LT Isaac Sowells with the intention of him playing LG. i then go tand releae Sowells from the Browns, move him to LG, and hen sign him to the team i am replacing. (in this case, the Jaguars) Filled the remaining spots on the roster with random FA's, and signed them all to Jax, releasing all Jagaur players to FA, except for Rashean mathis and Eugene Monroe, who i plan on trading for a 2,4 and 6th round pick, to give me 10 total picks to mimic the supplimental picks the NFL gives Expansion teams.


Hope that makes sense.

TOok me about 3 hours to do, before i could *Start* the franchise.

[txfalconfan]

those last 2 ideas sound good but very tedious. Good for you though for figuring it out and making it "real". I like my way cuz its easy for me to redo if and when i wanna do another one with a different team. Alot of picking players but roster part isnt bad. And i still will end up with alot of over the hill vets and youngsters that may never be starters and the worst rated team in the league but thats how it should be. I wanna work for it not have it handed to me. Its easy to pick the patriots or whoever and roll with them to sb after sb for years. I like the challenge!

[cuppylove]

Reno, that is genius, dude. Thanks for sharing. Much better than the standard, "release players from team you're replacing, build from free agents," strategy, which is what I've always done.

Going to go start a new expansion franchise right now, actually.

[cam780]

Would love to see the return of expansion mode but i just end up relocating a team and then tearing it up and rebuilding it that way. My problem is the coaching staff. I'd like to have my guy in on a day one and I get hung up on that.

[cuppylove]

The coaching thing is super nitpicky, but I'm the same way. It's always bugged me that you had to wait a full season before making coaching changes. It's even more annoying now that your coach is shown onscreen much more often, even identified by name in some situations.

[txfalconfan]

Tomorrow im gonna quit my chise and do it the way the last couple guys said with an "expansion" team with my best effort at a realistic expansion draft and dispersion draft of replaced teams players. I'm gonna replace either buffalo, kc, stL, or oakland i think and will try to "keep it real" as possible.

So Ill imagine that my expansion team from either alaska or vegas comes into the league the same year that whichever team i replaced folded.

For the dispersment draft I will let each team have 1 player from the replaced team in normal draft order (worst to best). The remaining 20 or so players from that team will just be FA's and it shouldnt be abig deal cuz the good guys will have new teams.

I hope it works the way i think it will. I think ill have to make all the moves by editing the rosters and then fantasy drafting to my created team the players i want that i put on the team to be replaced and then start my chise. It might take a few tries to get it right!

[krong1170]

Quote: Originally Posted by renojedi

This is a great thread and I am glad I'm not the only one who does this. My formula may be a little complex but it is fairly realistic and will give you a good challenge running an expansion team. 1. Wait for the first roster update of the regular season (usually comes about a week or two after the first game) 2. Replace one of the three teams with the worst record from the previous season (this year I will replace KC, MIA, or STL). 3. For the draft, you have to select the guys you want BEFORE you do the create a team portion. These come from the dispersal draft (#4), entry draft (#5), and expansion draft (#6). 4. For me, I allow myself to pick any one player from the team I am replacing. All others will be released to free agency in a later step except for the draft picks. This replicates how a dispersal draft would probably happen if a team folds. Being the new team, picking first is most likely. 5. To replicate that an expansion team will get the first pick in every round of the entry draft (like Houston did in 2002), I select one player from each actual round of the draft. I then trade the replaced team's pick to the team I took the pick from. So, if I replace KC and in round one I decide to take Michael Crabtree in the first round, I would send Tyson Jackson to the 49ers. If the pick is not on the team, move him from free agency. If he is not in the game at all, pick a similar player from the free agency pool or re-create him. 6. Next I rank all teams by rating and allow myself to fill my roster with anyone in the bottom 5 of ratings who is not a rookie from each team. So, if a team has two rookies in the bottom five then I could select from the last seven. 7. Next, and MOST IMPORTANT, transfer all the players you will pick to the team you will replace. This will ensure there are no duplicate players in the league once you replace that team. Because of position restrictions, this may take some time as you can only sign and release so many players. But the time is worth it, especially if you play a few seasons of franchise. 8. Create your team and move the players to your team that you already selected. 9. Start the season. Do not select any of the players from the replaced team until week two of the season. This will give other teams a fair chance to sign them. With a dispersal draft, most of the good players would be gone so this replicates that. And that is it.

This is what I did, took a long time but worth it for the realism
One thing to add to that is that the Texans had more than 1 pick in rounds 2-7. They had the 1st pick in each round and one in the middle of the round.

I replaced the Rams and moved them to LA, made Steven Jackson my "dispersal" draft pick. I then decided that he wouldn't want to play for a expansion team and traded him to the Browns for their 1st(Alex Mack), 1st and 2nd in 2010 and Jamal Lewis, might be cheesing but I think its a pretty fair trade considering Jackson is an elite back and Lewis reportedly was almost cut during final cuts last week.