How Salary Cap Leagues Work
by Brandon, DFS Player, RotoPicks.com
Daily Fantasy Sports Salary Cap Leagues enable you to build a fantasy team from all players across all teams. But don't think you'll be building a super team composed of the game's elite. Just like a real-life General Manager, you'll have a certain amount of money to spend on a team-and every player has his price.
Building a Salary Cap Team Step-by-Step
First, register for an account and find an open league on Fanduel (The biggest daily fantasy sports site on the net). You can find leagues on the home page and filter them in a variety of ways. Set your Draft Type filter to "Salary Cap" on the home page to see all available Salary leagues. From there you can choose the league that is best for you.
Once you've found a Salary Cap League, hit the JOIN button. A pop-up will give detailed info on the league you've selected and ask if you would like to join the league. Hit JOIN again. Then hit CLICK HERE when prompted to build your team.
A new internet window will open with your draft board and player pool. Your goal is to draft a fantasy lineup from the available players.
Search for players by either: a) scrolling through the list of all players, b) filtering the list by position/team and scrolling, or c) typing a specific name into the search bar.
Click on a player to add him to the Selection Box. The Selection Box shows some general info on the player. From the Selection Box, you can hit "View Full Profile" to see more detailed stats.
WARNING: Daily fantasy sports sites may not have up-to-the-minute injury reports, so double check with official injury reports to be certain.
If you want to add the player in the Selection Box to your fantasy lineup, hit ADD PLAYER. He will appear on your lineup under his corresponding position (i.e. A pitcher will appear under the "Pitcher" slot of your lineup). If you want to delete your selection, simply click on the "X" next to your player's name on the lineup slot.
You may select any players you wish, but note your team's salary cap and the each player's price tag. Adding a player to your team costs fantasy money, and that deducts from your total salary. For instance, if you start with a salary of $100,000 and select a player worth $20,000, you will only have $80,000 left to spend on the rest of your team.
In addition to building a team within your budget, you must fill every position on your lineup. This means that you can't draft nine Quarterbacks in a football league and ignore the other positions. Each lineup spot must be filled by a player who corresponds to the position (i.e. 1st Baseman in 1st Baseman slot, etc.).
Note: Some sports have FLEX (or Utility) positions, which can be filled with a variety of different positions (Football FLEX spot can hold Running Backs, Wide Receivers, or Tight Ends).
Once you've set your lineup, double check it. If you have leftover salary money, you may want to upgrade to a more expensive player. Also, check official injury reports to ensure that all your players are suiting up-an inactive player will result in no points (not to mention a waste of salary money).
When you're satisfied with your lineup, hit SAVE TEAM. A pop-up will notify you that your team has been successfully saved. Make sure you save, as this will not be done automatically. The pop-up will also invite you to copy your current lineup into another Salary Cap League of your choice. If you would like to enter the same lineup in other leagues, you can choose to join one. You can also join another league from the home page and hit IMPORT TEAM to copy a previously made lineup.
If you need to edit your completed lineup for any reason, you can access it from the home page under the heading labeled "Active Leagues." You may edit your lineup until the time you league locks.
Salary Cap Checklist
1. Fill every slot in lineup
2. Do not exceed the allotted salary cap
3. Check official injury reports
4. Check starting lineups (if possible) to make sure that your desired player isn't being given the day off.
5. Save your lineup
Good luck!
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