Fantasy football comes in all shapes and sizes and like pizza, baby, it’s always good. You’ve got your good old-fashioned head-to-head fantasy leagues, rotisserie football leagues and, of course, for the new-school, you’ve got your daily fantasy football (DFS). But one of my new favorites has to be the season-long salary cap fantasy football games. I’ll always be considered old-school and will forever be in multiple head-to-head leagues, but what I love most about these salary cap games is that they are a true blend of both the old and the new school. Like DFS, you’re working within the confines of a budget and a big injury won’t haunt you for the entire year. But then it also adds the head-to-head aspect of facing individual opponents within your league, complete with wins and losses and a playoff run after the regular season ends. Not to mention, you can come back from one bad week to still win it all in the end, unlike DFS where one bad week could mean a lot of explaining to your significant other as to why your household is now limited to Raman noodles every night. So when my good friend Stacie Stern informed me of their season-long salary cap over at Head2Head.com, I jumped at the chance to enter.
Here’s how it goes:
You’ve got $100 Million to put together a 10-player squad consisting of 1 QB, 3 RB, 3 WR/TE, 1 K, 1 D/ST and 1 Superflex. Yup. A superflex. Now before you automatically assume it’s a 2-QB league, check the prices. In an effort to make those superflex decisions a little tougher, the prices of quarterbacks are significantly higher. Passing touchdowns are worth six points so the temptation is there, but you better have some really sweet bargains to work that 2-QB magic.
The rest of the scoring goes like this:
Now that you’ve got the basics, let me hit you with the costs. Don’t wince. It’s not bad at all.
There are three packages you can purchase. You’ve got the Starter Package for $14.95, the Complete Package for $24.95 and the High Stakes package for $200. Each package comes with its own little perks such as weekly reports, a free app and a full-team trade certificate. A what? A trade certificate.
In the spirit of full-disclosure, there may be additional costs, depending on your team construction and performance. If you want to swap out a player after your weekly match-up, it’s going to cost you $3.00 per move. However, the full-team trade certificate certainly helps you in the beginning of the season and you can actually purchase different trade packages which will cut the per trade cost significantly. Trades may be purchased in a group of 10 trades for $25, 20 trades for $40 or 50 trades for $90, so essentially, you can cut the cost down to about $1.80 per trade. I anticipate significant moves as I’m testing out the 2-QB strategy, so I may have to make some serious moves.
Anyway, once you sign up, you are randomly placed into a league of 32 teams (four divisions of eight) and the top six finishers cash at the end of the regular season. I threw down $200 (a combination of funds from some birthday money from my grandma and some neighborhood pet-sitting) and joined the High-Stakes League because I’m a baller like that, but obviously, you can get one of the less-expensive packages and the league in which you are placed is filled with those who purchased at the same level.
Now here’s the best part…
When the NFL regular season ends, the top two teams in each division of EVERY league (regardless of how much you paid to play) go to the playoffs where all of you compete for the grand prize of $25,000. That’s right...you can pay just $14.95 and still get a chance to compete for $25K. Ka-ching!!!
So that’s the basic rundown. Again, you can go to Head2Head.com and check out everything for yourself as I have probably glossed over a few of the details and may have missed a nuance here or there such as the year-end pay-out tiers. Sorry, but when I hear $25K, that’s the only prize I’m focused on. There are individual league payouts which are detailed on the site.
So what did I do with my team for Week 1? It looks a little something like this:
Like I said, I’m going to try out the 2-QB strategy and see where that takes me. I’m not all that thrilled with my running backs, the first sign that maybe two quarterbacks isn’t the way to go, but I dig my receivers and the bargain price for Tyler Kroft could be big for the first few weeks until Tyler Eifert returns if he sees red zone targets. I also need to watch defensive scoring carefully. I’ll use this first week as a strategy barometer and make the necessary adjustments. It’s a learning process sometimes, but once I see how everyone ends up after Week 1, I shouldn’t have any trouble getting back into the game if this strategy doesn’t work out.
Unfortunately, for those of you who don’t play on Head2Head.com, the deadline to join has passed as the season gets underway tonight. But perhaps following my team through this column will inspire you to bookmark the site in your browser and come back next season to compete. In fact, and I’ll remind you of this at season’s end, those who follow this series and express interest in joining next year can join me in a private league which also gets to compete in the playoffs. And if I win it all this year, we’ll make it a High Stakes league and I’ll foot the bill for the first 10 of you to join. Book it!
Player News
Dolphins signed No. 13 overall pick DT Kenneth Grant to a four-year contract.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Grant will sign his contract today. The former Michigan defensive tackle is expected to fill a major void left by Christian Wilkins, who left for the Raiders in the 2024 offseason. Grant totaled 32 tackles, three sacks, and seven TFLs in his final season at Michigan and excelled at stopping the run while also generating 27 pressures in his final season, per PFF.
Beat reporter John Hendrix reports that free agent WR Donovan Peoples-Jones is among the 16 players that the Saints will host for their rookie minicamp.
Peoples-Jones last played regular season snaps with the Lions back in 2023, when he caught 13-of-24 targets for 155 yards. He is highly unlikely to return to fantasy relevance at this point but could perhaps sign on as a special teams contributor.
Titans signed fourth-round pick WR Elic Ayomanor to a four-year contract.
Ayomanor will now begin learning behind Calvin Ridley. Although Ayomanor is unlikely to find a meaningful role in year one, dynasty managers should note his status as training camp gets underway this summer. The former Stanford receiver flashed big-play ability in his two college seasons.
Buccaneers signed seventh-round pick WR Tez Johnson to a four-year contract.
Johnson will serve as a rotational deep-threat option for Baker Mayfield. His thin frame (5'10/154) simply does not lend itself to the repeated hits one incurs in a full-time role. Johnson did earn 100-plus targets in his two seasons at Oregon, though. His big-play style make him a better fit in best ball for now, pending any major on-field breakthroughs.
Giants waived DT Casey Rogers.
Rogers was a 2024 undrafted free agent and logged 33 defensive snaps for the Giants in his rookie season. He is credited with zero tackles and/or sacks. He may find his way onto another roster as a practice squad option.
Vikings signed third-round pick WR Tai Felton to a four-year contract.
Felton is quietly in play to challenge Vikings No. 3 WR Jalen Nailor in training camp. Nailor (5'11/190) caught 28-of-42 targets for 414 yards and six touchdowns in his first season as a starter last year, with the latter category buoying his fantasy productivity. Felton (6'1/183), meanwhile, caught 96-of-143 targets for 1,119 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 2.32 yards per route run in his final college season. Fantasy managers should monitor Felton’s training camp reports this summer, as he could have a matchup-based WR5 role if everything falls into place.