Associated Fantasy

"Its fine to have ability, but the ability to find ability in others is the true test" -Lou Holtz

AFFL AFFL2022 

AFFL 2022 Free Agency Season Wrap-Up

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2022 was the second year of the AFFL’ Offseason Free Agency Period (auction) and also the first offseason in which contracts cycled.  Here’s some highlights of that Free Agency Season

  • There were 217 players available in the 2022 Free Agency season – including 165 UFA’s, 45 RFA’s, and 6 CFA’s
    • That compares to 2021’s 213 UFA’s and 10 RFA’s
  • 12 Franchises negotiated with (bid on) at least one player
    • These franchises included the Blitz, Express, Federals, Generals, Gold, Gunslingers, Maulers, Panthers, Raiders, Renegades, Showboats, Wranglers
    • Each of these 12 acquired at least 1 of the players they negotiated with
  • 7 Franchises – including the Breakers, Bulls, Gamblers, Invaders, Outlaws, Stallions, and Stars- did not pursue any players at all (Bandits were idle)
  • 42 Free Agents, including 6 RFA’s were signed by new teams
    • Compared to 2021’s 42 Free Agents including just 1 RFA
  • A total of $1,065,200,000 dollars (yes, billion) of guaranteed money was committed in these 42 contracts
  • Austin Ekeler’s (RB, W-S) $165.7m contract sets the new record for a Free Agent Contract (beating Josh Jacob’s $140m last year)
    • it’s the 7th largest contract in AFFL history
    • with his 2022 salary and record signing bonus, Ekeler becomes the NEW highest paid (single Season) player in AFFL history at an estimated $130 million dollars
  • The Federals and the Maulers were the most aggressive in free agency, picking up 7 players each
  • The Maulers were particularly aggressive in giving up high draft picks this year (#1.10) and the next (1st RD) to acquire two Tier 1 RFA’s (Xavier McKinney (S) and Allen Robinson (WR), and spending $222 million dollars on their 7 acquisitions
  • The Federals 7 signings will cost them just $129 million dollars
  • The Gunslingers were right behind with 6 free agent pick-ups and the Showboats landed 5
  •  The Showboat’s 5 acquisitions will cost them $156 million, including a 5 year signing of David Long (LB) for just $78 million
  • The Gunslingers’ 5 new deals will cost them $159 million, while rival Express signed just two contracts (Ekeler and Mooney) but committed $240 million dollars for them
  • The Renegades signed 4 free agents, including 3 of their own
  • The most lucrative contracts signed were Ekeler (W-S, $165m), Keenan Allen (SOCA, $103m), David Long (SANQ, $79m), Darnell Mooney (W-S, $75m), and Kevin Byard (GS, $64m) 
  • The Blitz lost 5 of their players to another franchise and the Express, Invaders, and Stallions all lost 4
  • The Express were particularly hard hit in free agency, 3 of their 4 lost players being RFAs
  • Positions of the player’s picked up include:
    • 13 WR’s
    • 9 LB’s
    • 7 CB’s
    • 6 RB’s
    • 3 DE’s
    • 2 each S’s and DT’s
    • 0 QB’s, TE’s, K’s, P’s