Updated COVID-19 Protocols

If the NFL drastically adjusts the season due to COVID-19, or if Yahoo! makes additional options available to counteract the week-to-week uncertainty, this plan is subject to change.

For the time being, this is how the Larkspur Bowl will handle schedule adjustments due to COVID-19:

If a game is rescheduled to replace a team's bye weeks (as we saw in week 4 for TEN/PIT players) there will be no adjustment. Every player has a bye week, so despite the inconvenience of having it sprung on you, augmenting the roster size to deal with byes is not pragmatic. If a game is moved to a later day in the same week (Tuesday or perhaps even Wednesday) no adjustments will be made to the rosters. Players on the bench can always be dropped (even after they play) and players can be added until their game kicks off, making last minute roster fills plausible, if not always optimal. 

Currently, players are only eligible for the IR list if they are listed as OUT, IR, or COVID-19; the COVID-19 designation is a formal list for players that have tested positive or been place in quarantine due to exposure, not a catch-all for teams that have had outbreaks.

If games are canceled (without the possibility of shifting bye weeks) ideally Y! will make all players from the teams in the canceled game IR eligible and we would add additional IR slots; If one game was canceled we would add one IR slot (4 total) if two games in a given week are canceled we would add another IR slot (5 total), if three games or more games in a given week are canceled a third (6 total) would be added- these additions would remain in place for the balance of the season. I am putting a soft cap of 6 on the IR, but if there are substantial disruptions the number can be increased all the way up to ten.

If a game is canceled (beyond a team's one bye week) and players in canceled games are not given universal IR designation, we will go into the following temporary roster expansion protocol:

Once the game is officially canceled for the week, a public post on the league's facebook group where teams can designate any player (from the teams that have had their game canceled) dropped to be returned to their roster at the end of the week, bypassing the waiver system. 

FOR EXAMPLE: if the Titans have their week 5 game canceled due to COVID-19, but have already used their bye week in week 4, and the players in the canceled game are not given universal IR status, a manager could drop TEN RB Derrick Henry and designate him for return, and the commish will manually restore him to the team for week 6 without penalty.

Teams will need to drop players to make room for their returning players prior to waivers clearing on Wednesday morning, the commish will be responsible for ensuring this process goes smoothly. In this way, once teams have exhausted their BYE week, we can ensure teams do not suffer long term reperescussions due to cancelations.

Due to Y!'s restriction, any IR slots or bench slots that are added to a roster become permanent for the remainder of the season- as such, I want to stay away from adding roster spots. If the current model is unsustainable due to multiple games being canceled on a weekly basis, we will consider expanding rosters (all the way up to the max of 30 players) instead- any roster expansion would occur during a universal waiver period to give every team a fair chance at claims.