I took over a team that needs a serious rebuild, and the league is very competitive, so I need to do it correctly. I have a general idea of what needs to be done for the rebuild, but there are so many moving parts in this game that I would hate to overlook something that obvious to MFN veterans.

I looked around for threads on rebuilds, but I can't find one (maybe there is but I just missed them). Can anyone help a new guy out?

I think there's only one way to go about it; go for the best player available -- always.

Free Agency is where you can make huge strides. Once you get a tight grip around the cap space situation, you can start really fishing the players you want.

The draft is fun, but if you're trying to exclusively build through the draft, you'll never know when you can actually start winning. Playing the FA market is what will push you over the top. It's the same no matter where you are; strive to improve your team.

guessing it is this team = https://xfl.myfootballnow.com/team/12

I got a late start and missed the first important weeks of FA. I'll have to wait for next season. I have a decent amount of cap space, so I'll be going that route.

There will be a learning cure though, as I've never been through the FA process here so I'm not sure what to expect.

Yep, that's the one.

Yeah. It's indeed a learning curve. I soaked whatever information I could from the forums (and Setherick's player weights) and managed to pretty much have a great first draft and have just kept building from that. If I had to do over, I'd do exactly the same; just keep on building. My big challenge, is that many of my players are approaching their peak years or are in them, so I'll have a lot of players I can no longer just renew. I'll have to start hitting the draft and pick up solid drops from other teams.

Always, always, always, ALWAYS keep an eye out for boomers. If you have a 75/75 4th year guy who are neutral or a slight bust, but there's a 50/72 guy who boomed like 15-20 in rookie camp, pick him up. You'll almost always have someone you can dump, for someone who has the potential to grow. My QB was a FA with only 60 accuracy when I picked him up. My other QB's were trash. He just kept on growing that accuracy and now it's 100/100. :-)

Thanks for the tips Lamba.

If you havent been through a draft, do not forget to factor the volatility when picking. There is nothing worse than having a high pick and nabbing a 75+ vol player that ends up as a bust.

After playing 2398472938 sports management simulations I can tell you the biggest mistake new players make in these games is "rebuilding". There's a certain level of excitement that comes with having things to do, like exploring trades and talking about trades, talking about what players you should draft, things that go along with rebuilding.. etc This game takes a very long time to cycle through a season compounded with pauses for personal reasons... sometimes, so any mistakes you make right now with trading/releasing is going to take many months IRL to recover from.

My advice is learn the game and play the game. Look at what you have and try and win with it. Understand how the game works so you actually know how to priority in the draft and FA/ I promise you, the minute you make a decision in game thinking, "of course this is right cause NFL.." it won't be because this is a simulation.

You will be a much better GM overall if you rebuild 3 seasons from now instead of day 15.

Fair enough. I might just try that and see how it goes. Thanks for the reply Lucky.