Nfl Auction

2025 Auction/Salary Cap Draft Plan

Fantasy football auction leagues (also known as salary-cap leagues on multiple providers) feature my favorite way to draft, full stop.

There is constant action, with strategies changing on the fly. You have to pay close attention to the league around you — what other players are doing absolutely affects the way you should play. Most of all, you have to come in with a plan. That’s why I’m here to help.

That’s what makes them so much fun to do. You’re going to end up with some wild roster constructions in auctions, with some teams balanced from top to bottom, others loaded up at one position but not another, and yet other teams going with massive “stars and scrubs” approaches.

Before getting to Draft Day itself, let’s get into a few universal tips every auction drafter should know as they prep.

Pre-Draft Pointers

Tiers, Tiers, Tiers

I think “Tiers” drafting — grouping similarly ranked players instead of following a strict, rigid set of numerical rankings — is a good strategy to take in even a snake draft. One thing fantasy players should pound into their heads is that just because one player is ranked at RB7 and one player is ranked at RB8, it doesn’t mean there’s a drastic difference between the two.

Say you’re in 10 drafts and are given the same “either/or” choice in each one. Sure, you’re drafting De’Von Achane over Tony Pollard 10 times out of 10 if given that choice. But what about Pollard vs. Joe Mixon? Is it 7 to 3? 6 to 4? 5 to 5? They’re probably too close in your rankings to be 100% sure you’re making the right decision when you draft one. That’s because Pickens and Ridley are similarly tiered on your draft sheet.

In auctions, since you have a shot at drafting any player you want, tiering them is the most important thing you can do before your draft. That’s why we “tier” our Auction Cheat Sheet; although you may disagree with us and want to make adjustments (such as creating narrower tiers).

Say Ladd McConkey went for $10 more than you thought he would, even though he was a target. See if you can get Brian Thomas or Drake London for a price more in line with what you were thinking.

It’s imperative to remember which tier you must get a player from. You may have internally decided that Tier 1 RBs are too expensive, and that’s fine. However, perhaps you also concluded that to make your plan work, you need two Tier 2 RBs. It’s essential to bid smartly but aggressively within the player tiers you need to attack.

That’s why I try to get players in my targeted tiers — at least at RB and WR — while there are still players left in that tier. Getting constantly caught bidding at the back end of a tier is a great way to run out of money quickly and to be “drafting from behind,” not to mention constantly drafting the last player in a tier might naturally result in a worse team — paying a premium for an inferior product.

Mostly, Go Cheap at QB

NOTE: This strategy focuses on 1-QB formats.

In the past half decade, a gradual shift toward drafting quarterbacks earlier — and for higher prices in auction leagues — made sense given the power of cheat-code QBs.

Guys like 2018 Patrick Mahomes, 2019 Lamar Jackson, and 2020 Josh Allen won leagues at barrel-bottom prices. The idea was simple: identify a mid-to-late-round QB who might be unproven or rough around the edges, but is super athletic and can add value in the run game. Profit!

Online auction of NFL Draft items wraps up; proceeds to benefit American Red Cross

Dozens of banners and tons of signs — both big and small, including the 80-foot one that hung over the NFL Draft stage — along with photos from inside some of the NFL Experience exhibits, and even one New York Giants barstool, are just some of the nearly 500 items from the 2025 NFL Draft included in an online auction.

John Dugan from Titletown Auction Company is running the auction. He salvaged the items from the draft site.

“We spent three long days there hauling stuff out, bringing it back here so that we could auction it off. At one point, I was inside of a dumpster, ankle deep in dumpster liquid, pulling out banners and some of the coolest stuff,” Dugan said.

Despite the long hours of work, gathering the materials, organizing the items and then getting them all posted online, Dugan plans to donate the proceeds of the sale to the Northeast Wisconsin Chapter of the American Red Cross.

“As a volunteer, the Red Cross means a lot to me. I get to see firsthand the effect they have for the local community, and that was important to me too, to try and help them out,” said Dugan.

On Wednesday morning, just hours before the auction was scheduled to end, there was about $17,000 worth of interest. Dugan said historically, auctions like this usually double in revenue in the last few hours. All items will go, regardless of price. There is a $2 minimum bid.

It’s money the Red Cross says it can always use.

Rebecca Rockhill, executive director of the Northeast Chapter of the American Red Cross, said, “Any type of a donation to the Red Cross, especially when we look at disaster services, makes a tremendous impact. When we look at the spring storms that we’ve had, many of the recent home fires that we’ve had, any type of donation allows us to help more people.”

The auction is making a difference while sending auction winners home with a piece of Titletown history.

Most items are eligible for nationwide shipping (see individual listings for details) and all items will be available for local pickup at the auction company’s Ashwaubenon facility the day after the auction.

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