The great thing about salary cap leagues is that you can take your team in any direction you want. Your strategy options are completely wide open.

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Our Footballguys staff recently sat down to discuss their favored options at the quarterback position when playing in a salary cap league.

• $200 cap
• 12 teams
• Full PPR
• Starting Lineup
  • 1 QB
  • 2 RBs
  • 3 WRs
  • 1 TE
  • 1 flex (RB, WR, TE)

How do you approach the quarterback position in a salary cap draft? Feel free to discuss price enforcement and budget allocation. 

Thoughts from Jason Wood

The $200 cap makes it difficult to pay up at quarterback because price inflation will drive the best RBs and WRs into the $40-plus range, and you want to give your bench enough talent that you're not doomed with inevitable injuries to your top players.

I'll generally attempt to pay no more than $15 for two quarterbacks and am willing to pay $7-$8 for two competent starters or more for a higher-end starter and backfill with a $1 or $2 lottery ticket.

My view on price enforcement comes down to how I read the tiers at any position. I rarely price enforce at quarterback other than making sure a top-5 starter isn't going off for more than a 10% discount to my projections. And I'll only enforce if I don't already have my starter.

Thoughts from Drew Davenport

It seemed like a decent idea last year to try to chase a top-three quarterback in salary cap drafts after there was a noticeable stratification at the position coming out of 2022. But here we are again looking at what most are describing as a deep fantasy quarterback group. There's an argument to be made for 13 to 15 quarterbacks this year that can perform as Top 12 options and even push for a Top 6 finish. In a salary cap draft this presents an opportunity to save money at quarterback and still find nearly elite production.

I generally am not one to chase the top of the position group and investing 10% of my cap on my quarterback room would only happen if an opportunity presents itself to grab Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes II, or perhaps Lamar Jackson. Instead, I'll attempt to grab either Kyler Murray or Dak Prescott for around 6% of my cap, perhaps as much as 7%. My final option, but one which I use often, is to be one of the last ones to land my starter, and then I'm going to hope to get two guys that have demonstrable upside like Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goff, Brock Purdy, or Jordan Love. If I use that final strategy, it's because I used my money elsewhere, and then I'm trying to get both guys for about $6-$8.

Because of the lower prices and general attitudes towards quarterbacks in a salary cap draft I don't find that price enforcing is practical. If the top couple of guys are going too cheap I'll jump in to make sure someone doesn't get too good of a deal, but the lower prices and depth make price enforcing more risky than I like. I think the position should be played as straightforwardly, as it has never been easier to handle quarterback in a salary cap draft room than in 2024.

Thoughts from Andy Hicks

Quarterback is a position where I would be looking to save money. If I can get an elite quarterback at good value, you have to take them. It is impossible to price enforce for every player or position. Judgment calls on individual players are made all the time. How many vacant slots you have at a position ultimately determines how rigid we get to enforce our price structure.

I would be looking at taking three quarterbacks in the so-called bargain bin. There is depth at the quarterback position, and with rushing quarterbacks on the rise, value can be found in numbers.

I would be delighted if I could get away with spending only 10% of my allocation at the position.

Thoughts from Jeff Bell

I walk into every draft, hoping elite players are priced at a level I feel comfortable investing in.  Our Footballguys salary cap prices hold quarterbacks to around 12%, a level I am comfortable investing to step into a “set and forget” position.

The 2022 season was heavily impacted by elite quarterback production; as a result, these players were pushed up boards. Then, 2023 was a disappointment and let the air out on that strategy. Often, we bounce back too hard, and a five-point advantage weekly is worth the extra 5% in the budget to secure it.

I want to avoid the middle tier of quarterbacks. If the ~$7 to $10 is too valuable to step Joe Burrow up to Lamar Jackson, then it is also too valuable to step Jared Goff or Jayden Daniels up to Joe Burrow. Playing matchups on players like Goff or Lawrence can generate equal, if not better, results than setting someone like Burrow weekly for a fraction of the cost.

I will avoid price enforcement at quarterback. Investing 12% of your budget on a player like Josh Allen and then losing another 8% on the belief C.J. Stroud’s price was too low is a crippling problem, often costing you a strong flex option or valuable depth at the skill positions.

My goals for the position are sticking in the ballpark of our list price of 12% for an elite quarterback with no spend on a backup or pairing two back-end options for no more than 5%.

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