draft process

instead of getting a guy who was almost certainly not who you wanted, would it be possible to just leave an empty roster spot and leave the cash in the bank/safe?

if this has been discussed and a negative response already explained, I apologize, but, just me, I would rather have the cash

You must have a full draft list in order to get to the spot where it will allow you to place a team into a league, but that doesnt mean you need to spend all your money on the players you put on it. Use more than a few fifty cent bench warmers if you just want to leave money in the bank.

I have said for a while now that the "answer" would be to allow a second choice for every player, thereby increasing your odds of getting someone you want. That pick would simply need to be lower priced to make sure there are no cap issues.

If you draft more than 24 that will allow you to cut big money players who you don’t want freeing up cash for waivers

I have said for a while now that the "answer" would be to allow a second choice for every player, thereby increasing your odds of getting someone you want. That pick would simply need to be lower priced to make sure there are no cap issues.

I agree with this 100%

as per tk133

would be a good thing, but I think the programming would be a challenge

as per tk133

I agree 100% as well

It could be coded in to not allow a secondary pick to be more expensive than the primary at any draft slot.

The problem arises that is it equitable to give someone player "Smith" with a 2nd round secondary pick ahead of someone that has him listed as a primary in the third round.

A case could be made that a primary pick should take preference over a secondary during the draft across all teams draft cards. That would lead the a strategy of secondary picks being players that you don't expect to be anyone's primary picks.
Even with those limitations, still better than current draft.

I was not talking about leaving draft spots empty and don't see how my wording was interpreted that way.

I am talking about, after the draft, instead of getting someone who does not fit your moneyball vision, you have empty spots and cash

then there could be 'supplemental' drafts, executed in the same way until the teams are all full

my expectation is that it wouldn't take more than three rounds

I don't mind the second choice option, but, surely there would be conflicts among the second choices also, so ultimately, managers would still end with guys they don't want.

my expectation is

that

even though my way might take a few extra rounds, you would never get someone you did not want (under the circumstances of not getting your first choice)

The autodraft process, is far from perfect, but my sense is that implementing any of the ideas in this thread, will require very complex and time-consuming programming. Just imagine what a second tier choice for each slot would take in terms of programming, its mind boggling---i.e., what if your 2nd choice was already chosen by someone else--then what happens?
And if you want to have lots of cash for waivers, all you have to do is to autodraft some cheapo players, or cheaper versions of the players you do want (then you can switch the cards to the higher salary card after the autodraft or waivers).
the bottom line is that if you don't like what the autodraft gives you, and how it works, then you have 3 choices---get better at autodrafting strategy, or join leagues that have serpentine online drafting, or join a franchise league.

or join leagues that have serpentine online drafting

Why not have serpentine drafting for the autodraft??