Wanted to get other people's idea's on how they build up their franchises. Would be interesting to see how everyone else approaches it. Here's mine:

I build my own team, and use the Texans roster. Figure its one of the more challenging out there. Like most of you, I dont believe in signing up all the free agents and using them to get high draft picks. If I do pick up a free agent, I have a rule that I have to keep him for at least 2 full seasons before trading him. I also dont believe in creating the 42 year old 99 rated qb's and trade them for #1 picks. Again, where's he fun in that. What I did due, in the first year was to trade alot of my high priced players for younger, cheaper talent, with alot of potential. I can also pick up some high draft picks that way. I think I managed to get as many as 5 first round picks in my first year. If the draft doesn't look like it will be very good, or can't fill my weaker area's, I'll trade the picks for good players. By the time the 2nd year roles around, I have a tone of cap space, so I can pick up some big time free agents. If there are any that is. It bites when you have like 30 million in cap space, and there are no good players to sign. It's fun watching your younger players develop in to stars. The first couple of years are usually a struggle though.

My keys:

moderately talented QB with a long low contract (i.e. Chad Hutchison, he's a 94 with three years left on his original deal).

college recruiting style for backs. draft one every other year, sign them to three year deals, then trade them when they start looking for the big payday.

I find managing those two positions will leave plenty of money for the rest of the team, even with a couple 5 or 6 million $ players at T, WR, or CB.

I started my franchise using the Bulls my created team over the(panthers). All I did was get rid of dead weight, and pick up free agents. Then when people get old I trade them in for new youngers guys that are almost as good. With this I managed my team for 6 seasons and they are now a 94 team. I didnt do any rediculous trades like trading the key players I had al though I did trade mushin muhammed for someone else after awhile cant remmember who. I keep a conservative stradegy, I like to see people progress and I usually have a hard time letting people go even if they sucked because they played on my team a long time and I hate to see them go and get used up.

Well i use the panthers and play on all pro and am in my 10th season. At first my team sucked as you know the panthers suck but what i did was trade the best players they had for draft picks. Im not into the free agent market unless my team is desperate for great players. I built the panthers into a super bowl team my second year because i got 5 1st round picks and 3 second round picks and filled all the spots needed to be a good team. My team is full of draft picks and a few free agent pickups but i dont have a player now over the age of 30. Getting free agents is good but sometimes there isnt anything but the draft always has potential stars in the making. For my best advice use the draft and build the team you want instead of getting a bunch of over priced older free agents.

I usually just wait till after the draft in the off-season. Then I trade my good, old players for rookies. Good skill position players pull the most weight, obviously. Sometimes I'll pick up a great free agent, just to trade for a draft pick or rookie. I hardly ever have players older than 28 on my team and all seem to progress well.

Personally I never like to pick up Free Agents. I like to build with youth. Most of the time I will pick up young players and build there stats up. And when they get real high I will ususally trade them to keep my Salary cap down and get some good picks. This way I have more depth with my teams, but thats just how I like to run my Franchises.

i can see how everyone likes to build with the draft, but why? you always have to wait a year or two to be good...i always trade my picks in order to upgrade my team. 1st and 2nd picks and fetch a fair price. Also, i always seem to end up getting picks back as add-ons to other trades. Best player to get...Kevin Johnson of Cleveland. He's making less than a million for the next 3 years. Hey guys...why do you want to 'keep your salaries down' when you don't sign free agents anyway? In the NFL, free agency is the main way to improve your team.

Well personally I don't use free agency because it takes up alot of cap space to hire quality players. And there's something in me that likes to develop un heard of talent. I may trade for a big time talent (Usually on D) every now and then. But overall I find it more fun to turn a guy from some role player to a super star. I remember reading about a guy who had Preist Holmes and Edge on the same team, what fun is that? Playing with a team full of 60's and 70's adds a little more diffculty.

a few weeks ago, i made fantasy draft with my own created team. i always draft urlacher as my first pick, because with 2 more years of development, hes the best player in the game. how do 88 speed, 88 strenght, 90 agility, 99 accelaration and 99 tackling sound ? answer: dominant.

i like to draft a lot of talent. so i drafted vick, kendrick clancy, shaun williams, deshaun foster, gary baxter, t.j. slaughter, john engelberger ( he improved 3 ovl points with 20 tackles and 5 sack), fernando bryant. of course, i drafted veterans, too. pat williams, kim herring, shane matthews (because vicks not a great passer) warrick dunn and troy brown.

on defense, i always control urlacher, with him, you can do EVERYTHING: my last season with him: 158 tackles, 14 sack, 8 interceptions, 15 passes defensed, 3 recovered fumbles.

t.j. slaughter is solid as second linebacker, posting 85 tackles and 3 sack.

herring and williams are great safeties, so the corners can make mistakes while they are developing.