What if the teams who are not interested in the draft are allowed sell their picks back to their league for cash? For each round a team can give up their right to draft a player for a refund.
Round 1 - 175k less 10k for position in the draft. Team with the 1st pick gets 175K if they sell their pick while the team with the 2nd pick gets 165k and so on.
Round 2 - 150k less 10k for position in the draft.
Round 3 - 125k less 10k for position in the draft.
The managers would have to make this decision a week before the end of the season. This way the game would mimic real life more.
So if a team invests nothing in the draft all season, they not only don't have to pay the 5k or 10k (or more) each week, but they get to profit from it at the time of the draft? How does this "mimic real life more"?