How to Play Offseason Empire
Offseason Empire is a free, browser-based football GM sim built around the front office — the draft, the cap, the trades — not the Sunday box score. No download, no paywall. Here’s how a run works, start to finish.
Pick your team & meet your owner
Start a new game and choose one of the league’s 32 fictional franchises — each with its own ratings and outlook. Then you meet the person you actually work for: your owner, with a personality built from wealth, patience and passion, and a mandate that sets the bar you’ll be judged against.
Your Day-One checklist
The dashboard opens on breaking news — often the owner cleaning house — and a short Day-One checklist. First moves: hire a head coach and staff up your scouting department. Everything downstream (the draft, development, trades) runs better once your building is staffed.
Scout and rank the class
Scouting turns fog into a board. Advance your scouting milestones, dig into the incoming class, and favorite the prospects you want to target. A clean board is what makes draft day feel like a plan instead of a scramble.
Trades, free agency & the cap
This is the front office. Use the trade finder to shop deals, sign the right free agents, and do it all under a real salary cap. Every move is a trade-off — cap space now versus flexibility later — and that tension is the whole game.
Make your picks
When the clock starts, put the board to work. Take the best value, or trade up and down to hit the players you built your plan around. This is where an offseason gets won.
Lock your 53
Finalize your 53-man roster and depth chart, then advance the offseason to see how your decisions play out. Didn’t love the result? That’s the point — run it back and build a better empire.
New here? Don’t overthink your first game. Take a team you like, hire a coach, favorite a few prospects, and make one trade. You’ll have the loop in ten minutes — and the depth is there when you want it.
Run Your Front Office — Free
No download. No paywall. Just you, the board, and the offseason.
Play Offseason Empire Free →