The Iron Men (2020 - 2026, never moved since the origin draft)
16 players have sat on the same roster every single season since the league's origin 2020 draft, never traded or cut. Three more players - Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Travis Kelce - have been locked onto their current roster just as long, but their streak starts a few weeks later than the rest: they were acquired in the flurry of trades that opened that first 2020 season, before Week 1 was ever played, and haven't moved since. Eight of the ten current owners have a cornerstone dating back to that opening window. Hannah alone owns seven of the 16 true never-movers, nearly half of the league's total loyalty pool, all on one roster.
| Owner | Cornerstone Player | Span |
|---|---|---|
| Hannah | Deshaun Watson, Christian McCaffery, Jonathan Taylor, Tony Pollard, Courtland Sutton, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson | 2020 - 2026 (7 yrs, x7 players) |
| Anthony (Tony Loff) | Terry McLaurin | 2020 - 2026 (7 yrs) |
| Matt (Mathieu) | Chris Godwin, DJ Moore, Jerry Jeudy | 2020 - 2026 (7 yrs, x3 players) |
| Michael (Mikey Loff) | Brandon Aiyuk | 2020 - 2026 (7 yrs) |
| Levon | Joe Burrow | 2020 - 2026 (7 yrs) |
| Ryan M | Patrick Mahomes | 2020 - 2026 (7 yrs) |
| TB | Christian Kirk, Michael Pittman | 2020 - 2026 (7 yrs, x2 players) |
| Blake (BlakeBro) | Amari Cooper | 2020 - 2025 (6 yrs, moved in 2026) |
Acquired in the 2020 opening trades, held ever since
| Owner | Player | Acquired from |
|---|---|---|
| Michael (Mikey Loff) | Lamar Jackson Acquired | David |
| David | Josh Allen Acquired | Michael |
| David | Travis Kelce Acquired | Michael |
Source: storylines.md, sections 1-2, computed from rosters.json's seven season tabs, cross-checked against the origin 2020 draft board and the 2020 trade log.
The 2026 Cliff
Two different kinds of expiring player, and they matter very differently. No number means he gets purged off the roster before this year's draft unless he is extended at 2:1, franchise tagged, or traded. 0 means you keep him for all of 2026 and he is free after that. The "gone before this draft" column is the one to worry about right now.
| Owner | Roster | Gone before this draft (no number) | Last year (0) | Long Control (3+) | Total Locked-In Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael (Mikey Loff) | 23 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Hannah | 23 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Team Barbie | 20 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Levon | 23 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| David | 19 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| TB | 21 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Matt (Mathieu) | 21 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| Ryan M | 21 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Blake (BlakeBro) | 20 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| Anthony (Tony Loff) | 21 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 18 |
Busts
Multi-year contracts that vanished from every roster in the league within a season or two of being signed.
Trey Lance - Matt
Signed for 5 years in 2021. Liquidated down to 1 remaining year by 2023, gone from the entire league by then. Two seasons of return on a five-year bet. The Commissioner's own memo calls it the worst allocation of capital in league history.
Kenny Golladay - Levon
Signed for 5 years in 2020. On Levon's roster through 2022, then formally liquidated for 2 years on Singletary instead. Gone from the league after 2022, 3 of 5 committed years delivered.
Bryce Young - Hannah
Given 4 years in 2023, then a fresh 3-year re-sign in 2024. Gone from the entire league by the end of 2024. Two commitments, zero payoff.
Kyler Murray - Levon then Anthony
Levon spent a 6-year commitment on him in 2020, traded him away after one season. Anthony then spent a fresh 5-year commitment on the return and still lost him a year before that term was up. Two different owners, two different contracts, same player, neither deal paid off in full.
Trading Habits
Anthony (Tony Loff): the trading addict
Party to roughly 20 of the 37 verbatim trades logged across 7 seasons, appearing in every single season's trade log without exception (5 separate deals in the 2023 tab alone). Also #1 in locked-in contract years for six straight years. He upgrades and re-ups constantly rather than churning.
Hannah: the opposite of Anthony
Lowest or second-lowest season-to-season roster turnover almost every year. In 2025 to 2026 she retained 21 of her 22 players, just 5 percent turnover. That extreme loyalty is exactly what set up the 2026 Cliff above: her whole core expires at once because she never diversified when.
David: the sharpest collapse
Total locked-in contract years fell from 33 in 2020 (8th in the league) to 13 in 2023 to just 2 by 2026, three consecutive last-place finishes in the league's contract-stockpile ranking. No other owner shows a decline this steep or this sustained.
League-wide trend
Everyone got more conservative about long-term deals over time. Total locked-in contract years league-wide fell from 328 in 2020 to just 102 in 2026, though part of that is simply that the 2026 season is still in progress and most incoming rookies have not been extended yet.
Full player-by-player rosters and contract years live in the spreadsheet, not reproduced in full here. Open the roster and contract spreadsheet, or read the Be A GM League Manual (rulebook).