There are new trade rules in place for both leagues that relate to trades made during the off-season.
This rule only applies in off-season trades where you're trading for a player on someone else's roster FOR THE PURPOSE of making that player one of your keepers for the new season.
Currently, if you trade for a player to keep during the off-season, you give up a draft pick to get that player, but also have to forfeit another draft pick from where he was drafted originally to activate the keeping of him.
The new method is---the draft pick you give up to get that player will be deemed as the pick you "forfeit" in keeping him. So you dont lose another draft pick. So now simple pick-for-keeper off-season trades can happen.
The rules of fair play around it are....
1. You cant trade for a player to keep and then trade him to someone else. You either keep him or change your mind and not keep him (ie, you wasted a pick trading for him).
2. Any trades offered still have to go thru the LM/Committee, so no loopholes or collusions will get thru.
3. A manager who trades a player and receives a draft pick, that is considered an "acquired pick". An acquired pick (in a pick-for-keeper trade) doesnt get forfeited when you go to select your own keepers, your original picks do. All other pick-for-pick trades arent considered "acquired" so forfeiture can occur on those. If a pick-for-keeper trade occurs where more than one pick is involved in the trade, only that one pick itself which relates to the new value of the traded player is counted as an "acquired" pick, the others arent and can get forfeited.
4. If a manager does try to exploit some loophole, the LM can make you forfeit any acquired picks or even higher picks when you then select your keepers. Simply, you can be made to forfeit the next closest pick to the player's keeper value rather than the next lowest, if there's a too wide discrepancy.
5. Keeper-for-keeper trades. Considered a straight swap. There's no exemption, same as the old rule, you forfeit the appropriate pick to keep that player.
6. Trades involving 2 keepers and 2 picks are not two separate trades, nor are they a pick-for-keeper trade where the exemption exists. So LM/Committee would assess the value in that trade, determining whether it was a straight swap of two players, and a straight swap of two picks. Which would mean forfeiture still occurs as per normal. No exempt acquired picks. Otherwise, the two picks in that trade could be establishing a new keeper value for the two players, and it might be ok depending on value.
7. Two separate trades between the same two people involving pick-for-keeper trades can be deemed by LM/Committee as a collusion. Trade can be vetoed or picks forfeited where the keepers value is.