The term “orders” is defined to mean a team owner’s game lineups, trades, free agent bids, cuts, draft lists, and other communications pertaining to the operation of his team. Team owners may submit orders to the Commissioner by mail, telephone, e-mail, fax, or other medium. The Commissioner assumes no responsibility for the failure of any medium to deliver an owner’s orders (or, for that matter, material he sends to the owners) in time.
Orders should include the league name and the team name. For trades, the team name should be stated outside of the trade itself; that is, the team owner must say clearly which of the two teams he is. Also for trades, the name of the team being traded with must be stated. In the event that conflicting sets of orders are received, the set received last will be used. If the Commissioner is unable to establish which set is latest, he reserves the right to arbitrarily determine which orders from among conflicting sets will be used.
Orders should be clear and specific. Players should always be named explicitly by stating their first initial, last name, position, and NFL team; except for lines, for which the position and NFL team only need be stated. In the case of orders left on the Commissioner’s answering machine, the team owner must speak clearly and audibly. Orders which the Commissioner cannot understand may be disregarded. If the omission of a league or a team name, or the inclusion of a wrong league or team name, causes any confusion, the orders may end up not being followed.