Creating the ultimate 53-man roster is a pretty simple endeavor without any parameters. It starts getting tricky when operating under a salary cap. Roster construction becomes more complicated with other restrictions designed to prevent a squad from resembling last season's All-Pro team, but the constraints bring more realism to selection proce s.The ground rules are as follows.Parameters1. The salary cap for the roster is $200.3 million, although the actual NFL salary cap is $188.2 million for this year. The number being used is the league's average adjusted salary cap according to NFLPA data. Each NFL team's working salary cap varies largely because unused cap room can be carried over from one year to the next. For example, the have league's highest adjusted salary cap at just under $246.7 million largely thanks to carrying over nearly $57 million of cap room. The have the lowest at $187.643 million, which is slightly below Brent Burns Kids Jersey the league-wide number. Situations like this typically occur when incentives earned during the previous season that weren't counting on the cap get accounted for without sufficient cap room carrying over from the prior year to make up the difference. 2. The NFL Draft is an e sential element of roster building for NFL teams. It is for this exercise as well. One player from each round of 2019 draft must be on the roster. The number requirement drops by one player for each year of the preceding three drafts (2016-18). The limit of one player per round remains. Thus, only four 2016 draft picks are required. There's one other draft pick constraint: only one 2015 first-round pick whose fifth year option was exercised is allowed regardle s of whether he signed a contract extension. Selecting one isn't a nece sity.3. The backups at each position are limited to players that aren't established starters so young veterans cracking the lineup for the first time are eligible. Second-year players that didn't start at least half of their team's games or play a minimum of 50 percent of the snaps on their side of the ball qualify as reserves. Players competing for starting jobs or where there's a "by committee approach" at a position, usually running back, are also acceptable. A backfield containing Ezekiel Elliott Melker Karlsson Jersey and is prohibited since both are workhorse or every-down running backs. 4. There's one big allowance being made defensively: Three starting cornerbacks are acceptable without sacrificing a starter in a traditional base defense since five or more defensive backs are now used over 60% of the time in the NFL. The result is 12 defensive starters. 5. Choosing a player that was given a franchise or transition designation in 2019 is optional. However, only one player receiving a 2019 designation can be selected.Roster-building philosophyChoosing an elite quarterback was the top priority since the NFL is a pa ser-driven league. A potential franchise quarterback on a rookie contract is the most valuable commodity in the NFL because Mikkel Boedker Kids Jersey of the roster flexibility provided by the low cap numbers. Selecting one was e sential. An emphasis was also placed on the offensive and defensive lines. The old football adage of "it starts in the trenches" was a guiding principle in a sembling the roster.Long range planning wasn't taken into account so worrying about future salary cap obligations, the amount of cap room that could be carried over, expiring contracts and drafting players that might develop into starters down the road wasn't nece sary. Different choices would have been made if these aspects had been considerations. The initial version of the team was done without paying attention to cost. Close to $220 million of cap space was used. Several roster adjustments were nece sary in order to comply with the constraints. Here's the team I a sembled with some of my thoughts behind the selections. The 2019 cap number for each player is in parentheses. Offensive startersQB: , ($4,487,328)Mahomes took the NFL by storm in his first season as a starter after e sentially being redshirted as a rookie in 2017. The 2018 NFL MVP arguably had the best season ever for a second year quarterback. Mahomes became the only quarterback besides to throw for at least 50 touchdowns and 5,000 yards in the same season. RB: Ezekiel Elliott, ($6,345,528)Having a cost-effective quarterback allows for a luxury item in the backfield. Otherwise, an inexpensive lead ball carrier on a rookie contract would have been chosen. Elliott won his second rushing title during his three NFL seasons in 2018 with 1,434 yards on the ground. He became Aaron Dell Men Jersey more a threat in the pa sing game last season with a career best and team high 77 receptions. Elliott was also second in the NFL with 2,001 yards from scrimmage (combined rushing and receiving yards) despite sitting out the regular season finale since the game didn't have any playoff implications for Dallas.WR: , ($14,007,050)Hopkins has the best hands in the busine s. He didn't drop any of the 115 catchable pa ses thrown to him in 2018, according to Pro Football Focus. Hopkins' 115 catches, 1,572 receiving yards and 11 touchdown receptions were third, second and fifth respectively in the NFL last season. WR: , ($6,134,875)Thomas is as about as productive as they come. The 2016 second-round pick holds the NFL record for most catches (321) during the first three seasons of an NFL career. Thomas' 321 receptions are also the most in the NFL since he made his debut. His 3,787 receiving yards are fifth in the NFL during this span. Thomas led the league with 125 receptions in 2018, which is the fifth best single season catch total in NFL history.WR: , ($1,151,118)Smith-Schuster earned team MVP honors in 2018 for a breakout season in which he had 111 catches for 1,426 yards with seven touchdowns. He'll operate out of the slot. Smith-Schuster spent 61.5 percent of his time there last season, according to PFF.TE: , ($6,299,020)A case can be made that Ertz is the NFL's best tight end since Rob Gronkowski retired. Ertz set a single season receptions record for tight ends in 2018 with 116 catches. LT: , ($14.2 million)Keeping the Paul Martin Men Jersey quarterback upright in the pocket is of the utmost importance. That's Bakhtiari's forte. The league's best blind-side protector has earned All-Pro honors for three straight seasons (2016 through 2018). LG: , Browns ($7,007,520)Bitonio gave up a one sack last season. It was the only time he allowed Browns' quarterbacks to be hit in 2018. Bitonio's versatility is a bonus in case of injury. He was slated to move to left tackle replacing future first ballot Hall of Famer , who retired after the 2017 season, but was kept at his natural NFL position instead. C: , Eagles ($2,451,520)The 2017 and 2018 first team All-Pro didn't give up a sack last season. Kelce's run blocking is almost on par with his pa s