Post by Rams GM (Frank) on Apr 16, 2016 14:16:21 GMT -5
Legacy NFL GM's,
I think the one big change that needs to be considered going forward for this league the the free agent bidding system, as it is outdated and it leaves alot problems that are sometimes not so desirable when we're looking to make the NFL GM experience as real as we can. The main problem with the current system is that it gives the teams with the most money an inherent advantage in regards to contract structure, and ultimately contract value. In the NFL it is long term contracts that players desire, and thus GM's that are willing to take a chance on longer term guaranteed contracts usually win out in bidding. Keep in mind that the cap penalty hit is about to go up in this league from 25%, up to 30%. And, the likelyhood is that sometime in the near future we will raise that cap hit even more. Thus, the long term contracts are going to start to become a problem, and they should when GM's make the commitment to long term contracts. My goal ultimately is to do away with the automatic 4 year contract offers because between the low cap hit, and the zero cap hit for retired players, there's really disincentive to offer long term contracts. We need to make free agency a bigger challenge for GM's.
Changing the current bidding system however, will not be easy because it will require an entire overhaul of our salary system in some ways. We may need to consider a few things like guaranteed age based contracts, or limitation on the guaranteed money offered based on player age. Now, there will be alot to consider here, and as my memory serves me better the more I put thoughts into this, the more I will be able to articulate some of the principles and concepts behind the reasons for future changes for the leagues bidding system.
First I would simply offer as a basis to start with bidding systems from other leagues that I think are good models, though we would need to formulate any bidding system to particularly fit our system, as our league has become unique in its own right over the past 3 years. Below I have placed a couple FA bidding system option from leagues that I am currently in, and I like both of them, but each aspect of these systems need to be examined.
OPTION 1
TRANSACTION DEADLINE IS 12 HOURS BEFORE THE FIRST GAME OF THE WEEK.
Any player that is not on other team in the NFFL will have UFA status. When you decide that you want to sign a UFA you must sign him to a contract. The league minimum for any contract is $0.45M. League minimum contracts are only good for a maximum of two years and any contract above the league minimum can last at most 4 years.
To sign a player with the RFA distinction at the end of his contract, a player must be in his 3rd year or less on the last year of the contract. ONE year of NFL experience means that a player has appeared in at least six games in a season. (Rotoworld)
When designated UFA bidding begins, only 15 players may be bid at, at any given time. Any bids past those 15 players will be invalid unless otherwise designated by LM's
Age Restrictions (EXCLUDING QBs and Ks)
18-32 – 4 year deal
33 – 3 year deal
34 – 2 year deal
35+ - 1 year deal
Bidding Process
-To sign an UFA, first post the players name, position, AND current team in the designated section along with your bid. This player will now be open to bidding from any owner. Bids are flat annual salary figures, therefore you cannot backload or frontload a salary. There will not be a limit in UNRESTRICTED free agency on how many times a team can place a bid, however, a bid cannot be rescinded. A bid must stand without being challenged for 24 hours before a free agent is won. Bids must up the previous bid by at least 0.1 points. INVALID BIDS WILL BE VOIDED AND DO NOT COUNT AGAINST THE CLOCK. (Up to commish discretion in special circumstances)
Contract years add value based on the following: $1M = 1 point
1 YR = 1X multiplier ---- 1YR/$5M = 5 X 1 = 5 pts
2 YR = 1.20X multiplier ---- 2YR/$5M = 5 X 1.20 = 6 pts
3 YR = 1.40X mulitplier ---- 3YR/$5M = 5 X 1.40 = 7 pts
4 YR = 1.60X multiplier ---- 4YR/$5M = 5 X 1.6= 8 pts
More Examples:
---- 1YR/$1M = 1 x 1 = 1 pt
---- 3YR/$1M = 1 X 1.4= 1.4 pts
---- 3YR/$1.3M = 1.3 X 1.4 = 2.2pts
Invalid Bids are bids that have a wrong # of years, have the wrong point total, put the team over cap, put the team over the roster max, or use the RFA distinction incorrectly. To sign a player as a RFA, you MUST include RFA in the contract offer.
The MAX someone can bid on a player for one year is $12M, anything from $12-$24M must be for a minimum of 2 years and any bids over $24M must be for a minimum of 3 years. This will hopefully keep prices and franchise tags down so we don't end up having contracts like Randall Cobb's $23M+ for one year in 2012. .
Here is an example of some valid/invalid bids..
1 year/$13.5M - INVALID
1 year/$12M - VALID
2 years/$25M - INVALID
2 years/$16M - VALID
3 years/$22M - VALID
3 years/$27M - -VALID
IMPORTANT: YOU MAY NOT PLACE A BID ON A PLAYER IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE CAP TO TAKE IN HIS CONTRACT. YOU MAY NOT PLACE A BID WHILE ANTICIPATING A PLAYER RELEASE OR TRADE (UNLESS ITS POSTED BEFORE). IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE CAP, DO NOT MAKE THE BID PERIOD. CAP SPACE THAT YOU HAVE ACQUIRED VIA TRADE DOES NOT BECOME AVAILABLE UNTIL THE TRADE HAS BEEN APPROVED. (Or 24 hours has passed in case TAB is being slow)
OPTION 2
Players must be signed for at least the following minimum salaries. Years in the league are determined by nfl.com at www.nfl.com/players.
Years in the league (not including current year) - Minimum
0 - $230,000
1 - $305,000
2 - $380,000
3 - $455,000
4-6 - $540,000
7-9 - $665,000
10+ - $765,000
For example, if nfl.com shows a player's experience as "rookie" or "1st season", he will qualify for the minimum salary of $230,000. If nfl.com shows "2nd season", his minimum salary will be $305,000, etc. Sometimes nfl.com will make a mistake, for example they might show "2nd season" when a player clearly has career stats for 2 previous seasons. In this case the player will be assumed to have already played 2 years. The TAB will rule on any exceptions.
The process for signing an Unrestricted Free Agent is to create a new thread in the "Unrestricted Free Agents" sub-board under "Free Agency". The thread should have the player's correctly spelled name, NFL team and position in the subject, and a valid bid as the message. Other GMs may reply in this thread with higher bids for the player. The bidding will end when 24 hours has passed since the last valid bid.
Contract years add value based on the following: $1M = 1 point
1 Yr = 1X multiplier - 1 Yr @ 5 mil = 5 X 1 = 5 pts
2 Yr = 1.20X multiplier - 2 Yrs @ 5 mil = 5 X 1.20 = 6 pts
3 Yr = 1.40X mulitplier - 3 Yrs @ 5 mil = 5 X 1.40 = 7 pts
4 Yr = 1.60X multiplier - 4 Yrs @ 5 mil = 5 X 1.6= 8 pts
More Examples:
1 yr @ 1 mil = 1 x 1 = 1 pt
3 yrs @ 1 mil = 1 X 1.4= 1.4 pts
1 yr @ 1.4 mil = 1.4 X 1 = 1.4 pts
3 yrs @ 1.3 mil = 1.3 X 1.4 = 2.2pts
1 yr @ 1.8 mil = 1.8 X 1 = 1.8 pts
Players may be signed for a maximum of 4 years and your math must be correct for the bid to be valid.
You must have salary cap space available for a bid to be valid (remember, any Free Agency bids in which you are the leading bidder also count towards your salary cap).
During the season, you must also have roster space available for the bid to be valid (remember, roster limits are lifted during the pre-season). This means you must have less than 50 active players, or if the player is practice squad eligible, you must have room on the practice squad and no more than 50 active players. Players on waivers do not count towards your roster limit. You may conditionally waive a player to make roster space for a player as detailed in the "Conditional Waivers" section below.
If a team makes a free agent bid which would put them over the roster or cap limit, or deletes a bid once posted, a Cap Penalty will be issued of $1,000,000. The player will then be able to be bid on again when caught, with a reduced clock of 24 hours minus the time between the last legal bid and the illegal bid. The last legal bid will become the highest bid and all future bids must be at least 0.1 points higher.
I think the one big change that needs to be considered going forward for this league the the free agent bidding system, as it is outdated and it leaves alot problems that are sometimes not so desirable when we're looking to make the NFL GM experience as real as we can. The main problem with the current system is that it gives the teams with the most money an inherent advantage in regards to contract structure, and ultimately contract value. In the NFL it is long term contracts that players desire, and thus GM's that are willing to take a chance on longer term guaranteed contracts usually win out in bidding. Keep in mind that the cap penalty hit is about to go up in this league from 25%, up to 30%. And, the likelyhood is that sometime in the near future we will raise that cap hit even more. Thus, the long term contracts are going to start to become a problem, and they should when GM's make the commitment to long term contracts. My goal ultimately is to do away with the automatic 4 year contract offers because between the low cap hit, and the zero cap hit for retired players, there's really disincentive to offer long term contracts. We need to make free agency a bigger challenge for GM's.
Changing the current bidding system however, will not be easy because it will require an entire overhaul of our salary system in some ways. We may need to consider a few things like guaranteed age based contracts, or limitation on the guaranteed money offered based on player age. Now, there will be alot to consider here, and as my memory serves me better the more I put thoughts into this, the more I will be able to articulate some of the principles and concepts behind the reasons for future changes for the leagues bidding system.
First I would simply offer as a basis to start with bidding systems from other leagues that I think are good models, though we would need to formulate any bidding system to particularly fit our system, as our league has become unique in its own right over the past 3 years. Below I have placed a couple FA bidding system option from leagues that I am currently in, and I like both of them, but each aspect of these systems need to be examined.
OPTION 1
TRANSACTION DEADLINE IS 12 HOURS BEFORE THE FIRST GAME OF THE WEEK.
Any player that is not on other team in the NFFL will have UFA status. When you decide that you want to sign a UFA you must sign him to a contract. The league minimum for any contract is $0.45M. League minimum contracts are only good for a maximum of two years and any contract above the league minimum can last at most 4 years.
To sign a player with the RFA distinction at the end of his contract, a player must be in his 3rd year or less on the last year of the contract. ONE year of NFL experience means that a player has appeared in at least six games in a season. (Rotoworld)
When designated UFA bidding begins, only 15 players may be bid at, at any given time. Any bids past those 15 players will be invalid unless otherwise designated by LM's
Age Restrictions (EXCLUDING QBs and Ks)
18-32 – 4 year deal
33 – 3 year deal
34 – 2 year deal
35+ - 1 year deal
Bidding Process
-To sign an UFA, first post the players name, position, AND current team in the designated section along with your bid. This player will now be open to bidding from any owner. Bids are flat annual salary figures, therefore you cannot backload or frontload a salary. There will not be a limit in UNRESTRICTED free agency on how many times a team can place a bid, however, a bid cannot be rescinded. A bid must stand without being challenged for 24 hours before a free agent is won. Bids must up the previous bid by at least 0.1 points. INVALID BIDS WILL BE VOIDED AND DO NOT COUNT AGAINST THE CLOCK. (Up to commish discretion in special circumstances)
Contract years add value based on the following: $1M = 1 point
1 YR = 1X multiplier ---- 1YR/$5M = 5 X 1 = 5 pts
2 YR = 1.20X multiplier ---- 2YR/$5M = 5 X 1.20 = 6 pts
3 YR = 1.40X mulitplier ---- 3YR/$5M = 5 X 1.40 = 7 pts
4 YR = 1.60X multiplier ---- 4YR/$5M = 5 X 1.6= 8 pts
More Examples:
---- 1YR/$1M = 1 x 1 = 1 pt
---- 3YR/$1M = 1 X 1.4= 1.4 pts
---- 3YR/$1.3M = 1.3 X 1.4 = 2.2pts
Invalid Bids are bids that have a wrong # of years, have the wrong point total, put the team over cap, put the team over the roster max, or use the RFA distinction incorrectly. To sign a player as a RFA, you MUST include RFA in the contract offer.
The MAX someone can bid on a player for one year is $12M, anything from $12-$24M must be for a minimum of 2 years and any bids over $24M must be for a minimum of 3 years. This will hopefully keep prices and franchise tags down so we don't end up having contracts like Randall Cobb's $23M+ for one year in 2012. .
Here is an example of some valid/invalid bids..
1 year/$13.5M - INVALID
1 year/$12M - VALID
2 years/$25M - INVALID
2 years/$16M - VALID
3 years/$22M - VALID
3 years/$27M - -VALID
IMPORTANT: YOU MAY NOT PLACE A BID ON A PLAYER IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE CAP TO TAKE IN HIS CONTRACT. YOU MAY NOT PLACE A BID WHILE ANTICIPATING A PLAYER RELEASE OR TRADE (UNLESS ITS POSTED BEFORE). IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE CAP, DO NOT MAKE THE BID PERIOD. CAP SPACE THAT YOU HAVE ACQUIRED VIA TRADE DOES NOT BECOME AVAILABLE UNTIL THE TRADE HAS BEEN APPROVED. (Or 24 hours has passed in case TAB is being slow)
OPTION 2
Players must be signed for at least the following minimum salaries. Years in the league are determined by nfl.com at www.nfl.com/players.
Years in the league (not including current year) - Minimum
0 - $230,000
1 - $305,000
2 - $380,000
3 - $455,000
4-6 - $540,000
7-9 - $665,000
10+ - $765,000
For example, if nfl.com shows a player's experience as "rookie" or "1st season", he will qualify for the minimum salary of $230,000. If nfl.com shows "2nd season", his minimum salary will be $305,000, etc. Sometimes nfl.com will make a mistake, for example they might show "2nd season" when a player clearly has career stats for 2 previous seasons. In this case the player will be assumed to have already played 2 years. The TAB will rule on any exceptions.
The process for signing an Unrestricted Free Agent is to create a new thread in the "Unrestricted Free Agents" sub-board under "Free Agency". The thread should have the player's correctly spelled name, NFL team and position in the subject, and a valid bid as the message. Other GMs may reply in this thread with higher bids for the player. The bidding will end when 24 hours has passed since the last valid bid.
Contract years add value based on the following: $1M = 1 point
1 Yr = 1X multiplier - 1 Yr @ 5 mil = 5 X 1 = 5 pts
2 Yr = 1.20X multiplier - 2 Yrs @ 5 mil = 5 X 1.20 = 6 pts
3 Yr = 1.40X mulitplier - 3 Yrs @ 5 mil = 5 X 1.40 = 7 pts
4 Yr = 1.60X multiplier - 4 Yrs @ 5 mil = 5 X 1.6= 8 pts
More Examples:
1 yr @ 1 mil = 1 x 1 = 1 pt
3 yrs @ 1 mil = 1 X 1.4= 1.4 pts
1 yr @ 1.4 mil = 1.4 X 1 = 1.4 pts
3 yrs @ 1.3 mil = 1.3 X 1.4 = 2.2pts
1 yr @ 1.8 mil = 1.8 X 1 = 1.8 pts
Players may be signed for a maximum of 4 years and your math must be correct for the bid to be valid.
You must have salary cap space available for a bid to be valid (remember, any Free Agency bids in which you are the leading bidder also count towards your salary cap).
During the season, you must also have roster space available for the bid to be valid (remember, roster limits are lifted during the pre-season). This means you must have less than 50 active players, or if the player is practice squad eligible, you must have room on the practice squad and no more than 50 active players. Players on waivers do not count towards your roster limit. You may conditionally waive a player to make roster space for a player as detailed in the "Conditional Waivers" section below.
If a team makes a free agent bid which would put them over the roster or cap limit, or deletes a bid once posted, a Cap Penalty will be issued of $1,000,000. The player will then be able to be bid on again when caught, with a reduced clock of 24 hours minus the time between the last legal bid and the illegal bid. The last legal bid will become the highest bid and all future bids must be at least 0.1 points higher.