2015 RULES: Free Agency (UDFA)

[stevebarrett24]

Guys this took place last year but at a higher level... Remember Justin Jones? At this point last year he became one of the top 10 highest paid TEs and then didn't even make the 53 man roster.

I guess I don't remember it being like this last year, but I will admit I voted for it to stay the same but I think it should change mostly for the realism aspect of an undrafted free agent getting a 1.5 million dollar signing bonus is pretty ridiculous, most undrafted rookies won't even make 1.5 million dollars there whole 3 year contract.

I will say this just so said owner doesn't take my posts wrong way, I do not blame him for following the rules and since he has over 40 million dollars in cap space still I actually find what he is doing to be quite brilliant but we should change it next year for sure.

[Jared A]

The only reason I think it should stay the same is it is one of the few things that make carrying 90 players in the offseason difficult.

[larry linke]

Whats unfortunate is that in all SIM sports leagues, there is a realistic approach to the league which keeps its somewhat "real" and then there always is scammers who do unreasonably things (though legal) that take away from the league. Its not only our league, but the baseball league I am in and the hockey league also.

Larry
Minnesota AFFL

[robroach]

For undrafted free agents, keep salaries at a minimum and create a max signing bonus. For example, all undrafted free agents would sign a 3 year deal, with minimum salaries, and up to 300k for a signing bonus. You may end up with several teams matching the 300k. In this instance, you would utilize the waiver order or draft order.

This was my suggestion before the draft. Nothing changed so I will continue to offer big signing bonuses to lure undrafted guys - mainly for two reasons:

1. When I took this team over, it had been pillaged worse than Winterfell in season 3 of Game of Thrones. (I still can't figure out how one team ended up with this team's best player AND their first round pick - which ended up being the #1 overall this year, but that was before my time so I won't dwell on that).

2. I have almost 50mil in cap space, and I can only carry over 5mil of it. If I could apply some of it to existing signing bonuses, or carry over more of it, then I probably wouldn't throw it around in the UDFA pool so much. So, basically 40 or so million in cap space will just disappear anyway when the season is over.

[jerrydlux]

the problem there Rob is that the SB wont disappear unless they are one year contracts since that is spread across the contract.

I would disagree with your idea of the player going by waiver order or draft order, I think whoever places the highest bid first should get the player. I do feel we should have a SB cap but maybe it is 500k or 1mil and teams have to wisely spread that across the UDFA's they are going for.

[robroach]

What I was saying was that my 40 million dollars in available cap space will disappear at the end of the year. I can only carry over 5 mil of it.

So if I give a player 1mil for 3 years as a signing bonus and cut him - then that comes out of that 40 mil that I would lose anyway. And if he turns out to stick with my team, then his cap hit is only just shy of 800k per year.

[JonC]

Now I'm torn:

On one hand, I think teams should have the flexibility to spend their cap how they choose. Let's be honest, the LEAST effective way to spend your cap space is on UDFA. They rarely work out, and if you liked them so much, you should have drafted them. Now, I'm sure our computer union is not pleased that UDFA players are getting more guaranteed money than 4th round draft picks, but the free market works that way. And if a team wants to not spend their cap in FA, hey, good for me.

On the other hand, in the name of parity, some of this is silly. The whole super bowl or tank theme is tired, IMO. A team with 40+ million in cap space going into FA can add MULTIPLE starters without issue. No, you aren't getting Tom Brady and Calvin Johnson and Adrian Peterson, but you can add 4-5 average starters and begin making your team respectable. I'm spending 750K a year on Ted Ginn for three years. Are you telling me that a UDFA signed for the same amount is smarter money spent? And that's not me saying Ted Ginn is good anymore.

In general, I lean more toward a realistic game than an arcade version, but some guys are dropped here (rob!) and have no control over the situation they've been put in. I'd rather approach this topic from a prevention standpoint than a reaction standpoint. Is there a way to keep a team from having 60 million in cap space after the draft? Is there a way to penalize a team for making no effort to be competitive via FA? Basically, is there a way to temper this problem without completely taking away a GMs ability to spend money on UDFA?

[Ulrich82]

I hear you about teams using their cap space, but one of the best ways to get yourself in trouble is to tie up your cap in bad contracts. I had 60 mil to spend in the AFFL this season. In some cases, I used it to secure players, but I wasn't going to give a ridiculous contract to a third tier player with no potential to grow. I'd rather be conservative and keep my options open during the season and next year.