2018 Off-Season Update

[Zapotek]

Agreed. I find it hard to see a circumstance where a player would sign an offer sheet that would net him less than the tender amount.

[Ben C.]

I think if a deal is less than the tender amount but a longer term, with some guaranteed, then it’s entirely feasible that an RFA would agree to the offer.

Example:

A - $2.9 million tender for one year, $0 guaranteed.

B - 3 year deal, $1,000,000 salary with $1,000,000 signing bonus.

If I were the agent I would recommend the client sign B. Get money in the hand right away.

[Zapotek]

By definition a player who is eligible for RFA has only been in the league for 3 years, so (unless he's Brandon Weeden) will be young. Young usually = still possessed of upside, or at worst not yet degrading. So far as I can recall, terrible players don't usually get tendered - if they were that bad, team can either offer the minimum or replace them with someone with more potential.

So, if said player has an offer from their current team to play for $2.9m for a year and then have freedom to re-negotiate, you'd really suggest that they turn that down and take minimum $1m and max $2m for that year and basically give their new team $1m options for the following two years as well? I would be interested to see where a RFA has agreed to such an offer.

[Aftermath2531]

That's a 100 percent my point. The player in question is David Irving who is a ascending player in the league with a 82 rating. He definitely would take the tender amount and hit free agency next year looking for a huge payday. A mil guaranteed over 3 years is nothing compared to what he would get on the open market. The other issue is there was 3 to 4 other players signed to minimum salaries which are well under the tender amount, saving the original team money. I'm more concerned with rules in place to prevent collusion. Not saying that's what's happening here.

[Zapotek]

I think if a deal is less than the tender amount but a longer term, with some guaranteed, then it’s entirely feasible that an RFA would agree to the offer.

Example:

A - $2.9 million tender for one year, $0 guaranteed.

B - 3 year deal, $1,000,000 salary with $1,000,000 signing bonus.

If I were the agent I would recommend the client sign B. Get money in the hand right away.

Further to this, I had a look at RFA outcomes from this year as detailed at: http://nfltraderumors.co/2018-restricte ... t-tracker/ .

The vast majority re-signed with their original team at the tender amount. Those who changed team:
1. Xavier Williams, undrafted, tendered with the low tender at $1.9m. Per OTC:

Xavier Williams signed a two year offer sheet with the Chiefs worth $5.057 million. Williams received a $1.75 million signing bonus and his 2018 base salary is also guaranteed. Another $1 million is guaranteed for injury. He can earn up to $500,000 in roster bonuses in 2019.

2. Cameron Meredith, undrafted, tendered with the low tender at $1.9m. Per OTC:

Cam Meredith signed a two year, $9.5 million offer sheet with the Saints while a RFA of the Bears. The Bears did not match the contract which became official with the Saints on April 12, 2018. Details of the contract come via reporting by Nick Underhill. Meredith received $5.35 million guaranteed including a $3.5 million signing bonus and a $1 million 2019 roster bonus. In 2019 there are up to $550,000 in per game bonuses. Meredith's contract has annual $100,000 workout bonuses.

3. Willie Snead, undrafted, tendered with the low tender at $1.9m. Per OTC:

Willie Snead signed a two year, $7 million contract with the Ravens. Snead received a $2 million signing bonus.

If you can find an example of the behaviour you describe I'm happy to be corrected, but I don't think that it's credible.

[Goodell]

If you're interested in draft times for the college draft starting 6/2, you can now find pick windows for your league here: http://www.fangm.com/football/draft-picks.php

[kevinl]

When will que be up?

[DuffMan]

Are we pushing the draft back a week or something?

[soonertf]

Draft is June 2-5.

[Goodell]

Hope all had a good long weekend. Draft queue's are up. Just click on the draft link in the menu. I'd appreciate it if all teams could add at least one person to their queue so that I know who is ready to go.

The draft starts Saturday, June 2nd. You'll see your pick windows for each selection in the draft section. If you aren't going to be online during that pick window, make sure you have players loaded in your draft queue. The system will automatically pick the top player in your personal rankings queue once your pick window expires if you do not make a manual selection. If your pick queue is empty, the system will pick the highest available player based upon NFL draft rankings. Send me a PM if you have any questions.