2025 RULES: Bid Score Adjustments

[Goodell]

We adjusted the free agency bid score a couple seasons ago attempting to make it easier to counter-bid some of the most unpopular/unrealistic bid strategies and added minimums based upon franchise tag values for QBs and elite players. Last year we had some additional discussions around maximizing SB amounts and other topics, but pretty mixed feedback.

Current bidscore is a bit convoluted as we kept adjusting how we value cap value per year versus overall contract value and guaranteed signing bonus factors. https://fangm.com/football/freeagency-bidscore.php

I think it was improved last free agency, but always room for improvement.

A GM sent me an idea on a bidscore spreadsheet that factored in experience, and there's been some comments on that at times. I believe the logic would be that young players would have different opinions on contract structures than older players. Maybe bidscores for young players (single-digit years experience) would value total value where big commitments over many years are more favored, while a veteran player's bidscore focused more on the capvalue per year for typically shorter deals.

Another idea that may have come up at times is factoring in other considerations that a real player might, such as the bidscore making things easier for winning franchises to counter than losing franchises as arguably happens in reality. Really bad franchises sometimes have to over-pay in reality to get someone to go to a bad team, while more players seem to be willing to lineup for a shot at a championship. But also some sim league fairness considerations there, although arguably is another incentive to encourage not tanking too hard or might be labeled a loser franchise harder to get players to sign with.

If we get some time to get in there and really tweak the bidscore further, would be open to great ideas on that. What kinds of bids are the most frustrating to counter that you'd like to see changed?

[Knighty Knight]

Proposed formula for discussion:

Bid Score = (1 + 1/2 x Guaranteed Percentage of SB/Total + Highest Total Value Percentage Bonue) x [3 x Total Contract Value (millions) + 0.75 x Guaranteed SB + First Year Salary + W cap hit x Cap Hit Per Year]

Final Sore = Bid Score x (1 + Position Premium + Age Factor + Market Comparison Bonus)

First-Year Salary Now Counts as Guaranteed

Helps align with NFL contracts, where most first-year salaries are effectively guaranteed.

Signing Bonus Weight Reduced to 0.75x

Prevents SB-heavy contracts from being overpowered in bid comparisons.

Dynamic Cap Hit Weighting by Contract Length

Short deals (1-2 years) = 5x weight (heavier impact)
Mid deals (3-4 years) = 4x weight
Long deals (5+ years) = 3.5x weight (lighter impact on cap hits)
More accurately reflects NFL salary cap strategy.
Formula Incorporates Percentage Bonuses for Total Contract Value

The current formula doesn’t account for market trends like positional demand, player age, or recent contracts, making bid comparisons less realistic.

To fix this, a Market Adjustment Factor (MAF) is introduced:

Premium positions (QB, Edge, LT) get a +5% boost
Older players (30+) receive a -2% penalty
Contracts above the league average get an additional premium
This adjustment better reflects real NFL negotiations, where certain positions drive higher bidding wars and market conditions influence contract values.

The current counter-offer rule requires a flat 10% increase in Bid Score, which can be unrealistic—especially for already strong bids. In real NFL negotiations, higher initial bids shouldn’t require large increases, while lower bids should be easier to outbid.

The solution is a progressive counter scale:

Low bid scores (<50) require a 12% increase
Mid-range bids (50-75) keep the 10% increase
Higher bids (75-100) need only an 8% increase
Elite bids (100+) require just a 5% increase
This approach prevents frustrating counters where strong offers get rejected due to unnecessary bid inflation while making it fairer to outbid weaker offers.

[Heffay72]

Definitely need a change from last year as longer contracts with higher salary was better than shorter contracts with more guaranteed money. No NFL player is taking a 6 yr deal with 12M guaranteed with 15M salary over a 3 yr 31M contract with 25 guaranteed, which happened last year.

[JonC]

Brian, I've never found you more appealing than in this moment

I'm fully on board this hype train. There would be a (steep) learning curve and I would suggest a "practice run" of sorts for everyone if it passed, but this is an absolute home run of a proposal, IMO.

[Knighty Knight]

Thanks, Jon.

I’ll leave the coding feasibility for Troy to determine. But my proposed changes hit on some of the themes in the poll options. I can build a tool to test and create some examples as data points, if needed.