2024 Off-Season Update

[Goodell]

Now that the playoffs are over, we've started up our off-season rules discussions as we do every season before we start a new one ahead. Watch this forum's announcements and rules discussion thread and make sure to participate in league discussions. This is the time when rules and simulation operations can be most effectively discussed and improved.

Every off-season I always want to work on a couple site projects. As some were particularly interested in it, I've done a little bit (and hopefully more ahead) with history archiving. So far just a small step seeing how the systems can dynamically dig into data stored over the years. If you go into stats, you can click the link for previous season archives and it currently shows stats on the past 5 years. Just got that up, so something I'm still checking if any issues with that. We'll look to upgrade things like that as time/resources/knowledge allows in the off-season and I'll let you know when new features available.

Statistics are great to look back over the years at, but one worry I have when going back too far is that in the earlier days sometimes odder results came from the simulator as we continually fine-tuned it over the years and corrected results we didn't like. So it's not so much great performances to look back at sometimes, but just program bugs since fixed in some cases as the simulator hopefully keeps getting better ahead. But fun to look back, and you can currently check out some recent history stats similar to how you've been able to look at previous year drafts, etc.

We'll continue to look for different avenues to take advantage of data currently just sitting in the system that could be interestingly accessed on site history pages. Hope you enjoy.

[tino38]

This is fantastic to be able to look back like this!

[Ben C.]

This is really a great addition. I'd encourage you to still add the earlier years if you have that data even if it sort of has an asterisk attached to it as you mentioned. Also, any chance you can do the same with the game results and standings themselves?

[Goodell]

With lots of NFL activity going on, we're getting closer to our off-season also.

I am away at a business conference next week. I'll have a laptop and may do some updates here, but really aiming to get league finances turned over for the new league year this week as well as setting up GM check-ins. Part of that check-in process is people letting us know about big conflicts that might impact their access to the site for days (although with cellphones in most everyone's pocket it's easier to jump online these days). Once I'm back and have any check-in conflict details, we can start turning on some internal team decisions (tagging, LTC, etc.) prior to free agency and look at best times to schedule activities. We turned these on in late March last year I believe with free agency in April, and hope to be on that track with some league functions right around the corner.

[bpboguta1483]

Archives is a great idea. Next is will top 10 salaries at each position be updated as well? Just wondering

[Goodell]

I have turned GM check-ins on. It's very helpful for us if you can go to your team page and check in that you'll be back (or not) next season. Also leave a note if there are any major events that will leave you disconnected from the internet in April/May during free agency and the draft, and we'll try to work around as many big conflicts as we can.

I also added a question this year if you'd be willing to step up and be an interim GM for a team in another league if needed. That's one way we can try to combat problems of some teams abandoned during the season but not a long enough wait list to permanently replace them. But during the season roster management can be fairly easy to adjust the depth chart every now and then and maybe pick up a free agent for injury depth, etc. so if we're able to more quickly replace abandoned teams with at least a temporary fill-in interim GM for the remainder of the season, it may keep things a bit more active throughout the season. So if you're willing to do that for a team in need in another league than you play in currently, also mark that and we'll hopefully have more active teams all year.

I'm away at a conference starting tomorrow. Will have a laptop and may check-in here from time-to-time, and might even do a bit of work on things depending, but expect to get things really rolling with some league activity turned on for pending free agency decisions once I'm back in a week.

[Goodell]

We recently posted a poll about preferred start dates for free agency and the draft with options taking into consideration some of the GM check-in information for scheduling conflicts. So far, April 15th is a run-away leader for start of free agency with very few unconflicted dates in April.

So that means we have to get moving on pre-free agency activities like franchise tags and LTCs for pending free agents. Those internal decision tools have been turned on at team rosters. You can also do some other internal activity like picking up 5th year options for eligible previous draft first rounders and making cuts. If you're really interested in retaining a player you're picking up the 5th year option long-term, in previous years we instituted the ability to extend the player multiple seasons while picking up that option. Just click that link next to the pull-down to pick up their option.

If you're going to franchise tag a star player, check the options for which allow you to tag and trade the player if you're looking to do that or extend their franchise tag price contract further.

If you have a very good player you want to keep but they're already making a lot of salary to where franchise tags and LTCs are too expensive with raises involved there, our transition tag is designed for those situations where the player's actual market value can be determined in free agency and then you can match at that price or not. But no compensation if you don't.

If you have restricted free agents (usually young players or undrafted free agent types signed to 3-year or less deals) make sure to decide if you're keeping them at the default original NFL draft pick level or requiring 1st or 2nd round compensation. If they aren't as valuable as those RFA prices, you can choose to make them UFAs and still retain your unlimited bidding rights.

Let me know if any questions. Also if you know people who might be interested in playing, now is a great time to join as I'll be filling open teams before free agency. Just point them to the site and have them sign-up and watch for private message from me.

[Goodell]

Don't forget... Free agency starts on Monday, April 15th at 9AM ET. If you have any pending free agents you want to tag or do a contract extension, you have to do it before the market opens on Monday.

All the official draft orders are uploaded for all leagues now, and trading has been opened for all teams. A couple teams got it started earlier this week, as that helps me make sure things are running smooth before the floodgates open for all.

Here are the draft orders for each league. We go off NFL rules, so let me know if you notice any problems as soon as you can.

https://www.fangm.com/football/draft-ar ... eague=affl
https://www.fangm.com/football/draft-ar ... eague=cffl
https://www.fangm.com/football/draft-ar ... eague=dffl
https://www.fangm.com/football/draft-ar ... eague=effl
https://www.fangm.com/football/draft-ar ... eague=fffl
https://www.fangm.com/football/draft-ar ... eague=brfl

Compensatory picks have also been added. You can see more details for your team/league here:
https://fangm.com/football/comppicks.php

It's something to keep an eye on as free agency starts also this year, especially if you are hoping to land a compensatory pick next year for a free agent lost in the weeks ahead. As outlined in the rules and compensatory pick details page:

- Only teams that lost more UFAs than gained are even eligible for a pick. We have a running count of UFAs gained/lost on the homepage, team page and free agency page during peak free agency so you can keep tabs on that. Only UFAs with team affiliations and unlimited bidding count toward that.

- 4 compensatory picks max per eligible team, and picks from the 3rd to 7th round depending upon loss value.

- Only the top 32 unbalanced biggest losses get a pick. If you lose a 7.0 grade UFA, but sign a similar graded UFA then that cancels each other out. If you sign a highly graded UFA and lose a ton of low graded UFAs, you may not get a compensatory pick even if you were eligible for four because those low grade values lost may not be among the biggest 32 losses by grade. A bunch of 4.0 grade losses probably isn't going to make the cut of the biggest UFA losses.

If you have questions on that, just send me a message and we can go over your team details.

The team roster page now lists specific overall numbers for 2024 draft picks. This weekend I'll add the estimated slotted cost for picks so you'll know that before you start spending cash in free agency, so you can save some cap space for signing your draft picks.

Let the trading begin on a full scale across all leagues this weekend. Then let's get into some free agency in the week ahead. Exciting times!

[Goodell]

Every year we adjust our minimum bids a bit to keep up with NFL salary minimums.

Minimum bids are 795K for all 1 year deals and multi-year deals for players under 3 years of experience, and 1.125M minimum for veterans with a signing bonus required for veteran multi-year deals. No 1-year contract bids on the first day of free agency.

[Goodell]

With free agency starting soon a couple reminders:

- Use commas in your bid amounts to avoid typo or extra zero. We will not un-do any bids, but if you make an extra zero mistake if you contact us immediately via PM, we can correct that. There may be more delays with that as I don't have access to update the database during the day outside of lunch or breaks.

- Be very careful, especially if you are new, on bidding on franchise tagged or restricted free agents (RFAs). Draft compensation from the upcoming college draft may be required if you sign the player and their previous team does not match (up to 2 first round picks). If an RFA is set at an original draft pick compensation level, the compensation required is based upon their real-life NFL draft round. If they were undrafted free agent in NFL, then it's no compensation but the team gets to match. If they were drafted in the 5th round in the NFL, though, and set at original compensation (orig) then it would require a 5th rounder to sign them if offer not matched. You can lookup where a player was drafted in the NFL at Yahoo Sports searching their name or lots of internet places.

- Speaking of RFAs, if you have one but didn't choose anything for them (1st, 2nd, original round tender or just making them a UFA) then they defaulted to original tender at that original tender amount. If you don't want them listed as original tender RFA at that NFL tender amount, you can click on their name in free agency and you'll see options at the bottom of the bid page for you to change that and remove them from RFA to just UFA (or lower compensation). Same if you want to reduce the compensation required for someone to sign your franchise tagged player from 2 first rounders, you can lower the compensation on their bid page.

- Especially if you're new be careful with big signing bonuses. There is no way to ever get out of a signing bonus. Not if the player dies or goes to jail or gets severely injured or cut or traded or anything. You will 100% be responsible for 100% of a signing bonus against the cap. It cannot be transferred or avoided. The NFL has had some unexpected retirements and unfortunate career changes in recent years, so things can change fast and don't put yourself on the hook for a massive signing bonus unless you know what you're doing there. As I always tell new GMs (and anyone actually), feel free to PM me anytime with questions or even if just want advise or confused about something.

- If you aren't around at the start of free agency and reading this later, it may be to your advantage. Often early bids as things start become immediately counter-offered in the rush to start and there goes one of the limited 5 bids per day on other team players and you have to wait 24 hours until you get that bid back again. So sometimes it can pay off to be a little patient and see how the markets are looking before throwing in your limited bids. At least for other team players. On your own guys you have unlimited bids for, probably the sooner the better on those.

- No 1-year bids on the first day of free agency to help keep some veterans from slipping through the cracks on 1-year minimum deals while the rush of bids are focused elsewhere. Starting Tuesday you can put in bids with 1-year.

- Depending on your team situation, keep a close eye on the compensatory picks chart on the homepage and your team update on lost/gained UFAs there and on your team and free agency page. There's a details link from the homepage chart, but just know if you lose more of your own UFAs than you sign from other teams, you could be eligible for up to 4 compensatory picks (starting at the end of the 3rd round). Beyond having more UFA losses than gains (and only UFAs from other teams with unlimited bidding count on that, not RFAs or tagged players or street free agents cut loose similar to NFL), if you want a compensatory pick for a UFA you lost you have to also make sure you don't sign another team's UFA with a similar or better grade which balances that loss out. Only the top 32 unbalanced losses from eligible teams get compensatory picks in next year's draft.

- Estimated cost for your draft picks are now on the team roster page. Keep the amount you'll roughly need for draft picks in mind as your available cap space shrinks.

Let me know if any questions and happy spending.