1. The "new cap" is released for the season. Cap Holds for RFA are calculated based on the new cap number.
2. Teams have until a Thursday 4 pm deadline to exercise RFA rights. The commissioner compiles the cap holds, goes into the league files, and manually changes the "Cut Salary" value for each team to reflect the RFA cap holds. Player demands are usually published about this time.
3. RFA bids built around the cap holds are due (and run) on Friday.
4. Teams have 24 hours to "match" or "decline" or "sign and trade" - during this period, the commissioner has to roll back the league files to a previous state, remove cap holds, and manually enter RFA contracts.
5. Someone has to track and update the list of "UNTRADEABLE RFA PLAYERS" for the season.
6. On Monday, round 1 of UFA begins. In-Game Days 1 through 5 are run. Everyone is bidding blind, so if you happen to put in a bid on a player nobody else thought to, you can/might sign him for cheap (similarly, if someone else bids on one of your players and you don't, there's a good chance you lose him for cheap).
7. On Tuesday, round 2 of UFA happens. In-Game Days 6 through 10 are run. Again, everyone has to bid blind.
8. On Wednesday, round 3 of UFA happens. In-Game Days 11 through 30 are run. Everyone has to bid blind.
I'm going to propose a re-vamp for the free agency system with the intent of (1) reducing the workload on the commissioner and (2) allowing more-competitive UFA bids. The system would work as follows:
TIMELINE: If this system is adopted, it would not be implemented until all current draft picks have been drafted into players and gone through the old system. For instance, if we adopted it in this off-season (1991), we would not switch to it until after the 1993 draft picks (the last ones currently on team pages) had completed their rookie deals (so in the 1997 off-season). This way no one can complain the relative value of assets they already have access to is changing.
1. RFA in its current form is abolished in its entirely. Instead, first round draft picks going into the fourth season of their rookie deals may be automatically extended subject to the following rules:
- The decision to extend must be made before Regular Season Sim 1 of the fourth year of their rookie deal
- The extension must be for a 5-year super-max with 7.5% raises (note: this actually makes the extension start CHEAPER than current extensions as the max contract amount will be calculated on the basis of 25% of the salary cap during the final season of the player's rookie deal, rather than 25% of the following year's salary cap when they actually hit Free Agency) - no other length or amount is permissible.
- If a player's rookie option was declined, they will not be in the 4th year of their rookie deal so they cannot be extended.
3. Round 1 of UFA Baseline Bids are due at on 4 pm Thursday (instead of the current RFA rights exercise).
- Each team may submit up to 10 bids (as current).
- These bids act as "minimum bids" to which a team commits.
- No In-Game Days are actually run on this day. Instead, The Negotiator compiles all the bids and then makes them public as soon after 4 pm as possible.
- Teams may not submit "new" bids; instead, they may only make limited modifications to their previous bids after getting a peek at the competition for each player.
- Teams may increase the "base salary" of a previously-submitted bid by up to 25%. The base salary offered may NOT decrease.
- Teams may change the "option status" of the final year of a previously-submitted bid to "Guaranteed/No Option" if a "Team Option" was initially offered or to "Player Option"
- Year-over-year raise percentages and total seasons offered must stay unchanged.
- Teams may only change their bids on up to a total of three players.
- Each team may submit up to 10 bids (as current).
- These bids act as "minimum bids" to which a team commits.
- No In-Game Days are actually run on this day. Instead, The Negotiator compiles all the bids and then makes them public as soon after 4 pm as possible.
- Teams may not submit "new" bids; instead, they may only make limited modifications to their previous bids after getting a peek at the competition for each player.
- Teams may increase the "base salary" of a previously-submitted bid by up to 25%. The base salary offered may NOT decrease.
- Teams may change the "option status" of the final year of a previously-submitted bid to "Guaranteed/No Option" if a "Team Option" was initially offered or to "Player Option"
- Year-over-year raise percentages and total seasons offered must stay unchanged.
- Teams may only change their bids on up to a total of three players.
- Each team may submit up to 5 bids (as current).
- These bids are not made public; by this time there usually isn't much left in the way of talent - or cap space.
- If we find that the revamp of Rounds 1 and 2 means there is still a large pool of interesting Free Agents and/or cap space, we might consider changing Round 3 of UFA to use the same "Baseline Bids/Bid Modification" structure that Rounds 1 and 2 use and click off just 5 in-Game Days and adding a 4th Round for "cleanup."
- Reduces the work on the part of the commissioner by taking out all the "Extra Steps" in RFA
- Makes it possible to extend-and-trade players coming off their rookie contract, reducing the cognitive load of having to remember who is ineligible for trade.
- Lets teams pivot faster if they decide to change course during the first year of a player's max extension and want to trade that player.
- Makes rookie extensions slightly cheaper.
- Removes the disappointment felt under the current RFA system when you sign a player and the incumbent team matches without negotiating.
- Gives you some information about who is trying to poach your players in UFA and allows you some flexibility in responding to someone else chasing one of your players.
- Gives you advance notice to prepare for the disappointment of losing a player in UFA when someone is willing to pay them a lot more than you are.
- Adds transparency to the UFA system and allows us to track owner activity during the off-season in public.
- Gives you some information about "how do other owners value players" which will hopefully make it a little easier to trade with other owners.
- Gets us done in the same amount of time the current system does.
