Contracts

Salary Values are determined by the following:

• • The winning bid amounts from the inaugural season’s Veteran Auction

  • Rookie Draft picks are assigned Salary values based on the Rookie Wage Scale outlined in section 804

  • Free Agent Auction winning bid amounts

  • Waiver winning bid amounts

  • Transition Tag winning bid amounts

• Contract Lengths are determined by the following:

  • After the inaugural Veteran Auction, teams will assign contract lengths to all players that they won

  • Rookies are given either 5 year (1st round picks only) or 4-year contracts

  • Players acquired through the Free Agent Auction or through Transition Tag bidding can be assigned any contract length (up to 5 years) by the winning team

  • In-Season Waiver pickups are assigned one year contracts that end after the current season

• Dead Cap Penalties: Cutting players who have multiple years remaining on their contracts will cause your team to incur a Dead Cap penalty in the following season

  • Players with 2 years remaining on their deals will have 50% of their annual Salary count as Dead Cap the following year

  • Players with 3 years remaining will have 75% of their annual Salary count as Dead Cap

  • Players with 4 years remaining will have 100% of their annual Salary count as Dead Cap

  • Players with 5 years remaining will have 125% of their annual Salary count as Dead Cap 

To make it easier to manage your Salary Cap during the regular season and to allow for more flexibility with trades, Contracts will be considered “paid out” on September 1 of each year

• • In practice, this means that the Salary Cap space you have on September 1 is your remaining budget for FAAB Waivers or for activating your Rookies, but you will be able to trade for another team’s players without worrying about the Salary Cap implications for that season

  • For example, if you only have $30 in Salary Cap remaining, during the season you can still trade a $1ar0 player plus future Draft Picks in exchange for a $100 player (you would not be going over the Salary Cap since the contract was “paid out” on September 1)

  • This means that players on the last years of their contracts can be traded without any concern for the Salary Cap

  • However, players with multiple years remaining on their contracts have only been paid out for the current season; therefore, a trade for such players can only go through if it would not put the receiving team over the cap in future seasons

Teams that trade away players on long term contracts can take on a portion of that player’s Salary for future seasons in order to make the trade work financially for both team

• • The portion of the Salary that will be covered by the team giving away the player will be held as Dead Cap for the length of the player’s contract

  • To allow for easier tracking, this amount needs to be constant for each season (for example $50 per year of a player’s $150 per year contract)

  • Any calculation towards Contract Extensions, Franchise Tags, or Transition Tags will be based off of the TOTAL contract, not just the portion paid by the player’s new team (from the example above, in order to extend the $150 player, his salary will increase by 20%; the team that traded him away will still only cover $50, while the new team will cover the $30 (20% of $150) increase)

  • Players who are given Extensions while another team is paying for a portion of their salary will only be paid by both teams for the length of the original contract; after that 100% of the burden will fall on the team that currently owns him

Teams can extend a player's contract by up to 4 years past their current contract, but this has to be done before the start of the final season of their current contract

• • When a player is extended, his Salary is immediately increased by 20%

  • $10 is the minimum Salary for extended players, so players with current Salaries below $8.33 will automatically be given $10 Salaries when extended

For players going into the last year of their contracts, the deadline for Extensions is the beginning of Week 1 of their final season under the current contract

• • Therefore, Contract Extensions have to be communicated to the commissioner prior to the kick-off of the first game of a season

  • If this deadline is missed, the only way for teams to retain a player for any more years is via the Franchise Tag, Transition Tag, or by bidding on them in the Free Agent Auction.

Players can only be extended once during the life of their contract 

• • This limit applies even if a player is traded after their Extension; the player cannot be Extended a second time before hitting Free Agency 

  • An Extended player can still be Franchise or Transition Tagged

Franchise and Transition Tags are a way for teams to hold onto elite players whose contracts are expiring or get Rookie Draft compensation if they do lose them

• • Teams only have the option of using the Franchise or Transition Tag once per season; you cannot use the Franchise and Transition Tag in the same off-season

Each off-season (between the end of the season and March 1) teams can apply the Franchise Tag to a player on their roster whose contract is expiring

The Franchise Tag allows teams to keep a player for one season, without giving other teams the opportunity to offer him a contract

When Franchise Tagged a player automatically receives a one year contract at whichever is higher:

• • The average of the current top 5 highest-paid rostered players at his position

  • 120% of the player’s expiring salary

After the 1-year contract expires the player becomes a Free Agent; he cannot be signed to an extension or Franchise/Transition Tagged

• • The restrictions remain in place even if the player is traded or cut during the season

Franchise and Transition Tags are a way for teams to hold onto elite players whose contracts are expiring or get Rookie Draft compensation if they do lose them

• • Teams only have the option of using the Franchise or Transition Tag once per season; you cannot use the Franchise and Transition Tag in the same off-season

Applying the Transition Tag: Each off-season (between the end of the season and March 1) teams can apply the Transition Tag to a player on their roster whose contract is expiring

This option gives the owner a chance to re-sign a player to a long-term contract, or to receive a 1st round pick as compensation if another team puts in a higher bid

• • The compensatory pick comes directly from the winning bidder

Transition Tag Bidding: The bidding for Transition Tagged players begins on March 1 at a starting bid equal to whichever is higher: the average of the current top 5 highest-paid rostered players at his position or 120% of the player’s expiring salary

• • The original owner does not participate in the bidding

  • In order to bid on a Transition Tagged player, a team must have at least one 1st Round Rookie Draft pick in that year’s Draft

  • This a slow-bidding process and interested teams can submit bids (via email or group text) at any time up to 11:59PM EST on March 8

  • At that time bidding is closed, the winning bid is declared

  • If no other teams bid on him, the original owner keeps the player at the starting bid amount

Option to Match High Bid: The Transition Tagged player's original owner has 24 hours to match the winning bid

• • If the bid is matched, the player stays with his original owner

  • If the bid is not matched, the player moves to the winning bidder and the winning bidder’s 1st Round Rookie Draft pick is given to the original owner of the Tagged player as compensation

  • If the winning bidder has multiple 1st Round Picks, the latest pick is given as compensation

New Contract Duration: The length of the player’s new contract is determined by whoever ends up with the player, up to the league maximum of 5 years

• • This is treated as a regular contract, so the player can be Extended, Franchise Tagged or Transition Tagged at the end of it

After every season players who finish near the top of their respective positions, but are paid far below the top tier of their position will hold out for a bigger deal

Holdout Criteria: Players who finish the season among the highest tier of their position as outlined below, but are paid a Salary below 50% of the average rostered player in that group will be declared as Holdouts by the commissioner before the end of January

• • QB:  Top 8

  • RB: Top 10

  • WR: Top 10

  • TE: Top 5

Dealing With Holdouts: Teams have three ways of dealing with Holdouts, the decision needs to be made by March 1

• • Give the player a raise: Player's Salary increases to 75% of the average of the relevant top tier group above—since this is a new contract, the player can be extended up to another 4 years

  • Cut the player: Since the decision on Holdouts is due before March 1, the Cap Hit will only be applied for one season

  • Trade the player: The Player's demands remain in place for his new team, so they will have to give him an increased salary

Contracts given to hold out players do not count against the standard 1 Extension limit

If a player retires while he's under contract to you, you may release him with no Salary Cap penalty in subsequent years, regardless of how many seasons he has left on his contract.

If he un-retires, you still own him under the previous terms of his contract.

A player must OFFICIALLY RETIRE (file retirement papers) with the league for this to be the case.

After March 1 each year all teams must remain under the $1,000 Salary Cap

Penalties for Cap Overages: Any team that is over the Cap during this period will be blocked from making any acquisitions:

• • No FA pickups permitted

  • If Cap situation is not fixed before the season starts, only $0 waiver bids will be allowed

  • Only trades that clear Salary Cap room are permitted

The team would still be able to function, but would face severe penalties until they clear Cap room

Offseason Salary Cap Grace Period: In practice, between the end of the season and March 1, teams can go over the Salary Cap without penalty

In-Season Salary Cap Grace Period: After the September 1 start of the regular season, there is also no penalty for teams that acquire players that would technically put them over the Salary Cap since the players have been “paid out” on Sept. 1.