Restricted FAs who have become Unrestricted become Restricted again Pre-TC

[aston217]

Yeah...

If you don't sign your RFAs, they become unrestricted free agents once Late Free Agency begins.

We're at the pre-TC stage currently and all unsigned guys who fit this category, have suddenly become RFAs again and may only be signed by their own team.

Weird! Right?

Might actually have an effect, too, if RFA contract logic is much more stringent than UFA contract logic (i.e, I've previously noticed RFAs will barely take a dime less than what they ask. UFAs will at least consider a lot less, especially if it's later on in Free Agency and they haven't been offered).

I can't remember this happening in 2k7 and I'm sure I've left some RFAs unsigned this way.

[Ben E Lou]

Yeah...

If you don't sign your RFAs, they become unrestricted free agents once Late Free Agency begins.

We're at the pre-TC stage currently and all unsigned guys who fit this category, have suddenly become RFAs again and may only be signed by their own team.

Weird! Right?

Might actually have an effect, too, if RFA contract logic is much more stringent than UFA contract logic (i.e, I've previously noticed RFAs will barely take a dime less than what they ask. UFAs will at least consider a lot less, especially if it's later on in Free Agency and they haven't been offered).

I can't remember this happening in 2k7 and I'm sure I've left some RFAs unsigned this way.This was been the case since FOF2K4 for sure, maybe FOF2K1, even.

[aston217]

Oh, okay, thanks. I guess I really just did never notice before.

[Ben E Lou]

It's not something easy to notice. You'd only notice it if you had an RFA who meets all three of these conditions:

1. You didn't bother to sign him when he was exclusively yours throughout FA1.
2. None of the other 31 teams bothered to sign him when he was free to be signed by anyone throughout FA2.
3. Despite #1 and #2 being true, for some reason you decide right before FA2 that you want to give this stiff a contract.

Only at that point MIGHT you notice it. ;)

Oh, and fwiw, it has worked the same way in SP all this time as well.

And yes, the optimal time to re-sign a crappy RFA is in FA2:5. That's when his contract demand is usually lowest. It usually increases a bit (if more than minsal) for the Pre-TC stage. And they're not as flexible in negotiation, as you noted. Of course, if you're talking MP, then most leagues combine that stage with earlier FA2 stages, so you don't get the bargain-basement option.

But really, all of this is just academic. If a guy is good enough that you're trying to get him to lower his demands, odds are that someone else is going to want him before the end of FA2 anyway. And in FOF7, it's either a former draftee who got cut or an undrafted guy, since everyone who is drafted gets at least four years...

[aston217]

Haha! Well, in this case I was just looking over my roster, not trying to sign, and saw the black dot RFA icon. I suppose you're right, #1 and #2 wouldn't have happened in the 2k7 era. My players were good back then :)

I think FA2.5 is only slightly better than FA2.3, fwiw, so you still get the bargain in some cases.

This is a different topic I suppose, but in the interests of making it FOF7-relevant, I'm noticing that 1) player demands come down somewhat over the course of both early and late FA, or perhaps I'm imagining that, and 2) players who are sticklers for asking price early on, become a lot less so later on.

In FOF7 with the stringent cap constraints, you're not really necessarily looking for *good* players, just "the best cheap ones." Inevitably at some position or many positions, there will be quality, adequate veterans that nobody signs through all of free agency, and the opportunity will be there to sign him at discount.

[garion333]

You never noticed it because you haven't taken over a terrible team in a long while.

All those cheap young players you signed last season and then didn't re-sign this season weren't picked up by others because they're filler.

Can't say your teams are usually comprised of filler. ;)

[Firefly]

Yeah, it's been that way forever. I know because my 3rd string QBs are usually crap.