Ben, Welcome To Salary Cap Hell!

[Ben E Lou]

I've completed four seasons with the Falcons. I've had some success, but have yet to win a playoff game:Front Office Football 2004
GM Performance for Ben Lewis of the Atlanta Falcons

Year Team Eval Perf Diff Proft FrVal Record Playoffs
2006 ATL 66 90 78 52 63 14-3-0 Division Final
2005 ATL 50 57 75 42 57 9-8-0 Wild Card Round
2004 ATL 54 66 75 45 52 12-5-0 Wild Card Round
2003 ATL 58 40 74 69 51 7-8-1 None

I signed FA's with impunity in 2004. (Those first-year lowball prices...), not yet understanding the full long-term ramifications of such a course of action. I've had cap issues every since, but have been able to temporarily solve them with the cap out offer. I knew things were starting to get bad when I only could afford to take 52 players to training camp last year (2006).

It is now the 2007 Free Agency period, and I am $8M over the salary cap, with 36 guys signed. If I do as many cap out offers as I can, I'll still only be $4M under the cap--barely enough to sign 7 draftees, but not enough to even get to 46 players.

Fortunately/unfortunately, every one of my high-salary guys has also been a high producer. Fortunate, because I've been getting good value. Unfortunate, because it doesn't make the decision of whom I need to cut/trade any easier.

I have to make some hard decisions this year, with no house rules.

I LOVE this game.

[Bee]

The adjustments that have been made to the financial side of things in the game really increases the challenge. It took me a few years of fighting with the salary cap to really get a feel for how to control my spending. And just a warning...the cap out offers can really come back to bite you later... :D

[Gambit]

The cap is the single most frustrating item in the game. It's also the coolest thing in the game :D

[Ben E Lou]

It gets even better/worse. The first guy I decided to trade, WR Darrell Jackson:No general manager has expressed significant interest in this player.I have to outright cut a starter.

I LOVE this game!

[Francis_Cole]

Unfortuantly you can't seem to offer new contracts which shorten a players contract, although I remeber the jets doing that this year to our reserve center, we offered him a huge bonus just to forget about his previous long term deal and sign a new one year deal so he leaves this summer!

[Eilim]

I've come to the conclusion that the "Cap Out" button was an idea planted in Jim's head by satan.

..Go ahead, press that button... Look at the all that new cap room...


3 years later:

Arrgh.. Whats going on? No 3rd round pick? 10 mil over the cap with only 35 guys signed? How'd this happen?

(/insert menacing music, with a cackle slowly rising in the background)

"Muhahaha... I own your soul now!"


An idea of satan I say...

Well, I'm off to attempt to rebuild my team. (and yes, I'm playing far too much of this game, and not very well.)

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Eilim
I've come to the conclusion that the "Cap Out" button was an idea planted in Jim's head by satan.

..Go ahead, press that button... Look at the all that new cap room...


3 years later:

Arrgh.. Whats going on? No 3rd round pick? 10 mil over the cap with only 35 guys signed? How'd this happen?

<insert menacing music, with a cackle slowly rising in the background>

"Muhahaha... I own your soul now!"That is so accurate, it is frightening. I cracked up when I read that!

[Francis_Cole]

Its so easy to press it as well. Its just sitting there. In gray. Looking all inocent. I just... want to press it... one more time.. can't resist *arghhh*

[Alan T]

Yes, my favorite thing is the little window that says Cap used next year = $115 mil... I guess thats bad when I still have an $85mil salary cap. :)

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Alan T
Yes, my favorite thing is the little window that says Cap used next year = $115 mil... I guess thats bad when I still have an $85mil salary cap. :) Yeah, I never paid attention to the Cap Used Next Year slot before this game.

[Ksyrup]

Can someone give a quick explanation of the "cap out" feature? I haven't gotten in-depth in the game at all, so that hasn't figured into my playing around yet. I think I understand the effect of it, but can someone give me a "before and after" of what someone's salary structure looks like? Thanks.

[Ben E Lou]

Update:

So I do some renegotiating, some capping out, some cutting and two trades. I've got JUST enough cap room to go after one cheap free agent, if any are available. I need a starting FB, and don't want to use an early draft pick on a FB, so I search for cheap FB's. I see B.J. Askew. He's 85 in run blocking, and 91 power inside. I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES! HE ONLY WANTS A CONTRACT THAT IS A $700K CAP HIT AND NO ONE HAS MADE AN OFFER TO HIM BY WEEK 5!!! I jump in and hit the submit offer button.This player is currently injured. Do you wish to continue with this offer?Oh yeah, I guess that being-out-for-23-more-weeks-because-of-ACL-surgery thing is what has scared other teams off, huh?

[Bee]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
Can someone give a quick explanation of the "cap out" feature? I haven't gotten in-depth in the game at all, so that hasn't figured into my playing around yet. I think I understand the effect of it, but can someone give me a "before and after" of what someone's salary structure looks like? Thanks.

It basically takes the current contract and reduces this year's salary to the veteran minimum and gives the rest of this year's salary as a bonus so the affect is spread out over the length of the existing contract to reduce the salary cap impact this year.

[BishopMVP]

Originally posted by Francis_Cole
Its just sitting there. In gray.

They should change it to a dark red. :)

[Bee]

Originally posted by SkyDog
Update:

So I do some renegotiating, some capping out, some cutting and two trades. I've got JUST enough cap room to go after one cheap free agent, if any are available. I need a starting FB, and don't want to use an early draft pick on a FB, so I search for cheap FB's. I see B.J. Askew. He's 85 in run blocking, and 91 power inside. I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES! HE ONLY WANTS A CONTRACT THAT IS A $700K CAP HIT AND NO ONE HAS MADE AN OFFER TO HIM BY WEEK 5!!! I jump in and hit the submit offer button.Oh yeah, I guess that being out for 23 more weeks because of ACL surgery is what has scared other teams off, huh?

It warned you? I accidently signed an injured player one year, but didn't see a warning. I guess I need to pay closer attention.

[SnowMan]

DOH...thank god for that prompt tho, eh? Then you'd really be hosed.

:P

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by Bee
It basically takes the current contract and reduces this year's salary to the veteran minimum and gives the rest of this year's salary as a bonus so the affect is spread out over the length of the existing contract to reduce the salary cap impact this year.

Gotcha. Thanks.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
Can someone give a quick explanation of the "cap out" feature? I haven't gotten in-depth in the game at all, so that hasn't figured into my playing around yet. I think I understand the effect of it, but can someone give me a "before and after" of what someone's salary structure looks like? Thanks. Ok. I just traded for a tackle. Of course, I have no bonus hit for the next two years of his contract. Here are the numbers:

This Season: $1.52M
Next Season: $1.94M

A cap out offer looks like this:

Bonus: $940K
This Season: $580K
Next Season: $1.94M

The Cap Out offer gives the player the exact amount of money he would have made this year, but instead of as all salary, the "salary" figure drops to the league minimum, and the rest is given as a bonus. The effect is that the bonus money is spread out over the length of the contract. In this case, it isn't a huge effect. I would save $470K in cap room this year, but $470K is added to next year's cap hit, no matter what I do with the guy from here on out. The player makes the same amount of money his contract calls for, and the team gets some cap relief for this season. A pure win-win, right??? Well, the problem (as several in this thread have attested to) is that if you do it for multiple players in the same season, you end up with quite a bit of cap money already allotted for future seasons. I think the key is going to be limiting myself to a "cap" of how much cap room I'm willing to use for next year.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Bee
It warned you? I accidently signed an injured player one year, but didn't see a warning. I guess I need to pay closer attention. You do. :)

[Ksyrup]

Very cool feature. Thanks for the primer.

[Ben E Lou]

Dola--

Bee beat me to it, with a much more succinct explanation. I guess I can't say very much in less than 1,000 words either, huh? ;)

[FrogMan]

Originally posted by SkyDog
Yeah, I never paid attention to the Cap Used Next Year slot before this game.

The exact same thing I told myself yesterday night when I was going through my first free agency and was reading all your horror stories and Eilim's been telling me his through AIM and PM... I started freaking out and looking at that figure... 75M used under a 80M cap, better stop spending NOW!

FM

[Fritz]

Ben, I had the same sort of thing in my first career.

My initial draft was good with a strong QB, WR, LBs, CB, and S. The Oline was half good. The D line was not so good.

Inside of 3 years I was losing star quaility players and having to replace them with mid level types.

By 6 years I had lost the superstars (except the QB), played with some very obvious holes, and carried a ton of players on 1 year deals.

[Samdari]

Originally posted by Bee
It warned you? I accidently signed an injured player one year, but didn't see a warning. I guess I need to pay closer attention.

I've signed an extended injury player several times, with no warning given. I have seen the warning multiple times, but I don't think this feature is working at 100%.

[OldGiants]

Interesting thread. I'm in the same boat going into 2007, only with a dreadful Dallas team. Compounding my problems are that my big salary boys are also the ones who get hurt all the time, so they don't play much.

I've had some success creating cap room the old fashioned pre FOF4 way of renegotiating contracts, but I hadn't fathomed the Cap out button yet. I don't whether to thank or damn all of you for making that temptation clear!

I do love the rookie negotiations. Is that new this year?

I'm beginning to form some hypothoses on negotiationg and the agent rankings and stubbornness ratings.

First, I haven't had much luck making counter offers to veterans. Basically, what they ask for is what I have to pay, no matter what. No cutting 10 or 20% and knowing that will likely be accepted any more. The offer patterns aren't there any more.

So what I'm thinking is this:

The agent ranking is an indication of how well the agent understands the "true worth" of a player. A good reputation means he will give you a decent, market representative bid. a low ranking means the guy will ask for the moon.

The negotiating factor is an indication of how much the guy is willing to come off the initial bid.

So an agent with a high rank and low stubbornness should give a decent offer and come off a bit. A low rank agent with high stubbornness is the agent from hell and will blow the roof off your cap.

Avoid these guys.

I'm planning to test a cap strategy of only dealing with reputable agents, and not dealing with stubbornness all that much.

EDIT: Just re-read the agent help file. The agent ranking is what I assume Jim means by "charisma" In reality, the agent with the most players is ranked "1" and so on down the list. That could still mean the reasonablilty is there.

Also, the more players an agent represents on your team, the easier it is to deal with him. HMM. I guess I'll look for rookies who are with my big stable agents.

[Radii]

Originally posted by SkyDog
Update:
I need a starting FB, and don't want to use an early draft pick on a FB, so I search for cheap FB's.

Based on your lack of a FB, and other posts of yours that indicate your preferred play calling style, I would definitely recommend a switch to the run and shoot :D

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by SkyDog
It gets even better/worse. The first guy I decided to trade, WR Darrell Jackson:I have to outright cut a starter.

I LOVE this game!

I've also found it difficult to generate interest much interest in my decent players, which I feel is a great thing. No more unloading guys and getting something in return - we have to make tough decisions.

One trade story:

As the New York Jets I draft my superstar-to-be QB #1 overall in the 2004 draft. He's developing OK, and in 2005 I grab a QB in the 2nd round who looks like a terrific long-term project ...someone simply too good to pass up, and a nice insurance policy in the event of injury/failure of my starter.

My #1 develops at a nice pace over the next few years, and the #2 is coming around slowly, but is now potentially a better long term prospect. In 2008 I realize I cannot keep them both, and seek to trade the 2nd round pick, figuring I'll keep my starter and make out well in the trade market.

My stadium-mates the New York Giants were interested, so I sent my #2 QB for a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick 2 years in the future. For some reason they fail to re-sign him after 2008 and he moves on to Cincinnati.

It's 2009. My QB seems to have it all there in front of him - the personal talent, a good RB, and a great trio of receivers. He puts up dynamic numbers in every way - 32 touchdowns and 30 interceptions and over 4,000 yards. As his contract expires, I realize he simply isn't the QB for my team. He's erratic, and has absolutely killed me in some big games (including the playoffs). His record after 5 years is only 1 game over .500.

I am completely revolted to find Cincinnati has just signed an extension with their starting QB. A brand new 5 year deal for the man who has lead them to the best record in the league and a super bowl title. My second round pick is now the class of the league at QB, but in a city far away.

I Guess I traded the wrong guy. :(

[Daimyo]

Originally posted by SkyDog
Oh yeah, I guess that being-out-for-23-more-weeks-because-of-ACL-surgery thing is what has scared other teams off, huh?
This ALWAYS happens to me!! Everytime I find a bargain that's too good to be true they're always injured.

Have you noticed that injured players don't take their ratings hit right away, but when they return from injury? I found that out early on taking chances on injured FA's.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Daimyo
Have you noticed that injured players don't take their ratings hit right away, but when they return from injury? I found that out early on taking chances on injured FA's. This was in FOF4, I think. It makes sense to me. In real life, you don't know how the guy is gonna be until he returns.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by Daimyo
This ALWAYS happens to me!! Everytime I find a bargain that's too good to be true they're always injured.

Have you noticed that injured players don't take their ratings hit right away, but when they return from injury? I found that out early on taking chances on injured FA's.

I take 1-2 chances a year on injured guys. If I can sign him cheaply to a 2 year deal, i'll IR him all year and hope it pans out.

I guess I've been in relatively good cap shape with my team, and we've been a bordeline playoff team each year (2003-2009) We've made the playoffs the last 2 years (losing our first game each time).

I also sign 1-3 year players at the end of the year who look promising, so that way I have them as restricted free agents in the off-season. There's a lot of gambles you can take by having cap space and being willing to throw away money.

[Daimyo]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
I've also found it difficult to generate interest much interest in my decent players, which I feel is a great thing. No more unloading guys and getting something in return - we have to make tough decisions.
I haven't really found it that difficult, but I've only tried to deal a couple of guys. I dealt the best QB in the league for 1(5) in the last year of his rookie deal. I had just lucked into a stud QB with the 31st pick the year before and it made more sense to play him on his rookie deal than give $15M to the vet.

Later on I dealt the league's best punter (was actually rated as the best current player by the ai) for a future 2nd after drafting a 100/100 punter in the 4th round. The 100/100 punter was rated the best player in the draft from the 2nd round on even on adjusted rating! First time I ever saw a K/P ranked on the adj scale. I think he's also the only 100/100 guy I've ever seen (he filled it all out after his first season too). I thought it was a bit unrealistic to get a future 2nd for a punter...

[Daimyo]

DOLA, the best way I've found to avoid cap hell is to always play your top 3 draft picks even when they're not optimal. In past FOF's if a guy didn't pan out you just cut him, but now I feel like I have to play them.

I never drafted for need in past FOF's, but now I feel like I almost have to just because I can't afford to sit a rookie to develop and pay a vet to start when i could just draft a guy to start. Even the positions that used to be cheap like C or S now cost a ton to extend when you win. I also feel like I'm forced to convert guys to other positions more (maybe that is just a function of the feature actually working now). I often look for FS with CB size and speed in the draft thinking I can get a relatively cheap nickelback for a few seasons out of them.

[HornedFrog Purple]

He should have put a popup box that says "Are you sure you want to destroy any chance of maintaining respectability anytime soon and be the laughingstock of the league?" :)

[clintl]

I ran into cap problems, too, and traded away mostly defensive players to solve them for a year. I ended up with several undrafted FA rookies starting, and went 4-12. The weird thing, though, is that one of these undrafted FA rookie LBs (who had terrible ratings) won Defensive Rookie of the Year.

I still have a cap problem the following season, but this one is fairly obvious to deal with - I have an $8M/yr OT who had a severe injury last year, and now is only a backup quality player. I can just cut him.

[Francis_Cole]

One thing I don't know about the cap in real life... if a player retires, how much of his bonus etc is he due if he still has a few years left on his contract.... I think its most of it, but that seems a bit unfair that a team are paying for a player who has since retired :)

[QuikSand]

I knew a thread like this was going to come around -- I'm convinced that a number of pretty subtle changes in contract structures are going to have a potentially big impact on this game's playability.

In my longest career yet, I drove the Ravens rapidly into the ground with cap deals - but I followed suit of the real-life Ravens. I sucked it up, cut about ten starters, limped through a season of pure cap hell, and came out on the other side ready to get back into the picture.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by Daimyo
I haven't really found it that difficult, but I've only tried to deal a couple of guys. I dealt the best QB in the league for 1(5) in the last year of his rookie deal. I had just lucked into a stud QB with the 31st pick the year before and it made more sense to play him on his rookie deal than give $15M to the vet.

Later on I dealt the league's best punter (was actually rated as the best current player by the ai) for a future 2nd after drafting a 100/100 punter in the 4th round. The 100/100 punter was rated the best player in the draft from the 2nd round on even on adjusted rating! First time I ever saw a K/P ranked on the adj scale. I think he's also the only 100/100 guy I've ever seen (he filled it all out after his first season too). I thought it was a bit unrealistic to get a future 2nd for a punter...

you're talking about trading 2 great players. I've had trouble generating interest in mediocre/2nd-tier players. I had a washout former 1st round WR who was still pretty good, but no one wanted him. In FOF2001 or even FOF4, I'm certain I could have gotten a 4th rounder for him at least.

[Ksyrup]

This sounds so damn promising...I almost don't believe it!

I think this is what we've all wanted - some balance between the ease with which we are able to build a contender and a game that makes it too difficult to do so. Now, it sounds like we've got the best of both worlds - you can probably build a good-to-great team like you used to, but it's going to cost you to do so, which means you'll have to take it on the chin for a year or two before the rebuilding process can begin again.

No more switching teams every 8-12 years because I've taken a crappy franchise and turned them into an automatic contender every year! Woo-hoo!

[clintl]

I'm finding it's harder to trade with the AI, too. When I was trying to solve my cap problems, I tried to deal a S who had very good ratings across the board, and was the 2nd team All-League the year before. Nobody would even give me a 3rd round pick for him.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
This sounds so damn promising...I almost don't believe it!

I think this is what we've all wanted - some balance between the ease with which we are able to build a contender and a game that makes it too difficult to do so. Now, it sounds like we've got the best of both worlds - you can probably build a good-to-great team like you used to, but it's going to cost you to do so, which means you'll have to take it on the chin for a year or two before the rebuilding process can begin again.

No more switching teams every 8-12 years because I've taken a crappy franchise and turned them into an automatic contender every year! Woo-hoo! My impression is that I'm not going to see 5-10 years of domination from my team unless I get pretty lucky, like multiple breakout players...

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by SkyDog
My impression is that I'm not going to see 5-10 years of domination from my team unless I get pretty lucky, like multiple breakout players...

agreed. At the end of 2009 I've made the playoffs just 3 times, and never won a playoff game. I'm hopeful now though, since I've made the playoffs 2 years straight. I love the coordintor/coach thing. I hired my current coach off of his super bowl victory as offensive coordinator - very realistic.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I ran a quick sim to get the feel of the game. I now know to avoid the temptation of signing every friggin guy i want in 2004. Build through the draft. Sign affordable free agents and maybe one "star" who'll cost a lot.

[Ben E Lou]

Next year (2009) ought to be REALLY interesting. Vick's contract runs out at the end of 2008, and it looks like he's going to want a HUGE contract.

[tucker342]

you know, I should really try to avoid these threads, as they just make me want to get the game more and more

[MissionComplete]

I agree that the game is generally tougher. I have run a few teams into the ground already and have started over. The only time I have won a Super Bowl was in the second year of my OPU career. I had an amazing nearly maxed out QB slip to #9, and after camp he came thru already halfway developed. He is easily the best draft pick I have ever had in any FOF and I've owned every version. This almost didn't seem fair to me, since no one else could compare to him in reality. He won POTY, ROTY, SB MVP, and 1st Team QB.

I have learned that it takes more than just finding the best players and getting them all on your team. You have to search for guys that fit into your system, and not sign a massive amount of bodies and pray. It takes a combination of skill and luck, which makes this probably the most realistic FOF, IMO.

[IMetTrentGreen]

dan marino, maybe

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
agreed. At the end of 2009 I've made the playoffs just 3 times, and never won a playoff game. I'm hopeful now though, since I've made the playoffs 2 years straight. I love the coordintor/coach thing. I hired my current coach off of his super bowl victory as offensive coordinator - very realistic.

Ugh! In 2010 with my new stud QB (who is apparently the most injury prone bastard ever - 4 seperate minor injuries during the year) we got knocked out in our first playoff game again! We were 13-3 and tied for the best record in the league. My glass jaw QB got knocked out of the game early, and we just couldn't hang with them.

I have replaced my coordinators, and we're gearing up for another go at this.

<pre><font face=courier>
Front Office Football 2004
GM Performance for C.T. Homer of the New Jersey Jets

Year Team Eval Perf Diff Proft FrVal Record Playoffs
2010 NJY 43 86 71 0 100 13-4-0 Division Final
2009 NJY 46 86 73 15 63 12-5-0 Division Final
2008 NJY 42 63 73 23 56 10-7-0 Wild Card Round
2007 NJY 39 14 70 45 57 6-9-1 None
2006 NJY 37 19 68 38 60 6-10-0 None
2005 NJY 44 14 64 53 68 6-10-0 None
2004 NJY 67 78 66 56 86 12-6-0 Division Final
2003 NJY 64 63 67 55 100 9-8-0 Wild Card Round</font></pre>


Very Schottenheimer-like production. We just dip our toes in the playoff pool before heading into the offseason. :mad:

[mckerney]

I play with the Vikings usually, but if I play with real rosters the two biggest contracts on the team are at positions of little need in my plan, both long term deals with rather large signing bonuses. It makes things tough at first. :(

[MissionComplete]

My QB just led me to another Super Bowl, but came up short. We were down by 3, and we got the ball back with 48 seconds left. 3 plays later my start gets intercepted and we lose.

He still ended up with POTY, OPOTY, and All League 1st String QB awards. He beat all other QB's by atleast 10 rating points or more.

[Gambit]

2 6-10 seasons with the Cardinals after the Computer ran them into the ground, followed by a 10-6 season with a Bowl appearance = 9 million over the cap in the next season :(

[kcchief19]

Man, I'm with you guys in salary cap hell. I'm leaning toward sucking it up for one more run in 2006 and then bite the bullet and start over. I'm the poster child for the Oakland Raiders right now. My average player age is a hair under 30 and I'm ass to the wall on cap space. I can get under the cap if I cap out everybody who will take the deal and maybe release one guy who won't take a cap out deal.

One of the contributions to my troubles has been spending in the FA market. I've been following my old FOF patterns by simplying signing my FA in the 20-stage process and moving on.

Has anybody tried to tackle FA through the second 8-stage process? I haven't studied it real close, but it would make sense that there would be some solid players there willing to take less than comparable players in the 20-stage FA. I've seen a few star players in the second FA step, but not as many as are available in the first wave.

I think that is going to be my next test. I want to see what I can mine out of the second wave of FA. Anybody tried it?

[Ben E Lou]

I just had to trade CB Kevin Mathis, who has been my stud shut-down cover corner for the last four seasons, for a third-round draft choice in order to afford to both keep Vick and field a team in 2009.

I think I am now coming to the end of my most serious cap woes, though. For the first time, after my cap-outs and renegotiations entering free agency, I actually have less money used for next year's cap than this year's cap. Up to now, I've been $5M-$10M the cap for next year before signing a single FA or drafing anyone. I've got $24M to go before next year's cap used catches up with this year's cap. Maybe I can actually use the 20-step process again next season! (I wasn't able to use it at all in 2006-2008, and have only $2M budgeted to use this year.)

I'm heading to bed now, but hopefully I can get to 2010 before I have to start being productive tomorrow.

[cthomer5000]

Finally! In 2011 my wuss QB managed to fight through 3 different injuries to play 12 games and all of the playoffs. Most important, we're now 4-0 against my ex-QB who signed with divisional rival Miami.

Well, we won out, and took the Super... er... Front Office Bowl title! I didn't exactly wow myself when I took over some play-calling late in the game, but SkyDog would have been proud with my dedication to the run (and running out the clock). My 3rd year running back proved to be worth the mega-deal I made to get him 2 seasons earlier, as he cranked it up a notch in the playoffs. He had better, I sent the #25 & #29 first rounders in 2009, my 2010, and 2011 first rounders (4 first round picks total) in exchange for the #3 overall pick (my RB) and a 2010 first rounder. Ironically, the deal was with Oakland, who I stomped in the AFC title game on my way to glory. I guess the trade was worth it after all. :)

EDIT: and most bittersweet of all was the fact that we won in our last season in New Jersey, we're now off to the land of fake tits and wanna-be actors: Los Angeles, California. I was getting killed finanically in the NYC area, so I hope Hollywood can finally support an NFL team.

[oykib]

I've just joined the club. I've got the Jets.

Won the Bowl in 2005. Had my starting QB go down for eight games in '06 and just missed the playoffs at 9-7 (tie-breaker).

Now I've got 36 players under contract and I'm $180,000 over the cap.

By the way, I've got two first-rounders this year, including #1 overall.

In '04 I was drafting around 18 and traded up to #10 to take the #2 ranked QB on the board. He was actually tied with another guy. I had trouble deciding. The tie breaker was that the guy I took hd a 4.36 40.

In round two, the other guy was still available. I took him because my first rounder had a moderately high volatility and this guy had a six. I figured that I could deal one of them for another first round pick if they both panned out.

Last year, I dealt my second-rounder to New England, which was 2-14 the previous year, for their first round pick. He was still about 70% green. He still led them to a 4-12 record, a big improvement for that lousy squad. But 4-12 was the worst record in the league.

[SackAttack]

I've had my own experience in cap hell recently, starting several seasons 15 mil over the cap.

2014 rolls around, and some mass retirements have me in a position where, in 2015, I expect to be almost 40 million under the cap with 45 guys under contract. Unfortunately, most of the real talent has retired, so we'll have a 1-15 team just in time for our new stadium.

[Buccaneer]

I'm finally at a stopping point on my project and will finally get into practicing with FOF5 (or whatever you like to call it). I personally want to experience salary cap hell for the fun of it.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Buccaneer
I'm finally at a stopping point on my project and will finally get into practicing with FOF5 (or whatever you like to call it). I personally want to experience salary cap hell for the fun of it. It is a very simple process:

1. Set out to build a team that wins ASAP.
2. Use cap out offers and renegotiations to afford to sign free agents so that goal #1 can be achieved.
3. Watch team win, or come close to winning, the Front Office Bowl.
4. Play a few more seasons. Welcome to cap hell.

Once step four is achieved, at least one of two things will happen:

a. cutting/trading away guys you never wanted to part with
b. starting rookie undrafted free agents in multiple positions

Enjoy! ;)

[Eaglesfan27]

It is now 2007 in my season, and despite several valiant attempts we have not won the Superbowl. Now, I'm at the very limit of the cap and I only have 41 guys signed. Even worse, I want to keep Dawkins since he didn't retire as I thought he might (he is in his 12th year and is still highly skilled.) Now, I have to risk letting a career long valiant Eagle go to another team :( I'm also likely to lose Hank Fraley who has developed in a very good center. Not to mention, I don't know what I'm going to do during the season if I have injuries as after the draft I will only have 48 guys under contract. There are so many players I want to keep that I haven't even mentioned, but saying goodbye to Dawkins is going to be the hardest. Or do I cap out a bunch of offers and delay this pain for another year. However, I'm not sure I could even create enough space to sign Dawkins.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Eaglesfan27
It is now 2007 in my season, and despite several valiant attempts we have not won the Superbowl. Now, I'm at the very limit of the cap and I only have 41 guys signed. Even worse, I want to keep Dawkins since he didn't retire as I thought he might (he is in his 12th year and is still highly skilled.) Now, I have to risk letting a career long valiant Eagle go to another team :( I'm also likely to lose Hank Fraley who has developed in a very good center. Not to mention, I don't know what I'm going to do during the season if I have injuries as after the draft I will only have 48 guys under contract. There are so many players I want to keep that I haven't even mentioned, but saying goodbye to Dawkins is going to be the hardest. Or do I cap out a bunch of offers and delay this pain for another year. However, I'm not sure I could even create enough space to sign Dawkins. I see you followed my steps closely. ;)

[Subby]

I would be interested to see if anyone is using a management strategy simialr to the Philadelphia Eagles...not giving long-term contracts to anyone over 30, not spending big on WR and RB...

Is anyone able to be competitive year after year?

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Subby
Is anyone able to be competitive year after year? I might be getting close. I've had a nice 6-year run now:Front Office Football 2004
GM Performance for Ben Lewis of the Atlanta Falcons

Year Team Eval Perf Diff Proft FrVal Record Playoffs
2021 ATL 66 86 71 46 100 12-5-0 Division Final
2020 ATL 86 95 71 80 100 13-7-0 Conference Champion
2019 ATL 58 95 70 25 100 14-5-0 Conference Champion
2018 ATL 50 90 70 10 100 15-3-0 Conference Final
2017 ATL 79 100 70 67 88 17-2-0 Bowl Winner
2016 ATL 96 100 70 100 89 14-6-0 Bowl Winner
2015 ATL 37 10 68 32 99 5-11-0 None
2014 ATL 69 81 68 55 100 12-6-0 Conference Final
2013 ATL 84 100 69 73 100 17-2-0 Bowl Winner
2012 ATL 67 60 77 67 76 12-7-0 Conference Final
2011 ATL 49 22 77 54 78 7-9-0 None
2010 ATL 74 74 76 74 79 12-7-0 Conference Final
2009 ATL 50 52 75 44 55 9-7-0 None
2008 ATL 59 72 75 49 63 10-8-0 Division Final
2007 ATL 68 81 76 62 64 13-5-0 Division Final
2006 ATL 66 90 78 52 63 14-3-0 Division Final
2005 ATL 50 57 75 42 57 9-8-0 Wild Card Round
2004 ATL 54 66 75 45 52 12-5-0 Wild Card Round
2003 ATL 58 40 74 69 51 7-8-1 None

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by Subby
Is anyone able to be competitive year after year?

I make the playoffs nearly every season (probably 13 of the last 15 years).

I definitely take a Philly approach to things, I refuse to overpay for marginal talent, and prefer depth to outright stars. I also lock up my solid players to very long term deals when I'm going to want them around for a while. I would say I return at least 40 players from year to year.

EDIT: adding the following:

This pretty much jives with my theory on how NFL teams should manage things (as the Eagles do). You have to make the playoffs in order to win a Super Bowl. Your goal should be to build a team which can seriously compete year after year.

I've been saying this for the last year, but I think we can expect to see Philly in the final 4 of the NFC for a long time, and I think they'll be brining home a title pretty soon (perhaps even this year). They don't overpay, and always seem to have 5 contingency plans when they lose someone they would have liked to keep. Once teams realize this is more intelligent than the "build up/tear down" model of management, I think you'll see more teams adopt it. This would probably in turn slow down the FA market, and keep more players on their original teams for longer periods of time.

[Honolulu Blue]

Originally posted by Subby
I would be interested to see if anyone is using a management strategy simialr to the Philadelphia Eagles...not giving long-term contracts to anyone over 30, not spending big on WR and RB...

Is anyone able to be competitive year after year?

I'm not very familiar with the Eagles' philosophy, but on the specific points you mentioned, I'm not averse to giving a long-term contract to an older player, but it depends on the player, how good he is, how much I expect him to decline, etc. And in regards to RBs and WRs, again I make exceptions, but I tend to use the RB and WR by committee philosophy.

So far I've been fairly competitive; most all of my seasons have been in the 8-12 win range. That's good enough for me.

[Eaglesfan27]

I have been competitive every year and may have been more competitive if I just let a few guys go, but rather then give up on Dawkins and Pinkston I let sentiment take over ;) Perhaps I made a very dumb roster move (I'm almost sure I have) but I capped out 3 guys to fit Dawkins and Pinkston back on the roster, but I did let Fraley go as I had a good center waiting in the wings. I'm taking one (two?) last shot(s) at the superbowl with the guys I've grown loyal to in the game. Hopefully, we win it this year as I will be in even worse cap trouble soon.

Interesting side thought, would I have been this loyal to a computer generated player who had been with the team for 8 years as Pinkston has and 12 years as Dawkins has? Am I being loyal to what they have done in the game (which has been impressive in the last two years) or am I being loyal to my sentiment of what they do in the real NFL? I think it is a partially both. I'm definitely attached to Dawkins as an Eagle in real life as he has been a major piece of their secondary for quite a few years and he is a heck of a player. As for Pinkston, despite being rated 38 overall, he led the electronic NFL on my computer with catches, that and his loyalty to the team were the reason I kept him. Also of note, despite leading the NFL in catches last year, Pinkston's ratings kept him from making big money. No one offered him more then 1.5 million a year in free agency, and I signed him for 1.3 million a year with a modest signing salary (total cap number of approximately 1.5 million a year.)

Anyway, back to work, my little break with FOF has to end for now.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Originally posted by Subby
I would be interested to see if anyone is using a management strategy simialr to the Philadelphia Eagles...not giving long-term contracts to anyone over 30, not spending big on WR and RB...

Is anyone able to be competitive year after year?

sort of....

http://webpages.charter.net/dekat7504/images/tygmrecord.jpg

And I am 34-6 against the Redskins... my mission is complete. :D

[Eaglesfan27]

Well, I still didn't win the Super Bowl and now I have 29 players under contract and only 12 million in cap space :(. Furthermore, I'm will be compelled to let Jerome McDougle a 80/80 Defensive End only in his 6th year (but somewhat injury prone having missed almost all of 2 different seasons including his contract year) likely walk as I doubt I will be able to afford his demands and get 46 guys under contract.

Let's see how far my team falls :(

I really do love this game though :)

Edited to add: I just realized all of my running backs including my stud second round pick from a few years ago have ended their contract this year! Jimmy Anthony wants 5 million a year to come back. Bye Jimmy :(

[Ben E Lou]

Man....I just managed to get myself in the worst cap hell I've seen so far. I am at the beginning of 2024, and AFTER I've already done the "easy" renegotiations with players who'll accept more money, which usually gets me somewhere near the cap, I am an astonishing $29.8M over the cap. What is worse, is that my starting QB (the guy who was Vick's successor and has 2 Super Bowl MVP's) had ACL Knee Surgery, and his ratings have dropped to 44/44. He's signed another year after this one, and he's still injured, so he's just sitting there taking up $17M in cap room, and I can't get a renegotiation worth anything with him. I'm in BIG trouble this season.

[Easy Mac]

I had to let my QB go. He was the reigning league MVP. He wanted 9 million in year one, and it progressed to 25 million by year 6... I just couldn't afford that. I suffered the next year and got another QB who is now quickly improving his potential.

[Troll]

I spent years building my 49ers team and decided that I had one last year before I had to destroy. I took my team to a record of 12-4 mainly because my defense slipped from number 4 in the league the year before to number 18 with the same personel. We were second in our division because the Rams signed Hasselback to join a 11-5 team the year before. Hasselback was a 81/81 a vast inprovement over Warner who was a 41/41. In the playoffs this happens...
Possession to Atlanta.

1-10-ATL27 (02:17) ATL 45 Duckett ran outside the right tackle for 0 yards.
Tackled by SFO 36 Webster, assisted by SFO 91 Adams.

Offical time out for the two-minute warning.

2-10-ATL27 (02:00) ATL 7 Vick pass fell incomplete, intended for 81 Price.
SFO 95 Engelberger hurried the quarterback into a bad throw.
Penalty: ATL - Offensive Holding.

2-20-ATL17 (01:48) ATL 7 Vick pass fell incomplete, intended for 87 Kennison.
SFO 31 Bronson defended the pass.

3-20-ATL17 (01:39) ATL 7 Vick pass fell incomplete, intended for 81 Price.
SFO 95 Engelberger hurried the quarterback into a bad throw.

4-20-ATL17 (01:31) ATL 7 Vick pass completed to 83 Crumpler for 83 yards and a touchdown!
Extra point by ATL 4 Feely was good.

Score: Atlanta 21, San Francisco 16.

the next year i found myself with 36 players still under contract and an amazing 31 million dollars over the cap, I ended up with 17 picks that year in the draft b/c of trades.....to bad only 4 in the first 4 rounds and 2 in the fifth.....

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Troll
4-20-ATL17 (01:31) ATL 7 Vick pass completed to 83 Crumpler for 83 yards and a touchdown!
Extra point by ATL 4 Feely was good.
:D



I think it was in '79 or '80 when Bartkowski hit Alfred Jackson (I think) on a 60ish yard TD pass to win a game with less than a minute to go on 4th and about 12 against the Rams

[FrogMan]

This just in!!! It's 2012 and the Patriots are in cap hell!!!

One word how it happened: retirements...

2003-2009, built a pretty competitive football team, starting out of the preference draft. Tough first two seasons due to too much emphasis put on potential vs experience, but had many good season, always falling short of even going to the Super Bowl. Cap status was always close to be over, but always under control... Had to let go some big players (a DE we had drafted 3rd overall) not to go over the cap, but overall pretty much in control
2010, we won the Super Bowl, nice season (12-4) QB is the all everything...
2011, not many players lost, still a pretty good core of players, thinking we can make another run at it. A flurry of injuries and some lack of depth forcd us to a 0-6 start, finished the season 7-9, missed the season...
2012, I pressed the "end season" thinking I'd be in pretty much the same shape as before, when I go to my roster screen and see this:
Room Under Cap ($7,730,000)
Max for New Player ($14,020,000)

I go "WTF!!!" and take a look at the transaction list. Yep here's the culprit, one of my long time starting WR, in whom I had quite a bit of bonus money tied up semi-longterm, retired... Him and a linebacker I had just signed in 2011, to a 2 or 3 year deal (can't remember...

It's not as bad as some of you, but was kind of unexpected as I thought I had it under control...

I have 39 players under contract right now, some of them will be renegotiated, some of them will be cut. With 39, there's still some room to maneuver...

The worst in all this is my star DE, who was a 71/71, had ACL knee surgery last season and he is now showing a nice adjusted rating of 49/49, 10 seasons into his career. Cap cost in 2012: $12 million. Cut him? I CAN NOT!!! at least not yet, as he is still injured and will be full strength in 2 weeks... He's offering me a ncie possibility of renegotiation though, so that may be the way I go...

Have I told you I love this game? :D

FM

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by SkyDog
Man....I just managed to get myself in the worst cap hell I've seen so far. I am at the beginning of 2024, and AFTER I've already done the "easy" renegotiations with players who'll accept more money, which usually gets me somewhere near the cap, I am an astonishing $29.8M over the cap. What is worse, is that my starting QB (the guy who was Vick's successor and has 2 Super Bowl MVP's) had ACL Knee Surgery, and his ratings have dropped to 44/44. He's signed another year after this one, and he's still injured, so he's just sitting there taking up $17M in cap room, and I can't get a renegotiation worth anything with him. I'm in BIG trouble this season. The result of this?

6-10.

:(




I LOVE this game! I love the fact that, with using minimal house rules, a major QB injury at the wrong times sends me spiraling to 6-10 and forcing me to rebuild.

[Ben E Lou]

Dola--

And now I've got to make another decision. The QB who got hurt is signed for for several more seasons, for a lot of money. I guess I'm going to cut him, take the cap hit, and know that in two more years I'll be able to make a run at some free agents, but that I'll probably have two more losing seasons (since I wont' be able to make any big FA signings) unless I get a bunch of young guys playing very well.