Sidhe
12-09-2003, 08:07 PM
The salary cap is not so much a science as an art..
I'm not much of a numbers guy, but I'm starting to get a feel for the kind of contracts I can sign depending on the kind of team I'm fielding. My first round of Salary Cap Hell came because I tried to have it all.. Then I realised I had a couple of different operating philosophies that I could use.
#1 "Defense Wins Championships" -- this is my favorite kind of team to field, but the record isn't as good as you'd think it would be. For 20 years I had the top defense, but I only won 2 SBs in that time. I did have a real good W/L record however.. defense wins regular season games is what I think the saying should be.
With this philosophy, I get the best SLB, SS and LCB I can. The line is the most expensive bit, but I've found if I keep enough talent behind it, I can get away with 40-50 guys, and not that at every spot either. My best years I had a SLB in the 80s, a LCB in the 70s, a SS in the 80s, and got lucky and had a break out player on the line, a LDT in the 70s. Other players were fair to good. Nobody scored on that defense.
But you pay for it by fielding a less than stellar offense. I always try to get the best RB I can get my hands on, and have had a couple of 70s guys with this plan. If you go that route, you won't have anything to spend on a QB, so you'll have to use journeymen. You can sneak a good WR in and use him during his rookie contract, but you'll have to let him go when that contract ends. Splurge on the kickers.
#2 QBs Win Championships. I think this is pretty much the rule in FOF2k4. My third generation team I morphed away from defense and toward offense. You have to realize from the beginning that this QB is going to cost you, at some point, 30million a year. You have to sign him to the best longterm contract you can each time you sign him. And you *must* protect him with an adequate line. Finally, he's got to have a real good target or two. If you like the long ball, try to sign two very good or better WRs. I have opted to sign one VG WR, a great FB (these guys come pretty cheap most of the time and seem to be readily available most years). I have a 85 QB with a 72 WR, a 65 FB and a 63 TE. Because I got lucky, all my other receivers are rated good, 40-50, but when they want me to show them the money I'll be showing them the door. With this plan, it's "runningback by commitee" but if you pick a guy with decent skills, he can get good numbers because the other guy's D is looking pass most of the time. I just had a RB rated 40 post a 1400yd season. He led the league.
Obviously, under this scheme, you have very little left for defense. You won't have anyone signed long term who deserves big money, because you are winning with offense. My best defenders, long term, are a SLB at 62 and a MLB at 58. I have had a few successes at drafting corners, so I get some good guys for the first four years of their careers, but I don't sign them long term if they break 50.
When you build a defense like this, you can make it better at some things than a plain vanilla d would be.. for instance, all my D-Linemen are excellent run stoppers. We may give up some yards to the pass, but few teams can really get a good ground game going. That means they aren't eating the clock, and my offense is getting chances..
Of course you can get outduelled by another potent offense, and you can get shut down by a great defense, but chances are good you'll be in most games. I've had some up years and some down years with this crew, but I have so far avoided going below 8-8. Not quite the regular-season dominance of the killer D team, but I think the route through the playoffs is easier when you've got a great QB with the tools he needs.
--
There may be several other strategies that could work I haven't thought of, but I'm pretty happy with how I've been able to keep out of salary cap hell by using these strategies. There are still seasons when I bump up against the cap, but when I do, I can tell exactly what I need to do by following my plan, and I don't wind up trying to squeeze one more year out of a team that's just too dang expensive.
For instance, if I'm running with the "Defense Wins Championships" scheme, and my QB just popped the $12million a year question, I know what my answer is. See ya! It's just too bad that he's great and I coulda shoulda woulda, he ain't in the plan.
So since my first experience having to scrap a team and wait a year to be comptetitive, it hasn't happened again, and I've fielded teams that were pretty dang good. The highest draft pick I've had has been the #15 (though I did trade up to get the 85 QB, which cost me two 1s and two 2s). Most years I'm picking 30-32.
Of course there are the guys you have to cut that just breaks your heart. I had to lose the LCB I drafted in the 6th round who blossomed into a 70.. And my undrafted stud RDE is starting to make some surly noises about wanting $3million for the first year of his next contract.. too bad.
Anyone have any further ideas about this kind of sallary cap strategizing?
And another question: What kind of team do you like to field?
I'm not much of a numbers guy, but I'm starting to get a feel for the kind of contracts I can sign depending on the kind of team I'm fielding. My first round of Salary Cap Hell came because I tried to have it all.. Then I realised I had a couple of different operating philosophies that I could use.
#1 "Defense Wins Championships" -- this is my favorite kind of team to field, but the record isn't as good as you'd think it would be. For 20 years I had the top defense, but I only won 2 SBs in that time. I did have a real good W/L record however.. defense wins regular season games is what I think the saying should be.
With this philosophy, I get the best SLB, SS and LCB I can. The line is the most expensive bit, but I've found if I keep enough talent behind it, I can get away with 40-50 guys, and not that at every spot either. My best years I had a SLB in the 80s, a LCB in the 70s, a SS in the 80s, and got lucky and had a break out player on the line, a LDT in the 70s. Other players were fair to good. Nobody scored on that defense.
But you pay for it by fielding a less than stellar offense. I always try to get the best RB I can get my hands on, and have had a couple of 70s guys with this plan. If you go that route, you won't have anything to spend on a QB, so you'll have to use journeymen. You can sneak a good WR in and use him during his rookie contract, but you'll have to let him go when that contract ends. Splurge on the kickers.
#2 QBs Win Championships. I think this is pretty much the rule in FOF2k4. My third generation team I morphed away from defense and toward offense. You have to realize from the beginning that this QB is going to cost you, at some point, 30million a year. You have to sign him to the best longterm contract you can each time you sign him. And you *must* protect him with an adequate line. Finally, he's got to have a real good target or two. If you like the long ball, try to sign two very good or better WRs. I have opted to sign one VG WR, a great FB (these guys come pretty cheap most of the time and seem to be readily available most years). I have a 85 QB with a 72 WR, a 65 FB and a 63 TE. Because I got lucky, all my other receivers are rated good, 40-50, but when they want me to show them the money I'll be showing them the door. With this plan, it's "runningback by commitee" but if you pick a guy with decent skills, he can get good numbers because the other guy's D is looking pass most of the time. I just had a RB rated 40 post a 1400yd season. He led the league.
Obviously, under this scheme, you have very little left for defense. You won't have anyone signed long term who deserves big money, because you are winning with offense. My best defenders, long term, are a SLB at 62 and a MLB at 58. I have had a few successes at drafting corners, so I get some good guys for the first four years of their careers, but I don't sign them long term if they break 50.
When you build a defense like this, you can make it better at some things than a plain vanilla d would be.. for instance, all my D-Linemen are excellent run stoppers. We may give up some yards to the pass, but few teams can really get a good ground game going. That means they aren't eating the clock, and my offense is getting chances..
Of course you can get outduelled by another potent offense, and you can get shut down by a great defense, but chances are good you'll be in most games. I've had some up years and some down years with this crew, but I have so far avoided going below 8-8. Not quite the regular-season dominance of the killer D team, but I think the route through the playoffs is easier when you've got a great QB with the tools he needs.
--
There may be several other strategies that could work I haven't thought of, but I'm pretty happy with how I've been able to keep out of salary cap hell by using these strategies. There are still seasons when I bump up against the cap, but when I do, I can tell exactly what I need to do by following my plan, and I don't wind up trying to squeeze one more year out of a team that's just too dang expensive.
For instance, if I'm running with the "Defense Wins Championships" scheme, and my QB just popped the $12million a year question, I know what my answer is. See ya! It's just too bad that he's great and I coulda shoulda woulda, he ain't in the plan.
So since my first experience having to scrap a team and wait a year to be comptetitive, it hasn't happened again, and I've fielded teams that were pretty dang good. The highest draft pick I've had has been the #15 (though I did trade up to get the 85 QB, which cost me two 1s and two 2s). Most years I'm picking 30-32.
Of course there are the guys you have to cut that just breaks your heart. I had to lose the LCB I drafted in the 6th round who blossomed into a 70.. And my undrafted stud RDE is starting to make some surly noises about wanting $3million for the first year of his next contract.. too bad.
Anyone have any further ideas about this kind of sallary cap strategizing?
And another question: What kind of team do you like to field?