Ben E Lou
01-09-2015, 04:15 AM
I've gotten a fair number of questions about this, so I thought I'd consolidate my answer into one post. All of the leagues that I commish have removed it, and with no real issues so far. The FOOL has been without for the most seasons: 6 free agency periods. And it has done great there. We are seeing a nice range of contract lengths and no real shenanigans.
However, all that said, it's important to note that the reason my leagues are able to do it without negative side effects is that I don't allow the franchise tag. If you get rid of a contract-length rule and allow the franchise tag, it will allow signings of a one-year deal in FA, then locking the guy up with the tag the next season.
In short, if you don't do it in combination with removing the franchise tag, I'm pretty certain that FA would eventually devolved into a bunch of one-year big-bonus deals.
As far as some specific numbers from the FOOL, I have those. We have had 293 signings of players rated 50/50 or better during FA1:2-12. 31 of those have been one-year deals.
So the first thing worth noting is that with no restrictions on contracts but no ability to franchise players, roughly 90% of contracts signed are multi-year deals.
Here is the full breakdown:
ONE YEAR: 31 (10.6%)
TWO YEARS: 75 (25.6%)
THREE YEARS: 120 (41.0%)
FOUR YEARS: 51 (17.4%)
FIVE YEARS: 16 (5.5%)
Finally, I've compiled a dynamic report on one-year signings in the FOOL. Leagues considering mimicking what we've done can use this for reference:
FOOL One-Year Deals During FA1 (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/fool/ben/examineoneyear.php)
The things that jump out at me:
1. Only two 50+ players under the age of 30 have ever signed one-year deals. One was a 9th-year guy who got no other offers. The other was a 29-year-old RB who clearly signed the right deal there. (Details are in this thread: 2015 FA1:2-3 Complete (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/fool/forum/showthread.php?t=37))
2. 18 of the 31 guys who signed one-year deals either got no other offers or only one-year deal offers.
3. The bottom line is that it sure looks like the only good players getting signed to one-year deals are the players who probably *should* be signing one-year deals.
A couple notes about the report
1. There's not a way to go back via query and see what the bonus/salary breakdown of the contracts they signed were, but if you want to look up a specific one, I've provided the stage and year in the linked report, so you can just go to this sub-forum and look up that stage/year, where the contract details are posted: FOOL Sim Results (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/fool/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4)
2. It's more work than I'm willing to undertake to determine the years of experience for a retired player who was picked in a dispersal draft, so I've also listed the age there. Players who are currently active have their experience.
However, all that said, it's important to note that the reason my leagues are able to do it without negative side effects is that I don't allow the franchise tag. If you get rid of a contract-length rule and allow the franchise tag, it will allow signings of a one-year deal in FA, then locking the guy up with the tag the next season.
In short, if you don't do it in combination with removing the franchise tag, I'm pretty certain that FA would eventually devolved into a bunch of one-year big-bonus deals.
As far as some specific numbers from the FOOL, I have those. We have had 293 signings of players rated 50/50 or better during FA1:2-12. 31 of those have been one-year deals.
So the first thing worth noting is that with no restrictions on contracts but no ability to franchise players, roughly 90% of contracts signed are multi-year deals.
Here is the full breakdown:
ONE YEAR: 31 (10.6%)
TWO YEARS: 75 (25.6%)
THREE YEARS: 120 (41.0%)
FOUR YEARS: 51 (17.4%)
FIVE YEARS: 16 (5.5%)
Finally, I've compiled a dynamic report on one-year signings in the FOOL. Leagues considering mimicking what we've done can use this for reference:
FOOL One-Year Deals During FA1 (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/fool/ben/examineoneyear.php)
The things that jump out at me:
1. Only two 50+ players under the age of 30 have ever signed one-year deals. One was a 9th-year guy who got no other offers. The other was a 29-year-old RB who clearly signed the right deal there. (Details are in this thread: 2015 FA1:2-3 Complete (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/fool/forum/showthread.php?t=37))
2. 18 of the 31 guys who signed one-year deals either got no other offers or only one-year deal offers.
3. The bottom line is that it sure looks like the only good players getting signed to one-year deals are the players who probably *should* be signing one-year deals.
A couple notes about the report
1. There's not a way to go back via query and see what the bonus/salary breakdown of the contracts they signed were, but if you want to look up a specific one, I've provided the stage and year in the linked report, so you can just go to this sub-forum and look up that stage/year, where the contract details are posted: FOOL Sim Results (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/fool/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4)
2. It's more work than I'm willing to undertake to determine the years of experience for a retired player who was picked in a dispersal draft, so I've also listed the age there. Players who are currently active have their experience.