FOF 2004 & Restricted Free Agents...

[Chief Rum]

...I wish Jim would contract out to someone to write out his Help files. While there is nothing wrong with Jim's writing ability (he's a former journalist, you know), he is somewhat concise in his help files, which are more helpful when they are voluminous.

I was wondering if anyone can help me with the exact meaning of the restricted free agent designation in its different forms. I think I got most of it down, but I am noting some different situations these players can fall into, and I don't know what happens with them or how they are available (or not).

I know that generally, restricted free agents remain such until the following training cap. If you run training camp with unsigned rstricted free agents, they become unrestricted free agents.

It's what happen during the offseason that confuses me. It appears that all players with up to three years experience (Exp <= 4 in the offseason) are listed as restricted free agents if their contracts come to an end. And that seems pretty straight forward.

But can all of them be bid on? I have only seen so far that restricted free agents who are actively "released" can be bid on by other teams, but I am not 100% certain of this. Are restricted free agents who are not "released" technically safe during that free agency?

And the ones that are "released", I am noting that while they can be bid on and signed by other teams, up until that time, they are still listed as restricted free agents (just like the guys who aren't released). Well, is there additional compensation for signing such free agents then? If yes, what is it, where can I find it and when does it happen? If not, why doesn't the status of such free agents change to "unrestricted"?

It's just confusing. Thanks for any help you can provide.

CR

[wbonnell]

Can't help you much, but I, too, would like to see more useful documentation. There's currently too many features either superficially documented or not even documented at all.

[The_herd]

Originally posted by Chief Rum
I was wondering if anyone can help me with the exact meaning of the restricted free agent designation in its different forms. I think I got most of it down, but I am noting some different situations these players can fall into, and I don't know what happens with them or how they are available (or not).

It's what happen during the offseason that confuses me. It appears that all players with up to three years experience (Exp <= 4 in the offseason) are listed as restricted free agents if their contracts come to an end. And that seems pretty straight forward.

But can all of them be bid on? I have only seen so far that restricted free agents who are actively "released" can be bid on by other teams, but I am not 100% certain of this. Are restricted free agents who are not "released" technically safe during that free agency?

And the ones that are "released", I am noting that while they can be bid on and signed by other teams, up until that time, they are still listed as restricted free agents (just like the guys who aren't released). Well, is there additional compensation for signing such free agents then? If yes, what is it, where can I find it and when does it happen? If not, why doesn't the status of such free agents change to "unrestricted"?

It's just confusing. Thanks for any help you can provide.

CR

Players with 3 years or less exp. are restricted free agents and can only be signed by the team they are on. If they are released, or in the NFL, not tendered an offer, then they become unrestricted free agents and are free to sign anywhere without compensation.

There is no compensation in this game for signing restricted free agents, but in the NFL there is, depending on the amount the team tenders the restricted free agent. The compensation is in draft picks and can go all the way up to a 1st. The Redskins this offseason season signed Coles and the Jets got a 1st round pick for him I believe.

[Chief Rum]

So since there is no compensation in the game, I should ignore that the game refers to "released" restricted free agents as still being restricted, and just treat them as unresitricted? While non-released restricted free agents remain only the property of their teams? I knwo you said this, but I wanted to be absolutely sure.

I wish that when you released a restricted free agent, the designation would just change to unrestricted, so there was no confusion. Oh well...

CR

[The_herd]

To be honest, I hadn't really paid much attention to how FOF handled this until I just simmed through an offseason.

Your players are safe until training camp if they are restricted. Noone can sign them until then, unless released. That's interesting, because in the NFL and the NBA you can make them contract offers, but the original team has the right to match any contract that the player signs. The difference in the NBA is that you don't get draft pick compensation for a player you lose.

I agree that the designation should change to avoid confusion.

[kcchief19]

I don't have my laptop with FOF open right now, but I think the distinction in FOF is that restricted free agency not signed by their team before training camp can be signed by other teams, but I believe they retain their restricted free agent status until they complete their fourth year in the league. I *think*. Don't quote me on that. So if you sign a third-year player, technically they are still a RFA. I agree it's a little confusing.

Like The_herd said, RFAs are handled differently in the NFL, in that other teams can sign them but their original team have a right to match the offer or let them go for compensation.

The Jets did indeed receive a 1st round pick from the 'Skins for Coles. The dispute with the Jets and Redskins on Morton also included the fact that the Jets made a matching offer on Morton, but an arbitrator rule that it was not a true matching offer in that the terms were not identical. The 'Skins had put a poison pill in there that the Jets left out.