Free Agency Broken Already?

[MizzouRah]

I'm gonig to sim to my first offseason with the Bills to test out FA and the draft. That's a big thing I did not like in M22 and had me going back to M21, it was easy to take a rebuilding team and make them a Super Bowl contender after the 1st offseason and draft.

M21 is much harder and the draft works so teams do not draft QB's when they already have a good young QB.

[JoshC1977]

Quote: Originally Posted by patsfan1993

I don't know if it's by design, an oversight, or a bug, but I noticed the player motivation/interest doesn't apply to free agents outside of the designated free agency period in the off-season. Imo, the motivations should also apply to the period after the draft, and in season. These motivations add a layer of personality to the game that is completely lost outside the off-season. Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

I half agree here.

If you're a street free agent after the draft or in the season - you're likely going to take just about any offer that comes your way.

I think having the motivations in-season could be a thing; but should be handled with a much more muted effect. The dominant factor for a player at that point is, "I don't have a job"....those other types of preferences tend to get shoved down the priority list at that point.

[Kanobi]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kanobi

Simmed ahead in online and offline franchise... Most surprising names amongst both sets of FA's were Derwin James, Brady(sort of), Terry McLaurin, David Montgomery, TreMaine Edmunds and LaVonte David. Beyond that were guys for whom a strong case could be made for why they're available. Overall, nothing remotely close to the insanity of the Moody video. But that's just my test. Can't speak for others' findings.

Well James is off the market:

Quote:

Derwin James agrees to 4-year extension with Chargers Derwin James is signing a four-year, $76.532 million extension with the Chargers that will make him the highest-paid safety in NFL history, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday, per a source. James' new deal will average $19.1 million per year and includes a record-breaking $42 million in guaranteed money, Rapoport reports. The $29 million James is set to make in the first year of the new deal is also a record, per Rapoport. James, who had been a hold-in during Chargers training camp because of his contract, is now set for a return to practice. Overall, James' new deal puts him at five years for a total of $85.58 million, per Rapoport.

Link: https://www.nfl.com/news/chargers-de...year-extension

[Kanobi]

Quote: Originally Posted by ForUntoOblivionSoar∞

While I get where you’re at coming from, on a positive note, foundations for realistic contracts are being lain right before our very eyes. This year they are attempting to make the negotiating process more realistic—certainly more realistic than it’s ever been. With the new guys working on Madden, “next year” actually has meaning.

If a Franchise QB or cornerstone player (a needed tag if it doesnt exist already) is in a contract year and has little to no interest in re-signing then that should automatically trigger CPU teams to apply the tag.

If there's more than one franchise/cornerstone player with an expiring deal and zero interest in re-signing, the CPU team needs to prioritize the tag based on positional importance i.e QB, LT, EDGE, etc and apply it accordingly.

Not sure if Tiburon can implement this logic anytime soon but they definitely need to try.

[Kanobi]

Simmed ahead to the 2024 offseason in my offline franchise where i encountered similar results to what was shown in the Moody video.

Here are the top FA's with a +90 OVR:

- WR Justin Jefferson (highly interested in KC!)
- OT Tyron Smith
- LB Rashan Gary
- QB Jusin Herbert
- DE Justin Simmons
- WR Mike Evans
- K Justin Tucker
- LB Devin White

Although I'm salivating at the chance to pair Jefferson with Mahomes, such a feat shouldn't happen without the Chiefs having to package premium draft capital with a market-setting deal to take Jefferson off the Vikings' hands.


A Cornerstone tag helps remedy this.

Here is a list of criteria that would lead to a player receiving the Cornerstone label and dramatically increase the % chance of them being franchise tagged:

- Franchise QB*
- Award Winner
- Among the league's Top 100 players in OVR*
- Among the league's Top 10 players at his position in OVR*
- Among the Top 5 players on his team in OVR*
- Top player on the team in his position group
- Has +85 OVR and is +10 higher in OVR than the next best player in his position group on the team.**
- Has +85 OVR and is +5 higher in OVR than the average of the top 10 available free agents in his position group.***
- Plays a premium position QB, WR, LT, EDGE or CB.

Quote:

* Automatic Cornerstone tag ** A way of simulating value to the team due to there being no viable replacement already on the roster. *** A way of simulating how a bare market and lack of viable replacements in free agency can drive up the player's value to the team

If a player checks off any combination of four or more of the above criteria then they should easily obtain a Cornerstone tag making it highly unlikely they hit the open market.

Either they get franichse tagged and/or the CPU aggressively tries to re-sign them to a market setting contract. That is unless the CPU team gets a trade offer they cant refuse.

Bottomline, with this in place, the current year 3 (2024) free agency debacle wouldn't happen.

[WeFireThoseCannons]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

Before people complain about "OMG [Player X] reached free agency there is a bug", a few things to consider: 3 - this is what I think people are not noticing, mostly: the CPU is correctly going to struggle to re-sign players who have low interest in their team, regardless of their OVR. For example, the top Player Motivation of Chargers QB Justin Herbert is "Scheme Fit", and he (a Strong Arm QB) doesn't match what is required by Brandon Staley's scheme (Multiple Power Run; Field General QB). Here, the game is working exactly as expected; Herbert has low interest in the Chargers because the team doesn't match his top interest, so he doesn't really want to stay with the Chargers, rejects their contract offers, and heads to free agency. The Chargers should use both the fifth-year option and the Franchise Tag to keep him at this point (or at the very least, recognize they have a player with the Franchise QB tag and be much more willing to over-pay), but they don't do any of these things (either by bug or by design), so he hits free agency. When you enter a player's Player Card in Franchise, you can scroll to his Motivations tab and it displays how well his motivations match his current team, not your team. So it's pretty easy to see which players don't match their current teams and predict upcoming free agents.

Probably going to have to edit before each season because it is a clear flaw. Top QB or young QBs looked at with deep futures do not enter FA ever. Top young skill guys also do not enter FA, they get tagged or traded and trades never happen in Madden. If Herbert does not align with Stanley's scheme we know they would fire Stanley instead of letting a guy like Herbert go. Franchise QBs are hard to find but a coach is way easier.

[metovics8]

The more I see these issues the more I think it's tied to how resigning players during the season is designed... Plus with the new motivations as well... If your QB can't be resigned until week 11 cpu might be spending it's cap space on other players during weeks 1-10 for example... Idk my .02 cents I guess

Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Operation Sports mobile app

[johnhughthom]

Quote: Originally Posted by Datninja619

I definitely saw Devin Cook, Justin Jefferson and Justin Herbert in free agency in two different online franchises Also saw Cardinals draft a QB high, even though Murray had the franchise QB tag BUT he did have an ACL injury, so I'm assuming and hoping that's why the drafted him.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Quarterbacks can get serious injuries? Quarterbacks can get any sort of injury? Nice.