The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

[tharding16]

With all the talent that is available later in drafts I have found myself reaching for players a fair amount this year. Being in 2020 now, I have realized one problem with that. I am paying rookies a fair amount of money and if I miss on them, the cost to cut them is crippling.

Now with everyone talking about how hard of a time they are having with money I thought I would make a thread that helps with future money problems.

Maddens numbers they use for rookie contracts are almost identical to those used in the NFL. This means that rookies sign 4 year deals with the amount of money dependent on how high they get drafted. There is a link at the bottom that is almost exactly the same as the contracts in Madden 15.

The Skinny:

Spoiler

Pick 1 : 22.3 M (14.5 that is signing bonus)
Pick 2 : 21.3 M (13.8 M)
Pick 3 : 20.7 M (13.3 M)
Pick 4 : 19.9 M (12.8 M)
Pick 5 : 18.7 M (11.9 M)
Pick 10: 12.2 M ( 7.2 M)
Pick 15: 9.5 M ( 5.2 M)
Pick 32: 6.8 M ( 3.3 M)
Pick 33: 5.6 M ( 2.3 M)
Pick 65: 3.2 M ( .7 M)
Pick 97: 2.7 M ( .5 M)
Pick129: 2.6 M ( .4 M)
Pick161: 2.4 M ( .2 M)
Pick193: 2.3 M ( .1 M)

http://overthecap.com/nfl-rookie-salary-cap-2014.php

[fballturkey]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

If you're reaching a ton then maybe you could trade your 1sts (or 2nds) for later picks?

[Sheba2011]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

With all the talent that is available later in drafts I have found myself reaching for players a fair amount this year. Being in 2020 now, I have realized one problem with that. I am paying rookies a fair amount of money and if I miss on them, the cost to cut them is crippling.



[/SPOILER]

http://overthecap.com/nfl-rookie-salary-cap-2014.php

That is a problem every real life GM faces.

[jatiger13]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

I have yet to miss on any rookies drafted in the first 3 rounds. 4th -7th rounds I get some busts every now and then, but not often. Even then, the cost of cutting them isn't big.

If you miss on your high picks, maybe you need to do a better job with your scouting.

[GorillaChest]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

I have yet to miss on any rookies drafted in the first 3 rounds. 4th -7th rounds I get some busts every now and then, but not often. Even then, the cost of cutting them isn't big.

If you miss on your high picks, maybe you need to do a better job with your scouting.

Any tips on scouting? Would you just scout everyone's awareness and then go from there?

[96CFrank]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

If you scout well you should never reach on at very least the 1st 2 rounds. Those guys should be your studs. If you wanna reach just trade down. More picks for less $.

[Timeetyo]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

If you scout well you should never reach on at very least the 1st 2 rounds. Those guys should be your studs. If you wanna reach just trade down. More picks for less $.

This. And it is so easy to trade down a few and pick up extra picks. Combine that with the highly rated (75+) players available in the later rounds and it is just crazy not to.

[GorillaChest]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

This. And it is so easy to trade down a few and pick up extra picks. Combine that with the highly rated (75+) players available in the later rounds and it is just crazy not to.

But how do you scout that many players? Like I was saying above, would you guys just only go for letter grades, ignore stats that are over 25, and scout based on who has high awareness? That's what I was thinking.

Could I spend 500 points and see what this one guy's potential is? Yeah, but that's 1/3 of my scouting points for the whole year!

[Timeetyo]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

But how do you scout that many players? Like I was saying above, would you guys just only go for letter grades, ignore stats that are over 25, and scout based on who has high awareness? That's what I was thinking.

Could I spend 500 points and see what this one guy's potential is? Yeah, but that's 1/3 of my scouting points for the whole year!

Obviously this is easier if you get your coach the double scouting points upgrade. There have been a few folks that have done this in much more depth if you search a bit - but the key is to only scout the must have letter grades first - and if they fail at that - move on.

For example:

If looking for a HB. Scout letter grade for speed. If its not an A - move on. Then scout the other key stats (spin, trucking, juke, etc). They should be mostly Bs or As (if you find a C - move on).

For OL - strength, pass block, run block, impact block. If any Cs - move on. You'll find some 3rd or 4th rd guys rated with 3 Bs and an A (or better). Grab em and enjoy a high 70s or better 4th rd OL.

Repeat as necessary for your positions of need. This allows you to quickly (and cheaply) eliminate the bums and build a few targets for you to hit (and backups if someone snags a target early).

Once I have my keys targeted I'll spend a bit more on my first round targets to make sure I don't miss. You can get a pretty good idea of a player just by paying for letter grades on a few attributes. IMO the only attribute worth buying the exact on is speed as it is so expensive.


Edit - update:

As for awareness - WHY????!? It is one of the cheaper stats to upgrade and although it heavily influences OVR - it doesn't have a huge impact on how a player plays (not counting sims). Physical stats such as speed are so much more expensive to upgrade - make sure those are high.

[GorillaChest]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

Obviously this is easier if you get your coach the double scouting points upgrade. There have been a few folks that have done this in much more depth if you search a bit - but the key is to only scout the must have letter grades first - and if they fail at that - move on.

For example:

If looking for a HB. Scout letter grade for speed. If its not an A - move on. Then scout the other key stats (spin, trucking, juke, etc). They should be mostly Bs or As (if you find a C - move on).

For OL - strength, pass block, run block, impact block. If any Cs - move on. You'll find some 3rd or 4th rd guys rated with 3 Bs and an A (or better). Grab em and enjoy a high 70s or better 4th rd OL.

Repeat as necessary for your positions of need. This allows you to quickly (and cheaply) eliminate the bums and build a few targets for you to hit (and backups if someone snags a target early).

Once I have my keys targeted I'll spend a bit more on my first round targets to make sure I don't miss. You can get a pretty good idea of a player just by paying for letter grades on a few attributes. IMO the only attribute worth buying the exact on is speed as it is so expensive.


Edit - update:

As for awareness - WHY????!? It is one of the cheaper stats to upgrade and although it heavily influences OVR - it doesn't have a huge impact on how a player plays (not counting sims). Physical stats such as speed are so much more expensive to upgrade - make sure those are high.

Thanks. And awareness because I won't upgrade it. Because of ridiculously fast player progression in Madden 15, I'm doing 32-team control and not spending ANY XP points.

[burth179]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

Maybe it is the way I scout, but most of the players I identify as the gems going into the draft are either go in the 1st round or are in the 4th-7th range.

So, I find myself trading down in the 2nd-3rd round fairly often because everyone I want is in the later rounds, and you save money on not having to pay them as much (and I hit on most of my picks, not all of them but 75-80% of the guys I target and get turn out at least in the mid 70s and more often than not have quick or star dev).

[tharding16]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

I probably should have clarified. I am a big fan of trading down. So much so that it has become a problem. Usually Ill have 8-10 firsts in a year (I am in year 7). About 3-6 twos and another 3-6 threes. The problem being, this actually cripples you when you go to resign your players because your rookie reserve is ~35 M in a year.

Generally having around 20 picks means you are going to miss sometimes. I have build an unreal team. Usually drafting about 5 superstars and 5 quicks each year.

The reason I get here is because I scout players, I am not going to waste a pick on a player I know is a dud. Also, there is apparently some limit on how many trades you can make in the draft (it will say something like the pic the team is trying to trade is no longer available to trade). Eventually you have to pick players at higher spots. Causing my problem.

Having said all this. If you really need a WR and you have scouted the class well. For instance in my last draft, the best receiver in the draft was in the 4th round (came out as an 80 with SS development). In that situation, with all my other positions filled well, I'm not gonna pick a guy who is projected to go in the second when I know he is a worse player.

[Timeetyo]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

I probably should have clarified. I am a big fan of trading down. So much so that it has become a problem. Usually Ill have 8-10 firsts in a year (I am in year 7). About 3-6 twos and another 3-6 threes. The problem being, this actually cripples you when you go to resign your players because your rookie reserve is ~35 M in a year.

Generally having around 20 picks means you are going to miss sometimes. I have build an unreal team. Usually drafting about 5 superstars and 5 quicks each year.

The reason I get here is because I scout players, I am not going to waste a pick on a player I know is a dud. Also, there is apparently some limit on how many trades you can make in the draft (it will say something like the pic the team is trying to trade is no longer available to trade). Eventually you have to pick players at higher spots. Causing my problem.

Having said all this. If you really need a WR and you have scouted the class well. For instance in my last draft, the best receiver in the draft was in the 4th round (came out as an 80 with SS development). In that situation, with all my other positions filled well, I'm not gonna pick a guy who is projected to go in the second when I know he is a worse player.

Not sure what to say here. I get the trading down thing - I generally try to do a trade down or 2 to give myself some extra choices - but doing it to an extreme where you have 8-10 1st round picks - did you really expect the system to hold up to that and be realistic?

[tharding16]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

No I don't expect the results to be realistic. I am actually quitting this franchise because of how gross it has got mucked up.

It will snow ball on you though. The first year I ended up with the first overall pick (on a trade). There was no one in the top 5 I wanted. That one pick over the years ended up turning into the mess I have now.

I think people are really missing the point of this post. Wasn't asking for advice on how to run my franchise; Wasn't trying to tell people how to run theirs. I just thought the resource was good for people.

Like if they were in a situation where they are considering trading up into the first round from an early second. What are the long term financials behind it. Because a lot of people are having trouble with not having enough money. That's all. People are digging a little deeper than they need.

[ich223]

Re: The Cost of reaching for players in the draft

That is a problem every real life GM faces.

This hahah. How do you think Dallas felt before this years draft? And let's be real, you can't expect to get more than 1-2 studs max in a draft. 3 if you're the best scouter ever. Sounds like this "money problem" is actually a very realistic feature. It should take no less than 5 years to truly rebuild a team. And if your Guy turns out to be a bust, well then you're in the hole 4 more years (RG3 and the Skins *Cough Cough*, so far at least.)