It's possible - The ability is there through Franchise Mode to just play one season with either the default or updated rosters, control all 32 teams, and simulate all of the scouting, player progression, player training, mid-season contract negotiations, etc.
To be honest, I recommend signing up for an EA Access subscription and just downloading the game for the free 10-hour trial through EA Access. One month is $4.99, and since you can cancel the subscription at any time, it's far less of a risk money-wise. You can just hop in a Franchise Mode and poke around and see if you can set up your season the way you'd like and spend $4.99 instead of $60 while you're testing it out.