Positives/negatives in franchise mode?

[davidandjordan]

I did the SI deal and am waiting to get Madden in the mail. I've been playing NCAA and doing a lot of reading and watching videos about Madden 2010. I'm curious to know (from avid franchise mode players only please) what are the positives and negatives about franchise mode this year? I've been thoroughly disappointed over the past couple years, but some of the improvements (like Extra Point) make me think this year's version might be worth it.
Can some people chime in with positives and negatives of the franchise mode options this year?

[sois]

Positives:
- New presentation on and off the field
- Custom draft classes
- Seems like scouting is actually helpful this season

Negatives:
- IR still broken
- Preseason is worthless
- Progression only once a season

[steveo]

I don't really know what the positives would be over other years except maybe the sidebar menu is fairly easy to navigate through. The rest though seems to be the standard franchise fare which is fine for me. The extra point show is interesting to watch once or twice but then loses its novelty.

negatives, i'd simply say so far would be

the fact that contract negotiations are non-existent. From my time with that the player will not take a penny less than the default amount that shows up. This is stupid because you can increase the signing bonus portion by millions and they'll refuse if you lower the total contract by 10k...a real player would easily take the extra guaranteed money over 10k spread out of 6 years. I turned the salary cap off because of this junk though I do plan to try and keep my team's salary in a respectable range.

oh and speaking of salaries, they are wrong for at least some current players. The game has manning making 22 mil next year and his contract ending after 2010 when in real life this is his high cap year and his contract runs through 2012. The problem is I think they didn't factor in the extension he signed before I believe the 07 season so I'd think other players who have signed extensions will be wrong as well. Silly to me to not update this stuff.

simulated stats are messed up namely in punt returns averages (too high), sacks (too many), cpu rush tds (not enough), passing tds (too many)

progression only happens once a year and at the end oft he season. what is the point of pre season other than watching players get injured and nobody progresses during it?

speaking of injuries, there are too many season ending injuries as well.