It is a bug within the game. I understand how cap space works and it has happened to me multiple times when I have had 30 million and even 60 million in cap space. It is definitely a bug.
Here is an example.
I was the Jags. I have a few players whose contracts were set to expire at seasons end, so it said to "Begin Negotiations for a new contract. I had a few people on there including Josh Scobee, Daryl Smith, Terrance Knighton and a few others.
I had over 30 million in cap space, with zero cap penalties. I made the first offer to Daryl Smith for about 7 million a year for 3 years. He accepted.
I then tried to offer Scobee one year for 3 million. The game told me I didnt have the funds. I tried, Knighton, same thing. I got the same response no matter the price I picked for every player on there, which was about 6 guys. This was despite the fact that I had 23 million and change in Cap Space.
Well it didnt matter what I did it wouldnt let me offer and said I didnt have funds, despite the fact that I did have the funds. So instead I just hit "Delegate" to have the computer do it to see what would happen. Well the computer was able to sign each and every one of the guys who I had tried to sign, for more money than I was even offering, and it left me with about 5 million in cap space.
So if I had no cap space, which I clearly DID, then the computer wouldnt have been able to do it either. Yet, somehow, magically for the computer I had the cap space. For me, however, it said I was out of space.
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Another similar issue.
So the preseason rolls around, and I need to sign a few players to fill out my bench. I have 5.4 million in cap space remaining. I click on Terrance Newman since he was cheap to sign him for one year. The game says I dont have funds, and need to free 1.2 million in cap space to sign him.
So despite the fact that the game tells me I have the cap space, it wont let me and tells me I have to free cap.
So I go to my roster, and I find some guys have no penalties attached to their contracts. I cut 3 players. It says when I cut each one "You have freed 0.5 million in cap space" or whatever his cap hit was. The three players I cut said I had cleared a total of 1.8 million in cap. So I go back to FA, and try to sign Newman, clearing more than enough cap, despite the fact the damn game said that I had cap in the first place.
I click on him and click sign player for one year deal. The game spits back and says "You have to free 2.4 million in cap space to sign this player."
Well WTF!?!? For starters it told me I had to free cap when I had plenty of cap space. Then I free the cap space necessary, and now somehow the game is saying that I need to free even more than I originally did??
They are two bugs that are incredibly frustrating.
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I had to play and entire preseason without a punter because of the FA bug. I had to wait until the comp signed one for me at 68 overall.