How does Madden calculate the yearly cap value of ascending contracts?

[PocketGnome]

I'm working on a spreadsheet in excel that displays all of my contractual information to help me manage my salary cap situation for years into the future (I'm lame, but it's fun). I am trying to be able to project my cap space in the future.



What I can't figure out is if there is a formula behind how Madden calculates contracts.



If you sign a player to a contract worth $3m over 3 years with no signing bonus, the player doesn't make $1m a season. It escalates over the course of the years.



I want excel to be able to automatically calculate the yearly cap hits for me, I'm just not sure if there are percentages behind it or not.
Anyone care to enlighten me on how this works? This would enable me to figure out a maximum contract I'd be able to dish out to players to avoid contract/cap hell. I could test out the spreadsheet and see the implication of signing a guy to a huge contract.



A friend and I play a franchise mode where we can't trade with CPU, we import draft classes and we have rules on player progression. It really places a premium on drafting well, developing talent and keeping it. Being able to figure out this information would help us a lot.



If you do a fantasy draft it resets all the contracts to be even each year. If you have a 60 million dollar deal over 5 years you get $12 each season. So for the first few years it's easy to manage your cap because it doesn't ascend.



I'd like to be able to auto calculate/predict how it will ascend so I can manage my cap when resigning players. A 5 year deal worth 60 million will absolutely destroy my cap in the last two years. I am trying to decipher how much. If anyone has any insight, please let me know!

[kevinmack]

2i came up with this on 5 year deal here are the % i think.

11.00%

-14.00%

-19.00%

-24.00%

-32.00%

This is taking 6 years 5 left at 48.5 mil and 12.5 bonus. Since i got the guy in a trade he had no bonus. I extended his contact and my PENT is 12.5. So i took that 6th year off and i took at 7.5 million from 48.5 so i had 41 left.

12.5 bonus is split 2.5 each year. so we have 28.5 M left (28.5 sal + 12.5 bonus = 41 M total contract)

In the Salary screen it shows year 2016 (2015 was when he was extended so that doesnt show any more now) So you subtract the Bonus from each year ($2.5M) so you have this left

2016 = 3.15
2017 = 4.09
2018 = 5.32
2019 = 6.92
2020 = 9

you take 3.15 and divide by the 28.5 = about 0.110526 So 11%


2016 = 3.15 = 11%
2017 = 4.09 = 14%
2018 = 5.32 = 19%
2019 = 6.92 = 24%
2020 = 9.00 = 32%


These are just a ball park guess. maybe check a few contracts and try the math see if it adds up

[kevinmack]

Those % only work on 5 years contacts. others will be different

[Ampking101]

This is why I wish we still had the ability to choose to front load, back load, or pay evenly.

As far as I can tell though.....

2 year contract.
40% - 60%

3 year contract.
20% - 35% - 45%

4 year contract.
10% - 20% - 30% - 40%

My math could be off a bit but I believe I scales to (1st year lowest %, last year higher % and it evens it out so it ascends higher each year). Somebody might be able to check my math to see if I'm wrong though.