Whats the breaking point of being fired because of cap problems?

[xanmank]

Has anyone gone through this situation before? I am going into next season with -$4M in cap space.

When is the point where I can't sign anymore FAs or draft picks?


But more importantly- Will I be able to play the following season with the cap being negative, or do I have to release players until I'm back in the positives? And will I be able to finish the season or will I be fired because of cap problems?

[luqman]

Quote: Originally Posted by xanmank

Has anyone gone through this situation before? I am going into next season with -$4M in cap space. When is the point where I can't sign anymore FAs or draft picks? But more importantly- Will I be able to play the following season with the cap being negative, or do I have to release players until I'm back in the positives? And will I be able to finish the season or will I be fired because of cap problems?

You can't sign anyone new when you are in negative cap space. I am pretty sure you can franchise a player when you are in negative cap. You might also be able to tender packages to RFA's, I don't think I've ever tried that.

You also have to be careful if you have a very small positive cap... it won't let you cut players who will put you negative due to penalties. So you have to cut those guys in order.

Seems like you get fired around -$10M.

If you are in negative cap, you will eventually be forced by the GM to "cut dead weight". Right after the season ends your GM will start asking you to cut certain guys, but you will be able to say no. Use that as an opportunity to get to positive cap, because when you get close to the draft he'll come back and ask you again to cut dead weight. The second time you won't have the option of saying no. The same dialog appears, but it has only one option to accept the cut. So either way you are going to get forced to cut people to get into positive cap.

I think if you end up in the scenario where cutting guys is required and due to the contracts you have you can't somehow get to positive cap... eventually you'll lose your job. Also, you need to get to a legal active roster size (45 I believe) before the games start. I imagine if you can't do that, you'll lose your job.

[xanmank]

I think I will be able to get it to positive later in the season (cut players after june 1st) but I guess I can't sign any FAs or draft picks if I am over the cap.

Should I do what other people have suggested and abandon ship- going to another team that doesn't have cap problems?


I am happy with the team I have now (with negative cap) and I can trade down all my draft picks for inexpencive sleepers in later rounds- replacing the players I probably have to cut, but after next season, 4 of my solid players will have their contracts expire and I was underpaying all of them, so I definitely won't be able to afford to get even one of them back (I already re-signed 2 key guys this year and they each wanted $6M+ a year)

I can make one more good run next season, but at that point I should probably cut my loses...

[scorp]

One thing I do beginning of each season is check my roster and make sure the players get 500k to 1 million or more bonuses for 16 starts don't start 1 game.
6 or 7 1 mill bonuses adds up.

[somewhatdamaged2]

Apologies if this has been said previously but the GM will also give you a warning to the effect of "if you keep increasing the cap penalties, you will be fired!" If you receive this message you will know it...there is no mistaking it. They are serious, its happened to me before...after the warning if you make another bad move you get the axe.

Hope that helped.

[Hoovie]

funny this topic should show up

I've won 3 of the last 4 superbowls, and have an 88% winning percentage for my career. (The Bengals love the Tech offense)

just playing around, I quit my job and went to the Texans

immediately I began cutting dead weight, figuring I'd have 1 season of rebuilding, then next year have huge caproom to rebuild. Most moves I made actually increased cap room overall, but had big penalties. I got the warning, but ignored it. The last cut I made was Rudi Johnson (whom I had cut from the bengals in year 1), he had a stupid contract. The cut gave me an ~800k cap penalty, but a savings of about 6 million in cap room.

I got fired! I freed up 5.2 million in cap room in one move, and got fired. I couldn't believe it.

Like any orginization in thier right mind would fire a 3 time superbowl winning coach, coming off a superbowl win, with an 88% career winning percentage, for cutting dead weight.

It's a great game, but come on!

[steelraccoon]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hoovie

funny this topic should show up I've won 3 of the last 4 superbowls, and have an 88% winning percentage for my career. (The Bengals love the Tech offense) just playing around, I quit my job and went to the Texans immediately I began cutting dead weight, figuring I'd have 1 season of rebuilding, then next year have huge caproom to rebuild. Most moves I made actually increased cap room overall, but had big penalties. I got the warning, but ignored it. The last cut I made was Rudi Johnson (whom I had cut from the bengals in year 1), he had a stupid contract. The cut gave me an ~800k cap penalty, but a savings of about 6 million in cap room. I got fired! I freed up 5.2 million in cap room in one move, and got fired. I couldn't believe it. Like any orginization in thier right mind would fire a 3 time superbowl winning coach, coming off a superbowl win, with an 88% career winning percentage, for cutting dead weight. It's a great game, but come on!

If I am not mistaken, the Problem with Cap Penalties is if u cut them before a certain date, it actually counts for the current year and the savings won't count till next year. Yes, I know, odd, but I believe i am correct there.

That's probably why u got the axe but I am not sure. And cutting a lot of players isn't a good idea unless they are second stringers cause u will actually be paying out more if u fill a starter slot with a free agent or potentially a draft pick.

Example: U cut a player who is 78 overall and costs you 880k a year but u go get a FA to fill his spot and the FA maybe 85 or so but costs you 3.5 to 6.5 million a year. U gain a few p[oints but u have to contend with more money lost and u still have to teach the new guy the playbook so he won't be as effective as the 78 guy who already had mastered some/all plays and u cost yourself a chunk of change.

[JumpinJoe]

I am a Texan fan, and am in my first season as their coach. I can assure you Riley Smith, (a.k.a. Rick Smith) is an incompetent dweeb. LOL...