Incentives? Tutorial Needed!

[Wheeler Dealer]

I've researched this subject but remain unsure.

IRL there are easy incentives and hard incentives. Easy incentives are charged to the cap and refunded if not met. Hard incentives are not charged to the cap until they are met. Still fuzzy on which cap years are charged and adjusted in each case.

I have read comments in past post that indicate that all incentives in the game are treated the same, but I have read in different posts that they all impact the current year and that they all adjust the next year.

I think I have learned:

1. Future incentives are treated like bonuses when a player is cut?

(Would a trade be the same?)

2. Incentives can be earned each year of the contract?

That later could be really big when considering an incentive for a first round pick who you expect to perform and earn that incentive! A bonus might relocate $1M a year but an incentive might add $1M a year. Since you don't expect to ever cut those top picks, bonuses mean next to nothing and incentives could cut into your cap.

Which bring up another question. On the negotiation screens the first number is Total Value and the other entries are Bonus and Incentive amounts. I have assumed the bonus is already in the total and the incentives are extra. On reflection, probably both are included in the Total
Value and presume the incentive will be met.

I have a strange thing going on in my game re the "16 start" incentive. I have just finished the regular season of my 3rd year, about to enter the playoffs. Six of my regular starters have the "start 16 games" incentive. I think five met it, and I'm 99% sure on three of them. Two were draftees in my first year and their career stats show 48 games played and 47 games started. I never failed to start anyone to cheat him out of his incentive.

There was a game I accidentally simmed. I reloaded a recent save and played the game but if those stats are in the profile rather than the career file....????

[ebongreen]

My understanding is that contract incentives can be earned each year, and are not considered part of the base contract - they're pay above-and-beyond.

They're not considered like the signing bonus when the player is cut. In cap terms, they can only hurt you when they're met, never help you through trades or cuts.

[Wheeler Dealer]

I've been making notes, doing math and jumping to conclusions re the finances of my team. If you have evidence to contradict my guesswork, please offer your thoughts.

Incentives are not included in your cap space calculation until after they are earned. Once awarded they impact the next year's cap space.

Incentives don't impact your cap as a result of trades or cuts.

Performance incentives are awarded immediately when achieved.

Yearly accomplishments like Start 16 Games or Pro bowl are awarded after the Super Bowl.

Potential Incentives on the Salary Cap Screen refers to the next cap year impact. It starts as the total of all possible incentives for that year, decrements when incentives are paid and increases when new contracts that include incentives are signed.

On a related note, your next year cap space (but not other future years) assumes that all players with expiring contracts will re-up at the same salary and no bonus. In my case the result from 2010 to 2011 was a $10.75M increase to the 2011 cap space that was recognized after the Pro Bowl.

Maybe with a few judicious cuts I can resign my RFAs and sign my draft picks! On the bright side, I got my first Superbowl in 2010, probably as a result of my suicidal, uninformed spending.

I wish I had known this when negotiating Ronnie Brown's extension. I had lots of current year cap space and tight cap space for next year. I included $2M of annual incentives which didn't use the extra money I had in 2010 and will put an extra burden on 2011. A large bonus and low incentives would have fit my situation better.

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

I would suggest being very careful with incentives. They can add up very quickly and can make a mess of your cap.

I rarely sign anyone to incentives for that reason.

[Last_Light]

Quote: Originally Posted by BrnwsBucksFanNC

I would suggest being very careful with incentives. They can add up very quickly and can make a mess of your cap. I rarely sign anyone to incentives for that reason.

Same.

I'll even offer a larger base salary to avoid incentives altogether because I don't want to be worried about possible future outcomes, salary is just a hard fact.

The only time I will consider incentives is if I know for a fact the player will not be seeing the field, or if the player is constantly injured. Although I tend to let players with injuries problems walk no matter how talented. ie. I let Jullius Peppers walk, am letting Tommie Harris walk at the end of the season and am going to let Kellen Winslow walk when his contract expires.

[Mike3207]

I found out last night that incentives do disappear out of a contract if a player is traded-I hadn't known this. It would definitely give a team motive to trade for a player if you do away with both the signing bonus and any incentives.