Player Doesn't Return to Negotiations

[Wheeler Dealer]

After 9 seasons of renegotiating contracts in season, I thought I had it down. For players I want back, my general approach is to offer the minimum through about week 12 and if the player still hasn't caved in, start gradually increasing my offer. I like to keep the total contract number at the minimum, Bonus is immaterial if I expect the player to play through the contract. Only unlikely incentives are ever offered.

Using this approach I get the minimum total with no probable incentives maybe 90% to 95% of the time. I had never failed to resign a player I wanted. Then in 2017 I had a player just quit coming around to negotiate. His status screen says he wants to renegotiate but his name just never comes up.

Is this a bug or a feature. I feel like I should have gotten some warning if this was an intended result.

I had about 15 players in the last year of their contracts and I only wanted 6 of them back considering their asking prices. I signed a few backups I'm not too sure about to no bonus deals, I can always cut them with no penalty so what's the harm.

[Shaka23]

Quote: Originally Posted by Wheeler Dealer

After 9 seasons of renegotiating contracts in season, I thought I had it down. For players I want back, my general approach is to offer the minimum through about week 12 and if the player still hasn't caved in, start gradually increasing my offer. I like to keep the total contract number at the minimum, Bonus is immaterial if I expect the player to play through the contract. Only unlikely incentives are ever offered. Using this approach I get the minimum total with no probable incentives maybe 90% to 95% of the time. I had never failed to resign a player I wanted. Then in 2017 I had a player just quit coming around to negotiate. His status screen says he wants to renegotiate but his name just never comes up. Is this a bug or a feature. I feel like I should have gotten some warning if this was an intended result. I had about 15 players in the last year of their contracts and I only wanted 6 of them back considering their asking prices. I signed a few backups I'm not too sure about to no bonus deals, I can always cut them with no penalty so what's the harm.

If I am not mistaken certain players with certain personalities won't return to you at the negotiation table if you low ball them.

[ebongreen]

I've noticed it too and called it a bug. Can't tell you any more than, "It happens, and it's really annoying."

[Shaka23]

Quote: Originally Posted by ebongreen

I've noticed it too and called it a bug. Can't tell you any more than, "It happens, and it's really annoying."

That's a shame. I guess I will pretend he's just a disgruntled player if it happens to me.

Gracias ebongreen.

[Skarecrow]

I always thought that was intentional. I thought the guy got disgusted with my undercutting him and decided to try his hand at free agency when the season was over.

The problem I thought was a bug when you get somebody pop up asking for contract talks, and when you go into talks there are 0 options. nothing offered, nothing demanded. just a blank list. you can't even exit out, you just have to wait 60 seconds for it to time out on it's own. I've seen this twice that I can remember. once when I spent the better part of a season narrowing down an exact contract with a wide receiver I wanted to rehire, and once with a rookie backup QB I thought would be worth keeping on the team.

Both instances, I think what happened is the player's combination of skill level and production made all existing contract choices (from the previous weeks) no longer applicable. I'm almost certain that this is what happened to the QB. My starting QB got knocked out of the game the first play or two, and the backup QB had one really good game so his self-worth shot up. next week, zero options under negotiations.

[Wheeler Dealer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Shaka23

If I am not mistaken certain players with certain personalities won't return to you at the negotiation table if you low ball them.

The player in question has the following personality:

Super Star:
Driven
Calculating *
Competitive *
Dramatic *
Perfectionist
Self Focused **
Materialistic **
Expressive
Impulsive *
Problem Solver

I can see how these (**) might cause a negotiation deadlock IRL, and how these (*) might contribute to the player boycotting negotiations if offended. It hasn't happened often enough to cause me to take the time to try to analyze personalities before negotiating!

In my case I may try to get him back during FA bidding. He's a 29 year old, 86 OLB. My observation is that a FA will ask for about the same range, minimum to demanded, as the negotiation range during the season. Older players tend to go near the minimum and younger players around the demand. I would think a 29 year old would go closer to the demand but maybe not if there aren't too many teams bidding.

I feel like I come out ahead by signing the players during the season but the difference isn't huge. He wasn't on my must sign list anyway, so many possibilities are still open.

[ebongreen]

When it happened to me, it was with Kibo Bakari, a Captain.

Signing a 29-year-old linebacker may not be your wisest move in cap terms. He's likely to ask for a five-year contract, which means he'll be 34-35 years old when it's done. That would be a very old linebacker, and a Super Star is likely to command a high signing bonus, making him tough to cut. He'd better be very good - and be likely to stay that way.

[Wheeler Dealer]

Yes, he was asking $15M to $19M for 6 years so he would have been 34 the last year of that contract. I was shooting for $15M over 6 years with the least bonus I could get by with.

Maybe It's meaningful, maybe not, but in 10 seasons I haven't been able to draft and develop an OLB to an OVL higher than 83, but the 85/86 OLBs seem to be easy to acquire as FAs or by trade. I got this guy in a trade.

I've seen some OLBs hold up nicely (Michael Boley for example) into their early 30s. Several of my underdeveloped OLBs translated into useful backups at OLB or a related position, not that I think $2.5M a year is a great price for a backup. But there are four positions where he might fill in.

All that being said, I would rather have him than not.