I'm wondering what the largest bonus ever asked by a draft pick is to help with better planning in the future.  I have a 2nd overall draft pick (originally asking 6.2mil) that waited until 3 cycles before the trade deadline to let me know his demands changed.  They changed to 9.94mil and I kept 9.86mil available.  80k more than what I kept.  Of course I feel screwed by his agent who obviously knew my budget situation.  But I am just asking to see what people have experienced.

Offer him a BL deal.   327k for 3 seasons plus 9m bonus.   That will give you the amount required.    Personally, 9.6m.   You can check your world history for highest bonus.

'Probably won't sign': I've had want over $8 million before. An owner in our league got boned last year because his 'may sign' guy wanted $10.

Most prospects will sign for 85% (or so) of current demands if you keep trying it

$11+ mil for a #3 pick many moons ago that was a tough sign.  Took 3-4 cycles of offering, him rejecting, re-offering before he agreed to sign for that much.  Since he was the #3 pick, I've always surmized that a tough sign, at the #1 pick would ask upwards of 12 mil.  I have no idea if that is the case, but it seems logical based upon my experiences.