How to set up a FA contract Topic

wishlist3677
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I have been seeing a lot of contracts lately where the money in the first year is very low compared to the other years.  And there was no bonus offered.  Is this a good way to set up a contract? How are they set up like that?  I have never had any luck trying to fluctuate the contract amounts in different years.

This guy has a 12 mil season 1 contract and then the rest at 20 mil.

Example: http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=3294771

Another guys that has much fluctuation in his contract.

Example: http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=3105224

9/19/2012 1:37 PM
MikeT23
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Season - This is the actual season salary that you would like to offer the player. Season 1 refers to the first season in which the player is not already under contract with your franchise. So, if the player is currently arbitration eligible and has not gone through an arbitration hearing, season 1 means this current season. If the player is in the final year of his contract with your team and will soon become a free agent, season 1 indicates the next Hardball Dynasty season. In a two-year contract, neither season can comprise more than 60% of the total value of the contract. In a three-year contract, no season can comprise more than 40% of the total value of the contract. In a four-year contract, no season can comprise more than 30% of the total value of the contract. In a five-year contract, no season can comprise more than 25% or less than 10% of the total value of the contract. There is a maximum allowable offer of $20 million for any season. The minimum for any season is the minimum annual salary at that level. For the big leagues, this is 325K. To change the offer for any season, please click in the box next to the season and enter an integer value. For a three-year contract, you must enter in values for the first three seasons, but you may leave seasons 4 and 5 blank. The total value of the contract will appear at the bottom of the page.

9/19/2012 2:03 PM
tecwrg
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There are reasons why you might want to front-load the money in a multi-year contract, and reasons why you might want to back-load the money.  It all depends on the state of your team, what you think your salary cap will look like over the next couple of seasons, upcoming prospects, etc.

If you're confident that you're going to be sticking with your team for the long-term, then you probably want to have a multi-year plan in your mind and work your FA contracts (front-loaded, back-loaded, evenly distributed, large bonuses, etc.) accordingly.
9/19/2012 2:16 PM
mchalesarmy
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Unfortunately many owners back load a contract and then bail on the team leaving the new owner with a few seasons of a guy at max contract.



9/20/2012 11:56 AM
silentpadna
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What your current context is along with future plans determine a lot.  I've used both front-loaded and back-loaded contracts (though not at the same time usually).  If I have extra money in a season, and I'm rebuilding or have lost out on the best of the FA, I may offer large bonuses to mediocre players and keep their numbers low - freeing up room for the FA market the next season and having a decent placeholder for a couple of seasons.  You may also want to front-load contracts to make a player more attractive in trade in the later seasons of the contract.  If you are into "best bang for the buck", back-loaded contracts with mutual options can be your friend.  This works pretty well for aging players.  If the highest salary is in the final year, you save the most money on the option. 

Again it all depends on context.
9/20/2012 8:15 PM
tecwrg
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One example of "creative contracting" . . . a couple of seasons ago in one of my worlds, I was at the end of FA with a lot of money left over, and was looking for one SP to fill out my rotation.  I saw an acceptable FA who was asking for 3 seasons at $4.8m per season.  Since I had a lot of cash that I probably wasn't going to spend elsewhere, I signed him for 3 seasons at $1.5 per season, with a $10m bonus.  Essentially the same total contract value he was looking for, but I was saving $3.3m in the second and third seasons of the contract.  Money I was able to spend elsewhere.

Like I said earlier, it all depends on your current budget situation and your anticipated future budget situation.  Think creatively.
9/20/2012 10:45 PM
zbrent716
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Posted by tecwrg on 9/20/2012 10:46:00 PM (view original):
One example of "creative contracting" . . . a couple of seasons ago in one of my worlds, I was at the end of FA with a lot of money left over, and was looking for one SP to fill out my rotation.  I saw an acceptable FA who was asking for 3 seasons at $4.8m per season.  Since I had a lot of cash that I probably wasn't going to spend elsewhere, I signed him for 3 seasons at $1.5 per season, with a $10m bonus.  Essentially the same total contract value he was looking for, but I was saving $3.3m in the second and third seasons of the contract.  Money I was able to spend elsewhere.

Like I said earlier, it all depends on your current budget situation and your anticipated future budget situation.  Think creatively.
One of my favorite FA signings ever was similar to this. Winston Richardson. He was looking for something modest, like $800k or $1M per for 2 years. I took that yearly average, multiplied it by 5 to get the value of a contract he'd want over 5 seasons. I then paid him all but the league minimum in bonus, since I had room that season, and got a quality back-of-the-pen arm for the league minimum for the 4 seasons thereafter. He's not a stud (though he has performed very well), but he's marginally better than the Rule 5 or AAAA guy I would have promoted otherwise.
9/21/2012 3:17 PM
How to set up a FA contract Topic
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