There is certainly a threshold to turn a player Green. That threshold is different for different players though (you can turn a player who is not very good green with less effort than a really good player).

spcbuzzard, But I think you are essentially correct (with the stipulation that the effort is not absolute and some players take more than others). If the effort to make a player Green is 100, then the teams who go above 100 would be "Considering". At that point, the effort becomes relative. If someone goes > 100 "more effort" than the others, they get a Green. If all teams are within 100 effort of each other, it will be all yellows, etc. (if you are one of the teams .. red if you are not one of the teams).

But, if some (the best) players are 100 effort, other not so good players will only need 70, 80 or 90 effort, etc. This EffortValue (100, 90, 80, 70, etc.), being relative, can go up as high as people will put money into a recruit.

This is exactly why it takes much more effort ("highest SIM" + "EffortValue") to make a SIM player green. They start out with 3 teams above the normal effort value and you have to put in EffortValue + MaxSimValue + EffortVaule in order to get the guy Green.

If the Effort Value is "1 CV" .. then to get the guy Green, you would need 2 CV + MaxSimValue to get a guy green. (the first CV would be to go about the required EffortValue .. the last CV would be to go 1 EffortValue above the MaxSimEffort .. and the amount of effort that the SIM put in.

As others have said .. the amount of effort the SIMs put in go up each turn .. but after signings start a couple things can happen and you can get yucky and sign a recruit who was yellow.

One is that the SIM could fill out their roster and stop putting in effort and drop out of the race.

The other is that as it gets closer to the end of all signings, a recruit might sign with the leader even if they are not 1 whole EffortValue ahead. A guy who would take 100 'extra effort' to sign at the beginning of signings might sign with a team who is ahead by 50 effort points near the end, etc.

So it is possible to sign a player from a SIM if you are leading but have not knocked them completely off. Possible, but not probable.

It amazes me that since this is a math based game, they can't simply give the SIM's money as well, and make them spend it. I constantly lose recruits to sims that are 1000 miles away, and shouldn't be able to keep recruiting them, but they have unlimited budgets.

I am divulging the Secret to success against the Sims. It is Collusion ! Make a deal with the AI that it can take this guy but you will get that guy.
Of course it is blatantly against the game rules. But it will never tell ; and of course you won't .