Quote:
Originally Posted by allen_kcCard
So...if you have a player that you would like to keep, but not necessarily for a 5 year contract, you could leave them unsigned, and then if someone only bids enough for a 2 year contract and wins it, then you can come in and match it and keep them for that? Risk is that if someone really bids it up and it goes over 5 years, then you either have to let them have them, or pay even more than you were wavering on for a 5 year.
Right?
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Disclaimer: if cdcox refutes any of this, his word is final as the programmer.
A match is not just a match. After the bidding ends, you can "match" by adding a final bid for a contract that is one year longer than the highest bid (or 10% more if it's a 7-year contract).
If you think you can get the guy cheaper without matching, you can also actively bid on him.
An example is shown below.
Matt Cassel's contract is up, and he hits the zero-year mark. You opt to not give him a long-term extension (5 or more years) so he hits the free agent market.
Bidding is hot and heavy for a veteran quarterback with a playoff appearance, so the bids rapidly go from 1 to 10 to 28 points and beyond, and your division rival ends up as the high bidder at 48 points.
Looking at the contract chart on your "Manage Roster" page, you see that a 48-point contract falls in the realm of a 3-year contract for a quarterback (Tier 1 position).
You can get Matt Cassel back, but you have to give him a longer contract than he is currently being offered. The minimum cost for this is a 74-point contract, which is the minimum cost for a 4-year contract.
Alternately, if you see the bidding stalling out at 48 points and you think that's low, you can actively bid on him as well. You can bid 50 points or 55 points and get him for a three-year contract as long as you're the high bidder.
So you have three ways to keep Matt Cassel.
1. Offer him a 5, 6, or 7 year contract and keep him off the market completely. (You can only do this with two players per year, max.)
2. Wait and see how the bidding goes, and then "match" with a contract that's one year longer than the high bid.
3. Actively bid and outright win the bidding process.
We're working on a rule, henceforth called the "Matt Cassel Rule" about how to handle Item 2 above if no one bids on one of your free agents. I'll post it as an update once we've finalized it.