Mooski wrote:
Hi All,
New to the game and the forum, it looks very interesting so far and I'm sure I'll be overjoyed if I hit .500 at the end of next season.
We're currently in the playoffs and I was looking at my roster (my team didn't qualify) and I was wondering when the best time was to release players whose contracts are about to expire. I have some players who I know I don't want on my team, but I don't want to release them now if I'm going to get a cap hit for next season. Any advice?
The way a cap hit on a cut player works is as follows:
If the player has no bonus, there is no cap hit when you cut him.
If the player is in the last year of his contract, his bonus will stay on your cap, but not his base salary.
If the player has two or more years on his contract, the current year's bonus will stay on your cap for the current year, and the remainder of his bonus will be applied to the following year.
So:
2014 - $200,000 base, no bonus - can be cut without penalty
2014 - $200,000 base, $20,000 bonus, 1 year remaining - will free up your cap by $200,000 but the $20,000 bonus will remain on your cap.
2014 - $200,000 base, $20,000 bonus
2015 - $205,000 base, $20,000 bonus
2016 - $210,000 base, $20,000 bonus
2017 - $215,000 base, $20,000 bonus - if you cut this player in 2014, then the $20,000 will stay on your cap in 2014, and $60,000 will be on your cap in 2015. After 2015 he has no cap impact.
When you cut a player, you will receive a dialog telling you what the cap impact will be before you commit to it. The player technically stays on your roster until the next sim - you can retract your pending cut at any time before the sim runs.