The draft is almost over, and we are coming up on the next game phase, late free agency. Here are some tips on how to navigate free agency. In a normal offseason, there are two free agency periods - one before the draft that lasts for three simulations, and one after the draft that lasts for one simulation. In addition, you can sign free agents at any time during the regular season and playoffs.
For early free agency, you go to the free agent list and you can bid on players. The bidding is blind, so you do not know what other teams are bidding. Click on a player's name and his card will come up. Then click on contract and the contract screen will come up. By default, the numbers shown will be the player's opening demand. Typically, if you offer what he asks for, there is a good chance that he will sign with your team. But there are many more variables at play than that. For example, if multiple teams bid on a player, he might wait for more money. He might not sign after one simulation and instead see if he can get even more This usually happens when star players hit the market. After one simulation, everyone's bids are revealed. But during the second simulation, you don't know how people will adjust. Will people increase their bid? Will another team see the top bid and try to out bid that guy? There is guesswork and strategy involved. Unlike Baseball Manager, because the bidding is blind, there is no last second sniping of free agents.
But... outside of the top top free agents, not all players get bid hard on. In fact, some players have no bids or few bids. One of the game secrets is that you can offer lower than the contract demand and he might accept it. You can even do slave labor contracts. It's just a matter of what the best offer is on the table. So you can get lucky, bid on a decent player at below cost, and sign him. Or there could be little interest in a player, so you can get away with bidding less.
Finally, (and this applies for late free agency and for in season free agents) when you are dealing with lousy free agents, you absolutely should low ball them. During late free agency and during the season, the player will simply sign for the best offer after the one simulation. They do not wait for better offers. So if you have the high bid, even if that bid is only $200K a year, you win the player. Because we only draft 46 and you can have a roster up to 53, you can and should sign some free agents, if only to test out the system.
Some examples to show you what I mean.
Late Free Agency example
You want to sign John Smith QB ranked 44 overall. You click on him and he wants $1.5 million for 2 years. Move the sliders, or type in the numbers, to minimum level and offer $200K for six years. The game simulates and no one else bid on the lousy rank 44 player. Congrats you got him at $200K instead of his demanded $1.5M and he is now serving slave labor
Early Free Agency example 1
You want to sign QB Jim Smith, ranked 90 overall. You click on him and he wants $10M for 6 years (plus bonuses and so on). You offer a contract worth $11M a year for 6 years. The game sims. He does not sign with anyone yet. You look at the list. 5 teams bid on him with the high being $12M per season. You use the information to up your bid to $13M per season. The game sims. Smith signs with another team for $14M per season.
Free Agency example 2
You want to sign QB Joe Smith, ranked 75 overall. You click on him and he wants $8M for 4 years and you think that's crazy for a rank 75 player. But you want him so you bid anyways You bid $4M a year for 3 years and see what happens. One sim happens and you see the competing offers. There are two lower bids than yours. You hold tight at $4M a season for 3 years. Another sim happens, you are still the top bid, but he hasn't signed yet hoping for more money. You adjust your bid to $4.5M over 3 years to sweeten the pot. Next sim happens, he signs with you! You had the high bid at the end of free agency. You got a player who thought he was worth $8M for only $4.5M.
General note - be aware of the salary cap. It can hit you hard if you don't manage well and splurge on free agents recklessly. The game follows real life NFL rules, so careful cap management is rewarded.
