Board 8 > Board 8 National Football League League (B8NFLL) Season 14: The Offseason

(+) Yeah! (+)

LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO

(caps)

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Unrestricted Free Agents (AKA Signing Your Remaining Free Agents)

Any player of yours whose contract expired and was not part of the previous event will be included here. This is an extremely straightforward event. You either sign or you do not sign players, Those you do stay on your team, those who don't enter the free agent pool.

When you receive the PM with your slash lines, remember that those are not the deals you have to sign them to. With a few exceptions that I will lay out, you can sign anyone (pending the age/max length rule) to deals 1-7 years in length. If you wish to give a player a custom offer, I might be available to do live signings the new few days. Otherwise, we can bounce PMs off of each other for a while (remember that there is a deadline though and delay in response could be a day or longer). If you wish to offer someone a deal of a different length but do no want to bother with the financials, you can merely say you want to give X player the default deal for Y years.

There are only two wrinkles for this event. One is that a few players might hold out for better deals. I can confirm that three users have a holdout. What happens is that I will isolate them in the PM and tell you their base deal. If you elect not to sign them, they will stay on your team without playing a down for you until you trade them, release them, or give into their contract demands. Keep in mind that any guaranteed money still left on their contract (annual bonus) is transferred over to the new contract.

The second wrinkle is that some players hate your team to where they will only sign via the franchise tag, which is a one year deal that pays them the average of the Top 5 salaries at their position or 120% of what they made last season, whichever is higher. I will isolate those players and also tell you how much money that comes out to as of this moment. The franchise tag has rarely been used, so while I am not expecting anyone will use it, you never know.

For those who don't remember, the age/max length rule is that you can't sign a player to a longer contract if it will take them past their age-34 season. You can however sign a player through their age-34 season if it was already included in their default contract. For example, if a 33-year-old player asks for a 3 year contract, you can sign him to that deal because it was part of the default deal. You cannot sign them to a 4+ year contract though.

Also remember that sign-and-trades are not allowed. Players signed to 1 year contracts are ineligible to be traded (RFAs signed via tenders are exempt from this rule). Players signed to multi-year contracts are ineligible to be traded until Week 9 of the regular season.
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Signing Your UFAs Rules

1. I will PM everyone their UFAs and the slash line (length/total/signing bonus) of their desired deal. I will also include and isolate any players who are either holding out or hate your team to where they will only sign with you if you place the franchise tag on them.

2. You will PM me back with the following format (using two players from my team as an example)

Re-signing:
TE Josh Hill - 4 / $9.32 mil / $1.40 mil
or
TE Josh Hill - 2 year default

Franchise Tag:
Nobody

Not re-signing:
HB Arian Foster

The deadline for signing your UFAs will be Thursday, September 17th at 9 PM ET
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I want to take the time to inform people who did not know or forgot that you are allowed to go over the salary cap. I only enforce that you be under the salary cap by the time we sim the preseason, which is still like a month away.
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Following players are on the trade block

WR Meachem (90 OVR - 35 yo) - This is a 1 year rental of a high end but not elite WR. In 5 seasons with me he has 4252 Yards / 34 TDs (so 850 yards / 5.8 TDs). This is with a scrambling QB for 3 of those years. He has not declined with age, he put up 779 Yards / 9 TDs last season. After I eat the dead money, he's on exactly 7m (which is pretty cheap for a 90 WR)

WR Janis (76 OVR - 25yo) - He has basically done nothing for me in 3 seasons (42 receptions / 398 yards / 1 TD and 1 rush TD lol) at the backend of the WR depth chart. However, you aren't trading for his production which is unproven but likely bad, you are trading for his RFA contract. He's a roster minimum filling Wide Receiver for 1.04m which is really cheap.

G Norwell (80 OVR - 25yo) - This is his 3rd season so he will be RFA eligible next season. He's been a backup G for me but hasn't seen the field much. He has 26 Sacks / 4 Block (6.5 Ratio) during that time but obviously small sample size. No idea whether he's good or not due to limited playtime, he's just the odd man out in my scheme as my O-line is more run orientated. He'll be on ~2.6m after I eat the dead money and then an affordable RFA deal next season if you kept him (originally a 2nd rounder so a low tender will likely keep him unless he explodes)

QB Gant (80 OVR - 28yo) - Explained this one already. He's a backup QB who is a runner. He has thrown below average for a QB but probably about right for a scrambler of his rating (54% completion) and has run very well (8.31 YPC). His sample size is small (1253 pass yards / 432 rush yards in 7 seasons) so he may be better or worse than those stats. He has 1 year left on his deal and you would be paying 4.03m after I eat the signing bonus.

I got pulled away from sending out PMs for a little while, and I need to take a break, but I will get the final four PMs out before I go to bed.
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MLB Austin Zeppuhar of the Panthers is on the block.
Rating - 84
Age - 31
Last year's stats (Playing at OLB) - 97 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 INTs, 1 FF, 1 FR
Compensation requested - mid/late 3rd rd pick, or comparable DE (like 81-82 is fine), or multiple backup-level players at FS/SS/CB (like 76-78)
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Im going to put Leak on the trade block. Hes a 94 QB and apparently worth every penny. If you are willing to go for a possible ring, hit me up to discuss what youre willing to offer for the 2nd best QB in the league

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There is a trade to announce

Pumpkins receive:
LG Andy Christensen (88 overall, 33 years old)
Pioneers 4th round pick (127th overall)
Pioneers 6th round pick (191st overall)

Pioneers receive:
Pumpkins 4th round pick (114th overall)
Pumpkins 5th round pick (146th overall)
Pumpkins 6th round pick (178th overall)

The Pumpkins will inherit a $5.68 mil cap hit

The Pioneers will wipe a $5.68 mil cap hit

The Pumpkins having just lost their starting LG from the past 13 seasons and with the belief that they should compete for a playoff spot, they felt that someone like Christensen makes more sense than paying a premium for a free agent or tossing a lesser rated player like their current backups into the starting job. With the price coming at a 5th rounder and two trade downs and Christensen on an expiring contract, the risk was very low and worth the chance.

The Pioneers, even with their surprise playoff run, are still in their rebuild/retool and are looking to make some of the final changes as the GM tries to make the roster in the image of their choosing. Christensen, having received him in a salary dump the previous offseason, was a luxury as a high-cost backup and adding more cap space will allow them to be major players in free agency if they desire. With no early round picks, adding mid rounders and draft stock improvements in other rounds gives them the flexibility they desire and more chances to hit the lottery with the draft picks they do have.

All parties understood the trade parameters, the financial impact, the past history of Christensen, and what each team hoped to achieve.

This trade is now official.
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Emeraldegg posted...

MLB Austin Zeppuhar of the Panthers is on the block.
Rating - 84
Age - 31
Last year's stats (Playing at OLB) - 97 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 INTs, 1 FF, 1 FR
Compensation requested - mid/late 3rd rd pick, or comparable DE (like 81-82 is fine), or multiple backup-level players at FS/SS/CB (like 76-78)

I'm sorry, I forgot to list his salary. He would be making 4.09 mil upon being traded and just has the one year left.
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We have a seldom-seen three-team trade

Patriots receive:
LG Doug Free (89 overall, 36 years old)
LOLB Jim Jones (75 overall, 26 years old)

Falcons receive:
DT Clifton Dickson (87 overall, 33 years old)
Browns 3rd round pick (via Pioneers, 78th overall)
Pumpkins 6th round pick (via Pioneers, 178th overall)

Pioneers receive:
DT Jonathan Babineaux (78 overall, 36 years old)
DT Manuel Wright (78 overall, 34 years old)
Falcons 2nd round pick (51st overall)
Falcons 4th round pick (115th overall)

Pats will incur a $1.43 mil cap penalty to shed an $11 mil cap hit and receive $5.75 mil in cap hits ($5.25 mil cap savings)

Falcons will incur a $1.6 mil cap penalty to shed $9.86 mil in cap hits and receive a $9.61 mil cap hit ($250k savings)

Pioneers will incur a $1.96 mil cap penalty to shed $7.71 mil in cap hits and receive $8.26 mil in cap hits

The Pats are brushing up against the cap with extra draft picks, so this trade gives them big cap relief and a new starting LG, whose run-block rating makes him a good fit for the offense, in a rather thin interior OL. They can replace Dickson with former #33 overall pick Brandon Williams as a starting DT (this is me putting words in your mouth), and Jones was just a toss-in to sweeten the pot as he makes just $1.04 mil and fills a hole on the Pats

The Falcons are also brushing up against the cap and found someone who would take multiple expensive, sub-80 and mid-30 defenders. This directly saves them a little in cap space as well as indirectly through sacrificing draft position to acquire an aging but quality DT that could theoretically be a starter for them for a few seasons beyond this.

The Pioneers have cap space to spare, so to gain some draft pick position, they traded away a starting G close to retirement for a pair of expensive backup DTs with over 300 combined starts to their name (that doesn't really mean anything, but I want to make it sound like they have more value than they do). They have backup OL that can take over at G for now, but this doesn't prevent them from targeting players in free agency, and at worst, this trade was a wash for filling positional holes.

All parties demonstrated that they understood what each team was giving up and receiving, the financial impact of the trade, past histories of players, and what each team hoped to achieve from the trade.

The trade is official.
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Okay, AI trade incoming

Seahawks receive:
MLB Barrett Ruud (86 overall, 35 years old)

Giants receive:
QB Chad Henne (80 overall, 32 years old)
HB Reshard Mendenhall (83 overall, 29 years old)

I already made the trade so whoops, but I think the Seahawks will incur a cap penalty a shade under $1 mil to shed roughly $8 mil in cap hits to $6.54 mil.

The Giants will incur a $1.43 mil cap penalty to turn a $7.97 mil cap hit into $6.99 mil cap hits

The Seahawks lost Hall of Famer Lofa Tatupu to retirement, and seeing that Schobert is probably not ready for a starting job, a stopgap in Ruud is probably better to help turn around a team that finished as the 6th-worst team in the league. It cost them a pair of good backups, but they were just backups.

The Giants have a lot of starters with expired contracts, so they decided to save a mil and plug two holes with quality backups as they try to sign at least one more.

The Giants demonstrated that they understood the trade's parameters, the financial impact, the history of the players involved, and what they hoped to achieve with the trade (and why it would make sense for the Seahawks).

This trade is now official.
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Third trade

Bears receive:
QB Tom Savage (82 overall, 26 years old)
HB Jeremy Hill (83 overall, 24 years old)

Express receive:
TE Trey Burton (88 overall, 24 years old)
WR Jordan Matthews (82 overall, 26 years old)

Bears shed $5.56 mil in cap hits to assume $3.32 mil in cap hits

Express shed $3.32 mil in cap hits to assume $5.56 mil in cap hits

In a swap of players on RFA tenders, both teams grab hopefully offensive fixtures for the long-term.

The Bears try to solve their post-David Carr QB problem with Savage who performed well as a backup to Philip Rivers. They also get one of the best backup HBs in the league with Jeremy Hill as incumbent Antonio Pittman's successor.

The Express get Kellen Winslow's replacement for maybe the next decade and also a much needed body and probable starter on their depleted WR corps. It did come at the cost of Rivers' potential successor, but Hill was always going to be blocked by DeMarco Murray.

Bears demonstrated that they understood the trade details, past histories of players, financial impact, and what they hoped to achieve (and why the Hawks would make the move).

This trade is official.
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I feel like giving away burton for two guys you could probably find on the FA is a big overpay, but that's just me.
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I mean I'd have given for Burton but I don't think he could have found equivalents in FA. Both are young, both are productive and both are on RFA deals. There's not guaranteed to an equivalent available in FA and if there is there's no guarantee they would have a productive history and they definitely wouldn't be coming at RFA prices.

Express definitely valued Hill highly too, they valued him higher than Meachem when I asked about him. And yeah Meachem is old but we have seen in the past that people can still get decent returns for 1 year rentals of high end players when making AI trades.

EDIT: Also I'd think that part of it may be that Stan didn't want his TE funneling away all his stats from his WRs since I know Burton was typically beating his WRs. Change of QB and change of WR may lead to his WRs getting more action.

HB and QB are way more important than TE. You are also aren't taking into consideration that Savage has a 92.8 career passer rating and Hill over 1200 total yards and 13 TDs on 4.2 YPC. If you can solve even just one of your HB/QB issues, that is worth more than giving up a league-average starting TE.
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Mainly seeing if I can move some stuff around to get some cap space

let me know if anyone wants to make a trade, anything is available.

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Basically everything Shattered and KCF said haha

Plus TE seems to be one of the few positions I can actually develop? Between Dwayne Allen and Burton I've done pretty well with TEs I've drafted so we'll see if I can keep it going.

is 88 really a league avg starting TE? Guess I overestimated it then, my bad

Also as it's known to at least kcf I personally just put more stock in ratings than anything else which is just a personal preference, so that's how I was approaching it. I understand if it looks better from a stats POV.
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He is the 14th highest rating te I think.

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TE OVR development is weird anyway. Certain physical stats can only increase during the offseason in a players first 2 seasons. There may be exceptions but that seemed to the case for all the sims I ran in my game. And those physical stats play a decent part in a TE's OVR. So there's definitely an OVR cap that TE's can hit in their development.

Bump it

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I would like to schedule a time to do my free agency in the doc some time this weekend

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SockoressKnight posted...

I would like to schedule a time to do my free agency in the doc some time this weekend

could I do this as well?

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Sure. I'm rarely on my laptop, so I would prefer if I could get you both back-to-back
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Anytime is good for me. Just let me know

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I guess since I've offered him to 2 people already I should mention it in here.

DE Ingram (87 OVR - 24 yo) is available. His contract is cheap (3.79m) and his production has been solid (72 Tackles, 12 Sacks, 3 FF, 1 INT in 2 seasons). His growth in those 2 seasons has been 81 > 83 > 87. He's been in the league 3 seasons but spent his rookie season with the Bears rather than me and barely played.

I'm about to get on my laptop, so if anybody wants to get in the spreadsheet to do stuff, I will be in there soon
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Oh good. I'm already there

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Ill be there soon

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99OVR FB Champ Davis on the trading block



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Less than 24 hours till the randomizer decides your UFA fate!

Maybe even less than an hour now!

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UFA period has closed

The first thing that I will do is start updating roster, team financial, and free agent sheets. Time-permitting, I will start looking into renames for the prospect pool. Tomorrow, I should have that finished and the prospects up on the appropriate sheet and post the NFL Draft rules/info.
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Before I begin, one of possibly two Giants trades

Giants receive:
Pumpkins 5th round pick (146th overall)
Pioneers S15 2nd round pick
Pioneers S15 3rd round pick
Pioneers S15 5th round pick

Pioneers receive:
Giants 2nd round pick (49th overall)
Giants 4th round pick (113th overall)
Giants 5th round pick (145th overall)
Giants S15 7th round pick

The Giants are looking to punt this draft for salary cap purposes, and receive plenty of future draft/RFA/trade capital that they were coveting.

The Pioneers still have over $30 mil in cap space with no 1st round pick and are still on quest to reshape the team in the GM's image, so they were willing to give up three early and mid-round picks next season to further speed up the rebuild/retool.

All parties demonstrated that they understood the parameters and what each team hoped to achieve.

This trade is now official.
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Roster sheet is updated and free agency sheet will be updated before I go to bed

To Do:
- Update Team Financial Sheet
- PM users who did UFA stuff on final day to inform them of cap space and roster holes
- Post NFL Draft Rules + schedule
- Re-post NFL Draft order with updated pick ownership
- Start researching NFL prospect renames
- Update Prospect Sheet
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Live NFL Draft

This is a 7-round affair where teams select college players. There are 32 picks in each round for a total of 224 selections overall. We break this down into three real-life days. Rounds 1 and 2 are on the first day, rounds 3 and 4 are on the second day, and rounds 5 through 7 are the final day. The draft takes place in the spreadsheet as that is where all the info is, and I totally failed in my lone attempt to do a draft in both the spreadsheet and Discord.

In one of the posts below, I will include the draft order again as well as updated draft pick ownerships. I only include ownership of other teams' picks. If you wish to attend the draft at all, I require that you own a Google account and either PM me or post here the email associated with it so that I can include you as having permission in the spreadsheet and you can sign in and enter the chat function which is located near the top right of the spreadsheet. Most of you have done so in previous years, but there could be a few people wanting to attend this year but have yet to receive permission. You must be on a desktop/laptop to access the chat function.
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NFL Draft Rules

1. When it is your time to pick, post your selection in the spreadsheet

2. 5 minute pick limit, which starts when I say something along the lines of "X team is on the clock"

3. If no pick has been made after 5 minutes, I will select the player for you

4. If a user is not present at the time they are on the clock, they will be auto-drafted via rule #3 until they notify me
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If I can't or don't want to be here for the draft, what are my options?

Queue - You give me a list of players in order of priority. It can be as few as one and as many as the 250+ prospects that will eventually be in that sheet.

Draft Strategy - You give me a vague or specific set of instructions on how to draft your players. An example of this would be

Draft best available CB in 1st round
Draft best available player in 2nd-4th rounds
Draft best available player for a position of need in 5th-7th rounds.

Conditionals - You give me a list of conditionals. Unlike the other two examples, this one is best used if you only think that you will be unavailable for a single round. Using HB Derrick Henry as an example:
1. Draft HB Derrick Henry
2. Draft the best available DE with a 1st round grade
3. Draft the best available player for a position of need

Even if you plan to attend the draft on any or all days, it would really help me out if you send me something from the above list. So the draft runs smoothly, I create a spreadsheet where I create detailed draft plans for all user teams in case I have to draft for them. If I am given a strategy/queue/conditional (especially one that encompasses the entire draft) from a team, then I do not have to waste my time and effort for said team.
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NFL Draft Order
1. Bengals
2. Bills
3. Packers
4. Wildcats
5. Buccaneers
6. Seahawks
7. Jaguars
8. Bears
9. Chiefs
10. Jets
11. Raiders
12. Lightning
13. 49ers
14. Browns
15. Titans
16. Broncos
17. Giants
18. Pumpkins
19. Falcons
20. Steelers
21. Patriots
22. Lions
23. Ravens
24. Washington
25. Express
26. Panthers
27. Rams
28. Colts
29. Cowboys
30. Dolphins
31. Pioneers
32. Vikings

Bears own Buccaneers 4th and 5th
Bills own Patriots 5th and 7th, Falcons 7th
Broncos own Bears 1st, Pioneers 3rd
Browns own Pioneers 5th
Colts own Bengals 3rd
Cowboys own Buccaneers 2nd
Dolphins own Vikings 1st + 3rd, Rams 2nd
Falcons own Browns 3rd, Pumpkins 6th
Giants own Pumpkins 5th
Jets own Bills 1st
Packers own Pioneers 1st + 2nd, Bears 5th
Patriots own Falcons 3rd, Bills 4th + 7th
Pioneers own Giants 2nd + 4th + 5th, Falcons 2nd + 4th, Bears 4th, Browns 4th, Pumpkins 4th
Pumpkins own Pioneers 4th + 6th
Raiders own Pumpkins 2nd, Bills 3rd + 5th
Steelers own Patriots 2nd, Panthers 2nd + 3rd, Titans 6th
Titans own Browns 1st, Steelers 2nd + 7th
Vikings own Buccaneers 1st + 3rd
Washington own Bears 7th
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Rounds 1 and 2 are slated to take place on Friday, September 25th
Rounds 3 and 4 are slated to take place on Saturday, September 26th
Rounds 5-7 are slated to take place on Sunday, September 27th

I don't have definitive times set, but expect Day 1 to begin between 8-9 PM ET, Day 2 to begin between 1-3 PM ET, and Day 3 to begin between 1-3 PM ET.
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To Do:
- Start researching NFL prospect renames
- Update Prospect Sheet
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The prospect sheet has been updated. I am going to re-post some things for empahsis.

KCF0107 posted...

Even if you plan to attend the draft on any or all days, it would really help me out if you send me something from the above list (queue/strategy/conditionals). So the draft runs smoothly, I create a spreadsheet where I create detailed draft plans for all user teams in case I have to draft for them. If I am given a strategy/queue/conditional (especially one that encompasses the entire draft) from a team, then I do not have to waste my time and effort for said team.

KCF0107 posted...

If you wish to attend the draft at all, I require that you own a Google account and either PM me or post here the email associated with it

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And the second Giants trade

Giants receive:
MLB Austin Zeppuhar (84 overall, 31 years old)

Panthers receive:
Giants 3rd round pick (81st overall)

The Giants assume a $4.09 mil cap hit

The Panthers incur a $700k cap penalty to wipe a $4.79 mil cap hit

The Giants were trying to reduce their draft capital this season for salary purposes and in Zeppuhar, they get an established player to replace the departed Barrett Ruud.

The Panthers want to see if OLB Kikaha has any future with the team, and were willing to sacrifice Zeppuhar to see that. They also save some much needed cap space.

Both parties demonstrated that they understood the parameters of the trade, the past history of Zeppuhar, the financial impact, and what each team hoped to achieve.

This trade is now official
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Since we are getting into the draft/free agency portion of the offseason, this is my annual reminder about drafting CBs.

This is a fickle position in Madden 06 in that they are very susceptible to rating regression. I cannot emphasize this enough, but CB is the very last position that you should invest major money or draft capital in when building a defense.

If you are unsure of where your team stands defensively, do not hesitate to seek me out for my assessment,, but for more than half of the league, the answer is no you should not draft a CB high, trade for a higher-end CB, or go after the top option in free agency.

I hate seeing teams basically throw away high draft picks at CB, and I hate seeing talented CBs have their careers wasted by going to a team whose defense had little chance of supporting them, so I bring this up every year.
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Do you have / Will there be a rough estimate as to what the typical "default" contracts are for each particular round?

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Top 5 six years
6-10 five years
11-32 four years
2nd-4th three years
5th-7th one year

Money is a completely different thing and is based on several factors
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KCF0107 posted...

Even if you plan to attend the draft on any or all days, it would really help me out if you send me something from the above list (queue/strategy/conditional). So the draft runs smoothly, I create a spreadsheet where I create detailed draft plans for all user teams in case I have to draft for them. If I am given a strategy/queue/conditional (especially one that encompasses the entire draft) from a team, then I do not have to waste my time and effort for said team.

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Will you be hosting the draft live on zoom in your luxurious basement

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KCF0107 posted...

Top 5 six years
6-10 five years
11-32 four years
2nd-4th three years
5th-7th one year

Money is a completely different thing and is based on several factors

I'd just like to highlight that Madden is super funky about this and I can use last season as an example.

Bills drafted OT Bolles at 8. He was projected at 6
Steelers drafted OT Humphries at 12. He was projected at 4.

Both were revealed to be 83s. Humphries asked for ~10m more over 4 years than Bolles did over 5 years. The result is that Humphries is paid 5.47m this season to Bolles 2.99m. Its year 2 for both of them

So what guys ask for can vary wildly and you have no idea what it will be when drafting. Also if you mess with the years on a rookie contract compared to the default deal, usually they ask for a lot more money than the rookie contract

EDIT: Edited out the speculation part as KCF tested and disproved.