Board 8 > Board 8 National Football League League (B8NFLL) Season 18: The Offseason

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hub Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10gIP0JkVqOaoUc4aQX_NyDM8dB31FOPm_dUx6DVTWPk/edit?usp=sharing

Word Doc
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RVeEIyjqIiEkS0VYvbsI02dWMDXyOgdVQAgThNJyIfc/edit?usp=sharing

Wiki Page (link doesn't include the parentheses closer so you can't simply click on it)
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Board_8_National_Football_League_League_(B8NFLL)

Previous Topic (alive as of this moment)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80200825

Coaching Changes

I say this every year, but I have found no evidence that suggests that your coaching staff has any impact on your team in a pure sim like this. Any changes in the coaching strategy as a result of a new coaching staff can be negated through user intervention. That being said, I like to reveal coaching changes since I believe most of us are curious about them.

Retirement
Colts OC Dennis Green

Head Coach
Bengals hire Dolphins DC Victor Hobson
Browns hire Vikings HC Flozell Adams
Colts hire Orcas HC Tutan Reyes
Commanders hire Raiders HC Norv Turner
Jaguars promote DC Tony Dungy
Lions hire Bengals HC Brett Favre
Orcas promote DC Nick Barnett
Patriots hire Commanders HC Will Shields
Raiders promote DC Nate Wayne
Vikings promote OC Eric Heitmann

Offensive Coordinator
Bears hire Buccaneers OC Larry Allen
Broncos hire former Vikings OC Mike Rosenthal
Browns hire Eagles OC Chris Fuamatu-Maafala
Buccaneers hire Commanders OC Terrell Owens
Chiefs hire former Panthers OC Mike McCarthy
Colts hire Browns OC Marvin Harrison
Commanders hire former Bengals OC Bob Bratkowski
Eagles hire Broncos OC Mike Alstott
Jets hire former Pats OC Mike Martz
Lions hire Bears OC Gary Kubiak
Seahawks hire former Lions OC Chris Foerster
Titans hire Eagles OC Eric Moulds
Vikings hire former B8NFLL OT Roman Oben

Defensive Coordinator
Bills hire Colts HC Ron Meeks
Colts hire 49ers DC Michael Strahan
Cowboys hire Seahawks DC Rian Wallace
Dolphins hire former B8NFLL MLB Korey Hall
49ers hire Ravens DC Mike Singletary
Jaguars hire former B8NFLL Broncos OLB Patrick Willis
Lions hire Pats HC Ed Donatell
Orcas hire Jags HC Pat Williams
Raiders hire Cowboys DC Tim Lewis
Ravens hire former B8NFLL DT Brandon Mitchell
Seahawks hire Wildcats DC Jack Del Rio
Wildcats hire former B8NFLL Panthers MLB Jonathan Vilma

NFL Draft Order
1. Lions
2. 49ers
3. Patriots
4 Titans
5. Chiefs
6. Commanders
7. Bills
8. Giants
9. Jaguars
10. Steelers
11. Bears
12. Jets
13. Panthers
14. Cowboys
15. Buccaneers
16. Ravens
17. Bengals
18. Broncos
19. Falcons
20. Wildcats
21. Colts
22. Seahawks
23. Browns
24. Eagles
25. Packers
26. Pioneers
27. Dolphins
28. Rams
29. Vikings
30. Express
31. Raiders
32. Orcas

Bears own Titans 7th, Browns 7th
Bills own Steelers 3rd, Panthers 3rd
Browns own Bears 2nd
Eagles own Orcas 1st + 4th
Express own Orcas 2nd
Orcas own Eagles 7th, Express 7th
Steelers own Panthers 7th, Wildcats 7th
Titans own Bears 1st + 3rd
Wildcats own Steelers 2nd

Okay Tony Dungy that is cool

Player Retirements by Team

Bears
none

Bengals
WR Josh Briscoe (510 rec for 6279 yards, 36 TDs, 1-time Pro Bowler)
FS Kelvin Jean
HB Reshad Mendenhall

Bills
FB Le'Ron McClain
C Leroy Harris (554 blocks vs 101 sacks allowed, 1-time Pro Bowler)

Broncos
DT Tommie Harris (939 tackles, 105 sacks, 1 INT, 12 FFs, 18 FRs, 2-time Pro Bowler, started all 272 B8NFLL games)
RE Chris Johnson (419 tackles, 65 sacks, 9 FFs, 7 FRs, 3-time Pro Bowler)
WR Golden Tate
QB Mark Sanchez
ROLB Kyle Williams
WR Derrick Williams
QB Kirby Freeman (76.1 passer rating, 29276 yards, 203 TDs, 181 INTs, Off. RotY, 1-time Pro Bowler, former #1 overall pick by Titans)
DT Jordan White (Def. RotY, 1-time Pro Bowler)
TE Dustin Keller

Browns
TE Julius Thomas
SS Nick Baldwin
CB Joe Bolden

Buccaneers
DT Rob Armstrong (727 tackles, 91 sacks, 14 FFs, 10 FRs, 3-time Pro Bowler)
QB Bobby Reid
WR Willie Sullivan
LT Chris Rutledge
CB D.J. Hayden

Chiefs
HB LeGarrette Blount (11293 total yards, 53 TDs)
CB Pat Parrish
CB Sean Smith (273 tackles, 35 INTs, 6 FFs, 11 FRs, 4-time Pro Bowler)

Colts
WR Mario Manningham (623 rec for 8387 yards, 78 total TDs, 4-time Pro Bowler)
CB Brandon Browner (2-time Pro Bowler)

Commanders
RT Daniel Inman (985 blocks, 79 sacks allowed. 7-time Pro Bowler, 3-time OL of the Year)
FS Barry Church
HB Ryan Williams
CB John Nelson

Cowboys
QB Jay Cutler
TE Jimmy Graham

Dolphins
TE Zach Miller (915 rec for 7633 yards, 43 TDs, 6-time Pro Bowler, started all 224 games)

Eagles
P Kyle Larson (1-time Pro Bowler, taken by team in inaugural season fantasy draft)
LT Sam Baker (former #1 overall pick by team, started 196 games)

Express
OLB Koa Misi (794 tackles, 40 sacks, 14 INTs, 14 FFs, 17 FRs, Def RotY)
MLB John Abbate (1291 tackles, 32 sacks, 12 INTs, 15 FFs, 27 FRs, 1-time Pro Bowler)
HB Pierre Thomas

Falcons
RG Dallas Reynolds
FS Travis Hudson
LOLB Vince Johnson

49ers
K Josh Scobee (435 FGM, taken by 49ers in inaugural season fantasy draft)
LT Geoff Schwartz

Giants
TE Rory Nicol (835 rec for 5948 yards, 28 TDs, 1-time Pro Bowler, started all 208 games)

Jaguars
C Kyle Young (726 blocks, 113 sacks allowed, 7-time Pro Bowler)
C Mark Fenton (211 blocks, 30 sacks allowed)

Jets
SS Roman Harper (765 tackles, 22 sacks, 15 INTs, 15 FFs, 18 FRs, 1-time Pro Bowler)
DT Charles Alexander (528 tackles, 81 sacks, 20 FFs, 6 FRs, 3-time Pro Bowler)

Lions
RT Germayle Franklin
ROLB Willie Williams (843 tackles, 75 sacks, 18 INTs, 16 FFs, 21 FRs, Def. RotY, 2-time Pro Bowler)
TE James Dray
FS Tyvon Branch (328 tackles, 2 sacks, 22 INTs, 6 FFs, 13 FRs, 1-time Pro Bowler)

Orcas
RT Andrew Whitworth (782 blocks, 82 sacks allowed, 1-time Pro Bowler)
WR Ted Ginn (918 rec, 12399 yards, 120 total TDs, 1-time WR of the Year, 4-time Pro Bowler)
HB Knowshon Moreno (7584 total yards, 38 TDs, 1000 yard rusher with Bears, Bengals, and Broncos)
QB Josh Freeman
HB Justin Forsett
DT Roy Miller

Packers
P Andy Groom (career 28-31 as a kicker)
SS Kenny Phillips (536 tackles, 14 sacks, 20 INTs, 9 FFs, 6 FRs, 2-time Pro Bowler)
DT Marlon Favorite (435 tackles, 80 sacks, 10 FFs, 7 FRs)
HB Chris Johnson

Panthers
MLB Reggie Outlaw

Patriots
none

Pioneers
K Nate Kaeding (471 FGM, 2-time K of the Year, 1-time Pro Bowler, taken by Pioneers in inaugural season fantasy draft)
LT D'Brick Ferguson
C Chad Rose

Raiders
none

Rams
P Andy Lee
DT Red Bryant (726 tackles, 80 sacks, 2 INTs, 12 FFs, 8 FRs, 2-time Pro Bowler)
LOLB Jerry Hughes (3-time Pro Bowler)
RT Winston Justice (former #1 overall pick by Falcons)
WR Patrick Turner (624 rec for 8575 yards, 60 TDs, 3-time Pro Bowler)

Ravens
ROLB Leland Jones (953 tackles, 30 sacks, 12 INTs, 11 FFs, 20 FRs, 1-time Pro Bowler)
CB Leodis McKelvin (1-time Pro Bowler)
TE Brandon Pettigrew

Seahawks
WR Carlos Thomas
TE Delanie Walker
ROLB Luke Kuechly

Steelers
SS Ian Cox (697 tackles, 17 sacks, 25 INTs, 13 FFs, 20 FRs, 2-time Pro Bowler)

Titans
RT Phil Trautwein (553 blocks, 43 sacks allowed, 4-time Pro Bowler)

Vikings
RT Junius Coston (746 blocks, 74 sacks allowed. 4-time SB champion)
LOLB Von Miller (681 tackles, 30 sacks, 20 INTs, 8 FFs, 16 FRs, 1-time Pro Bowler, only 1st round pick by SpeeDLeemon)

Wildcats
FB David Livingston (1-time Pro Bowler)
TE Tate Casey (1-time Pro Bowler)
RE Raymond Henderson (43 sacks)

Notable Free Agent retirements
QB Matt Ryan (Off Roty, 1-time Pro Bowler)

KCF0107 posted...

Titans
RT Phil Trautwein

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Guess I'm going to have to take a look at linebackers

Lot of interesting names there

Marvin Harrison and Michael Strahan as coordinators is pretty cool.

Manningham and Browner retiring, not as cool lol

Going hard this year guys, trades, other trades, also a trade or 2. Let me know everyone and every pick is up for grabs. Let me know what you got/want

Steelers trade block (All cap numbers are after dead money)

DE Mitch Freeman 89 OVR (27yo - 1yr / 8.07) - 60 Tackles / 10 Sacks / 1 FF over last 2 seasons

G Glenn Castle 88 OVR (30yo - 1yr / 5.37) - 198 Blocks / 36 Sacks (5.5 career ratio)

DT Kenny Clark 81 OVR (25yo - 1yr / 6.1) - 84 Tackles / 12 Sacks / 1 FF over last seasons (RFA eligible next season)

QB David Blough 78 OVR (24 yo - 2yr / 3.67) - Awful in his rookie season. He was a projected 1st/2nd pick who I got in the 3rd. Would be rolling the dice on him being better than his stats (Carr and Locker were also really bad for me). I just need a more reliable backup as my margin for error on offense is tiny so it's harder for me to gamble on last year just being an awful QB year all around

Then these guys would just be cheap backup pieces who haven't really played

G Short 80 OVR (24yo - 1yr / 2.49) - RFA eligible next season
OLB Baker 74 OVR (25yo - 1yr / 1.69)
CB Johnson 72 OVR (30yo - 2.69) - This probably isn't cheaper than FAs / late draft fodder

The Chiefs are looking to trade their entire season 30 draft for a 3rd round pick

Ranlom posted...

The Chiefs are looking to trade their entire season 30 draft for a 3rd round pick

I'll take this if you make it your entire season 20 draft.

KCF would veto the season 30 one anyway. (tag)

Wouldn't be a legal trade even if it wasn't ridiculous one sided (and he's obviously joking)

Shattered posted...

Wouldn't be a legal trade even if it wasn't ridiculous one sided (and he's obviously joking)

I know he's joking. But you know me: I like calling bluffs for lulz.

Offseason in a Nutshell

There are four major events during the offseason. They will be explained in full detail when the time comes, but here they are:

1. Restricted Free Agency
2. Unrestricted Free Agents
3. NFL Draft + Signing Rookies
4. Free Agency

Restricted Free Agency - This is the most complex of the four, yet it is the one that has the lowest activity. A small sub-section of players whose contracts run out are considered restricted free agents. These players can, but do not have to, be signed by their original teams to a 1 year contract at one of three fixed amounts. Those that do sign can then be offered contracts by any of the other 31 teams to multiyear deals. Any team who has a player sign a contract with another team will then have the opportunity to match said contract or let them sign with another team and receive NFL Draft pick compensation.

Unrestricted Free Agents - Any player with an expired contract who was not considered a restricted free agent is thus an unrestricted free agent. Teams then can elect to re-sign the remaining players or let them enter the free agent market. Unlike the previous event, the other 31 teams cannot do anything to you, so you are free to operate without outside pressure. There are a few more wrinkles, but it is pretty straightforward.

NFL Draft + Signing Rookies - This is an event where all 32 teams can select college football players to join their team. Each team normally has seven draft picks, one for each of the seven rounds of the draft. The order that a team selects is based on their record and playoff performance, if applicable, from the season before. Earlier in the topic, I mentioned this season's draft order, and all teams are free to trade draft picks. After the draft, a separate period of time is devoted to signing all the players that a team drafted.

Free Agency - All players not signed or re-signed in the previous three events enter the free agent pool, and this is the time that every team is able to bid on the services of those without a team (aka free agents).

What happens if you idle during the offseason?

For starters, anyone is free to ask me for advice at any point, and if real life requires you to take a small break at some point that prevents you from doing an event or more, feel free to ask me to temporarily take over your team, and I will make decisions as if I were in charge of your team. However, if the worst comes to pass, I have safety nets in place to protect user teams.

Should you idle during Restricted Free Agency, I will sign a random two players, if applicable, to random tender levels. I will not participate in the second phase on behalf of your team, and should any of your RFAs be signed by other players during that phase, I will default to not matching the deal in the third and final phase.

Should you idle during Unrestricted Free Agency, I officially sign a random half of your players, rounding up, to the contracts that they ask for.

Should you idle during the draft, I will draft as if I were in charge of your team.

Should you idle during free agency, this is unavoidably the most harsh of the four offseason events. I will not sign any players for you and the AI will fill the holes on your behalf at the conclusion of free agency.

The Almighty Slash Line

All contracts will be presented to you via slash lines. It is imperative that you interpret and understand a slash line and its components, so here is an example to kick off my seasonal explanation:

3 / $9.00 mil / $1.80 mil

3 = length in seasons that the contract will last. All contracts will end up being between 1-7 seasons in length. There are some in-game and league-mandated limitations on length, but I will explain that rather soon.

$9.00 mil = Total salary that a player will earn over the life of the contract should the contract not be reworked while still under said contract or the player released.

Using this example, the player will receive $9.00 mil over three seasons, which gives him an average cap hit of $3.00 mil. His cap hit will not be $3.00 mil in each season though. This contract will see the player's cap hit rise each season, so his first year cap hit might be $2.42 mil, $2.90 mil for the second season, and $3.68 mil for the final season.

$1.80 mil = Portion of total salary that is guaranteed, aka signing bonus. For most, this is the hardest thing to grasp about the slash line and contracts in general. The NFL does not have fully guaranteed contracts, which means that what a player signs for might not actually be what they receive in the end. The team that signs a player to a contract will always be on the hook for the final figure in a slash line, with the only exception being if a player retires while under contract.

Using this example, the player might have a cap hit of $2.42, $2.90, and $3.68 mil in the first, second, and third seasons. However, his signing bonus is stretched out evenly across every season. The annual bonus in this contract would be $600k ($1.80 mil / 3 years). The annual bonus is a feature on the team financial sheet, so that info will always be available to you.

Now, if you trade or release a player under contract with guaranteed money, you will receive a reduction in your salary cap space, aka cap penalty, that is equal to their annual bonus x the years remaining on their contract. Using this example once again, let's say the player is released after the first season. That would leave him with $1.20 mil left in guaranteed money ($600k annual bonus x 2 years left on contract). The team that signed him to that contract would then be issued a cap penalty the following offseason to the tune of $1.20 mil.

If that player would be traded instead, the original team would receive the same cap penalty, but the new team would have a discounted contract. Because the original team is always on the hook for the guaranteed money, the $1.20 mil that is still owed that player is taken out of the contract for the new team. If the cap hits for years 2 and 3 were originally $2.90 and $3.68 mil and the annual bonus was $600k, then the new cap hits for the new team would be $2.30 and $3.08 mil. The new team could then release or trade the player at any time without financial repercussions since the contract no longer had any guaranteed money attached.

Finally, in case someone doesn't know, mil = dollars in millions while k = dollars in thousands.

To Do:
- Calculate new salary cap
- Hall of Fame ballot
- Update spreadsheet to remove retired players, adjust ratings, adjust ages/contracts, make sure to include AI to User financial changes and vice versa, etc...
- Do trivia/interesting tidbits like I always do about ironman streaks/coaches/whatever

KCF0107 posted...

Head Coach
Lions hire Bengals HC Brett Favre

OH NO

This feels so very, very wrong.

B8NFLL Hall of Fame Ballot

The following posts will contain 15 players and their career accomplishments up for immortalization. It has been suggested that I don't stick to a 15-person ballot in the future, but I thought this was a very strong group overall, so I made sure to add fringe guys that have low odds of enshrinement to round out the group.

This is a yes/no exercise, and there are no limits/minimum requirements to who you say yes to. Participation is of course voluntary, and you can PM them to me, DM me on Discord, post in the topic, discuss or whatever. You decide what your criteria for selection is. You can base it solely off of the context of B8NFLL, compare to real life stats, or some marriage of the two. Given how active participation in the league has its peaks and valleys, I will not have a specific target percentage of Yes votes that will ensure enshrinement. It will of course be north of 50% at the very least.

1. WR Ted Ginn
- Played S4-S16 for Eagles, S17 for Orcas (204 starts)
- 918 receptions for 12399 yards, 113 TDs (including 1 rushing)
- 299 kick returns for 7600 yards, 260 punt returns for 3038 yards, 7 return TDs
- Per 16 game averages of 72.0 receptions for 972.4 yards, 9.4 total TDs
- 1-time Co-WR of the Year (S13)
- 4-time Pro Bowler (S7, S9, S11, S13)

Ginn ranks among active and just retired players 2nd in receptions, 2nd in yards, 1st in TD receptions, 2nd in total TDs

2. WR Mario Manningham
- Played all 13 seasons for Colts (179 games, 151 starts)
- 623 receptions for 8387 yards, 71 TDs (including 1 rushing)
- 440 kick returns for 10454 yards, 408 punt returns for 4505 yards, 8 return TDs
- Co-Offensive Rookie of the Year (S5)
- 1-time Returner of the Year (S5)
- 4-time Pro Bowler (S10, S15, S16, S17)

Manningham ranks among active and just retired WRs 8th in receptions, 6th in yards, 6th in TD receptions

3. WR Patrick Turner
- Played S6-S13 for Browns, S14-S17 for Rams (176 games, 159 starts)
- 624 receptions for 8575 yards, 60 TDs
- Per 16 game averages of 56.7 receptions for 779.5 yards, 5.4 TDs
- 3-time Pro Bowler (S14, S15, S17)

Turner ranks among active and just retired WRs 7th in receptions, 5th in yards, 8th in TDs

4. TE Zach Miller
- Played all 14 seasons for Dolphins (224 starts)
- 915 receptions for 7633 yards, 44 TDs
- Per 16 game averages of 65.3 receptions for 545.2 yards, 3.1 TDs
- 2-time solo or Co-TE of the Year (S14, S15)
- 6-time Pro Bowler (S5, S9, S12, S13, S14, S15)

Miller ranks among active and just retired TEs 1st in receptions (3rd overall), receiving yards, and TDs

5. C Kyle Young
- Played S3-S6 for Commanders, S7-S17 for Jaguars (204 games, 193 starts)
- 726 blocks vs 113 sacks allowed (6.4 blocks per sack allowed)
- Per 16 game averages of 56.9 blocks vs 8.8 sacks allowed
- 6-time Pro Bowler (S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S17)

Young ranks among active and just retired interior OL 1st in blocks, 2nd in sacks allowed

6. RT Daniel Inman
- Played all 15 seasons for Commanders (212 starts)
- 985 blocks vs 79 sacks allowed (12.4 blocks per sack allowed)
- Per 16 game averages of 74.3 blocks vs 5.9 sacks allowed
- 3-time solo or Co-OL of the Year (S3, S5, S6)
- 7-time Pro Bowler (S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9)

Inman ranks among active and just retired OTs 1st in blocks, 6th in sacks allowed

7. RT Phil Trautwein
- Played S4-10 for Ravens, S11-S17 for Titans (136 games, 122 starts)
- 553 blocks vs 43 sacks allowed (12.8 blocks per sack allowed)
- Per 16 game averages of 65.0 blocks vs 5.0 sacks allowed
- 4-Time Pro Bowler (S13, S14, S15, S16)

Trautwein ranks among active and just retired OTs 16th in blocks, 27th in sacks allowed

8. DT Charles Alexander
- Played all 13 seasons for Jets (179 games, 176 starts)
- 528 tackles, 81 sacks, 20 FFs, 6 FRs
- Per 16 game averages of 47.1 tackles, 7.2 sacks, 1.7 FFs, 0.5 FRs
- 3-time Pro Bowler (S6, S9, S10)

Alexander ranks among active and just retired DL 10th in tackles, T-17th in sacks, 1st in FFs (2nd overall)

9. DT Red Bryant
- Played S4-S9 for Buccaneers, S10-S12 for Packers, S13-S14 for Bears, S15-S17 for Rams (217 games, 205 starts)
- 726 tackles, 80 sacks, 2 INTs, 12 FFs, 8 FRs
- Per 16 game averages of 53.5 tackles, 5.8 sacks, 0.1 INTs, 0.8 FFs, 0.5 FRs
- 2-time Pro Bowler (S7, S15)

Bryant ranks among active and just retired DL 4th in tackles, T-19th in sacks, T-1st in INTs, T-9th in FFs

10. DT Rob Armstrong
- Played S3-S16 for Giants, S17 for Buccaneers (221 games, 199 starts)
- 727 tackles, 91 sacks, 14 FFs, 10 FRs
- Per 16 game averages of 52.6 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 1.0 FFs, 0.7 FRs
- 3-time Pro Bowler (S5, S9, S10)

Armstrong ranks among active and just retired DL 3rd in tackles, 10th in sacks, 6th in FFs

11. MLB John Abbate
- Played all 14 seasons for Express (215 games, 170 starts)
- 1291 tackles, 32 sacks, 12 INTs, 15 FFs, 27 FRs
- Per 16 game averages of 96.0 tackles, 2.3 sacks, 0.8 INTs, 1.1 FFs, 2.0 FRs
- 1-time Pro Bowler (S7)

Abbate ranks among active and just retired LBs 2nd in tackles, T-8th in FFs, 2nd in FRs

12. ROLB Willie Williams
- Played all 13 seasons for Lions (188 starts)
- 843 tackles, 75 sacks, 18 INTs, 16 FFs, 21 FRs
- Per 16 game averages of 71.7 tackles, 6.3 sacks, 1.5 INTs, 1.3 FFs, 1.7 FRs
- Defensive Rookie of the Year (S5)
- 2-time Pro Bowler (S5, S15)

Williams ranks among active and just retired LBs 20th in tackles, 2nd in sacks, T-7th in INTs, T-6th in FFs, 5th in FRs

13. CB Sean Smith
- Played S6-S14 for 49ers, S15-S17 for Chiefs (192 games, 176 starts)
- 273 tackles, 35 INTs, 6 FFs, 11 FRs, 2 def TDs
- Per 16 game averages of 22.7 tackles, 2.9 INTs, 0.5 FFs, 0.9 FRs
- 4-time Pro Bowler (S8, S14, S15, S16)

Smith ranks among active and just retired DBs 1st in INTs, T-13th in FRs

14. SS Ian Cox
- Played S6-S9 for Cowboys, S10-S17 for Steelers (188 games, 124 starts)
- 697 tackles, 17 sacks, 25 INTs, 13 FFs, 20 FRs, 7 def TDs
- Per 16 game averages of 59.3 tackles, 1.4 sacks, 2.1 INTs, 1.1 FFs, 1.7 FRs
- 2-time Pro Bowler (S13, S16)

Cox ranks among active and just retired DBs 4th in tackles, T-10th in INTs, 2nd in FFs, 1st in FRs, 1st in def TDs

15. SS Roman Harper
- Played all 11 seasons for Jets (166 games, 164 starts)
- 765 tackles, 22 sacks, 15 INTs, 15 FFs, 18 FRs, 4 def TDs
- Per 16 game averages of 73.7 tackles, 2.1 sacks, 1.4 INTs, 1.4 FFs, 1.7 FRs
- 1-time Pro Bowler (S12)

Harper ranks among active and just retired DBs 2nd in tackles, 2nd in sacks, 1st in FFs, 2nd in FRs. T-7th in def TDs

The deadline to submit a ballot will be Sunday, March 12th at 9 PM ET. I will do a quick count after the deadline and do a live ceremony in our Discord channel soon after.

Because I'm the only one capable of understanding the context of these players careers, I acknowledge that for some it can be difficult to evaluate these players as a result. As always, here is my public ballot to possibly be a reference tool for whatever the participants ultimately decide.

Ginn - Yes

Ginn would almost certainly be a real life Hall of Famer with this kind of career, so in a game that lack the prolific passing attacks that has been going on in real life, his numbers really jump out. He's third in career rec yards in B8NFLL history, and his 120 total TDs scored I believe are 2nd. His stellar work as a returner, and getting that Super Bowl ring in his final season are just the icing on the cake for a Hall of Fame career.

Manningham - No

He had quite the decorated career despite being a part of some terrible surrounding casts with the Colts. In a way, he's like a poor man's Ginn, and you have to wonder where he would have ended up statistically if he and Ginn swapped landing spots. His body of work doesn't quite reach Hall of Fame-caliber to me, but it was indeed a great career.

Turner - No

In terms of his five year peak (his final five seasons), he was probably the third-best WR in the league after Gonzie Massey and Stefon Diggs. He averaged roughly 950 yards and 10 TDs during that span. It's a shame that his career began just after War went crazy with Aaron Rodgers, who led the league in passing every season from S2-S5. If he combined his late-career peak with more production in his Browns tenure, I'd say his case would be very compelling.

Miller - Yes

Miller is probably the most complete TE that we've had and likely ever will have. I know TE stats are underwhelming, but he averaged over 60 receptions and nearly 550 yards every season. Among active TEs, nobody has more than 589 receptions or 4993 yards (34 year old Dwayne Allen for former, 31 year old Tim Wright for latter). Miller's rec and yardage totals might stand as B8NFLL records at the position. There's no performance stat to back this up, but he was also an excellent blocker. He was the #1 run-blocking TE and #8 in pass-blocking, and it showed amid a roster that kept churning OL. Also, you all know that I am a sucker for ironman streaks, and he started every game possible (in the regular season).

Young - Yes

Young is one of the more interesting cases. His ratios are great but not quite elite along the interior. However, he was responsible for a lot of blocks. The closest block total among true interior OL is Josh McNeil, who is still active and will add to his totals, with 564. That difference is quite obscene. He has also been quite decorated and has had a profound impact in the running game with the Jags, blocking for the likes of Hall of Famers Adrian Peterson and R.J. Jackson and incumbent Eddie Lacy who has 1100+ rushing yards in each season with the team. I wish I could remember the exact trade details that led him from Washington to the Jags as there were multiple of those in a short span. It could have been the Drew Brees/Keiwan Ratliff trade. It's not important, but this was an excellent career by the former 5th round pick.

Inman - Yes

There might be a performance peak, any position, as good as Inman across his first seven seasons. He had the following marks across those seasons:

81 blocks, 7 sacks
87 blocks, 3 sacks
101 blocks, 5 sacks
88 blocks, 4 sacks
93 blocks, 5 sacks
92 blocks, 4 sacks

A small dip in efficiency followed by injuries and small-sample size then caused him to only finish with 12.4 blocks per sack allowed, but damn was he was phenomenal and instrumental in two Super Bowl victories for the Commanders. In a list of candidates full of no-brainers, he might be the most obvious one.

Trautwein - Yes

I voted yes for Mike Jones last season for his phenomenal second-half career with the Titans. Trautwein is another such player. He play sporadically with the Ravens as mostly a swing OL who also dealt with some injuries. When he left for the Titans at the age of 31 to become their full-time RT, he began by posting 42 blocks against 1 sack allowed. He then followed that up with a five season stretch where he combined for 355 blocks vs 24 sacks allowed and four trips to the Pro Bowl. His final season was sadly cut short, but he didn't allow a sack in five games (10 blocks). His ratio ended up better than Inman's, and his per 16 game averages look fantastic. As defenses have started rising in recent seasons, Trautwein has continued playing at an elite level. His overall body of work might not be enough for people, but he's a Hall of Famer to me.

Alexander - No

It pains me to say no to Alexander. I wanted him the year he was drafted, but I was drafting in Fenny's stead. I felt like Alexander was the best pick for the Jets, so I took him for Fenny one or two spots before me when I was in charge of the Dolphins. Alexander was one of the main stars of the Fenny and early post-Fenny era Jets. He was never quite the two-way star he was always on the cusp of becoming, but he was very disruptive, especially with his absurd FF total. While I do agree that his impact was greater than his stats suggested (though his per 16 game sack total is very good for a DT), it just wasn't quite enough for me to call him a Hall of Famer.

Bryant - Yes

I expect people to look at his per 16 totals and be unimpressed and maybe even think Alexander was superior. I think he was one of the best two-way DTs that we've had. He began his career with the Bucs who back then were bleeding talent due to inactivity, and he ascended there pretty quickly, allowing that defense to keep them as a perennial playoff team. Then he went to the Packers where he continued making a big impact. The Packers D became a perennially great unit and the team went 29-19 with two division titles during his tenure. He then made his way to the Bears where while he may not have transformed that defense, he did perform to the tune of 142 tackles, 15 sacks, 3 FRs in two seasons there. He then went to the Rams for his final three seasons where they have pretty much been the league's best defense. His tackles went down (probably because the defense forced a lot of 3-and-outs and turnovers, but he did have 24 sacks and 4 FFs in three seasons. When you ask me what the ideal DT looks like, Bryant is near the top of my list.

Armstrong - No

While Armstrong had the luxury of a strong supporting cast for most of his career, that doesn't take away his personal accomplishments with comparable per 16 stats to Bryant and numerous Pro Bowl trips (as well as a Super Bowl title). It does muddle his impact some. That being said, looking at his year-by-year stats, he did seem to rise to the occasion when he graduated from one of the newer guys to one of the old guard. Even though his career and per 16 stats suggest it, he didn't seem to quite come up with a complete season. His 70 tackle, 12 sack (with no FFs or FRs) S11 looks vastly different from his seasons with more modest tackle and sack totals while typically averaging 2-ish FFs+FRs. He is definitely one of the better fringe cases, but I think I have to say no for now.

Abbate - Yes

Abbate, the former 206th overall pick, might be the prime example of an underrated career. From his draft origins to his three seasons as a backup before becoming a starter to his high level of play to his lack of recognition, I can't think of anyone else who had a more underrated and unheralded career off the top of my head. There's a lot of statistically comparable players that will be retiring in the coming seasons, so it's good for Abbate that he retired now as his line and averages (sans the sacks) look pretty sexy. That, his impact on a team that grew into an elite defense, and me being a sucker for a good story make his candidacy a clear yes to me.

Williams - Yes

His tackling may not jump out, but he ended up being what modern real-life teams look for in a pass-rushing OLB. On sacks alone, he will probably end up with one of the highest totals at the LB position in our league's history. Even though he did miss a little more time than the average OLB, his INT/FF/FR still managed to look fantastic. He was also one of the best players on the team during their SB-winning season in S6. It's a close call, but his prolific work as a pass-rusher at his position is the deciding factor in me saying yes.

Smith - Yes

He's not the first player that I have said this about since I introduced the Hall of Fame voting, but Smith was sort of a tale of two players. During his 49ers tenure, he infused much needed talent into a sad-looking secondary as he became a shutdown corner that helped turn their D around while still providing a healthy amount of INTs. When he went to Kansas City to finish off his career, he became less of a shutdown corner and more of a ballhawker with 14 of his 35 career INTs coming in those final three seasons. He finished with 35, which I believe is good for the second-most in B8NFLL history, and he had four trips to the Pro Bowl. He also never missed a game and would have joined Zach Miller as players who started every game possible if not for being relegated to slot corner duty in S15 (he still had 6 INTs and made the Pro Bowl).

Cox
Harper - No

I'm just going to lump these two together because I feel like if you say yes to one you kind of have to say yes to the other. We've been spoiled by some good SS play over the years, and Harper and Cox are arguably less accomplished than some recent candidates that I said no to in recent seasons (Michael Huff, Thomas Davis, and Jessie Daniels). Those three even have DB of the Year awards to their name, with Davis becoming the first DB to be named Defensive Player of the Year. I will say that both were more consistent than the aforementioned three and Harper's per 16 stats do jump out at me. I would have liked to see him play another two seasons to see where things shook out. I have no qualms if they are ultimately enshrined though, but I don't want to say yes to pretty much everyone, and these two are a fringe case that as I have said, I have also said no to in recent years.

I should probably get around to the team financial/free agent sheet within the next day or two

I will be offline for the next 10 days so don't expect anything from me.

Oops, I forgot to do 16 game averages for Manningham. Eh, I don't feel like doing it this close to the deadline.

Hall of Fame Results

With seven voters, five votes were needed for enshrinement

WR Patrick Turner - 1 vote
DT Charles Alexander - 1 vote

WR Mario Manningham - 2 votes
SS Roman Harper - 2 votes

SS Ian Cox - 3 votes

RT Phil Trautwein - 4 votes
DT Rob Armstrong - 4 votes

C Kyle Young - 6 votes
DT Red Bryant - 6 votes
MLB John Abbate - 6 votes

WR Ted Ginn - 7 votes
TE Zach Miller - 7 votes
RT Daniel Inman - 7 votes
ROLB Willie Williams - 7 votes
CB Sean Smith - 7 votes

Congrats to our seventh Hall of Fame class!

Congrats to my longtime center. I ment to vote but forgot opps

We will most likely begin RFA on Friday, but it is possible we start late on Thursday

Restricted Free Agency

This minor but oddly detailed offseason event is for a small subset of players who just completed their untampered rookie contract that was exactly three years in length. These players are not eligible to be originally offered multi-year contracts by the team that holds their rights but instead one-year contracts of fixed figures based on the tender level that you offer them.

Our Tender Levels for this season
No Tender = no potential draft pick compensation = $0
Low Tender = potential original round draft pick compensation = $1.26 mil
Mid Tender = potential 1st round draft pick compensation = $2.74 mil
High Tender = potential 1st + 3rd round draft pick compensation = $3.65 mil

Now, the mentioning of draft pick compensation there is only applicable if another team attempts to sign your player. It has no bearing on this first phase of RFA. It wouldn't make much sense if you had to give up draft picks to sign your own player now would it? Newcomers and people who don't have a good memory are certainly free to ask me what round a player was drafted in if that affects their tender level.

That being said, you might want to keep in mind about that draft pick compensation when you determine what tender to offer your player. If you think highly of your player, you might want to offer the highest tender to deter other teams from attempting to sign them. If you don't consider a player to be a part of your future plans, you might want to offer the low tender so that they barely count against your cap space and you could end up even getting draft pick compensation if someone else wants him.

A word of advice from me: The full monetary amount attached to the tenders is NOT GUARANTEED and in many cases is less than what they would make on the open market, so there is essentially 0 risk to offering all of your players a tender unless you personally hate them with a passion.

You can also engage trade talks with other teams so that you can prearrange a trade that if X player is not signed by another team, you will trade them to Y team for Z compensation that might be lower than what Y team would have had to give up to sign them during RFA. In this scenario, you might want to offer the highest tender level to deter the maximum amount of teams from disrupting the trade.

RFA Rules

1. I will privately contact every user and inform them of their RFAs and the tender levels. If you dont have any RFAs, then you won't be notified.

2. Users will have three days to inform me which players they wish to sign and at what tender level.

3. I will publicly reveal all RFAs from user and A.I. teams that can be signed by other teams (AKA were offered a tender) plus their draft pick compensation and the base kind of deal they are looking for.

4. I will give users seven days to decide any action, if any, they wish to take. If they do wish to take further action, they will PM me.

Now by "any action you wish to take," I mean that everyone has an opportunity to attempt to sign RFAs from other teams. You might see some sticker shock but keep in mind that some positions are more expensive (WRs, DTs, QBs) than others (OLBs, Cs, TEs) relative to their overall rating. An 80 WR will usually be more expensive than a 90 C, and that's just how things are

5. If a team attempts to sign another teams RFA, then the user who owns the RFAs rights will have three days to decide whether or not to match the offer.

The deadline for the first phase (encompassing rule #s 1 + 2) will be Monday, March 20th at 4 PM ET. As always, do not hesitate to ask me any questions.

How long is the next phase going to last? I can do this one but I won't be around at all next week.

Edit: I see "seven days" and presume I won't be able to do anything. I will ask in my PM.

RFA Phase 2

The following posts will contain a list of all RFAs, sorted by team, that were offered tenders by their team during the first phase. Each player will have in parenthesis the draft pick compensation required to sign (not simply offer but actually sign) them as well as the default deal that they are looking for to the side.

In order to even submit an offer to a player, you must have the draft picks on hand. Post #3 has the NFL Draft order, which includes any draft pick ownership changes based on previous trades. You should keep in mind that if you own multiple picks in a round, signing an RFA will have you lose the worst of however many picks you have. For example, let's say the Wildcats try to sign Vikings LT Adrian Parker . They own the 10th and 20th picks in the 2nd round. Should Parker accept their offer and the Vikings elect not to match their offer in the third phase, the Wildcats will end up giving the Vikings the 20th pick in the 2nd round (52nd overall).

Going back to the deals in question, these deals are for the other 31 teams in the league. The team who first offered the tender is stuck with the 1 year deal unless a team submits an offer during this phase. You can also offer them a long term deal later on in the offseason as well as any time during the pre, regular, and postseason, but what's important right now is that you understand that you can do nothing about your own RFAs at this moment.

If you do wish to submit an offer to an RFA from another team, the deal mentioned is not the exact deal that you have to offer them. You are free to mess with the years, total money, and/or guaranteed money. As a word of caution though, unless you are trying some bizarre psychological attack to where you offer a deal that would devastate a team financially but would be practically forced to accept, you will want to submit an offer that would ultimately net you the player you seek. Not only that, but you are in essence competing with 30 other teams for the right to simply sign an RFA. If you skimp out on any combination of years, total money, and guaranteed money, you are decreasing, sometimes substantially, the odds that you will get the player.

If you do submit a custom offer, use the base deal as a benchmark. Using Bears LE Raymont Jones, he is asking for a 5 / $16.0 mil / $2.00 mil contract. Dividing the latter two figures by the years, you find out that he is asking for an average cap hit of $3.2 mil (16.0 / 5) and annual bonus of $400k mil (2.0 / 5).

I hope that everyone understands the slash line that I explained earlier in the topic, but if not, do not hesitate to ask any questions. You can direct them to me via PM, through the topic, or Discord.

Do not feel compelled to be active in this phase if you don't want to. While most users do not, several do as well as the AI, so it isn't as if nothing happens.

The deadline to submit offers for the second phase of RFA will be Monday, March 27th at 7 PM ET

Bears
WR Chester Rogers (1st) - 3 / $22.3 mil / $3.75 mil
LE Raymont Jones (3rd) - 5 / $16.0 mil / $2.0 mil
ROLB Leon Jacobs (2nd) - 4 / $11.2 mil / $1.80 mil
CB Brad Freeborg (3rd) - 5 / $13.4 mil / $1.65 mil

Bengals
WR Breshad Perriman (2nd) - 3 / $16.7 mil / $2.82 mil
DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches (2nd) - 5 / $24.9 mil / $4.9 mil
CB Tavon Young (3rd) - 5 / $21.2 mil / $2.25 mil
RE Rob Wolford (4th) - 5 / $14.7 mil / $1.80 mil
LT Dean Hall - 5 / $14.5 mil / $2.15 mil

Bills
LG Doug Pope (3rd) - 4 / $12.9 mil / $2.48 mil
QB Damien Swain (6th) - 5 / $13.2 mil / $2.10 mil
DT John Turner (7th) - 5 / $17.1 mil / $2.95 mil

Broncos
LT Le'Raven Clark (2nd) - 4 / $17.6 mil / $3.40 mil
HB DeAndre Washington (3rd) - 5 / $16.9 mil / $2.95 mil
RE Zack Black (4th) - 5 / $14.1 mil / $1.75 mil

Browns
ROLB Jacob Martin (3rd) - 4 / $10.2 mil / $1.60 mil
CB Scott Manning (2nd) - 5 / $18.1 mil / $2.05 mil

Buccaneers
CB Adoree' Jackson (1st + 3rd) - 4 / $39.3 mil / $8.52 mil

Chiefs
RT Cam Robinson (1st) - 3 / $13.2 mil / $2.55 mil
LG Darren Levy (4th) - 4 / $10.4 mil / $1.88 mil
HB Rodney Williams (4th) - 5 / $12.6 mil / $2.10 mil

Colts
QB Eugene Nagy (1st) - 5 / $23.4 mil / $3.90 mil
RT Floyd Burns (3rd) - 4 / $12.6 mil / $2.0 mil

Commanders
MLB Luke Randolph (3rd) - 3 / $12.1 mil / $1.08 mil
LOLB Jessie Woods (4th) - 4 / $10.2 mil / $1.60 mil
CB Ken Crawley (2nd) - 5 / $19.6 mil / $2.15 mil

Cowboys
FS Eddie Jackson (1st) - 3 / $14.3 mil / $2.85 mil
RE Robert Sullivan (4th) - 5 / $14.7 mil / $1.80 mil

Dolphins
C Neil Christman (1st) - 2 / $10.9 mil / $2.50 mil
CB Marlon Humphrey (1st + 3rd) - 4 / $39.3 mil / $8.52 mil
ROLB Eli Harold (1st) - 3 / $21.6 mil / $4.23 mil
SS Terrell Edmunds (1st) - 2 / $9.39 mil / $1.00 mil
HB Javorius Allen (2nd) - 4 / $19.9 mil / $3.76 mil
RT Jamie Maddox (4th) - 4 / $13.6 mil / $2.20 mil

Eagles
FB Michael Burton (1st) - 2 / $11.0 mil / $2.54 mil
DT Darius Philon (1st + 3rd) - 4 / $41.3 mil / $7.60 mil

Express
MLB Rodney Sylvester (1st) - 3 / $19.2 mil / $3.06 mil
QB Luke Falk (3rd) - 5 / $19.3 mil / $3.20 mil

Falcons
ROLB Chase Allen (1st + 3rd) - 3 / $23.4 mil / $4.62 mil
TE Maxx Williams (1st) - 3 / $16.4 mil / $3.15 mil

49ers
CB Mike Hilton (1st) - 4 / $23.0 mil / $2.92 mil
WR Bob Reynolds (3rd) - 3 / $12.6 mil / $2.01 mil

Giants
SS Justin Reid (1st) - 2 / $11.4 mil / $1.28 mil
WR Chris Conley (2nd) - 3 / $15.7 mil / $2.61 mil
RG Wendell Bell (3rd) - 4 / $12.1 mil / $2.28 mil
CB Trevor Williams (2nd) - 5 / $22.7 mil / $2.35 mil

Jaguars
TE Darren Waller (1st) - 3 / $13.0 mil / $2.25 mil
MLB Preston Brown (1st) - 3 / $19.2 mil / $3.06 mil
QB Reuben Lane (4th) - 4 / $22.7 mil / $4.08 mil

Jets
LG Colby Gossett (2nd) - 4 / $12.9 mil / $2.48 mil
RE Charles Harris (1st) - 5 / $16.7 mil / $2.05 mil

Lions
RT Wayne Brown (3rd) - 4 / $14.1 mil / $2.28 mil
DT Marvin Gilbert (3rd) - 5 / $18.7 mil / $3.35 mil

Orcas
C Orlando Winters (1st) - 2 / $12.4 mil / $3.06 mil
CB Brian Poole (1st) - 4 / $34.7 mil / $6.96 mil
HB Robert Kelly (4th) - 4 / $22.7 mil / $4.32 mil
RT Sam Tevi (2nd) - 3 / $13.2 mil / $2.55 mil
RE Anthony Zettel (2nd) - 5 / $16.7 mil / $2.05 mil
LT Derrick Taylor (2nd) - 5 / $16.4 mil / $2.60 mil

Packers
FB Andy Janovich (1st) - 2 / $11.0 mil / $2.54 mil
ROLB Shaquem Griffin (1st + 3rd) - 4 / $10.7 mil / $1.72 mil

Patriots
QB Logan Woodside (4th) - 4 / $22.7 mil / $4.08 mil

Pioneers
DT Harold Jackson (4th) - 5 / $21.7 mil / $4.15 mil
LOLB Genard Avery (4th) - $10.7 mil / $1.72 mil
WR Kevin White (4th) - 3 / $10.6 mil / $1.65 mil

Raiders
LG Stanley Schneidmiller (1st) - 3 / $31.2 mil / $6.33 mil
RG Jamal Tucker (3rd) - 3 / $13.9 mil / $2.73 mil

Rams
FS Adrian Colbert (4th) - 3 / $11.7 mil / $2.07 mil
DT Orlando Lewis (3rd) - 4 / $23.7 mil / $4.68 mil
RG Jessie Hunt (2nd) - 4 / $11.3 mil / $2.12 mil

Ravens
ROLB Eugene Hendricks (1st) - 3 / $14.4 mil / $2.67 mil
WR Devin Funchess (1st) - 3 / $16.7 mil / $2.82 mil
HB Jeremy Langford (4th) - 5 / $15.8 mil / $2.75 mil

Seahawks
TE Mike Gesicki (1st) - 3 / $19.7 mil / $4.23 mil
LOLB Shaun Dion Hamilton (4th) - 4 / $10.7 mil / $1.72 mil

Steelers
SS Ronnie Harrison (1st) - 2 / $8.16 mil / $780k
RG Donald Stabler (2nd) - 3 / $13.9 mil / $2.73 mil
LE Noah Spence (3rd) - 5 / $16.7 mil / $2.05 mil

Titans
K Younghoe Koo (1st) - 2 / $4.53 mil / $620k
CB Jason Burt (1st) - 4 / $30.0 mil / $5.32 mil

Vikings
FS Marcus Williams (1st + 3rd) - 3 / $16.0 mil / $3.30 mil
HB C.J. Prosise (3rd) - 4 / $22.7 mil / $4.32 mil
LT Adrian Parker (2nd) - 4 / $20.6 mil / $4.40 mil
RG Neil Bell (4th) - 4 / $12.9 mil / $2.48 mil

Wildcats
C Brian Allen (4th) - 3 / $9.97 mil / $1.86 mil
ROLB Stephen Patton (4th) - 4 / $11.2 mil / $1.80 mil

And we have a trade

Giants receive:
QB Aaron Murray (88 overall, 29 years old)
Wildcats 1st round pick (20th overall)
Wildcats S19 4th round pick

Wildcats receive:
Giants 1st round pick (8th overall)
Giants 2nd round pick (40th overall)
Giants S19 2nd round pick

The Wildcats will incur a $4 mil cap penalty to shed a $7.98 mil cap hit

The Giants will assume a $5.98 mil cap hit

The Giants signed have had injured and poor QB performance the past two seasons after letting Ben Olson walk as a free agent. Among players with 1000+ passing attempts, Murray is 4th in career passer rating among active players and has 30 more TDs than INTs in his 5.5 years as a starter. For a team that saw its TE retire and the receiving corps pretty much down to a 34-year-old Jeremy Maclin, getting one of the best QBs in the league in the middle of his career should both provide an immediate boost in the passing game and aid in development of new WRs and TEs.

The Wildcats are under new management and wish to remake the team in their image. While Murray has been great for the team, he is arguably their best trading asset to clear cap space and add Day 1 draft picks to help install more talent and depth needed to get this team over the hump into the playoffs.

Both parties understood the trade parameters, the financial impact, the history of the player involved, and what each team hoped to achieve. This trade is now official.

Only today and tomorrow to get your offers in

Less than 24 hrs now

RFA Phase 2 has ended. I have notified those who have actions to take for Phase 3. The deadline for the final phase will be 7:30 PM ET on Thursday, March 30th. If I receive everything before the deadline, we could move to the next offseason event sooner.

Tag

RFA Phase 3 results

Patriots have signed Vikings RG Neil Bell to a 4 year deal. The Vikings have elected not to match and receive the Pats 4th round pick

Panthers have signed Wildcats ROLB Stephon Patton to a 4 year deal. The Wildcats have elected not to match and receive the Panthers 4th round pick

Browns have signed Orcas CB Brian Poole to a 4 year deal. The Orcas matched the contract

Giants have signed Jags TE Darren Waller to a 3 year deal. The Jaguars elected not to match and receive the Wildcats 1st round pick

Bucs have signed Rams FS Adrian Colbert to a 3 year deal. The Rams elected not to match and receive the Bucs 4th round pick

Ravens have signed Wildcats C Brian Allen to a 3 year deal. The Wildcats elected not to match and receiv the Ravens 4th round pick

Commanders have signed Buccaneers CB Adoree' Jackson to a 4 year deal. The Buccaneers matched the contract.

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 you 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 on Discord or the spreadsheet. 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 not 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 one user has a pair of holdouts. 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.

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:
DT Earl Mitchell - 3 / $10.2 mil / $1.83 mil
or
DT Earl Mitchell 2 year default

Franchise Tag:
Nobody

Not re-signing:
LG Damien Bell

The deadline for signing your UFAs will be Thursday, April 13th at 8 PM ET

Okay, I was able to get Bears through Jets done. I will make sure to do the final eight in the next 12-18 hours. The spreadsheet does not reflect RFA stuff, but I wanted to get out as many UFA PMs as I could to ensure users have two weeks to do them as I am planning on making the draft take place April 21st-23rd.