Contract Extension Details
Without further ado, please find more details about our new contract extension feature that will be rolled out and live for leagues starting this upcoming 2017 NFL season:
- The extension feature is an option, not a mandate: Commissioners will be able to select the number of extensions per team, per year (from zero to nine) during league set up and in the league settings. The recommended and default value will be one, because we still believe, first and foremost, that it’s important to have as much talent as possible in the Free Agency pool each year.
- Players will be eligible to sign extensions during the NFL season: From week 5 through week 14, players in the final year of their contract will be eligible for an extension.
- Offensive and Defensive skill position players will be eligible: These players accumulate statistics that make for better valuations.
- An algorithm will act on behalf of the player (i.e. agent): On the contract tab you’ll see an “extend” button beside each eligible player, which when clicked, will display the requested length and a contract amount for the given player. Along with the amount, two more buttons will appear, a “sign” and a “cancel” button.
- Extension terms are specific to your league: Data from your league (scoring settings, roster settings, contracts, etc.) is used to derive the player’s extension value.
- Values may fluctuate throughout the season: Weekly player performance will impact extension values, so a week after a 12-catch, 140 yard, 2 TD performance, Antonio Brown might be asking for an extra $1MM+ per year. Once you’ve “signed” the player, the extension is locked so weekly performance won’t be a factor.
- A player will not accept a pay cut: This is intended to be a safeguard against below-market extensions for underperforming and/or injured players (i.e. DeAndre Hopkins, Allen Robinson, etc.). This acts as a fail safe for us against severely under performing players.
- Be prepared for difficult decisions: The requested amount is intended to be realistic, but first and foremost it’s intended to protect the player’s interest. In order to keep competitive balance, you might find a few examples where a player’s value seems inflated. If that happens, move on and check back in a week. If players were to sign a below-market contract, it could negatively impact the league, so we have done everything we can to help protect against that. You won’t often agree with the what the player’s agent believes they’re worth. If that’s the case, simply let them play out the last few weeks of their contract and test the open market!
- We do not recommend using the feature in the inaugural year of a league: If you’re starting a league and you want to turn on the feature, you do so at your own risk. The system won’t have much data to use when calculating values, so you should be prepared for potentially very funky values.
- Franchise Tag Players are not eligible during the season: In the NFL, players who have received the franchise tender have until July 15th to negotiate an extension with their teams. To emulate this on Reality Sports Online, Franchise tendered players can negotiate an extension until the end of the off-season (3 days prior to the Free Agency Auction).
If you’ve got questions, please reach out to Kyle, Matt, or Stephen @realitysportsonline.com.
