First Offseason Coming Up - Expiring Contracts

[kaykills]

Hi. I am brand new to the game and I loving the experience so far. I am in an online league and we are coming up to the trade deadline. I have a few expiring contracts I am trying to move. A couple of the players won't sign any kind of extension and want to explore free agency.

I have two questions.

1) Could that player change his mind and decide to negotiate with me before the end of the season? Or generally this won't happen.

2) Once free agency hits, is that player likely to sign with another team or do they still consider re-signing with you if your deal is good?

Thank you.

[Rain King]

1.) They are unlikely to open up negotiations if that is their current position, but it is not impossible.

2.) Yes, in most cases. There will be instances where they could either be angry with you or based on their wants that they will not consider you...but it wouldn't be specifically because they played on your team the previous year.

[NoOne]

things can change for all sorts of reasons.. even by the week.

trick is to click offer to see what they say, but don't submit anything... if you don't submit an offer you can't upset them.

no harm in puttting a tow in the water to check the temp.

2 - not wanting an extension doesn't mean they hate you.. if you submitted offers and upset them, that'd different.

in FA when you click offer, and before submitting it, they will tell you if it's an absolute no, immediately. if they say "i'm looking for ..." then tehy are willing to deal with you.

i typically have a very successful team, so i really don't experience anyone saying no, even though i always have a 'controlling' coach. i don't think i've ever seen a FA immeditely refuse my team, unless i upset them during arbitration negotiation or somethign similar during FA.

only if they absolutely refuse to speak about a contract is it a problem. more reason not to upset them before they go to FA. more likely greed is dictating their wish to test FA out.. some players just want to go to FA and it's less about their dislike of your team in particular.

[kaykills]

Guys thanks for the replies. Appreciate it.

[NoOne]

p.s. if oyu let them go to FA...

it becomes a game of timing... demands will drop, if inflated. knowing your league's typical salary range for a particular range of talent is important.

finance report -- shows top 25 contracts in league.. familiarize yourself with how much the max contracts are. familiarize yourself with how much the next tier down from superstars cost etc etc...

the ai may have a much lower offer -- that you cannot see. they get to submit immediately... you can only go below current demand by X%.. you have to guess what the others are offering in order to save the most money.

learn to draw a line in the sand relative to quality of the player. if current FA $ demand gets near that line, submit an offer when you can offer X% less than demand and be at or near that line you drew. sometimes it's a must buy, somtimes you can be cheap about it. if i can't miss, i am offering earlier and willing to pay a bit of a premium compared to other contexts.