any advice?

[markc]

First of all, I apologize for my crappy first draft - other things kind of snowballed on me (unplanned company in town) and i didn't get to give it the time needed. I even missed the fact that you could look at the player bars before the draft - my first few picks I was pretty much relying on the adjusted rating. excuses aside, I really hope that I haven't really set back the K-Whales too much, I'm sure everyone wants some healthy competition - not a pushover.

Anyway - my #1 draft pick appears to be pretty poor - about a 19/57. Should I even sign him to a big contract? Is there any hope that he might be a little better than forecast? What happens if I don't sign him?

Also, my mediocre RB is holding out. I have a couple rooks to replace him but I'd rather keep him around a season or two. His salary demands aren't horrible but I was wondering what people's experience are with negotiating with holdouts.

thanks,
Mark

[VitoStallion]

Ouch on the pick luck...I'd not sign him to big money. As for the 'hold-out', he'll sign easy

[JesterBlaze]

Odds are the salaries of both players won't come into play for your team. I'd sign 'em both assuming you have the $$$. Pre-Training-Camp #'s, such as the 19/57, can't be relied on and can change drastically as time goes on.

[Matt]

'Steamin' is mediocre????????

come on mang!

i'd sign them. it's not like it'll impact your cap at all

[Chris Rex]

Ditto on the 'ignore pre camp ratings'.

Don't make me tell my 'Kim Starks, 2nd Round FS' story again this offseason...

[Beeznik]

Your first round pick's ratings may well go up.

[markc]

how about low-balling the holdout - will he get go nuts and refuse to sign? Or do most owners end up paying holdouts about what they want?

[JesterBlaze]

I ignored Tobias Stanfield (my starting QB) a couple seasons back and he ended up playing in Week 1 but he refused to sign any deals after that and has been franchised a couple years running. If you value the guy then I'd sign him to a new contract... not low-ball or extraordinarily high.

[DakotaGeorge]

None of the money matters in FOF.

Cap will almost never come into play because the financial system of the game Is just terrible. You will see after you witness some FA contract offers. So dont worry about signing everyone no matter how good they are and dont worry about over paying free agents you can always reneg the deals down. This games finances are so exploitable. So just take the finance part off the game concentrate on learning how to gameplan and draft. those are the basic 2 things you do. Oh and conversate on here.

[DakotaGeorge]

Free Agent Strategy. If you find someone who actually makes it to free agency worth anything (not many do because of the endless amounts of money in this game) BUT! if you do find someone decent on the Free Agent list you want over bid for him. I mean big time. Offer him a very large bonus Bid ANYTHING and everything for the guy no matter how average he may seem. If you really want him over bid for him. They ALWAYS renegotiate their contract down to normal after you sign them anyways. You should see some of the nasty contracts offered out there. There was an average Tight End on the market last year that contract was amazing.

So what did you learn here? Bid whatever it takes no matter how messed up it seems because in the end what you bid never matters because they always reneg down to normal money.

[markc]

Thanks for the tips. I made my initial offer to my holdout below what he's asking but not by much. As for FA - yeah I was blown away by some of the contracts offered in early FA - so I don't have much hope to get any of the few rookies I'm interested in.

Free Agent Strategy. If you find someone who actually makes it to free agency worth anything (not many do because of the endless amounts of money in this game) BUT! if you do find someone decent on the Free Agent list you want over bid for him. I mean big time. Offer him a very large bonus Bid ANYTHING and everything for the guy no matter how average he may seem. If you really want him over bid for him. They ALWAYS renegotiate their contract down to normal after you sign them anyways. You should see some of the nasty contracts offered out there. There was an average Tight End on the market last year that contract was amazing.

So what did you learn here? Bid whatever it takes no matter how messed up it seems because in the end what you bid never matters because they always reneg down to normal money.

[JesterBlaze]

If you're somehow short on cap space just go through your guys renegotiating. I don't have the game open but off the top of my head I'd think VAN would be one of the teams with a better shot than most at getting some FAs. Go for 3 year high bonus offers on any you like and you'll be all set when they're restricted FAs to start year 4.

[JesterBlaze]

I ignored Tobias Stanfield (my starting QB) a couple seasons back and he ended up playing in Week 1 but he refused to sign any deals after that and has been franchised a couple years running.

hehe Here we go again...

[VitoStallion]

Free Agent Strategy. If you find someone who actually makes it to free agency worth anything (not many do because of the endless amounts of money in this game) BUT! if you do find someone decent on the Free Agent list you want over bid for him. I mean big time. Offer him a very large bonus Bid ANYTHING and everything for the guy no matter how average he may seem. If you really want him over bid for him. They ALWAYS renegotiate their contract down to normal after you sign them anyways. You should see some of the nasty contracts offered out there. There was an average Tight End on the market last year that contract was amazing.

So what did you learn here? Bid whatever it takes no matter how messed up it seems because in the end what you bid never matters because they always reneg down to normal money.

This is not allowed in this league---at least I thought we placed a rule here that says you can't resign guys until the final year of the contract. You SOUND pretty bitter here Dakota 8)

[W0LF3MAN813]

how come I cant see if my Rookies Signed yet?