Take the Texas Challenge! - Play your own "Action Points" FOF season

[QuikSand]

Take the Texas Challenge!

I have been toying around with a concept for house rules, and I think it’s fairly promising. For anyone who might be interested in a little solo FOF, and perhaps a chance to flex your muscles a bit by showing what you can do – I’d like very much if you will “Take the Texas Challenge” and play this career.

The files you will need are located here (It’s a 50 meg file, FYI):

Houston Texans, Start of Free Agency, 2009

Place them into your “universe” folder – you may want to back up anything that shares the same name, as this might overwrite something (I don’t think it would interfere with anything important, but I think the graphics file is in there and that would overwrite your color schemes and such).

[QuikSand]

Here is the general concept at work – for each season, you as a manager get a certain budget of “Action Points” with which to conduct your team’s operations. In a certain way, this works sort of like the salary cap, but it applies to most everything that you do. I have fiddled with the list of AP costs for a wide variety of things, but my hope is that if a dozen or so people play out a full season with these Texans, maybe we will find out some more about where the AP costs need to be tweaked to make then better.

The ultimate goal would be to have a list of AP costs that make the game viable as a “play all out” solo game – where an owner could do everything he can to win, and still be challenged and entertained. Therefore, if an AP cost is far too high, no owner would ever consider doing that thing… but if it’s far too low, then it would be an easy decision for many owners to do it in most seasons, and that suggests a problem to me. So, I’m hoping that by getting several sets of eyes and brains on this concept, we can iron out some of the details a bit further.

If people want to turn this into a competition – to see who can get the most out of this auto-managed 6-10 team in the coming season, I’m fine with that, too.


The one thing that I do ask is this – even though all I’m asking you to do is run one season, I would like for you to do three things:

#1 – please detail your use of Action Points, so I (or whomever) can see what things you did, and if possible when you did them. Copying and pasting from the AP list (coming soon) maybe with a note on the player being signed or renegotiated or whatever is fine.

#2 – give some feedback if you find things ambiguous, confusing, or whatever. I am interested in making this AP process approachable, and that’s a tall order – keeping track of AP will likely be tedious for some people, so I want it to be as clear and simple as it can be. Your feedback would be very helpful in this regard.

#3 – please play this season as if you were in it for the long haul. In some cases, it would be cheaper to (for instance) sign a player to a one year deal rather than a three year deal -- **please** try to think in terms of what you would do if you were in charge of this team for the long haul, and really got the benefit of playing for all three of those seasons that guy was under contract. So – please no solly contracts that blow up after one year or that sort of thing, unless that’s what you would be willing to do if this were really your team for a long GM career.

With that… I will post the current AP menu, and I’d be glad to respond to questions or comments from here.

[QuikSand]

Action Point Values for FOF House Rules

Staff Hiring
3 – Scout or head coach who was hired with no contract restrictions
2 – Scout or head coach who was hired for 1-3 yrs on requested salary before stage 3
0 – Scout or head coach who was hired for 1-3 yrs on requested salary in stage 3
1 – Replacing scout or head coach currently under contract
2 – Coordinator who was hired with no contract restrictions
1 – Coordinator who was hired for 1-3 yrs on requested salary before stage 3
0 – Coordinator who was hired for 1-3 yrs on requested salary in stage 3
0 – Coordinator who was hired for 1-3 yrs at half of his HC price in stage 3
1 – Replacing coordinator currently under contract

Internal Contract Moves
4 – Use franchise tag on player for third consecutive year or more
3 – Use franchise tag on player for second consecutive year
3 – Use franchise tag on player labeled as angry, livid or demanding trade
3 – Use franchise tag on player with loyalty rating of zero
2 – Use franchise tag on any other player
3 – Send former 1st round pick to European league
2 – Send former 2nd or 3rd round pick to European league
1 – Send former 4th or 5th round pick or undrafted rookie to European league
0 – Send former 6th or 7th round pick or former to European league
4 – Sign current player to unrestricted renegotiation
2 – Sign current player to his requested renegotiation
0 – Sign current player to a full or partial capout
2 – Sign RFA player to an unrestricted new contract
1 – Sign RFA player to his requested multi year contract
0 – Sign RFA player to his requested one year contract
1 – Additional cost of using any item above after its first three uses

Early Free Agency
4 – Offer FA player an unrestricted contract
2 – Offer FA player a flat contract with at least 25% bonus
2 – Offer FA player a three-year minsal contract
1 – Offer FA player his requested contract
0 – Offer FA player 8th year+ requested contract 1yr no bonus
1 – Additional cost of using any item above after its first three uses
(Submitting an altered contract to a player already on offer list re-incurs same cost as original offer would have above)

Trading
2 – Initiating trade for player from another team
4 – Initiating trade of player(s) for a 1st round pick or more
2 – Initiating trade of player(s) for 2nd round pick or more
1 – Initiating trade of player(s) for less than 2nd round pick
2 – Accepting AI-initiated trade that fails “fairness test”
1 – Accepting AI-initiated trade that passes “fairness test”
2 – Trading down from Top 10 pick within current draft
1 – Any other trade within current draft
5 – Any trade involving future 1st round pick from another team
2 – Any other trade involving draft picks in future years
1 – Additional cost of using any item above after its first three uses

Rookie Draft
6 – Use up to 60 rookie interviews
5 – Use up to 40 rookie interviews
3 – Use up to 20 rookie interviews
6 – Manually use draft pick between 1.1 and 1.5
5 – Manually use draft picks between 1.6 and 1.16
4 – Manually use draft pick between 1.17 and 1.32
3 – Manually use 2nd round draft pick
2 – Manually use 3rd round draft pick
1 – Manually use 4th or 5th round draft pick
0 – Manually use 6th or 7th round draft pick
0 – Cost of allowing scout to select pick in any round
1 – Added cost if player drafted after first round has 2 or more red combines
1 – Added cost if player drafted after first round has 4 or more red + blue combines
-1 – Deduction from positive AP cost for selecting top player on position board

Late Free Agency
5 – Sign a FA player released during late free agency
4 – Sign a FA player in 2nd or 3rd year in league
3 – Sign a FA player in his 4th year in league
2 – Sign a FA rookie player
1 – Offer any other FA player his requested contract
1 – Offer any other FA player a one year contract
1 – Additional cost of using any item above after its first three uses

Training Camp
3 – Use custom training camp settings
0 – Use default training camp settings
5 – Carry up to 70 players into training camp
3 – Carry up to 60 players into training camp
2 – Carry up to 57 players into training camp
1 – Carry up to 55 players into training camp
0 – Carry up to 53 players into training camp

In-Season

10 – Implement custom gameplans at start of season
8 – Implement custom GP, with unchanged offensive gameplan from FOFC library
2 – Allow unlimited changes to offensive gameplan during season
2 – Allow unlimited changes to defensive gameplan during season
0 – Implement staff-controlled gameplans for full season
4 – Allow unlimited changes to depth chart during season
0 – Implement staff-controlled depth chart for full season
0 – Manually set QB depth chart for player listed “out” to maintain legal roster
6 – Set injury rate at 100
3 – Set injury rate at 150
0 – Set injury rate at 200
3 – Sign veteran free agent to replace player placed onto IR
1 – Sign rookie free agent to replace player placed onto IR
0 – Sign lowest-rated rookie free agent to maintain legal roster

Salary Cap
15 – Use entire salary cap
12 – Leave 5% of cap unused as of start of season
9 – Leave 10% of cap unused as of start of season
6 – Leave 15% of cap unused as of start of season
3 – Leave 20% of cap unused as of start of season
0 – Leave 25% of cap unused as of start of season
3 – Each player on roster for week 1 occupying over 10% of cap
2 – Each player on roster for week 1 occupying 5-10% of cap

Revision notes

3.27.08 substantially revised by QS and incorporated into “Testing My Limits” thread
3.28.08 Increased age of “free” FA signees to 8th year, added 4AP cost of manual depth chart control
3.29.08 Rephrasing and technical changes by QS
3.29.08 Allowed discount for using unchanged Off GP from library (per SD)
3.29.08 Added modest sliding scale for sending player to Europe (per SD)
3.29.08 Added additional cost increment for transactions being used repeatedly
3.29.08 Clarify cost for taking rookie not on overall top page is as by Grade or Adj
3.30.08 Rewrite draft AP system, based on round, combine, with top-guy discount
3.30.08 Clarify that staff contracts may be of any duration, not just requested
3.31.08 Clarify no cost to manually set injured QB depth chart, even if staff controls
4.01.08 Allow staff hiring duration to be anywhere from 1 to 3 years for discounts

[QuikSand]

And with that, here is your charge:

-You have a total budget of 60 Action Points to use for this season

-I have already used your first two, in using the franchise tag on a LB

-Your staff is in place, and won’t cost you any AP for this year

-Play out this season doing the best job that you can to win now, and set the team up for success into the future

-Give feedback on how you liked the season, what you liked and disliked about the AP concept, and what might be revisited or clarified to make the system better

[Ben E Lou]

I'll definitely be giving this a try, hopefully starting this evening.

[QuikSand]

I'm going to count this as early feedback amounting to "too complicated."

[gstelmack]

If it weren't for some of the "let the scout do it", I could write a utility that could tell you how many points you have left after every turn (most of this stuff could be discovered in the data and calculated).

But otherwise, yeah, I don't have time to track all this stuff while playing a season. Of course I barely have time to keep up with my WOOF team, so I wouldn't take that as too much commentary on it.

[Sgran]

You know, Quik, that there are cures for insomnia.

[JetsIn06]

Quik, I'll be trying this out this weekend when I have some free time.

[Fonzie]

I'd love to give this a whirl, but I'm just not sure when I'll have the time.

[QuikSand]

I don't get the sense that there's any urgency. I managed to deep-six my own AP career (when I created this one) and my momentum in testing this concept out has been stifled as well. So it goes.

I do think that for someone willing to keep up with the record-keeping involved (which really isn't that bad, in my view) this is the closest that I have seen to the all-encompassing approach to making solo FOF play what many of us really want. I don't suggest that this is perfect (thus the call for testing) but I think the framework is a very promising one.

[Mike D]

If this were an option built into the game, I'd use it everytime in a SP environment.

Of course, that would probably be considered as the equivalent of admitting SP flaws; which would probably be considered a bad business move. *shurg*

[WelshWizard]

Started this today. Having more fun with single player than i have in a long time.

[nZane]

Just finished my first season with this, and I'll go ahead and echo the above sentiments that this is quite fun. It took a bit of time to get my spreadsheet set up, but now that I don't exactly have to deal with that again, I think I may stick with this. I'll probably bump up my cap to 70 or so, since I'm still not the most advanced FOFer around.

We finished 6-10 again, but this team looks to have a pretty bright future, assuming I can get the QB situation squared away.

I could use a bit of clarification on a few things, though:

Offer FA player an unrestricted contract

Offer FA player a flat contract with at least 25% bonus

Offer FA player a three-year minsal contract

What is the difference between these three from Early Free Agency? My brain's been a bit sleep-deprived, so I'm probably just missing something blindingly obvious. Also:

Offer any other FA player his requested contract

Offer any other FA player a one year contract

Since most of the contracts requested in LFA are of the one year variety, would each of these offers count in both categories or just the first?

And I do have all of my transactions stored away, so if anyone would like to see what I did and when, I can gladly post that up.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by nZane

What is the difference between these three from Early Free Agency? My brain's been a bit sleep-deprived, so I'm probably just missing something blindingly obvious.

Unrestricted contract = anything you want to offer, it can be backloaded, bonus-free, or anything... you just pay a higher AP price for it

Offer FA player a flat contract with at least 25% bonus = salary same in each year (so no backloaded) and bonus of at least 25% of the total means this is a reasonable contract, without too much trickery (not taking advantage of the game's limited ability to see through that sort of stuff in an offer)

Offer FA player a three-year minsal contract = for veteran players who aren't asking for real money, this is an offer of a three year deal at their veteran minimum salary with just enough bonus to get them to accept it. You won't get any serious stars this way, but it's a fair way to help out filling the roster with special teamers, good chemistry fits, or just decent depth.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by nZane

Since most of the contracts requested in LFA are of the one year variety, would each of these offers count in both categories or just the first?

Well, free agents ask for a wide range of contracts, some long term, many short term. My goal was to give you flexibility to do different things, each at a reasonable AP cost.

If you're offering a guy the exact one year deal he's asking for, I'd say you can slot it in either place. I'm still really torn about late free agency overall, as it's the place where I find myself feeling the most guilty using these rules (feeling like I got away with a too-good player while playing under these rules).



Glad you are enjoying... and I'm glad to help out with any clarifications.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by nZane

I'll probably bump up my cap to 70 or so, since I'm still not the most advanced FOFer around.

My long term goal for this whole concept would be for this system to work with anyone at any skill level... if 70 makes the game fun for you, great. I've been experimenting mostly with 60 and used that, but the whole idea is to set it where you have the most fun.

[Ben E Lou]

OK. Here's my initial budget.

DRAFT
	0 Interviews	0
	1(7)	5
	2(10)	3
	3(9)	2
	4(8)	1
	5(7)	1
	6(10)	0
	7(9)	0
	Reds&Blues	2
		14
SEASON
	CustomPlans	10
	StaffDepth	0
	Injury200	0
	InSeasonSign	2
		12
CAP
	10%Unused	9
	ExpensiveGuys	6
		15
FRANCHISE		2
TOTAL		43

This leaves me with roughly 17 AP to spend in FA and LFA, with an easy four points of wiggle room (use FOFC game plan and crappy rookie signings in-season).

The first order of business is to assess the roster and figure out extensions and releases.

QB--With that low sense rush, Burgess has gotta go. I'll go with Wilkins, a FA, or a rookie.
RB--Steinbeck looks like a long-term solution. He'll be an RFA next year, but his desired offer gets him under the 5% cap mark, so I spend 2 AP to sign him to his requested renegotation
FB--Ugh. Wooden is in his final year and only wants a one-year deal. I don't want to spend 4 AP on extending a FB, no matter how highly-rated he is.
TE--Springer is there for the long haul.
WR--I like Alcott, but I'd like to get one other starter, and one decent WR3. Being that Alcott is an RFA next year, no points spent here.
OL--G Douglas is an RFA, and I want to give him a shot. So I spend 1 AP to sign the RFA to his requested one year contract. C Melancon, G Douglas, and LT Westbrook are the only guys that I'd start, and Westbrook is very, very marginal. Need help here in FA1.
P/K--I spend 1 AP to sign RFA Wilkerson to his requested one year contract.
DL--Levine, Hendrick, Givens and Reis look like they'll make a decent-enough front four. Levine needs contract attention, both to get under 10%, and to help the team come in more cheaply. I spend 2 AP to sign DE Levine to his requested renegotiation.
LB--Very solid at LB, but all three are in the final year of a deal. Given the cap savings, I spend 2 AP to sign LB HSU to his requested renegotiation.
DB--With RFAs-to-be and an old guy as starters, I spend no AP here.

So I spend 8. I'd love to get starting-quality players at QB, WR, G and T. I'd be up for spending 10 AP on those. Looking at where we stand now cap-wise, there's a decent chance that we could hit the 15% mark, and save another three AP. So the plan, before looking at the FA pool, is to do one unrestricted, and 3 flats. A secondary goal is to spend less than $11M in cap room signing these guys, which would put us in great shape to leave 15% or more open.

Thoughts on FA positions:
QB--Mel Ingram is the only one that I'd consider signing. I'm thinking a flat deal for him.
WR--Our own WR, Dusty Clayton, looks like the best option, and a flat deal looks to work well.
G--Charlie Burroughs will have a very cheap cap cost, so he's going to be my first target.
T--Given the savings on Burroughs, I'm going after Curtis Matthews here.

Signings:

2 AP. Signed WR Dusty Clayton to a flat contract with >25% bonus.
2 AP. Signed T Curtis Matthews to a flat contract with >25% bonus.

I lowballed Burroughs and Ingram too much, trying to hit that 15% mark, and they signed elsewhere, so instead I signed...

1 AP. Signed G Julio Carlton to his requested contract.
0 AP. Signed QB Martin Flowers to his requested contract 1 year no bonus.

So I'm ahead of where I thought I'd be AP-wise, but I don't have the players I wanted. I've spent 15 AP, and think I'll spend 41 more. I'll hold on to the "extras" for draft moves and contract extensions. I do make one more move, though, on the off chance that this guy doesn't decline:

0 AP. Signed WR Wes Ohm to his requested contract of 1 year and no bonus.

On to the draft.

1(7): CB Nick Lincoln--5 AP
2: QB Bryant Gonzalez--2 AP (deducted one from cost because he's at top of QB list)
3: ILB Barry Barker--1 AP (deducted one from cost..top of ILB list)
4: TE Clay Fleming--1 AP (-1 for top TE, +1 for reds and blues)
5: G Ryan Graf--1 AP
6: DE Britt Legan--0 AP
7: S Rufus Howren--0 AP

So, the draft ended up cheaper than expected. We're at 25 AP spent with roughly 27 to be spent.

As a result, I have the AP to 4 – Sign a FA player in 2nd or 3rd year in league.

3rd-year WR Sedrick Bingham (50/53) gets signed in FA2. I feel kinda dirty, but I had the AP for it.

I also sign two FA Rookies (4 AP), G Ron Reeck and DE Kirk Doyle. I also sign OLB Buddy Carlisle for 0 AP to a no-bonus deal. That puts me at 33 spent heading into camp.

Default camp for 0 AP.
Injuries at 200 for 0 AP.
AI runs depth chart for 0 AP.


90% of cap: 9 AP
3 players costing 5% or more: 6 AP
Custom Game Plans: 10 AP

58 spent. 2 remaining for in-season signings if necessary.

We start the season with a 64 roster rating.

Only one in-season rookie signing is made for one AP. I come in at 59 AP for the year, and make the playoffs with a 9-7 record, win one game, then get smashed in the division playoffs.

[kislingbury]

OK, I thought Id have a crack at this... Thoughts after the rundown

Franchise player 2 pts

Restructured RB Norm Steinbecks contract 4pts

Draft
Use 20 interviews 3pts
Pick @ 7th overall. (CB Nick Lincoln) 5pts
Pick in 2nd round (Andy Brookes T) 2pts (3 -1 for being top T on board)

Early FA
Signed WR Clayton 4pts (unrestricted contract)
Signed McKnight T 1pt (requested contract)
Signed Alcott CB 1pt (requested contract)

Late FA
Signed Wilkinson P 4pts (2nd year)

Off GP from FOFC library 8pts (thanks for the smashmouth Skydog)
Custom Training Camp 3pts
Injurt setting at 100 6pts
Used 90% of salary cap 9pts
Unlimited def GP changes 2pts
Manual dpeth chart 4pts

Total 59 pts

We went 10-6 in the reg season, and narrowly lost out in the wildcard round. final roster strength was 73 after the demon young CB partnership came up trumps.


Due to the thinness of the Oline and WR corps, I splashed out on the 100 injury setting. I think that may be a bit cheap, as that probably bought me 2 or 3 wins. I thought the charge for using 90% of the salary cap was a bit step though. That would probably cause me to spend loads of time restructuring contracts all the time which for me isnt fun.

Aside from that, if there could be some sort of automatic systemn for keeping track of points rather than poring over spreadsheets, I really enjoyed the challenge. It certainly focused attention on the early draft rather than picking up creepers late. That felt interesting and exciting at the top, but maybe it would be more fun to be able to trade down in the draft rather than pay the big charge for dropping out of the top 10. I could happily have gone down to 12-14 and picked up some lower picks for the scout to have a stab with (as it was I was lucky, the scout grabbed some gems for me in the auto draft).

Thanks for the concept Quik, it was lots of fun.

[Ben E Lou]

I didn't run across anything that looked like an easy angel to shoot. Capping moves at three before increasing the price really helped things out. I'm going to continue my primary dynasty with a 60 AP budget at some point in the near future.

[DDT]

I've lurked here for a while but have never participated. I like this idea so here goes. I'll
be trying to build for the future and probably won't make any 3+pt FA moves (unless it's a
younger player and a really good fit.) I have 58 points remaining.

INTERNAL ROSTER MOVES

Resigned the following RFA's to their requested 1 year deals: TE Hawkins, RG Douglas, P Wilkerson
and SILB Kotz (also switched him from WILB to SILB). (0pts)

EARLY FREE AGENCY

Offered FA QB Mel Ingram a flat 25% bonus contract 3yrs/9.4mil (2pts)
Offered our FA WR Dusty Clayton his requested contract 3yrs/11.28mil (1pt)
Offered FA WR Cole Grier a flat 25% bonus contract 4yrs/17.98mil (2pts)
Offered our FA LG Alfred Hammond his requested contract 1yr/1.11 (1pt)
Offered FA RT Curtis Matthews a flat 25% bonus contract 4yrs/16mil (2pts)
Offered FA LG William Rossi his requested contract 4yrs/11.14 (1pt)
Ingram, Grier and Rossi resign with their former teams. Clayton signs with MIN. Hammond resigns.
Matthews signs with us. We had the high offer on the 4 we lost out on.
I used all 60 interwiews. 43 points remaining.

ROOKIE DRAFT

At 1.7 I'm torn between T Harrison AS (4pts) and CB Lincoln VU (5pts). Both players are
underdeveloped. Since both of the guys taking this challenge took Lincoln. I'll try:

1.7 RT Glen Harrison (hopefully he or Matthews can make the switch to LT)
2.10 CB Deron Smith UN (2pts) -1 atop pos. board
3.9 RG Devin Kerry AS (1pt) -1 atop pos. board +1 for combine
4.8 QB Bryant Gozalez OV (0pts) -1 atop pos. board
5.7 C Aaron Hitchcock DI (1pt) -1 atop pos. board +1 for combine
6.10 WR Sherman Konruff DI (0pts) atop pos. board so actually -1 but that seems dirty.
7.9 DE Leslie Tompkins DI (0pts)

35 points remaining.

I'm a little confused here. The way QS has this worded it seems the AP are used in offering a player, not
signing him. Also I looked at a K late in the draft but would've been 2 AP to draft him.
I moved Harrison to LT which resulted in a small expected ratings drop. And moved Hsu to WLB,
because I wanna switch to a 3-4 to save some $

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

I lowballed Burroughs and Ingram too much, trying to hit that 15% mark, and they signed elsewhere, so instead I signed...

I'm not sure I'm reading this correctly, but my current intent is that there is an AP cost to making a free agent offer, not just signing him. So, if you do lowball a player, there should be a cost associated with just making the offer (and another one if you realize you're going to get beaten and so you readjust your offer).

In reality I don't care what you did/do with this test career -- but does that rule (1) make sense to you, and (2) seem clear enough in the written AP cost description?

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by DDT

I6.10 WR Sherman Konruff DI (0pts) atop pos. board so actually -1 but that seems dirty.

I agree -- I have tried to write the -1 adjustment to make it clear that the final cost for drafting any player cannot go negative, but if that's not clear I can take another look at it.

[Ben E Lou]

Heh. That's exactly how I read it the first time, but then I changed my mind about your intent. So much for me trying not to take things so literally. *shurg*

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by DDT

I'm a little confused here. The way QS has this worded it seems the AP are used in offering a player, not signing him.

My intent was that making offers in early FA triggers the cost, but only signings in late FA (since at that point you are likely looking to actually finish your roster).

My goal is (1) to avoid a too-easy strategy to just carpetbomb early FA players with too-cheap contracts, and only end up paying (in AP) for those that somehow stick. As it is, I think the only way to do something like that is essentially to wait several stages, and put in offers on players who aren't getting any offer at all -- so at least the quality of players should be lessened. I also like that (2) this tends to push up your offers, I think. I know that when I wanted a player that I expected to spur any interest from AI teams at all, I was basically overpaying him in dollar terms... since I didn't want to expend the AP for nothing. To me, that actually adds something to the free agency period, a little intrigue (though not a lot).

I welcome feedback on this concept from anyone who has tinkered with it -- I am very much in "refining" mode.

[DDT]

Thanks for the clarification on the use of AP in early FA vs. late FA. Makes sense.

-1 – Deduction from positive AP cost for selecting top player on position board.

That's worded fine.

signed,
Hooked on crack not phonics.

[DDT]

SALARY CAP - BIG CONTRACTS

Before I get too far along this needs to be addressed. I'll also revisit this when I decide
on my final roster. 4 contracts occupy 5% or more of the cap.

DE Ken Levine's current deal will cost 3pts for each of it's 3yrs. renegotiating might work here
here. It would add 1 AP this season and a 4th season at 2 AP. Capping out his deal would
kill us

C Broderick Melancon I like this guy but the cost is prohibitive for a C. his current cost in
AP is 2/3/3. He'll renegotiate at 4/2/2. There are a couple of solid C's available in LFA
releasing would dump his 2 AP and make hitting the 10% under cap figure relatively easy to
reach. I'll make sure I have a viable replacement before releasing.

SLB Brett Hardy is in his final season and will be a UFA. He's disgruntled and doesn't want
a multi year deal with us. He'll start with Hsu moving to WLB and will hopefully be more amicable to
to an extension at some point. I'll try to save the AP for it. NOTE: Not sure how to add the
AP cost of this he's a 5% player now (2pts) renegotiating will cost another 2 but will certainly
get his deal under 5% of the cap this season. Thoughts?

RB Norm Steinbeck in his final year will resign thru 2012 with no % penalty. Done. 5yrs/22.79
(2pts)

Also WLB Hsu is holding out. Signed to his requested ext. 4yrs/32.96mil I planned to extend
him anyway 2 AP this season for the renegotiation, and 2 AP each of the 3 additional years.
(2pts)

31 points remaining ... Not sure we'll need to release Melancon to get to -10% of cap.

LATE FREE AGENCY

Signed 6 of 7 draftees. Harrison and Smith to option 3. 2nd day guys to option 1. Kerry rejected
option 3. I'd like to get out of late FA spending only 5 or 6pts. Doesn't seem to be anyone available
worth cutting Melancon for. So we're down to 29 points.

Offers submited to:

6th year CB Shane Burchett 1yr/850K (will cost 1pt if signed)
Rookie CB Terry Cote 1yr/330K (2pts if signed)
Rookie FS Kenneth Henson 1yr/330K (2pts if signed)
Rookie ILB Blaine Poston 1yr/330K (2pts if signed)
6th year WR Greg Hartman 1yr/870K (1pt if signed)

We bring the rookies in as always but the vets go elsewhere. I'm a little upset we missed out on Hartman
nice numbers in ARI 29 catches 6 TD's. We sign Kerry to option 4 and will take 53 into camp.
TC will be default settings (0pts) 23 points remaining.

TRAINING CAMP

1.7 LT Harrison 27/64 to 32/66
2.10 CB Smith 25/34 to 12/17 (we officially have serious problems at CB)
3.9 RG Kerry 20/44 to 24/42
4.8 QB Gonzalez 19/51 to 23/48
5.7 C Hitchcock 20/43 to 23/42
6.10 WR Konruff 25/43 to 26/39
7.9 DE Tompkins 16/36 to 20/38
FA ILB Poston 17/51 to 20/46
FA CB Cote 17/53 to 18/46
FA S Henson 17/59 to 22/50

Don't think I'm willing to spend the AP to address our problems at QB/WR/CB in the discard
pile. So we'll make the best of a bad situation and hopefully get things straightened out
next season.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

My intent was that making offers in early FA triggers the cost, but only signings in late FA (since at that point you are likely looking to actually finish your roster).

My goal is (1) to avoid a too-easy strategy to just carpetbomb early FA players with too-cheap contracts, and only end up paying (in AP) for those that somehow stick.

Makes sense. I'm so much in the habit of restraining myself that I don't even think of many of the more obvious SP exploits like this. Good point.

[DDT]

IN-SEASON

I think I've done a decent job with the OL and have a good RB and am pathetic at QB and WR so
I'm gonna use the SmashMouth offensive GP and staff recomondations every week on defense. (10pts)

We've left 10% of the cap unused (9pts)

I'll let the AI handle the depth chart and set injuries at 100 (0pts)

4 points remain unaccounted for. But I still haven't adressed Levine (3pts) Melancon (2pts) or
Hardy (currently 2pts but an additional 2 if he requests a multi year deal after week 1 or an additional
4pts if I need to initiate the talks.

I shop Melancon N.O. expresses 99 interest and have the cap room. I send him to NO for their 4th next year.
That equation looks like this I lose the 2pts for the 5% of cap salary, the trade costs 1 pt and I drop 15% below the cap freeing
up an additional 3pts. Levine and Hardy cost 5pts.

So I have 3 pts remaining for the Hardy ext.

That -1 for the 6th rounder isn't making me feel so dirty now ... I'm wondering if this gets easier to manage with more AP friendly deals in place. Will sim the games tommorrow. Franchising Hardy next season may be an option but I want to lock him up given his current mood.

[DDT]

2008 SEASON

We lose a CB for the year in exh wk 1 ... DRAT ... We're unable to resign Brett Hardy during the exhibition season
so will pay the 5% penalty ... Hardy asks for a 3yr/10.98mil deal in week 14 or maybe sooner I didn't watch
that closely the new deal doesn't effect our -15% under the cap and won't involve the 5% penalty
in years 2 and 3 ... NICE ... The AC South is very tight HOU and TEN are 7-5, IND and JAK are 6-6
We enter the final week needing a win or a TEN loss to win the division and receive a bye ... We lose to IND
20 - 13 and TEN beats JAK 28 - 23 so we'll travel to BAL for the wildcard round ... We've been
largely injury free this season ... We beat BAL 17 - 16 and will face TEN for a 3rd time ...
Heh. I type that we've avoided injuries hit 'simulate game' and we lose 2 defensive starters ...
We lose to TEN 21 - 19 in the rubber match and finish the season 11 - 7 ... 59/60 AP used.


I enjoyed this format but the cost of filling out a roster in LFA seems a little high. I used
1/10 of my AP bringing in 3 undrafted rookies to get to 53. The cost of bringing 55+ players to camp
and the cost of signing undrafted rookies seems like an unneccesary redundancy. Also some of
the less coveted positions P/K/FB/TE/C generally slide down the draft board. Someone could easily spend
3 AP on a 6th round punter. That's just too high a cost. Maybe a ceiling on later picks. I enjoyed
this haven't played SP much with this version of FOF. Very challenging. Will continue but with
another team.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by DDT

I enjoyed this format but the cost of filling out a roster in LFA seems a little high. I used 1/10 of my AP bringing in 3 undrafted rookies to get to 53.

I guess my worry is that I think there are just too many angles to shoot in late free agency. Too many good RFA who don't get re-signed, too many quality players getting cut by cap-strapped teams, and not enough competition for either of them. If you play "all out" you can make HUGE strides in developing a better team than the AI can in these stages -- thus my relative insistence on fairly high AP costs here. I think this is a pretty necessary trade-off to give the AP system its intended balance. There are just too many promising players out there in late free agency, sitting and waiting for your lowball offer. I think that needs an AP offset.

Originally Posted by DDT

The cost of bringing 55+ players to camp and the cost of signing undrafted rookies seems like an unneccesary redundancy. Also some of the less coveted positions P/K/FB/TE/C generally slide down the draft board. Someone could easily spend 3 AP on a 6th round punter. That's just too high a cost. Maybe a ceiling on later picks.

I agree to a point - not quite sure what to do here. I feel that picking up players after the draft is a little too wide open an opportunity to simply go fishing for overlooked gems. I'm thinking this (the AP cost for signing an undrafted rookie) might be the one specific AP cost that I'd consider waiving for a relatively unseasoned FOF gamer. I think I need that rule in place for me, but it might not be for everyone, as you suggest.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I guess my worry is that I think there are just too many angles to shoot in late free agency. Too many good RFA who don't get re-signed, too many quality players getting cut by cap-strapped teams, and not enough competition for either of them. If you play "all out" you can make HUGE strides in developing a better team than the AI can in these stages -- thus my relative insistence on fairly high AP costs here. I think this is a pretty necessary trade-off to give the AP system its intended balance. There are just too many promising players out there in late free agency, sitting and waiting for your lowball offer. I think that needs an AP offset.

Agreed.

I agree to a point - not quite sure what to do here. I feel that picking up players after the draft is a little too wide open an opportunity to simply go fishing for overlooked gems. I'm thinking this (the AP cost for signing an undrafted rookie) might be the one specific AP cost that I'd consider waiving for a relatively unseasoned FOF gamer. I think I need that rule in place for me, but it might not be for everyone, as you suggest.

Agreed as well. A big part of the issue here is that the AI teams very rarely pursue undrafted rookie position players during FA2. They sign them in the precamp stage, after the human has picked over the ones of his choosing at minsal cost.

[QuikSand]

Since this thread has essentially morphed into the "discuss the AP concept" thread, I'll continue with my latest thought.

If the goal is to attach an AP cost to pretty much everything that gives us a real edge in winning -- there are a couple of things that I have so far overlooked. Here are a couple additions I am considering:

Internal Contract Moves
2 - Make permanent unlimited position switch
1 - Make permanent position switch within limited position group

I tend to use these a lot - mostly with rookies, but not exclusively. I suspect I am gaining some edge by making better fits with specific skill sets than the AI teams do -- putting my best pass rushing LB at WLB, and a better coverage guy at SLB, for instance.

By limited position group, my thinking would be that moves like RG->LG, SLB->WLB, and SS->FS would be 1AP, while moves like RB->WR, LG->LT, SILB->SLB, and SS->RCB would be 2AP.


Second idea:

In-Season (or wherever this is best located)
4 - Use league-wide ratings tracker (like Change Tracker 2) to monitor player ratings movements
3 - Actively track own team's ratings movement (like with Change Tracker 1) during the season
0 - Actively forsake any ratings tracking for team

I have real ambivalence about this, but I *know* tha I am getting an edge on my AI competition when I pay attention to ratings movement. (Even though I generally don't even watch terribly closely when playing solo) If the whole idea of the AP system is to make all decisions that benefit the team carry a cost -- maybe something like this is the way to go. Certainly would require some refinement in wording and implementation... and likely an honestly clause that could be impossible to actually police.