To put it quite simply, free agency in the NSFL is boring. It’s generally uneventful and very few players leave their teams to test the markets in free agency. I understand that some of that is because unlike real life, many players are motivated more by spending time in locker rooms they enjoy and playing with their friends than chasing championships or trying to make as much money as you possibly can. Obviously the fact that the NSFL is a sim league and not an actual reflection of real life will mean that free agency around here will likely never be anywhere near as exciting as it is in actual real sports. But I believe there is something the league can do that would make free agency at least a little more interesting and engaging for the community.
Truth be told, this idea is not entirely original. It is largely borrowed from a system the NFL uses. The system designates a short period immediately before the opening of free agency where teams are allowed to contact players and their agents who are about to become free agents. I believe a similar system could be implemented in the NSFL to make things a little more interesting. When a player is on the last year of his/her contract, the NSFL allows that player’s team to work towards an extension for the entire season while any team that might have an interest in attempting to sign the player must wait until they are officially a free agent to avoid violating the tampering rules. Some argue that the tampering rules themselves need serious revision or should be abolished entirely. I personally feel the rules are generally fine, but I believe this one slight change could make free agency far more interesting without requiring vast changes to the existing rules.
I propose that teams should be allow to contact a player who is in the final year of their contract after the trade deadline, making the period between the trade deadline and free agency officially a chance for players to meet with GMs from teams who might be interested in pursuing them. By requiring that teams wait to contact the player until after the trade deadline, the chances of the player being tampered into leaving their current team via trade and signing an extension with their new team are greatly reduced. It does, though, allow for other GMs to have a small window near the end of the season to at least gauge the interest of prospective free agents in leaving their teams and beginning contract negotiations with another club without being penalized for tampering. Though the window is small, this is far more of an opportunity than what teams are currently granted while still giving the advantage in negotiating to the player’s current team, since the current team may negotiate a contract extension throughout the entire final season of a player’s contract.
Finally, to ensure that the rules are still being followed and players are not being tampered, GMs who are reaching out to future free agents should be expected to contact both their HO liaison and the player’s current GM when they contact a free agent prospect. Doing this provides accountability by allowing the player’s current GM and HO to keep a close eye on the situation for any potential foul play.
The largest grey area left, in my opinion, is how this rule would apply to players who either have a mutual option (MO) or a Player Option (PO) and who could become free agents at the end of the season or could choose to remain on their current team for another season. There are several ways I believe this could be handled.
First, players with an option could be treated as players who are going to become free agents. If this option was chosen, it would allow teams to potentially attempt to convince a player to use their option and become a free agent. This option would certainly be tampering were it not for the legalized meeting window making it legal and is probably the one that would be least likely to be adopted because of this as it is the most “risky.”
Second, the option I feel is the worst. Players with an upcoming option could be treated as if they are still under contract until they declare they are leaving their team after the season and would not be allowed to participate in the window. This would be unfortunate for players who are planning on testing free agency but are waiting on an option and for GMs interested in signing that player should they opt out and, therefore, is the worst of the three options in my book but probably the easiest to enforce.
Finally, players could be given the choice to use their option sooner. This is my preferred solution. As it currently stands, players with options are asked to make a decision on whether they will leave their teams or not just before free agency opens. If HO and GMs were willing, there could be two chances for players to opt out. The later window is fine where it currently sits, but the earlier could be opened at or just before the trade deadline so players could “opt in” to participating in the window and receiving offers from other GMs following the rules proposed above. If players do not choose to “opt in” to the window, they would again be given the option to opt out or remain on their current team at the end of the season. This option would require a little more work and bookkeeping on HO’s part, but would allow players to signal to everyone involved that they are open to hearing offers during the legal window instead of forcing them to wait until free agency officially opens.
Truth be told, this idea is not entirely original. It is largely borrowed from a system the NFL uses. The system designates a short period immediately before the opening of free agency where teams are allowed to contact players and their agents who are about to become free agents. I believe a similar system could be implemented in the NSFL to make things a little more interesting. When a player is on the last year of his/her contract, the NSFL allows that player’s team to work towards an extension for the entire season while any team that might have an interest in attempting to sign the player must wait until they are officially a free agent to avoid violating the tampering rules. Some argue that the tampering rules themselves need serious revision or should be abolished entirely. I personally feel the rules are generally fine, but I believe this one slight change could make free agency far more interesting without requiring vast changes to the existing rules.
I propose that teams should be allow to contact a player who is in the final year of their contract after the trade deadline, making the period between the trade deadline and free agency officially a chance for players to meet with GMs from teams who might be interested in pursuing them. By requiring that teams wait to contact the player until after the trade deadline, the chances of the player being tampered into leaving their current team via trade and signing an extension with their new team are greatly reduced. It does, though, allow for other GMs to have a small window near the end of the season to at least gauge the interest of prospective free agents in leaving their teams and beginning contract negotiations with another club without being penalized for tampering. Though the window is small, this is far more of an opportunity than what teams are currently granted while still giving the advantage in negotiating to the player’s current team, since the current team may negotiate a contract extension throughout the entire final season of a player’s contract.
Finally, to ensure that the rules are still being followed and players are not being tampered, GMs who are reaching out to future free agents should be expected to contact both their HO liaison and the player’s current GM when they contact a free agent prospect. Doing this provides accountability by allowing the player’s current GM and HO to keep a close eye on the situation for any potential foul play.
The largest grey area left, in my opinion, is how this rule would apply to players who either have a mutual option (MO) or a Player Option (PO) and who could become free agents at the end of the season or could choose to remain on their current team for another season. There are several ways I believe this could be handled.
First, players with an option could be treated as players who are going to become free agents. If this option was chosen, it would allow teams to potentially attempt to convince a player to use their option and become a free agent. This option would certainly be tampering were it not for the legalized meeting window making it legal and is probably the one that would be least likely to be adopted because of this as it is the most “risky.”
Second, the option I feel is the worst. Players with an upcoming option could be treated as if they are still under contract until they declare they are leaving their team after the season and would not be allowed to participate in the window. This would be unfortunate for players who are planning on testing free agency but are waiting on an option and for GMs interested in signing that player should they opt out and, therefore, is the worst of the three options in my book but probably the easiest to enforce.
Finally, players could be given the choice to use their option sooner. This is my preferred solution. As it currently stands, players with options are asked to make a decision on whether they will leave their teams or not just before free agency opens. If HO and GMs were willing, there could be two chances for players to opt out. The later window is fine where it currently sits, but the earlier could be opened at or just before the trade deadline so players could “opt in” to participating in the window and receiving offers from other GMs following the rules proposed above. If players do not choose to “opt in” to the window, they would again be given the option to opt out or remain on their current team at the end of the season. This option would require a little more work and bookkeeping on HO’s part, but would allow players to signal to everyone involved that they are open to hearing offers during the legal window instead of forcing them to wait until free agency officially opens.
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