Managing the Salary Cap has always been a critical component to building a championship roster. This year we bring two more pieces into the fold: Contract Restructuring and the 5th Year Option. Keep your young talent within the organization longer and open more opportunities for growth by leveraging these unique NFL contract dynamics.
Contract Restructuring allows a team to reduce a player’s current year salary, distributing that money as bonus to the remaining years, including current, of their contract. This act provides immediate salary cap relief with the downside of having increased the value of the remaining years of a player’s contract.
During the season this may be used as a necessary step towards bringing in a free agent or making the money work when trying to acquire more talent through trades. In the offseason this can be used to extend players on expiring deals or make high profile signings in free agency that previously wouldn’t be possible due to a team’s cap situation.
Not all players are eligible to have their contracts restructured. A player must have multiple years remaining on their contract and be making more than the league minimum salary. Players on rookie contracts cannot be restructured until they’ve completed their third season in the league per NFL rules.
In Franchise, the process to restructure has been made simple. Eligible players will have an additional “Restructure” option on their player card. In addition to this flow we have also added a single button Restructure option to the Team Salaries screen. Prior to confirming you will be shown the effects of the restructure on current salary cap and future year increases so you can make sure you are getting the relief you need to make your next big move.
The 5th Year Option is a mechanic available for all players selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. The option gives a team a choice to include a 5th year to a rookie’s contract calculated based upon salaries of other players at their position and whether they have made a Pro Bowl in their career to date. The 5th Year Option must be either accepted or declined by the team after the player completes their 3rd season in the league and prior to the start of their 4th season.
In previous Madden titles, you may have noticed the 5th Year Option Scenario that appeared in the offseason. This was an easy to miss surprise for most users and one that was unavailable to CPU controlled teams. To fix this, the 5th Year Option has been fully integrated into the Re-Sign system and screens for users and CPU alike. During the season you will see your eligible players appear at the end of the Re-Sign list with their current projected earnings for the 5th year. Once in the offseason these players will move back into the list and the final earnings will be updated on the card. This is when the final decision is made. Pick up the option if you have determined the player is critical to your roster and deserving of the increased compensation or move on and make the decision to extend the player normally the following season.