Here are our salary rules:
XXI. Contracts and Salaries
Player Compensation and the Salary Cap
21.1 Roster Limits & Salary Cap: Teams must be within the Roster Limits (28 Players) and the Salary Cap ($100 million) by September 1 of each year. Roster Limits and the Salary Cap must be maintained throughout the season and off-season.
21.2 Base Salary: A Player’s Base Salary is determined by the manner in which he is acquired.
21.3 Contract Salary: A Player’s Contract Salary is the sum of his Base Salary plus any Contract signing bonuses (see Rule 21.6).
21.4 Contract Deadline: Before September 1 of each year, every player on a Team’s roster must be signed to a contract, assigned to the developmental squad, or released. Players acquired during the Season must be signed to a contract before kickoff of their next NFL game.
21.5 Single Season Contracts: Players not signed to a long term contract will automatically be assigned a one-year contract and use their Base Salary as their Contract Salary. There is no signing bonus. At the end of that season, the Player will become either a Restricted Free Agent (see Rule 18.4) or an Unrestricted Free Agent.
21.6 Long Term Contracts: Players may be signed to a multiple-year contract. Players signed to multiple year contracts will receive a bonus of $500,000 for each year of the contract (thus, if a player is signed to a four year contract, his bonus will be $2 million). A Player’s bonus is added to his Base Salary, and that amount is his Contract Salary. He is paid his Contract Salary for each year of the contract (thus, if a Player’s Base Salary is $1.5 million, and he is signed to a four year contract – that’s a $2 million signing bonus - then his Contract Salary is $3.5 million for each of those four years). A Player’s Contract Salary is what is counted against the Salary Cap. Drafted Players may be signed to a maximum Contract length of six years. There is no maximum Contract length for Players signed as Free Agents.
21.7 Contract Extensions: Players signed to a multiple-year contract may have their contract extended at any time before the first NFL game of the final season in their contract (after kickoff of the first NFL game in the final year of their contract, they may no longer have their contract extended and will become a FA at the end of that season unless tagged as the team's franchise player). If a player's contract is extended, he will receive a bonus based on how far he is into his current contract (for example, if he is in the first year of a contract he will receive a $1m per year bonus; if in the second year, a $2m per year bonus; if in the third year, a $3m per year bonus and so on). This bonus will be multiplied by the number of years in the extension and then added to his current salary. Thus, if a player with a current contract salary of $4m is in the third year of a five-year contract and it is extended for an additional 2 years, his new salary would be $10m per year because $3m (3rd year bonus) multiplied by 2 (extension years), plus $4m (current contract salary) = $10m. He would now be in the third year of a seven-year contract with a salary of $10m per year. For the purposes of this rule, the season will end immediately after the Immortal Bowl.
21.8 Released Players: If a player is released while under contract, and is picked up off the waiver wire, the Team that released him incurs no Salary Cap hit. If, however, he clears waivers, the Team that released him incurs a Salary Cap hit of 20% of his Contract Salary. This hit applies during each year remaining on the Contract. Thus, if a player with a $4 million salary is released in the second year of a three year contract and clears waivers, the team that released him will have an $800,000 Salary Cap hit for both this year and an additional $800,000 for next year. The entire Salary Cap hit will be assessed immediately upon the player's release (in the above example that would be $1.6 million).
21.9 Franchise Tag: Each year a Team may designate a player who’s contract has expired and who is due to become an Unrestricted Free Agent as the Team’s Franchise Player. Each team has access each year to only one Franchise Tag. The Franchise Player is signed to a one-year contract for an amount equal to or greater (round up to the nearest $100,000) than the average of the top five Contract Salaries at the player's position, or 120% of his previous year’s Contract Salary (round to the nearest $100,000), whichever is greater. Franchise players must be named by April 1 each year.
NOTES: We hold a rookie draft, a restricted free agent auction, and an unrestricted free agent auction during the off-season. Free agent base salaries are based on their high bid. Rookies base salaries are based their draft position. We all love this system and wouldn't have it any other way. Good luck!
