Advice on Contract Years For Startup

[SteelLake]

Hey all.. Start-up of a pretty-complex league.

DId the vet-auction, and now have to assign 1-4 years. (Get a franchise tag each year that you can either use for a "re-sign" of a vet or to buyout a contract for free). Otherwise buyouts are 50% for the remained of the contract. Unless a player is $1/2.. if so you can cut him for free. Re-signs include a raise of 50% -10% for player salaries that are $15-$149 (sliding scale, with a higher raise for cheaper initial players), and just their old salary for $150+. You can't re-sign a player you signed for under $15

Rookie auction is going on now, and there's some pretty in depth rookie / practice squad / RFA rules that I won't get into, but basically there's 9 PS players. To be on it, have to be drafted in rookie draft (most years, this year is auction w $300) and then you get an auto 3 year contract, that can also expire once you start 8 games... Basically the RFA rules in general should give you your rookies on a pretty nice discount for their next deal too.

Because of this, I went into the draft thinking I'd mainly go 1 year deals to avoid risk when I get a player at market value / then build my "dynasty style" through future rookie deals. However, I think I got some decent deals in the draft / some players that might be worth signing long term because of their upside (not that much of a risk to cut them).

TL;DNR.. Sorry for the novel, just trying to make it so people can give proper advice. My team after the veteran draft / the years I'm thinking about giving each player... Thoughts / Comments on if you agree/ disagree with where I'm going

12 team / PPR / 6 pts per passing TD
1,000 cap
Starting requirements: QB RB RB WR WR WR TE FLEX D K/ST

Starters:
P. Manning $93: 1 Year

Blount $27: 1 year
Crowell $36: 1 year

A. Brown: $213 4 years
Beckham: $202 4 years
Sanders: $111 1 year
Edelman: $103 3 years

Bennett: $45 1 year

Crosby :$2, 4 years
Jets: $1, 4 years

Bench:
McKinnon $15, 4 years
Carey: $7, 4 years
Woodhead $6: 1 year
Gray $1: 4 years

J. Brown $17: 4 years
R. Randle $6: 3 years
P. Richardson $2: 4 years

Eifert $14: 4 years

[SilverViper]

Hey fellow league mate. Wish I would've seen this before you sent out your final contracts. But I I agree with most except for a few: Randal I would've gone for 4 years. You're playing his upside, which he has a decent amount. Cruz has 3 more years on his contract so really he may peak at year 4 when you have to throw him back out. Tough to say, but I think it's worth the extra $3 cut cost versus risk. Same logic can be applied to Crowell. If you liked him enough to draft him, you think he's the guy probably. Mines well keep him for two years and risk paying a fraction unless you think one of the bench RBs can come up and play RB 1/RB2. Personally, I think Duke Johnson is the most talented back in Cleveland and eventually works into a RBBC with Crow but we'll see how it all shakes down.

Edelman: 3 years is fine although I would've gone for 2. He's 29 and is only under contract with the Pats through 2017. But it's not a super expensive contract and he could get an extension with the Pats.

BTW great deal on Sanders even if he is a 1 year rental with Peyton...He's one of the best value WR contracts in the league IMO.

You'll for sure be competitive this year with Manning and your receiving core, although your RBs leave a lot to be desired...but they could pan out if the dominoes fall correctly.

I think you have a good idea of where your team is and how you want to build it long term. You certainly have a lot of talented young receivers to build around. Best of luck.