Dynasty League Football Forum

New to salary cap leagues and super excited to be challenged and learn about the intricacies. Just curious how other owners approach thinking about the compensation you would need to receive to take on salaries from other teams.

the crappy answer is, in this case, also the best answer: it depends.

one of the reasons i (and others) love SC&C format is that there is a whole new axis of value (financial/economic) along which to measure a player. this allows for tremendous individuality in team construction and management--but by the same token it means there are often no set guidelines on how to get a bad contract off your hands or what you should be looking to acquire when you do.

generally speaking, for me, when i have a team in this mode, where cap space is an edge i have over everyone else in the league and particularly the team wearing the bad contract, i have to remind myself that my primary asset is my cap space. so, when i maneuver, i have to do so in ways that maintains that.

-focus on the incentivization asset, not the bad contract asset. yes, you may be taking on eddie lacy for 35% of the cap for 4 years. that's not the real trade. the real trade is what you get for taking the bad contract asset.
-your best move is often dropping the bad contract asset as soon as you acquire it. eating the cap hit is something you can afford to do. carrying the bad contract to next season may not be.
-the primary incentivization assets are draft picks, but you can also move a contract of your own that you are not crazy about, particuarly one that doesn't make Time Sense for your team (Phillip Rivers on a 1 year deal on a non competing team for example). this can help you absorb the cap hit from the bad contract asset (which you will probably drop immediately) and subtly improve your own team.
-as a general process, when i realize my team is in this mode, i just start looking at every other team's contract list and picks. you'll identify some bad contracts that owners don't think are bad. or bad contracts on teams without anything you want. i try to identify teams with multiple mid round picks or late 1sts and then start a discussion (the team with 1.12, 1.13, 1.14 is going to be more willing to give up a 1st than the team with only 1.03). that's just me.

as far was "how much of a pick can i get" ... that's where you just have to enter trade negotiations and find out. what is it worth for the other team to get our from under their bad contract? i would think 2nds are prime targets for this type of maneuver, but it varies greatly by owner. you may be able to squeak a late 1st or more depending on what you send back. it really does come down to the specifics.

Unfortunately, like @Goirish wrote, it's entirely situation dependent. What I love about these kinds of leagues are all the permutations and scenarios. Because of all the factors, hard-and-fast rules are nearly non-existent.

If you have a couple of examples that you're facing now or that you faced last year, then I'd suggest posting them here. We can debrief together, and that might help you get some ideas about how to approach different trade offers.

One note, though: in these leagues, I make damn sure that all owners who enter know that "salary dump" is not a bad thing in this league; it's a market stabilizer.

moishetreats wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2017 5:40 pm We can debrief together

brilliant!

I took on Rolondo McClains contract last season, he was out due to suspension and had only 1 year and 6.4 mil left. He compensated me with a draft pick swap. 3rd rounder for a 6th rounder. I cut McClain and took the 60 percent cap hit for the year.

I have been doing this format for a couple years now, for what it's worth.

I was in a position last year were I had a pretty thin team and A LOT of cap space. The method I used with some effectiveness was to take on "bad contract" players in return for draft equity or other mid-range depth players. "Bad contract" is relative, of course. The path I like to take is to get back in the trade a blind-bid dollar amount for the current year and the following year. It's an amount that falls somewhere in the middle of what they would lose for dropping and what they are currently paying. The NEXT year salary relief is the key here. The presumption is that the other team wants relief now. You are able to take the hit now, but want to protect yourself LATER, when you assume you will be in a better place. In many instances, I am able to flip that player for something reasonable and have essentially gotten free money for the next year or a free draft pick.

Krytellan wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2017 9:05 pm I have been doing this format for a couple years now, for what it's worth.

I was in a position last year were I had a pretty thin team and A LOT of cap space. The method I used with some effectiveness was to take on "bad contract" players in return for draft equity or other mid-range depth players. "Bad contract" is relative, of course. The path I like to take is to get back in the trade a blind-bid dollar amount for the current year and the following year. It's an amount that falls somewhere in the middle of what they would lose for dropping and what they are currently paying. The NEXT year salary relief is the key here. The presumption is that the other team wants relief now. You are able to take the hit now, but want to protect yourself LATER, when you assume you will be in a better place. In many instances, I am able to flip that player for something reasonable and have essentially gotten free money for the next year or a free draft pick.

Happens all the time I'm my leagues all 22 start/ 53 oyster spots. Sometimes you will see a one sided trade of a player with a big cap number and a draft pick go to a team for nothing in return. If your league allows this, it's a good way to clear some cap room for a late round pick. Usually if your team is cap tight it's a good team and you won't miss the free pick you gave up. I've seen a salary dump and a 5th rounder go for nothing intrturn. Otherwise I see the trades like mentioned above. Swap a 3rd and salary dump for a 5 or 6th round pick. Again the 3rd you gave won't be as bad of a hit if you have a good deep team. Works well the opposite way when rebuilding as you can gain value in picks or even sometime get a good player with a high cap number you can keep if you have enough room. But don't strap your team the other way next year by keeping bad contracts. I play in 8 leagues like this, and it is the best format imo.

I think the key here is what Krytellan mentioned: the ability to trade blind-bid dollars (cap space). It allows the receiving team to "re-structure" bad deals. It's similar to how the real world works. If you remember Cleveland gave TRich and ate his salary for Indy's 1st rounder.