Flexible Salary Minimum

[124715]

The current salary minimum scale is not working very well, as great players are signing minimum contracts left and right, just before they hit the next tier.

Current scale:

[table border=\\\'0\\\' align=\\\'center\\\' width=\\\'95%\\\' cellpadding=\\\'3\\\' cellspacing=\\\'1\\\' id=\\\'QUOTE-WRAP\\\'][tr][td]QUOTE [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\\\'QUOTE\\\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Tier 6 (1000 date=]
For Actives
Tier 6 (1000+ TPE) - $10,000,000
Tier 5 (800+ TPE) - $8,000,000
Tier 4 (600+ TPE) - $6,000,000
Tier 3 (400+TPE) - $4,000,000
Tier 2 (200+ TPE) - $2,000,000
Tier 1 (<200 TPE) - $1,000,000

Obviously, this makes it harder to sign team-friendly contracts that break the league. They're still possible, but I think this keeps it in check.

Also, I propose making the minimum salary flexible in case a player switches tiers. If a player switches tiers while on a contract below the minimum for that tier, we should split the difference and raise the contract.

Say Player X is signed through S6 on a minimum contract. He is active, with 100 TPE, and earns 150 TPE each season.

Here's his contract:
S3: $1M
S4: $1M
S5: $1M
S6: $1M

After S4 is over, he has 250 TPE, making him a Tier 2 player. This means his contract gets moved halfway towards the new minimum, $2M. New contract:

S3: $1M PAID
S4: $1.5M
S5: $1.5M
S6: $1.5M

After S5 is over, he has 400 TPE, making him a Tier 3 player. This means his contract gets moved halfway towards the new minimum, $4M. New contract:

S3: $1M PAID
S4: $1.5M PAID
S5: $2.75M
S6: $2.75M

At the conclusion of S6, he is a 550 TPE player on a rather small contract ($2.75M) as opposed to a high-TPE player on an absurdly small contract ($1M). I think this would fix a lot of the contract issues that we're seeing.

Thoughts?

[kckolbe]

If we are gonna re-do these, we may as well add a tier for 300 TPE with a slight increase. I think that early on, 100 TPE is a big difference.

I really like your compromise idea on long term contracts, though I would propose something simpler and just say that for each year beyond the first, salary MUST increase by 500k. This makes it easier to project cap space, and also adds a SMALL element of risk when signing long term deals.

[iamslm22]

I think it's a great idea if we wanna make the league realistic. There can still be team friendly contracts, but they won't be as crazy. IRL players obviously need money more since it's real, so contracts don't get as team friendly as they are here.

[manicmav36]

This is fantastic. My biggest concern was the longterm, team friendly contracts, which I think your solution addresses perfectly. I also agree with @kckolbe, I think a tier for 300 TPE should be added.
My only concern with what you proposed is with the higher end contracts. Seeing as how $10mil is 1/6th of a teams' salary, what if there is no team that can afford to sign a specific player?

[kckolbe]

This is fantastic. My biggest concern was the longterm, team friendly contracts, which I think your solution addresses perfectly. I also agree with @kckolbe, I think a tier for 300 TPE should be added.
My only concern with what you proposed is with the higher end contracts. Seeing as how $10mil is 1/6th of a teams' salary, what if there is no team that can afford to sign a specific player?

Bear in mind that it will take another 3-4 seasons for someone to break 1000, so we'll have time to adjust the cap as needed. For now, it's more about differentiating between tiers.

Personally, I think I'd like something less linear. Between 800 and 1000 TPE, really very little difference. Most of that will be endurance. Between 200 and 400, though, huge difference in abilities.

[manicmav36]

Personally, I think I'd like something less linear.  Between 800 and 1000 TPE, really very little difference.  Most of that will be endurance.  Between 200 and 400, though, huge difference in abilities.

Valid point.

[Admin]

Just a note about your example, players cant sign for longer than 3 seasons unless they are in the top tiers

[tlk742]

I love it, seconded.

[Molarpistols]

So it doesn't fix the problem at all, because salary cap would move with it. Needless inflation.

What happens when the actives make so much money they have nothing to spend it on. Do we raise equipment prices then, forcing newer players to write more and more to make up the difference?

What's the point of writing articles and doing graphics if my contract wouls pay for all the equipment and training I need? Many vets are already capped on some stats, making that equipment useless to them.

Really all this does is increase card sales in the long run and again, inflation.

[kckolbe]

So it doesn't fix the problem at all, because salary cap would move with it. Needless inflation.

The increase in cap would be proportionally less than the increase in minimum salaries.