GMs will now be able to unretire certain players
By "Lee Remley"

Off-Season 2186 (Minneapolis) - Long have our GMs spoken of the pains involving the retirement logic in FBPro that our league uses, and how they have lost promising young players to retirements. We have now taken steps to address that problem. Introducing Holdouts!

In short, GMs will now have the ability to 'unretire' players that have not yet reached their max retire age. These players wll be considered 'holdouts' rather tha retired. It is then up to the GM to decide whether to 'restructure' their contracts or not.

We in the League Office believe this will be a nice change for our GMs. It will allow you to manage your rosters more logically, it will solve the problem of losing promising young players to retirement logic, and it will allow for more of the total league salary cap dollars to be spent each season.

For the time being, we will be doing manual bookkeeping to keep track of unretired players, though we hope to introduce an automated solution at some point. Todd will compile the list from the e-mails sent to the league office.

I will host a Q&A session on AIM tomorrow (Monday, August 6) after the USAFL college draft, approximately 8:45-9:00pm Eastern Time, to discuss or answer any questions you may have about either the new rule or anything else involving the league. We are also planning another Q&A session next Saturday at 1pm Eastern Time for those unable to join after the draft.

This rule will take effect beginning with the 2186 off season. The details from the FAQ involving this rule which will be posted on the web page is listed below:

* HOLDOUTS: Players retiring before their MAX retirement year as listed below (also see the FAQ page: http://usafl.net/home/FAQ/faq-new_rookies.htm) are considered 'holdouts' rather than retired, dissatisfied with their current contract arrangement and unwilling to play for their team in the upcoming season unless their deal is restructured.

Position Max Age (YR)
QB ……. 15
RB ……. 13
WR ……. 12
TE ……. 12
OL ……. 14
DL ……. 13
LB ……. 14
DB ……. 12
K ……. 15
P ……. 11

* RESTRUCTURED CONTRACT SALARY GUIDELINES: GMs may elect to restructure the contracts of any 'holdout'. A player making between 0.500 and 4.000 at the time of his holdout will end his holdout for a salary equivalent to 2x his previous salary (i.e. a player making 3.000 the prior season will earn 6.000 during the upcoming season under a Restructured Contract). A player making more than 4.000 at the time of his holdout will end his holdout for an additional 4.000 per season (i.e. a player making 6.000 the prior season will earn 10.000 during the upcoming season under a Restructured Contract).

* LEAGUE NOTIFICATION: GMs must notify the League Office of holdouts on their team who will receive Restructured Contracts by 9:00 p.m. EST on the Monday immediately following the conclusion of the Regular Season (Week 15; Round 1 of the Playoffs). Notifications must be submitted by email to league@usafl.net and include the following information for each holdout who is receiving a Restructured Contract:

Team:
Player Name:
Position:
YR (as shown on the current season's roster -- R, 1, 2, etc.):
Current Salary:
Restructured Salary:

GMs reserve the right to not restructure the contract of a player who holds out. By not submitting the player's name by the Monday deadline, the player's contract is not restructured and he officially retires from the USAFL.

* GUARANTEED 1-YEAR CONTRACTS: A player with a Restructured Contract can NOT be cut by the team during the offseason in which he had his contract restructured (as is the case with rookie draft picks).

* MULTIPLE HOLDOUTS: A player can hold out and have his contract restructured multiple times throughout his career.

* UNLIMITED RESTRUCTURED CONTRACTS: Beyond salary cap constraints, there is no limit to the number of players a GM can offer Restructured Contracts to during a given season, or to the number of players on a team's roster that can have Restructured Contracts at any given time.

* FREE AGENCY: A player currently showing YR 6 or YR 11 on the Team Roster who previously signed a Restructured Contract remains eligible for Free Agency that offseason, even if the player restructured his contract earlier that same offseason. As per existing Free Agency rules, a player who signed a Restructured Contract must be offered a Free Agency contract that is equal to, or greater than, his current salary at the time of Free Agency.

* FRANCHISE PLAYERS: A player currently showing YR 3 or YR 5 on the Team Roster who previously signed a Restructured Contract remains eligible to be designated a Franchise Player per the Franchise Player designation rules currently in place in the USAFL. A Franchise Player who signs a Restructured Contract will retain his 'FP' designation in the Team Management console, and will continue to count towards that team's allowed allotment of FP contracts for as long as the player is with the team.

* TRADES: A player with a Restructured Contract can be traded at any time per existing USAFL rules and related deadlines.

* ROSTER CUTS: A player with a Restructured Contract who is officially released on the Roster Cut Deadline can be claimed by any other team later that offseason as a Waiver Claim in WWC for the veteran salary of 1.000. If that player is not claimed in WWC then he will officially retire from the USAFL.


Lee Remley
USAFL Communications Director