Madden 2005 Franchise Tips, Strategies, Etc. now open.

[Kobra]

For those of you who are looking for tips and strategies for Madden 2005 franchise mode, post questions here. Last year the 2004 thread had over replies 1,245 and 32,013 views and the thread was not even started until Jan 28 of 2004.

I am sure that Mightypharaoh and rest of the chise gurus can help with questions. We will also be releasing a huge franchise guide to help those out looking for more in depth tips. Look for more info on that later in the season.

Kobra

[DuckFan]

:)

:)

:)

[mightypharaoh]

Thanks for the quick response to the pm

[DuckFan]

Sorry... Just had to get the first reply in... :)

One silly little tip that I wish someone had given me. Make sure that you double check your depth chart after your 4th preseason game but before you leave the Pre-Season.

If you have players in position battles, sometimes the AI will decide the wrong guy "won" the battle in pre-season and will name him the new starter. Morale for the player who "should" have been starting will drop in week 1 when he finds out he didn't get the position and you will have angry emails from players to deal with.

I am running Detroit, and during pre-season McMahon threw the ball well enough to beat out Harrington for the starting job. I didn't discover this until the 1st regular season game, and when I made the change back I had two irritated QBs (Harrington because he didn't have the job to begin with and McMahon because I took it away from him).

Yeah, like a guy calling himself "DuckFan" is going to sit Joey Heisman... sheesh... :p

[mightypharaoh]

I was wondering why u went with detroit. DUH!!!!

I did make a huge blunder last night though. I had Mawae and Sean Ellis up for free agency and I franchised them. Duh on my part I should have done it during the season. As a result my o-line is horrendous and my d-line is average.

Choosing your team captains is a nice touch as u can always go with a player who has high morale. I am curious as 2 what the process is for receiving Icon status and how it affects the game, on field and as far as potential players coming 2 the team.

Oh well I am down 6-0 2 tampa bay in week 4, gotta score

peace

[XtremepH]

Well I have started my chise with da Ravens and Im currently 6-1 w/ no major injuries. First couple of games I had on PRO and Boller threw 14 TDs so I had to place it on all All-Pro which isn't as easy as PRO was. One thing I like now is that after Week 5, 11, 17, and playoffs a scout evaluates your players based on performance and gives them added pts to boost their total OVR status. Boller gained 2 additional pts so he increased from 80 - 82. Very nice feature since you can't make everyone better with preseason drills.

Don't quite remember if i selected anyone as team captain yet nor do I know how to place da Frachise tag on anyone as of yet but my team had a 30million in cap space so I resigned MaCalister and a bunch of others. Cap room @ 12 million now. I can't seem to bargain much with the players as if I lower the signing bonus or salary too much the bar turns red and the player rejects the offer. Just my recap so far.

[Mags]

I was wondering why u went with detroit. DUH!!!!

I did make a huge blunder last night though. I had Mawae and Sean Ellis up for free agency and I franchised them. Duh on my part I should have done it during the season. As a result my o-line is horrendous and my d-line is average.



So remember to franchise a player before the off-season if his contract comes up? Not sure I follow this one?

[mtsouth]

I don't think the option is available until you get to the resign players step after the RFAs. Could be wrong though?

[mightypharaoh]

U can do it. I saw it during the email updates during the season.

I must report that u can still dump players for picks right b4 the trade deadline. I packaged 2#2's and a 3 for a#1 and then packaged Cowart and a 6, 7 rd for a 3 and 5 pick

[DuckFan]

You can still dump players for picks, but the AI teams aren't lining up with offers of a 1st, 2nd and 3rd for your first when you are 5-0... thank God...

My first year I did convince the 49ers to trade 1-3-5 for my 1, but they were one of only two teams to even offer a 1-3...

With player morale, my devastating trading is no longer available. I used to regularly trade away superstars at week 5 to stockpile picks (getting as many as 7 1sts some years but always at least 3). Now the rest of the team gets pissed if you trade away Randy Moss... Again, a good thing...

As for the Franchise tag, to my knowledge it is only available for players who are NOT under contract. There is no option for me to tag Joey, at any point during the year. But when I go to sign a new free agent I can tag him. And when I resigned contracts for players who were expired it was an option.

Anyone tell me how to name captains? I have looked all over and can't find that anywhere...

Also. Anyone know what the weird picture icons are on the PDA when you are looking at the Player Info? I am guessing they are current awards, since one looks like a palm tree (Pro Bowl?), another looks like a giant gold medal (some other award maybe?).

[mightypharaoh]

DF A medal stands for Team captain. I am looking right now but I believe u can only do that in the begining of the season.

A star with an NFL shield next 2 it means Icon status (I don't know how u acheive that yet) I saw it last season but I think palm trees represent pro bowler.

[JB_9]

Has anyone ran into the problem of having the same guy in back to back draft classes? I saved all my NCAA draft classes and I used the Buckeyes. Well Santonio Holmes showed up in back to back draft classes. The first year he was a 2-3 round prospect and the next year he was a solid 1st rounder. I went on to find several of my Buckeye players were duplicated. What's the deal? Anyone know?

[mightypharaoh]

Has anyone ran into the problem of having the same guy in back to back draft classes? I saved all my NCAA draft classes and I used the Buckeyes. Well Santonio Holmes showed up in back to back draft classes. The first year he was a 2-3 round prospect and the next year he was a solid 1st rounder. I went on to find several of my Buckeye players were duplicated. What's the deal? Anyone know?

The only thing I can think of is perhaps u saved the draft class twice. Once with the player and once without. I have had that happen b4. NOt sure if that helps u though

[bobniborg]

What :eek: No reading through 3000 previous posts! What a sham :mad:

:D

[hobbs2324]

just wanted to make sure I was subscribed haven't gotten the game yet but will in the near future

[mightypharaoh]

just wanted to make sure I was subscribed haven't gotten the game yet but will in the near future

T minus 28 and counting I see. Yeah DF picked up the game and again felt it was time for a new thread. I pm'd Kobra and 2 minutes later here we are.

[jdbolick]

Most strategies seem to carry over from 2004. If you don't mind "cheating" with your roster, you can get around the morale issues by signing free agents and trading them. Obviously you never want to give them a signing bonus, and unlike 2004 (if memory serves) it seems like you actually don't have to pay much more total if you give no bonus.

Another factor to consider is that a player's trade value is influenced by the team's other players at that position. You can get Ben Watson from the Patriots for almost nothing because they have two TEs rated higher. Also if you want someone like Robert Gallery, offer Oakland a high-rated LT as part of the deal. It should reduce him from a B to a C+, which is more significant than it sounds. Then with your own players, it's better not to cut your worst players if you plan to trade anyone at that position. The more 60s or especially 50s you have at that position, the more the guy you trade will be worth. For better or worse, there aren't a lot of crap guys available right off the bat so it's hard to stack rosters that way. Last year I'd sign 3-4 50s and it would usually bump my value noticeably.

Pretty much any team should be able to assemble an impressive collection of young talent just by signing and trading the veteran free agents available, although a couple are probably worth keeping. It had no impact on morale, at least not on the team that I used, but trading one of the existing players did.


And if you're thinking of signing a player to a long-term deal, obviously you want to do it before boosting that player in training camp. I always manage to forget that, costing me an extra million or so.

[theguru14]

What is more or less the best way to sign/resign players? Should I offer more contract money or signing bonus and vice versa? thx

[mightypharaoh]

The glitch in last years game that would allow u 2 save a game and restart it gaining extra income is done.

Good thing bc it threw year end earnings out of line. With last years game u could play 1 game 5 times and make 30 mil. Ahhh I feel like a true owner.

guru14 - this years game is a bitmore complex than just dollars and cents. First for me resigning a player I try and look at his age, the upcoming free agent period and draft pool (import drafts so I have been scouting already). I also think about how many years I want 2 hold on 2 the player, bc that signing bonus will kick u in the pants if u want 2 trade them later.

As for the new features, trade away 2 many players and u lose the morale of your team and other players will ask out. Also does the player want 2 stay with your team. Perhaps he wants a team with more prestige, he wants 2 acheive icon status he wants 2 go 2 hollywood.

[theguru14]

guru14 - this years game is a bitmore complex than just dollars and cents. First for me resigning a player I try and look at his age, the upcoming free agent period and draft pool (import drafts so I have been scouting already). I also think about how many years I want 2 hold on 2 the player, bc that signing bonus will kick u in the pants if u want 2 trade them later.

I think I know the answer but what hurts or hurts more on the salary cap, the contract $ or the signing bonus or both?

[mtsouth]

I'd say the bonus, b/c you are still responsible for a portion of that if they have years left on the contract.

Some notes from my Panthers 'chise -

Was able to deal Brad Hoover and a 3rd rounder for Dallas Clark. Then I dealt Mangum and my 1st to the Patriots for a 1st/3rd. I signed Jamar Martin to fill Hoover's spot. Since a FB isn't real important in my offense, I thought he would be fine. In the 1st half against the Redskins, he pancaked Arrington to spring Davis for a 52 yd TD. He also caught a 36 yard TD pass after turning Sean Taylor around a few times.

Just thought I would share. More notes to come.

[TruBluDevil3]

in last years game you could wait until just before the trade deadline, look for the worst team, and trade your picks for their picks (1st for 1st, etc.) can you do that this year?

[hobbs2324]

Mighty P asked the same question up top, he's going to find out and post back

[adyrus]

I have 2 questions and I dont know if this is the right place to post them.

1) I started a franchise with the Eagles and it is at a difficulty level of Pro. The problem is it wont let me change the level. Why is this?

2) How do I get all those Madden Challenge things to stop popping up. It gets in the way of the game? It wont let me change this either.

Thanks

[jdbolick]

theguru14:
The signing bonus and base numbers don't count any differently on the cap, but you clearly want all you can get in base numbers in case you want to trade or release the player. Base numbers in football aren't guaranteed, unlike the NBA or MLB, so if you release the player you won't be paying them anything except whatever bonus money they were to receive. I think it kind of sucks that trading accelerates the signing bonus (meaning you pay all of it), but that's an NFL rule and not something Madden invented. As stated above, from what I've played so far it looks like this year you don't actually have to pay out more (or at least not much more) in base money if you don't want to give any signing bonus. That wasn't the case last year.

Example:
Player A wants a 1.85 million base + 500k signing bonus for one year. This year you can usually sign the player with no bonus by just adding that 500k to the base, increasing it to 2.35 mil. (last year was probably more realistic in that respect since all the publicized holdouts are over bonus money and not base. Athletes are greedy, not stupid)


As far as I can tell there's no reason to ever give a signing bonus. Even if you plan on keeping the player, something might change your mind down the line and it doesn't seem to hurt if you keep it all in base. And as mentioned, morale doesn't seem to be affected if you sign free agents and trade them instead of your own players. I haven't yet tried signing free agents and then trading my pre-existing players largely because I like them and they also have signing bonuses, but I should do that just to see if it affects morale. I suspect that it will.


TruBluDevil3:
As far as I can tell you can, but only if your draft picks were rated better than theirs before the start of the season.


adyrus:
No clue man. I started a Carolina franchise and changed from Pro to All-Pro after one game. You might be trying to change it while a game is going on, which doesn't appear to be possible. Try changing the gameplay settings outside of game action. I think you can also turn off madden challenge in the system settings, although I'm not positive as I've never wanted to.

[chillingbrio]

Just got a few questions here. Does anyone know if there goin to be coming out with a strategy guide for fantasy drafts and if anyone has done a fantasy draft do u have any tips for me since im goin to be doing one shortly. thx :cool:

[chillingbrio]

would the madden 2004 guide be the same for this years with a little changes?
thx

[jdbolick]

I'm sure someone will. I usually go through each year and make notations on what players go where, but generally that only happens after I've played a couple of years with an existing team. It shouldn't be too hard just to do that yourself. Start a franchise, draft, make notes, go back and do it over again until you're satisfied.

[OregonStateFan]

yea ive done fantasy draft and i can say the CPU is stupid. They dont worry about how old players are when they pick. In my drafts (ive done 3 so far) ben reoethlisberger is available into the 20th round and beyond. I was amazed.

[jdbolick]

Also a big thing in fantasy drafts that many people forget is pay attention to salaries. Obviously that isn't a factor if you're playing without the salary cap, but if you're playing normal settings, you not only want to draft good, young players but good, young, cheap players. I should really go see who some of those players are right now, but I imagine that when I sit down to play I won't be coming back to the computer for a while anyway.

[mightypharaoh]

in last years game you could wait until just before the trade deadline, look for the worst team, and trade your picks for their picks (1st for 1st, etc.) can you do that this year?

U can still trade for that # pick at week 5 but it isn't as easy as it was last year. U could take a veteran put him on the block and get that pick u wanted. Teams aren't as eager 2 take that 92 OVR player for picks as they once were. It' does make for a more interesting off season.

Also b4 u could trade and trade and no one would care. hobbs be careful about jettisoning those 30 year old players, your team may complain about it. My current team is 7-1 and I traded Sam Cowart for picks, and put Jon McGraw and Reggie Tongue on the trade block. 2 of my 3 team captains have low morale after the deals, even though they are performing extremely well, leading their respective positions in pro bowl voting.

[mightypharaoh]

I have 2 questions and I dont know if this is the right place to post them.

1) I started a franchise with the Eagles and it is at a difficulty level of Pro. The problem is it wont let me change the level. Why is this?

2) How do I get all those Madden Challenge things to stop popping up. It gets in the way of the game? It wont let me change this either.

Thanks

go into gameplay settings. click on game there u can change the skill level and remove Madden challenge.

[DuckFan]

Okay, multiple topics here:

Pictures in the PDA: As explained before the Palm Tree is for Pro Bowl, that medal is for Team Captain, and the star-NFL Shield is for Icon.

Icons: The CPU names new ones every year on its own. It's mostly based on career stats, but a player can get the designation if he has one spectacular season as long as he has already played for a while. There is no requirement that he be the best guy at that position on your team (I have Dre Bly and Fernando Bryant, and the CPU named Bryant after year 1 even though Bly is 3pts better). In my current chise, the average team has 4 Icons in year 2, I have just 2.

Pre-Season Stat Progressions: Have been expanded this year. Last year you got them for the first 3 seasons and for some players who were still under age 26. Whole new ballgame this year. You can get preseason bumps for 28yo guys who have 6 years under their belts. If you're like me and play a few games a year and sim the rest, you may want to drop a regular season game for a pre-season to ensure your young guys improve. In addition, take extra time with your depth chart before preseason. Juggle every position so that you have the right guys as backups. The AI still believes in playing rookies but doesn't understand that 2nd-yr guys need development too. And if you have a rookie starting (like Roy Williams for DET) you may want to drop him in the depth chart to give him more time in preseason.

Stat Progressions: Only occur during the season (although old guys will drop in the off-season). Therefore it is CRITICAL that your players play well in the FIRST five weeks of the season. Updates are at 5, 11, and 17, but if your guys do well the first 5 weeks their progressed stats will let them perform better through the next two updates as well. Increases of 8-10 points during one season are fairly easy to get. On offense the progressions make sense, but on D, the AI cares way too much about tackles (at all D positions). A CB with 20 more tackles will progress better than one with 10 more deflections and 5 more INTs, which is dumb. Take a hard look at who you have listed as your backups in your depth chart, these are the guys who play on special teams and you may need to give those extra tackles to someone. Last year in my Franchise I always made sure Brian Urlacher was listed as my #2 ROLB just for special teams (since he would never play that position otherwise) and he picked up an average of 4 tackles a game in that role. Same strategies work here. Put your "real" backup as 3rd string and rotate some starters at one position into the #2 slot at another to get them reps on special teams.

Team Captains: Be careful who you name. Some guys get pissed off at being named. Where possible, name guys who are under long-term contracts that have at least 5 years under their belts. And do not name a newly-signed player as captain.

Franchise Player: No advice yet. The only guy I could have named at this point was Stockar McDougle. And even though he will be on my roster until retirement I just couldn't see doing that. The franchise tag can only go to a guy getting a new contract. If someone can give specifics on the results, that would be great.

Restricted Free Agents: Not entirely sure how the system handles these yet. I understand how they work in real life, but the vast majority of decent RFAs on other teams required a 1st&3rd as compensation and I can do better than that on my own. When you make a qualifying offer to your own guys you have 3 or 4 preset choices of salary. The player HAS to take any of them (even if it's 450K a year) but the amount you offer him determines what compensation an AI team has to give you if they take him away. I gave my 77 OVR CB a 450K offer, but no team was going to take him anyway.

Contracts: A repeat of DuckFan Contracts 101 for those new to the class. The lowest impact on current salary always occurs with 20% of the contract being paid in Signing Bonus. So if you are trying to reduce this years cap hit from a deal, the target signing bonus is 20% of the total. Example: Guy wants $14M over 5 years and is asking for a $2.1M signing bonus. The smallest hit to your Cap for this year is to raise his signing bonus to $2.8M (20% of the $14M).

Contract Strategy: I am only in year 2, so I can't state this with authority, yet. But based on everything I have seen, my strategy from last year still works flawlessly. Keeping every player who will be playing on a 6-7 year deal with 20% signing bonus, maximizing the amount of cap room available in each and every year. Renegotiating contracts with 3-4 years left and making them new 6-7s, so I never have to pay the paycheck year at the end. Guys will still renegotiate for a deal that extends past their retirement date and forfeit money to do it, since you only have to pay them for the years they play (which are the cheapest years of the deal) and they have to give the signing bonus back. In my current franchise I opened an additional $21M in Cap Room the first year, and my 2nd-year salaries will be $19M less that before the renegotiations.

Difficulty: All new Franchises start at PRO. You can change the setting any time between games. But don't be surprised if the first game you play seems really easy :)

AI Trading: The AI now trades picks, pretty regularly in fact. But I still have not seen a player deal from the AI. That's a shame.

Draft Picks: They fixed most of the "my 1st for your 1st, 2nd, and 4th" problem. But you can still do a little tweaking at week 5.

Traded Players Contracts: In response to the question below, you still have to pay the signing bonus for any player you trade away. But by the same token, the AI has to pay it for any guys you trade for. When I shop picks for players I always look at who has the most years on their contracts, because getting 4 years of your AI opponent paying 25% of the guy's salary for you is some good. Just DON'T renegotiate the deal for guys you trade for (or you will have to start paying a new bonus).

IMP: Still the single most important stat in Chise play. And unfortunately, it's still broken. :( I was really hoping they would have fine-tuned how the IMPortance rating was handled. But it looks like they didn't. So every single broken strategy I had from last year in player trading still works. All of them. Really a shame. I will probably continue abusing it for this first Franchise, but by the 2nd or 3rd one I will start doing what I did in last year's game for the last 12 Franchises I played, and I will start rejecting trades on my own if the only reason the computer will do them is because the IMP rating is broken. I played through 17 complete Franchises last year, and the broken IMP rating starts to take the fun out of it after a while (just like the stupid 1 for 1-2-3rd glitch). Last year it took me to my 5th or 6th Franchise before I had to start helping the AI. This time probably not as long.

Lest you think the IMP rating is just fine, answer me this: Would the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trade Rod Smith (a 26yo ICON FS with a 93 OVR), plus a 28yo LG with an 86 OVR, plus a high 5th round pick for the 23rd pick in the 2nd round of the draft? Because that's exactly what the broken IMP rating caused them to do in my current Chise... Or how about a team, having just acquired All-Pro 25yo 90 OVR FB Rock Cartwright in Free Agency, choosing to trade Rock away for the 3rd pick in the 4th round? Because that's what one of the teams in my Chise decided to do.

I admit it, I am a co-dependent enabler for the AI... :cool:

But I really hope they fix the IMP for next year...

[DuckFan]

As if my post wasn't long enough, I need to post it three times? Sheesh...

Anyway... If someone has free time, and an easy way to transfer the data, it would be nice to have a list of everyone who retires after the first year. I guarantee you that the vast majority of it will be identical for all of us. And it would be nice to know in advance that guys won't play past year 1 of a new Chise.

I think we all would have guessed Jerry Rice, Rich Gannon and the like. But it would be nice to have a list of the guys who are pre-programmed to leave. Last year it was cued to remove everyone who had played 18 years and everyone over 38. I am sure the rules are similar. Remember you can generate extra cash for your team by signing Jerry Rice to a new 7-yr deal right before he retires...

[mightypharaoh]

theguru14:
The signing bonus and base numbers don't count any differently on the cap, but you clearly want all you can get in base numbers in case you want to trade or release the player. Base numbers in football aren't guaranteed, unlike the NBA or MLB, so if you release the player you won't be paying them anything except whatever bonus money they were to receive. I think it kind of sucks that trading accelerates the signing bonus (meaning you pay all of it), but that's an NFL rule and not something Madden invented. As stated above, from what I've played so far it looks like this year you don't actually have to pay out more (or at least not much more) in base money if you don't want to give any signing bonus. That wasn't the case last year.

Example:
Player A wants a 1.85 million base + 500k signing bonus for one year. This year you can usually sign the player with no bonus by just adding that 500k to the base, increasing it to 2.35 mil. (last year was probably more realistic in that respect since all the publicized holdouts are over bonus money and not base. Athletes are greedy, not stupid)


As far as I can tell there's no reason to ever give a signing bonus. Even if you plan on keeping the player, something might change your mind down the line and it doesn't seem to hurt if you keep it all in base. And as mentioned, morale doesn't seem to be affected if you sign free agents and trade them instead of your own players. I haven't yet tried signing free agents and then trading my pre-existing players largely because I like them and they also have signing bonuses, but I should do that just to see if it affects morale. I suspect that it will.


In last years game I used that strategy all of the time. I was a big advocate of it, until in later years I barely had enough cap space 2 keep my chise running. I was constantly wheeling and dealing 2 stay above water.

The signing bonus is the part of the contract that u as the team absorb which leads 2 Cap Penalties.

Someone ask hobbs about his $75 mil cap hit in 1 season, he loves 2 tell that story. It's important if u make those deals 2 keep a tally of the cap penalties u accrue bc they will affect your cap the following year.

[DuckFan]

Um, what was I gonna say...

Um, oh yeah... I highly recommend turning off the EA Sports Radio Show. Man it was giving me a headache having Tony Bruno trying to talk to me while I negotiated contracts...

[mightypharaoh]

Dilemma, I am in week 9 of my current chise and was surfing the net last night and got hold of the NFL roster from ps2rosters.com.


AUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I am tempted 2 start over with my new rosters and new strategies. UGH I guess I put 2 much into these chises lol

[mightypharaoh]

DF one thing I would have liked 2 have seen this year is the trading of conditional draft picks.

Perhaps this years draft is looking spares or I don't have any holes 2 fill, I should be able 2 parlay that into a future pick.

When u get 2 season 10 let us know if anything like that takes place.

Also be sure 2 mention if the gene spliced grass is still available :D

[dancingbones]

I'm with Duckfan on the IMP needing to be fixed w/ regard to draft picks.

First moves for my new Browns franchise (before training camp, etc.).

1) Trade my 2nd round pick and a scrub RG to PHI for their rookie RG (80 something OVR - 1st rd, 16th pick 2004) AND their 4th & 5th rounder.

2) Trade my 1st round pick, Ross Verba (86 OVR), and 4th (or 5th?) rounder to OAK for LT Gallery (85 OVR - 1rd, 2nd pick 2004) AND their 3rd and 4th.

Note: some of ny OVRs may be off (I am not at the game right now), but it is definitely the height of cheese that still works. Now I have the RG (Alexander, I think is his name) on a very reasonable 5 yr contract, and Gallery on a 7 year deal.

Definitely cheese, but I just can't seem to stop myself! :o

Looking forward to naming captains and reading team reactions in the emails...

[jdbolick]

Those who trade for Gallery, don't forget to re-do his contract. For most players you wouldn't want to, but you can save multi-millions by releasing Gallery and re-signing him. It seems that you take a slight hit to morale, but the difference is worth it.


As for signing bonus vs. no signing bonus, cap savings only comes into play if guys will sign for less overall money when you give them a bonus. In 2004 they definitely did, but from what I've seen so far of 2005, it doesn't appear that they do. But be aware that I'm not talking about restructuring guys. I almost never restructure my players because you take all that bonus hit off the past contract plus whatever you're adding to it. In regards to not giving bonus I'm just talking about free agent signings.

[hitsquad3]

This is my first post and want to say this site is great. On to my question what will happen most likely to my team moral if i trade rich gannon he is not starting because he did not win the battle in preseason so kerry collins is running the show. Every week rich is sending my hate mail cuz he is whining how do i end the crying from this player do i have trade or is there something else that can be done to manage his emotions besides starting him. If he gets some playing time does that help? :confused:

[hitsquad3]

How do i add a player avatar to the end of my messages is there a download section that i can go to and view available 2005 player photos from madden or what? I am a Raider fan so holla at ya Boy. :cool:

[RunRickyRun]

Has anyone noticed that when you do a Fantasy Draft for a Franchise more than once and take the same approach that the other teams in the league consistently have almost all of their roster the same every time (key players always). I can understand that teams traditionally take the same approach (ravens go for defense, chiefs go for offense etc...) but a little variety would be nice. Oh, and a little advice on how to beat Champ Bailey on a deep corner post on All-Madden would be nice :eek: !

[DuckFan]

As for signing bonus vs. no signing bonus, cap savings only comes into play if guys will sign for less overall money when you give them a bonus.

This is just simply not true.

In a 5-year $10M no-bonus deal, the player gets paid exactly $2M per year, each of the 5 years.

In a 5-year $10M 20% bonus deal, the player gets paid around $1.2M the first year, $1.5M the 2nd, $1.9M the 3rd, $2.4M the 4th and $3.0M the 5th.

You save $800K in cap room the 1st year by giving him 20% of his contract as a bonus. You save another $500K the 2nd year, and see a small savings the 3rd year as well.

The first time he costs more money in that deal is year 4, at which time in a no-bonus deal he is likely to be holding out because he feels like he should be worth more than the $2M he is getting. But even if he doesn't hold out, you are still $1M ahead in total cap by having paid him a bonus.

When it comes time for the "paycheck" year of his contract, you can always renegotiate him and he will accept less money than what they payday would have been. So you stay ahead in cap the whole time.

Here's a broader example:

Let's take a 25yo DE who is going to play the next 10 yrs on your team and then retire at age 35. He'll be starting the whole time, and continuing to get decent stats, but not impressive enough to dramatically change his contract demands (more than inflation would).

First case, you sign him only to no-bonus deals:
His first contract is for 5 years at $10M. You get very lucky and he chooses NOT to hold out at year 5. When his contract is done, you sign him to a new 5-year deal at $15M. You get very lucky again and he plays out the entire contract without holding out.

His cap hit each year (in millions):

Year 1: $2.0
Year 2: $2.0
Year 3: $2.0
Year 4: $2.0
Year 5: $2.0
Year 6: $3.0
Year 7: $3.0
Year 8: $3.0
Year 9: $3.0
Year X: $3.0

Second case, you sign him to 20% bonus deals, renegotiating each time he has just one year left on the deal:
His first contract is for 5 years at $10M with a $2M bonus. He chooses not to hold out at any point. After four years, you renegotiate his 1YRL deal to a new five year deal at $14M with a $2M bonus (he signs for $1M less due to inflation because it's one year earlier). He plays the first four years of that deal. Then you renegotiate him to a new 5 year deal at $18M with a $3.6M bonus. He plays the first two years of that deal and then retires.

His cap hit each year (in millions):

Year 1: $1.2
Year 2: $1.5
Year 3: $1.9
Year 4: $2.4
Year 5: $1.68
Year 6: $2.1
Year 7: $2.66
Year 8: $3.36
Year 9: $2.16
Year X: $2.7

Total paid over the life of the contract: $21.66M, over $3M less than you paid with the no-bonus deals. And in eight of the ten years he cost less in cap hit.

And that doesn't even take into account holdouts, which are very likely in no-bonus deals. If your 5-year $10M guy holds out before year 5, you will likely have to redo his contract at that point to 5 years at $14M, and will have to pay him an additional $800K in year five beyond what you agreed to originally. If he held out both times at year five, your pay chart looks like this:

Year 1: $2.0
Year 2: $2.0
Year 3: $2.0
Year 4: $2.0
Year 5: $2.8
Year 6: $2.8
Year 7: $2.8
Year 8: $2.8
Year 9: $3.6
Year X: $3.6

And you wind up on the hook for $26.4 million over 10 years...



Trust me when I say that giving bonuses and renegotiating contracts as they reach their sunset year will save you a fortune in cap room. The difference is even more dramatic if I take that DE and sign him to a 7-yr deal to start, then negotiate to a new 7 when he has 2 years left.

Yes, you DON'T lock guys into the cycle until you know that they will be on your team permanently. But if you don't have at least 15-20 guys on your roster that will be retiring for your team there is something wrong. And by scaling those 20 guys' contracts appropriately you can afford 2-3 completely extra star players. Personally I typically have 25 guys on my roster that will die on my team. I have another 15 guys who are just there to fill roster spots as cheap as possible (and are on short deals). The other 10-13 guys are ones that I may trade away, or guys that haven't proven they belong, or guys I traded for that are still on a bonus deal from someone else and will get locked up once that deal expires. But those 25 lifers let me pay for extra stars...

[mightypharaoh]

How do i add a player avatar to the end of my messages is there a download section that i can go to and view available 2005 player photos from madden or what? I am a Raider fan so holla at ya Boy. :cool:

go 2 the thread on signatures. go 2 page 3 in that thread. Str8A gives u details on how 2 input a picture into your sig.

[TruBluDevil3]

lol the draft picks thing is still messed up. i waited just before the trade deadline and traded all my picks to the team with the worst record for all their picks.

BTW- i use the skins in my chise, and in the 1st year mcnabb went out for 9 weeks, and owens went out for the year, lol. easy division that year

[jdbolick]

DuckFan:
Good points. In addition to the scaling contract, I checked and it appears that, unlike ESPN, Madden actually doesn't count existing bonus money against the cap when you restructure. Apparently it becomes phantom money, unlike the real NFL, which leads to some of the savings you mention. If that didn't happen, you'd have the remaining bonus from the first contract in addition to whatever new bonus you gave the player, significantly cutting into that savings you point to.


As for hold-outs, I have to disagree with you. I haven't found them to be any more common under no-bonus deals than other contracts. In fact, hold-outs seem to be less common because the player is making more money at that particular year, which I believe is one of the primary factors Madden uses to calculate the possibility of a hold-out.


Also I should have qualified that my strategy suits me. In my experience I almost always have plenty of cap up front and it gets tighter the longer I play the game due to re-signing my guys. That's why I don't mind paying more up front to avoid paying more later on. In addition I do tend to roll over players quite a bit, often at a position I hadn't planned to but where someone better became available. In your scenario you have relatively little roster flexibility, so if some stud unexpectedly becomes available, you either have to carry two big contracts at that position or cut/trade one guy and carry the remaining bonus money in penalties. To each his own I suppose.



TruBluDevil3:
Seems like injuries happen a little too often to computer teams in Madden, but still nowhere near as often as in ESPN.



General Comments:
I played around with the quarter defense in my last game with surprising results, especially with cover 2. I only gave up one big play on a dive, but completely shut down a passing attack that had been giving me a lot of trouble. I started tipping balls all over the place along with a couple of interceptions. The weaknesses are the aforementioned inside running, corner routes (cover 3 helps with that but decreases the effectiveness of the short zones), and occasionally go routes if the DB just doesn't bother to go after the ball and waits to tackle the receiver after he catches it.

Also I just had a situation where I threw for a long pass where I ran down to the one, then got hit and fumbled out of the endzone which turned the ball over to the other team. Since it was just pre-season and I won anyway, I could laugh about it, otherwise that's controller-breaking material.

[Ywfn.]

Whaaazzzaahh!?!?!? I just found this site when I was looking around for Madden NFL 2005 stuff, needless to say I am loving it already. I am still in the stone age (Madden 2004) until my copy of Madden NFL 2005 reaches me in Iraq. I look forward to answering questions as well as getting questions answered!

Here's some of the things I wasn't quite sure on:

DuckFan: Help me understand the IMPortance section of one of your posts please! You say the IMPortance statistic is still broken in Madden 2005 and all of your old strategies still work. What strategies are you referring to? I would definately like to abuse these strategies myself :D , so if you could enlighten me I would be grateful! Later in that portion of your post you said you would start rejecting trades on your own. What do you mean by that, and why would you do that? Can you please give me an example?

Also, in referrence to signing players with a 20% bonus: It makes perfect sense the way you described it, but why would you want to keep somebody until they retire? Say you have an excellent player as your ROLB and your backup is average and your excellent player retires. You get nothing for that excellent player except an open spot. It seems to me that it would be more beneficial to keep a good player until they are 31+ (because don't players start to decrease in stats around the age of 32 to 34?) ensuring that when they do reach that age they only have 2 or 3 years left on their contract and then after you're done using them for the season, and before the draft, trade those good 90OVR+ players for high draft picks so you have something good to put in his place instead of an empty slot. Have you experimented with that? The only thing that hurts about this is, of course, the cap penalty you will encounter, but if there's no bonus, no cap penalty! :)

In addition to that, if you do decide to keep players until retirement, how do you decide which ones to keep until retirement and which ones to keep until you want to trade them? I like your 20% bonus idea I just wouldn't be able to decide which players to keep and which players I will just trade off when they're old and good for high picks.

Dancingbones: You talk about your, "2nd round pick and a scrub RG to PHI for their rookie RG (80 something OVR - 1st rd, 16th pick 2004) AND their 4th & 5th rounder", how do you find such good deals? Is there a trick to finding incredible deals like that?

Another question: Am I correct in assuming at week 5 before the trade deadline I am able to trade my 1st round pick for another teams 1st round pick and then some? What if I am 5-0 and they're 0-5? It doesn't seem like they would do that considering they're probably going to finish worse this year than I am.

I'll be back!

Peace ~

Ywfn. : ~ Your Worst F'in Nightmare ~

[hobbs2324]

Ywfn, first of all stay safe and keep that neck on a swivel while your over there. As far as the draft pick thing goes first of all in week 5 yes you can trade with the worst team and usually pick up a 1, 2 or 3, and a 4 or 5 pick for only your #1, that is the draft pick glitch that wasn't fixed. Seems to me that the CPU still undervalues rookie talent so alot of times you can go after someones 1st rounder with next years 2nd or 3rd or a 3rd and a 4th. To get great trades you have to spend a lot of time just going through the motions and trying a bunch of different things
Good luck and hope madden gets to you guys quick

[sandman]

Guys, I must know what happened to the last thread! Was it deleted because I sure hope it wasn't. Hobbs, I guess I'm not the only chise guy not to be sucked in yet. ;) I have to finish exporting my NCAA classes before I can play. Have a dilemma regarding draft choice. Get back to it later.

[DuckFan]

jdbolick:

Madden actually doesn't count existing bonus money against the cap when you restructure. Apparently it becomes phantom money, unlike the real NFL, which leads to some of the savings you mention. If that didn't happen, you'd have the remaining bonus from the first contract in addition to whatever new bonus you gave the player, significantly cutting into that savings you point to.


Madden does keep the money from the previous signing bonus in the mix. That's why you can't reduce the contract to zero even if you want to. Check it for yourself and you will see. If a guy has $1M left coming to him in signing bonus payments, that $1M is stuck in the contract before you negotiate.

As for hold-outs, I have to disagree with you. I haven't found them to be any more common under no-bonus deals than other contracts. In fact, hold-outs seem to be less common because the player is making more money at that particular year, which I believe is one of the primary factors Madden uses to calculate the possibility of a hold-out.

I'm trying very hard to stay polite in my response to this. If you recheck the numbers I gave in the post, it's very clear that a player receives more money at the end of a bonus contract than a no-bonus one. Players never hold out in year 1 or 2 of any contract. They only hold out at the end. In the 5-yr $10M contract example, your no-bonus guy sees that he will receive $2.0M in year 4, my bonus guy sees $2.4M coming his way. In year 5 it's even more pronounced. Your no-bonus guy sees $2M. My bonus guy sees $3M. My bonus guy is a LOT less likely to hold out. After 17 completed 30-yr Franchises I can state with complete confidence that no-bonus players are more likely to hold out in the final two years of their contracts.

In your scenario you have relatively little roster flexibility, so if some stud unexpectedly becomes available, you either have to carry two big contracts at that position or cut/trade one guy and carry the remaining bonus money in penalties.

Actually I schedule things very carefully to always have as much roster flexibility as possible. I never have more than 4 OL guys locked in for the long haul. Six get playing time all year long so no matter who comes available (whether in the draft or a free agent) I can make room for him. I never have more than 3 guys in my secondary locked in for the same reason. Ditto with 3 LBs and 3 DL guys. I freely rotate between a 4-3 and 3-4 as my roster changes but never lock in a 4th guy at either level. My #1 QB and #1 RB are always locked in, with the replacement QB arriving exactly 3 years before the #1 retires. I never lock in more than 2 WR for the long haul...

With 20-25 guys in permanent mode, and careers lasting an average of 8 years, I have 3 guys rotating out due to retirement every year. Between those 3 guys and the natural openings I leave I really never have a problem making room for any player that comes available. My average team rating in Madden 2004 from year 5 on of each Franchise was 96, rising to 97 about 1/3 of the time. Keeping at 96+ for 25 years at a time was not a problem, and I usually had around 10% of the total cap available as free cap room...

2005 will be a little different... but probably not much...

But ultimately the ONLY thing that matters is whether YOU are having fun. I have a buddy who plays Madden who never allows players older than 27 on his Franchise roster. He signs new guys to one contract and then lets them go. It makes him happy. And your strategy is certainly saner than his. :)

Ywfn.:

Help me understand the IMPortance section of one of your posts please! You say the IMPortance statistic is still broken in Madden 2005 and all of your old strategies still work. What strategies are you referring to?

The IMP rating is a rating the computer uses to rank how important the player is to his team. Players with high OVR will get high IMP. Players at key positions will have high IMP. Players with low OVR will have low IMP. Players at non-key positions will have low IMP.

Example: Your #1 WR is a 76 OVR. Your #1 P is a 91 OVR. Your #1 WR will have a higher IMP than the P because P is just not that IMPortant of a position to your team.

This part of the system works fine. Teams are reluctant to trade their starting QB because darn it, that guy is important. It's much easier to get them to trade their 3rd best CB...

It makes sense that if you have two FB on your team who are both 85 OVR, it is easier to trade one away. You should be more willing to part with one because you still have one to give. So the AI lowers the IMP of both players in this situation to reflect the fact that you have additional depth to cover the loss.

Unfortunately the AI does not balance the Position Ranking - OVR Rating - Position Depth equation correctly...

So here's what happens:

There are 12 FS in the league with ratings of 92+. A 92+ FS is worth a 1st round pick, probably a pretty good 1st...

Now let's say one team has two of them...

Of course, they should want to trade one. BUT, they should still get good value for the guy, right? He's still worth a 1st round pick, right? Because there are still 20 teams that would really like to have him and a 1st round pick is the going rate to get one. So that's what they should ask for, right?

Wrong. Because of the IMP rating, the AI will decide that the extra FS is worth a pick at the bottom of the 2nd round. After all, their team doesn't need him. So they give him away for garbage, completely ignoring the trade value to the rest of the league.

You can absolutely rape the AI teams whenever they have quality depth at a position. Because they refuse to look at what the individual player is worth on his own. They only look at what he is worth to their team. So a team that plays a 4-3 that has a 96 MLB and an 89 MLB will probably trade the 89 MLB for about a 3rd round pick. Even though on the open market that guy would fetch a high 2nd or low 1st.

There are lots of ways to abuse this... Lots and lots and lots... I am sure some of those ways are obvious to you in the first 10 seconds after reading this... :)

[RunRickyRun]

I've found that a 2nd-3rd rounder CB that runs a 4.2 40 over a top 5 CB that runs a 4.4 generally is a better cornerback by year 2-3. That is my basis for drafting...speed. So for most secondary players (besides sean taylor) i use a rental system...trade my older CB's/SS's for draft picks and use those draft picks on the fastest players in the draft. I've tried multiple combinations but my cap penalties hit is usually around 5-7 mill a year...any contract suggestions to avoid this?

-AND-

i need some suggestions for running deep routes...or in that case any route against champ bailey on all-madden...i have to play him twice a year in franchise mode and he reeks havoc on mike vick. :mad:

[hobbs2324]

throw away from him!!!!!
And I am in love with speed, as I've said in the past, give me a fast retart and I will make him a superstar or die trying!!!
The problem with the penalties probably stem from your eagerness to bring new blood in and get them to progress, another one of my faults but I seemed to battle cap problems continuously and successfully last year and anticipate the same problems again in the new madden

[jdbolick]

That's why you can't reduce the contract to zero even if you want to. Check it for yourself and you will see.
Actually you can, but that's only a technicality because you're right about it being tacked on. If you go to re-sign a player, you can zero out their signing bonus and you don't see the previous bonus money listed anywhere, but when you sign the player, that pre-existing signing bonus is then tacked onto your total salary count and you'll still face a penalty when cutting them even if you renegotiated to a no bonus deal. But as I said, that means the numbers in your contracts are bigger than what they appear to be. In your list you didn't include pro-rated signing bonus of the previous deal in your first year calculations of the succeeding deal. Doing so wouldn't have totally neutralized the cap savings you created, but it would certainly cut into them significantly. If my brain isn't malfunctioning (and sometimes it does), your numbers should have looked like this (you also had the second contract signing bonus at 2 mil instead of 2.8):

(Year 1) Mine: $2.00 mil --- Yours: $1.28 mil (you save $0.72 mil)
(Year 2) Mine: $2.00 mil --- Yours: $1.55 mil (you save $0.45 mil)
(Year 3) Mine: $2.00 mil --- Yours: $1.90 mil (you save $0.10 mil)
(Year 4) Mine: $2.00 mil --- Yours: $2.34 mil (I save $0.34 mil)
(Year 5) Mine: $2.00 mil --- Yours: $2.20 mil (I save $0.20 mil)
($1.80 + the remaining $400k in signing bonus)
(Year 6) Mine: $3.00 mil --- Yours: $2.17 mil (you save $0.83 mil)
(Year 7) Mine: $3.00 mil --- Yours: $2.65 mil (you save $0.45 mil)
(Year 8) Mine: $3.00 mil --- Yours: $3.28 mil (I save $0.28 mil)
(Year 9) Mine: $3.00 mil --- Yours: $3.01 mil (I save $0.01 mil WHOO-HOO!!)
(your third contract kicks in here, so it's $2.31 + the remaining $700k)
(Year 10) Mine: $3.00 mil --- Yours: $2.79 mil (You save $0.21 mil)
(at which point you're hoping/assuming he retires so we'll ignore the rest)
(Year 11) Mine: $3.60 mil --- Yours: $3.41 mil
(Year 12) Mine: $3.60 mil --- Yours: $4.22 mil
(Year 13: Mine: $3.60 mil --- Yours: $5.27 mil
(although you would have restructured again by this point anyway)

So over the total course of the contract we're looking at only $1.93 million in savings for you. You're telling me that $1.93 million total spread out over ten years is going to get you "2-3 completely extra star players" even if you multiply that by a number of players? That's $193,000 on average per year over that ten year period accounting for 2-3 completely extra star players. You talk about locking in 20-25 players, which would theoretically account for that difference, but only if all those players cost as much as we're talking about here. That's possible, but unlikely given that my additional roster flexibility allows me to bring in cheaper talent more easily. (one of my favorite things to do is trade a very good veteran player for a slightly inferior rookie player at the position, not only for the youth but because I'm getting a rookie contract minus the signing bonus)


I'm trying very hard to stay polite in my response to this.
Don't try, just do. It's not like I'm making mentally handicapped statements here. If you find yourself getting upset, walk away from the computer and go kick someone's @$$ at Madden until you're cool and we can have a friendly chat again.


it's very clear that a player receives more money at the end of a bonus contract than a no-bonus one.
Yes it is, but it's also clear that a player receives more money in more of my years than yours. I actually believe I have had a player holdout after the first year of his contract, but that was many months ago so I could just be wrong about that. If you're correct about a player never holding out after the first year then we're looking at possible holdouts prior to years 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 10 for me. Meanwhile your possibilities are 3, 4, 7, and 8. The difference between our salaries in those years are miniscule (never more than $0.34 mil), but you mean to tell me that they significantly raise the chance of a holdout? I'll concede the possibility, but I don't think it's a particularly convincing argument. And if you're wrong about a player never holding out prior to the second season, then your contracts have more years where you're paying less and also the biggest margins of difference.


Actually I schedule things very carefully to always have as much roster flexibility as possible.
Yeah, I never said your strategy would lead to doom. In fact I don't think I ever criticized it at all, but for a miniscule amount of differences in total salary, you are risking more than that difference in cap penalties if for some reason you want to cut or trade someone you've locked in. While your plan does leave spaces open at various positions, it's not like the players you have just disappear. Take OL for example. If you have three players locked in, what position along the OL are they? Tackles are more or less interchangeable between left and right, ditto for guards. So let's say you lock in one tackle, one guard, and one center. Meanwhile you have one high salary but no bonus player at tackle and another at guard. You're in pretty good shape to drop one of your expendable guys for someone better who comes along even if you have to switch that player's natural position from right to left. But what happens if two tackles come open? Or two defensive backs? Carrying an extra salary certainly wouldn't kill your team, but it would almost certainly cost more than the difference in salaries over the full course of the ten years, much less one season.

So ultimately the difference seems negligible either way. I was wrong about there being no cap savings, but I think you're wrong in thinking the cap savings would be significant. It would take about 10 players locked in by both of us to make even one extra pretty good or star player, and that's assuming I don't recycle for cheaper talent (which I always do, but it's too unpredictable to actually calculate). Seems to me like the two methods are pretty much equal.



RunRickyRun:
Have you tried hook routes? He'll probably be pretty tight on you, but if you time it correctly I imagine that might be your most consistent bet, but I haven't played against Bailey on All-Madden.

[mightypharaoh]

Guys, I must know what happened to the last thread! Was it deleted because I sure hope it wasn't. Hobbs, I guess I'm not the only chise guy not to be sucked in yet. ;) I have to finish exporting my NCAA classes before I can play. Have a dilemma regarding draft choice. Get back to it later.

Not at all do a search and u will find it. It's probably around page 10 of the threads right now I imagine

[mightypharaoh]

I've found that a 2nd-3rd rounder CB that runs a 4.2 40 over a top 5 CB that runs a 4.4 generally is a better cornerback by year 2-3. That is my basis for drafting...speed. So for most secondary players (besides sean taylor) i use a rental system...trade my older CB's/SS's for draft picks and use those draft picks on the fastest players in the draft. I've tried multiple combinations but my cap penalties hit is usually around 5-7 mill a year...any contract suggestions to avoid this?

-AND-

i need some suggestions for running deep routes...or in that case any route against champ bailey on all-madden...i have to play him twice a year in franchise mode and he reeks havoc on mike vick. :mad:

A bit harder this year bc click-on, click-off manual catching isn't as effective in this years version. I would use a lot of PA and suck the DB into the line b4 going all out. The deep ball is a bit tougher, I am using a medium passing game so far. Tons of completions and YAC but very few deep balls. The AI for the DB's is up from last year, and I haven't even gotten 2 All Madden yet.

What are the SPD ratings of your WR's?

$5-$7 mil isn't so bad in later years when the cap rises. Look closely at your "rental" DB's look at their signing bonuses. That is the part of the deal u are going 2 eat. It's all pro-rated for 1 season. Try and move players in the last year of their deals so u minimize the cap hit.

[jdbolick]

RunRickyRun:
If you have the cap room and don't mind somewhat sketchy tactics, sign free agents to no-bonus deals and then trade them after the draft for the speedy rookie DB you want. It almost always costs less to trade for the player than the draft pick it would take to get the player, plus the signing bonus is wiped out by the trade. You run the risk of the team in question not really wanting your veteran, but the positives seem to outweigh the negatives. Personally I'm not so crazy about speed, though. Especially with the upgraded A.I., it seems like awareness is more important than ever for DBs and rookies tend to suck in that category.

[theguru14]

I will be starting a Miami Dolphin franchise when the first offical online roster updates are available for the first week of the season. What are some things that I can do to have a decent season? As we all know by now what a terrible(and that is the nice way im putting it) off season my fish have had.

Problems that I am seeing so far playing exhibition games(not in any order)

1. The usual problems that are always in the game
2. I only have 1 good receiver(Chris Chambers)
3. I have 5 new starters on the offensive line and they are not that good
4. No Ricky and Minor is not cutting(my running game is non existent)
5. As great as the defense is they sometimes seem lost
6. Comtemplating trading Seau(NFL Icon),Minor and a draft pick for a better wr/rb and/or draft pick, but dont what to hurt the morale of the team.

Can I get some thoughts and suggestions on this matter? :)

[jdbolick]

DuckFan:
Forget what I said, I'm retarded. 2005 seems to operate just like 2004; it does cost a lot more total salary when you go "no bonus." I was wrongly thinking Base Salary at the top level and Signing Bonus beneath, but it's obviously Total salary, not base, so you're paying pretty much the requested signing bonus more in total salary if you want to go no bonus. So it's only really worth it if you're pretty confident that you'll be trading the player.

[mightypharaoh]

I will be starting a Miami Dolphin franchise when the first offical online roster updates are available for the first week of the season. What are some things that I can do to have a decent season? As we all know by now what a terrible(and that is the nice way im putting it) off season my fish have had.

Problems that I am seeing so far playing exhibition games(not in any order)

1. The usual problems that are always in the game
2. I only have 1 good receiver(Chris Chambers)
3. I have 5 new starters on the offensive line and they are not that good
4. No Ricky and Minor is not cutting(my running game is non existent)
5. As great as the defense is they sometimes seem lost
6. Comtemplating trading Seau(NFL Icon),Minor and a draft pick for a better wr/rb and/or draft pick, but dont what to hurt the morale of the team.

Can I get some thoughts and suggestions on this matter? :)

Your d is still tight. I would play a very aggresive style. Solid front 4 and secondary.

Trading an aging Icon will have your team upset. The only way for them 2 get over it is 2 win some awards. As for your running game, I doubt it is non-existent. While a major drop without puff the magic dragon running the rock. Keep the run game between the tackles, u will see that over the course of the season the o-line will perform nicely. In my Jets chise, I had 2 rookie RB's with 86,87SPD. I chose the 87 SPD HB as my starter. He started the season rated 73. After preseason he was a 77, at the end of the season he manged 2 have 1092 yds and 11td's good for O.R.O.Y and a pro bowl spot. He has a 85 OVR right now, best part he was a 3rd round pick and is very cheap!!!!!!

My O-line is patchwork with Fabini as my only holdover, but my LG started with a 78 OVR and is now 86. My rookie center started with a 74 OVR, now up 2 82 again 4th rounder and cheap. My RG has stayed the same 66 OVR, my RT a rookie started at 76 and is now an 83 OVR. Guess what 3rd and cheap.

With the exception of Fabini, who I will move next season when his cap # is lower and my RG I plan on keeping that unit together for quite some time.

[theguru14]

Your d is still tight. I would play a very aggresive style. Solid front 4 and secondary.

Trading an aging Icon will have your team upset. The only way for them 2 get over it is 2 win some awards. As for your running game, I doubt it is non-existent. While a major drop without puff the magic dragon running the rock. Keep the run game between the tackles, u will see that over the course of the season the o-line will perform nicely. In my Jets chise, I had 2 rookie RB's with 86,87SPD. I chose the 87 SPD HB as my starter. He started the season rated 73. After preseason he was a 77, at the end of the season he manged 2 have 1092 yds and 11td's good for O.R.O.Y and a pro bowl spot. He has a 85 OVR right now, best part he was a 3rd round pick and is very cheap!!!!!!

My O-line is patchwork with Fabini as my only holdover, but my LG started with a 78 OVR and is now 86. My rookie center started with a 74 OVR, now up 2 82 again 4th rounder and cheap. My RG has stayed the same 66 OVR, my RT a rookie started at 76 and is now an 83 OVR. Guess what 3rd and cheap.

With the exception of Fabini, who I will move next season when his cap # is lower and my RG I plan on keeping that unit together for quite some time.

Mighty P, thanks for the info. I will give it a try and see what happens

[mightypharaoh]

Mighty P, thanks for the info. I will give it a try and see what happens

anytime dawg

[BloodStained]

does it matter when i resign my players? or is it important to sign them before i finish training camp

[jdbolick]

If you plan on boosting their stats, definitely re-sign them before doing so. Young players generally aren't facing free agency, but if they are then you probably want to re-sign them too if you expect their ratings to increase over the course of the season although whether or not they actually will depends on a number of factors. Right now I'm just entering the regular season and I'm probably going to re-sign a couple of players I didn't boost in mini-camp just because I have the extra cap space and I'm worried about their playing being affected by being vastly underpaid.

On the other hand I have Jake Delhomme coming up to free agency at the end of the year and right now I plan on letting him enter it. I just doubt that any team is going to sign him for more than the $6 mil per that he wants from me to re-sign.

[mightypharaoh]

As I read the PDA at the end of the season.

Some players around the NFL reach an almost iconic status among their peers, coaches and fans. Once players reach "Icon" status, they have a huge impact on their team. Their prescence affects, fan supprot, attendance, free agents and many other aspects of franchise. Be careful though. If an Icon is mistreated, it doesn't bode well for you. Other player get upset the team prestige takes a hit and the fans don't appreciate it.

This was the case when I traded Sam Cowart from my team mid season. Everyone on my team had low morale. It was worth it for me in the end bc after having break out seasons my players morale improved. And what was more important, Jonathan Vilma gained 9pts OVR over the season. Now I chose 2 do that for a young player and it was only 1 veteran player. My advice think twice b4 trading multiple veterans as it may have a negative impact on your team.

More stuff 2 think about when making those trades.

[mightypharaoh]

No longer can u trade a player right after the pro bowl, taking advantage of the CPU and making lopsided deals in your favor. I am writing this as I am in off-season so I'll have more 2 say about it later after the draft.

[jdbolick]

Yeah, I went and simmed a season late last night just to see what happens toward the end of the season. Found out there wasn't much point in giving Will Witherspoon that extension I was thinking about since he's just a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Bummer is that Jake Delhomme and Stephen Davis become icons, meaning I more or less have to sign them for the ridiculous amounts they want. *sigh* Bright side is that this is more realistic, I guess.

[braveheart1]

I was thiknin bout trading duatue culpepper to the ravens for ray lewis that a good trade
and wen ur pplayer says he hates it here should i trade him too or give him alot of of burn,like i had moe williams and he said he hated the vikings so i gave a lot of burn one game and he had like 300 yard and he was still mad so should i trade him or let him stay

[dancingbones]

Dancingbones: You talk about your, "2nd round pick and a scrub RG to PHI for their rookie RG (80 something OVR - 1st rd, 16th pick 2004) AND their 4th & 5th rounder", how do you find such good deals? Is there a trick to finding incredible deals like that?
What I do is I go to "rosters" and pick the position I want, and set it for "NFL" (not just my team). Then, I scroll down until I see the top 2 or 3 rookies that I want, go to their team, and play around with the different offers it would take to get the player I want.

Once I've found a trade that I like, I'll then see how many picks I can get the CPU to throw in the deal (almost always at least a 3rd or 4th).

It hasn't had any effect on my player's morale if I just include them in a trade offer that I don't actually propose. (On a related note, I also wish they'd get rid of the meter that tells you when the team will accept the trade - I wish I had one of those for my fantasty football leagues!).

I think if I actually put a player "on the block" to see what they're worth, they'll take a hit. Hope that helps.

[DuckFan]

theguru14:

Problems that I am seeing so far playing exhibition games(not in any order)

1. The usual problems that are always in the game
2. I only have 1 good receiver(Chris Chambers)
3. I have 5 new starters on the offensive line and they are not that good
4. No Ricky and Minor is not cutting(my running game is non existent)
5. As great as the defense is they sometimes seem lost
6. Comtemplating trading Seau(NFL Icon),Minor and a draft pick for a better wr/rb and/or draft pick, but dont what to hurt the morale of the team.

Unlike the real NFL, I don't think you'll be in that bad of shape with the Dolphins. Players develop VERY quickly if they are given playing time and you see the benefits during the season. So even if your first 5 weeks are tough, you will find that your guys improve enough to make the later games more reasonable. Yes, the opposing teams are getting better as well, but not like new starters getting their first taste of playing time.

I would be very conservative on the offensive side of the ball. Lots of high percentage passing, lots of drag routes and flares. Smash your FB into the line about 10-12 times a game. Your OL loves it when all they have to do is smash someone's teeth in. Run lots of I-Form and Big sets.

I don't recall Miami's FB situation, but it is very cheap to get a dominant FB in trade. You can pick one up for very little. And any RB who is running behind a great lead blocker is going to improve quickly. I actually changed my I-Form packages to include lining up my #1 RT at TE, and putting my best non-starting OL run blocker at RT. Any bonehead RB can generate some yards with better blocking in front of him.

Miami's D is still tremendous. And with good ball control you can force the opponents into making mistakes. Even if all you are doing is driving 25yds and punting, Miami's D is good enough to turn that into points for you. And against some teams, Chambers running drag route after drag route is a nightmare. And at least 3 times a game, the defense will get fed up and bring the safety on Chambers' side up to blitz. Audible him and if you complete 1 of the 3 attempts it's points on the board.

I would strongly suggest you not trade Seau (or any Icon for that matter) with a team that is having a rough time. Even if you are losing, fans will still come out to the stadium to see an Icon play (it's the only reason AZ picked up Emmitt Smith). If they feel like you are Marlinizing your team your Franchise will suffer in a big way.

braveheart1:

I was thinking about trading daunte culpepper to the ravens for ray lewis, is that a good trade? And when your player says he hates it here should i trade him too or give him alot of of burn? I had moe williams and he said he hated the vikings so i gave a lot of burn one game and he had like 300 yards and he was still mad so should i trade him or let him stay?

I would hold off on trading an upset player (that's the actual term that appears on your PDA screen "upset player") until he asked to be traded. As near as I can tell, an upset player only brings down morale if he is an icon. Certainly you don't want the fans and players to think you are treating Randy Moss like garbage. But they don't get as defensive about 2nd-tier guys.

Mike McMahon has been an upset player for a little over a year in my Franchise. He doesn't like backing up Joey Harrington (even though Harrington is a 92 and McMahon is an 81). He even makes comments to the media "when I don't play, we lose". Made that comment while we were in a 6-game winning streak. But when Joey got hurt for two games, McMahon played just fine in his absence. He stayed with one red square on his morale bar, even though he got playing time. During the time he has been upset, I still get emails from both him and his agent saying they hear there are trade rumors, those better just be rumors. So he's pissed he's not starting but doesn't want to be traded. I plan to just let his contract run its course and I won't trade him unless he demands it, or I see signs that he is bringing down other players.

As for Culpepper-Lewis, in Madden 2004 I would have said yes. It's much easier to grow a new starting QB than to grow a 99 LB. But in Madden 2005, the team repercussions are just too severe. In real life you never see superstar for superstar NFL deals made because the fans are too invested in their own stars (unlike baseball, basketball and hockey where such things are commonplace).

[RunRickyRun]

i've found the solution for champ bailey on all-madden! i had been struggling a lot with vick as my QB and boldin and quincy morgan as my #1 and #2 WR's. I've found that (somehow) the slower WR's succeed more against him than the speedy recievers. In All-Madden the AI cant judge the speed well with bailey and when hes lined up against a slower WR (83 speed i had - 2006 rookie) he is too far ahead or too far behind.

-and-

has anyone noticed when your head coach's contract runs out..your best coordinator (i think it's the best, but it just might be the defenseive coordinator) on your team gets promoted to coach...its pretty damn annoying when you dont want tim lewis as your head coach! :mad:

-and-

tip for people struggling with running game on franchise mode:
madden 2005 did not update ron dayne's loss of weight and increase in speed.
you can easily get him for a 4th-5th round pick from the giants (in my fantasy draft franchise i got him from the ravens for a 6th rounder [they had deuce mcallister and kevin jones!]) then if you reduce the 24 pounds he lost in the offseason, he improved 9 points and became a pretty steady powerback and fits into a passing offense quite well.

[hobbs2324]

RunRickyRun, to bad we can't be that fortunate in real life with Dayne :(

[jdbolick]

Actually Dayne just had a huge pre-season game. I should have believed Coughlin's interest in him given that I knew his preference for bigger backs, but I simply couldn't conceive of Dayne replacing Barber in N.Y. Now it actually looks like it's going to happen, and while I'm not depending on Barber for any of my fantasy teams, I obviously shouldn't have drafted him. Of course Dayne's wheels could fall off again at any second, but he did look fast and strong in the highlights I saw.

[hobbs2324]

I live here, watched the game and he did it against the second and third stringers. I'm not overly excited with him just yet, and I can't say Eli was all that impressive either

[theguru14]

theguru14:

Problems that I am seeing so far playing exhibition games(not in any order)

1. The usual problems that are always in the game
2. I only have 1 good receiver(Chris Chambers)
3. I have 5 new starters on the offensive line and they are not that good
4. No Ricky and Minor is not cutting(my running game is non existent)
5. As great as the defense is they sometimes seem lost
6. Comtemplating trading Seau(NFL Icon),Minor and a draft pick for a better wr/rb and/or draft pick, but dont what to hurt the morale of the team.

Unlike the real NFL, I don't think you'll be in that bad of shape with the Dolphins. Players develop VERY quickly if they are given playing time and you see the benefits during the season. So even if your first 5 weeks are tough, you will find that your guys improve enough to make the later games more reasonable. Yes, the opposing teams are getting better as well, but not like new starters getting their first taste of playing time.

I would be very conservative on the offensive side of the ball. Lots of high percentage passing, lots of drag routes and flares. Smash your FB into the line about 10-12 times a game. Your OL loves it when all they have to do is smash someone's teeth in. Run lots of I-Form and Big sets.

I don't recall Miami's FB situation, but it is very cheap to get a dominant FB in trade. You can pick one up for very little. And any RB who is running behind a great lead blocker is going to improve quickly. I actually changed my I-Form packages to include lining up my #1 RT at TE, and putting my best non-starting OL run blocker at RT. Any bonehead RB can generate some yards with better blocking in front of him.

Miami's D is still tremendous. And with good ball control you can force the opponents into making mistakes. Even if all you are doing is driving 25yds and punting, Miami's D is good enough to turn that into points for you. And against some teams, Chambers running drag route after drag route is a nightmare. And at least 3 times a game, the defense will get fed up and bring the safety on Chambers' side up to blitz. Audible him and if you complete 1 of the 3 attempts it's points on the board.

I would strongly suggest you not trade Seau (or any Icon for that matter) with a team that is having a rough time. Even if you are losing, fans will still come out to the stadium to see an Icon play (it's the only reason AZ picked up Emmitt Smith). If they feel like you are Marlinizing your team your Franchise will suffer in a big way.

Thanks for the detailed breakdown.

[DuckFan]

Sad news to report for those who were hoping EA would fix the draft pick glitch. :(

During my first season with the Lions, I only had two teams even willing to take my 1st in trade. But by season 3, after a losing appearance in the SB, it's back to exactly the way it was last year. :(

At week 5 there were four teams without a win: Browns, 49ers, Saints and Panthers.

I trade my 1 to Browns for 1, 2, and 4
I trade my 2 and 3 to 49ers for 1, 4, and 5
I trade my 4 and 5 to Saints for 3
I trade my 6 and 7 and a 63 RT to Panthers for 5

End result? Dump a scrub RT and my picks (with a 4-1 record at week 5) for:

1, 1
2
3
4, 4
5, 5

All from teams that do not yet have a win at week 5...

The trade that shocked me the most was the 49ers trade. I pulled that one off about 10 times total in 500 seasons last year. I couldn't believe it was still possible. But sadly, it means they didn't fix the glitch at all, so once your team makes the SB on a regular basis you can permanently lock in having 2 of the top 5 picks in the draft every single year, plus have top picks in the other rounds as well... :(

[RunRickyRun]

Dayne ran for his 1st touchdown against the 1st team defense...and the 2nd long TD didnt matter because KC d-line sucks if its starters or backups..i'm not saying he is back...but he is on the right track. eli was O.K. but preseason doesnt mean much even if you a rookie...after all dan marino had a horrendous preseason..went 8-2 as a rookie and many a rookie QBs have had great preseasons then gone down the drain.

-and-

To Duckfan:

how in the world did you get that deal with the 49ers? i know the glitch is still there but jeez...luck of the draw? :eek:

[sandman]

Forgive me if this has been mentioned, but my first observation was the fact that trades are a lot harder to make. In 05 I actually have to look at the team's need if I want a certain player. For example, I wanted to grab Cradinal receiver Nathan Poole who a 70 overall. I tried tading a crappy 72 overall FS and they wouldn't bite. I pursued using a draft pick, but there was no way I was going to waste a third rounder. I looked at the depth chart and figured out Arizona could probably use a decent halfback. I traded away Green Bay's third halfback, Tony Fisher. I filled the new void I my team by signing Brian Mitchell to a one-year deal.

[DuckFan]

how in the world did you get that deal with the 49ers? i know the glitch is still there but jeez...luck of the draw? :eek:

There is always one team that starts the year thinking it's pick is the worst of the bunch. So whenever that team happens to do poorly they will agree to the deal. It just doesn't happen very often. Heck, I am usually happy to trade 2-3-5 for a 1, the idea that I kept my 5 and got a 4-5 as well was sick... :)

[mightypharaoh]

DF - I remember seeing the bottom line on ESPN about the Oregon recruit. Sad

[theguru14]

I'll apologize now if this is not allowed. Someone asked a RFA question on another board and would like to know if anybody can give the answer to it. here is the thread

http://www.maddenmania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61043

[hobbs2324]

theguru14
The link you provided is only accessible if we belong to that site. Either post the question yourself here and maybe someone can answer it, or figure out how we can access it. But to be quite honest with you, the reason why this site is the best is because the members here stay here and aren't sampling every board
let us know
peace

[theguru14]

I like to visit many boards to see all the questions/answers from everybody.
Here is the entire post. I hope this makes sense.

QUESTION
Can someone help me with restricted free agents?

1I dont understand the way they are implementing it. it says there is no compensation for a player, then i make an offer and suddenly i owe a first and third draft pick and i cant withdrawal the offer. lol, im a little lost.

2The compensation thing just means what the team is giving up to get the player...if you go through the other teams and find another team that signed that FA to an offer sheet it lists what picks they are giving up as compensation.

Basically all the RFA's require some form of compensation to get.

Hope this helped you somewhat

3What he said. The reason you don't see compensation at first is because the player is accepting the offer from his current team. If you (or another team) make the player an offer, the team gets draft picks from you as compensation.

The amount of the tender offered determines how much compensation the team receives if the player signs elsewhere. The higher the tender, the higher the draft pick. I didn't even notice it in my first year until I got to the draft and the Colts had three first round picks.

MEI am wondering the same thing. There are some guys that have a offer from their team but no compensation listed and some have which round(s) they want in return and some have the round(s) and pick(s)-->R1P2<--I dont really understand what the last part means.

5R stands for Round, and P stands for what Place in the Round. If it's asking you for a R1P2, that means you have the second overall pick probably, and the other team wants that for the player youre trying to sign away from them.

MESorry what I meant was I dont understand why they would ask for the round and/or picks. I also wanted to know why some say NONE as compensation, but when you try to sign them they want something(usually a 1st and a 3rd rounder).

7Teams have restricted FA's. They can either tender them an offer or let them become unrestricted after the draft. In order to get compensation for your own RFA's you must tender them an offer and then someone else has to try to to sign them. The amount of the tender determines the compensation. You can only sign other RFA's that have been tendered offers. When you offer a contract it will show what you will have to give up as compensation. Get it?

METhis is what I meant about asking for a certain pick in particular round(s)
D. Davis is a RFA in my Franchise(year 2) the Texans want R1P11,R3P11.

Now remember some RFA's have been offer a contract and NO COMP and some have been offered a contract and just(i.e) R1,R3.

I dont own the 11th pick in any round. So what does this mean?

9The round and the pick have to do with where the RFA was origanlly drafted combined with the value of the salary offered. So if a guy was say a 1st round #32 pick and you have the 1st overall you would have to give that up because it has to be equal or greater value than the RFA's draft position. So basically the picks are mostly determined by a formula. The team can only "ask" for more by offering higher salary. That would increase the compensation. Hope that wasn't too confusing and helped.

Oh yeah, I've you don't make an offer to your own RFA's then other teams don't have to give you anything.

MEI think I understand what you are saying, but dont understand why for some RFA's they just ask for a certain round draft pick and others they ask for a specific round and specific pick.

PS-Davis was picked in the 4th round so part of what you are saying may not make sense

[maddenbowl62]

i have a few questions(idnt own the game yet) do any of u franchise tag ur players. and do top players at their position holdout if they get franchise tagged.

[DuckFan]

On the RFA question... I can give you the full scoop with how the whole thing works in about an hour or so. I am sitting down to dinner now, but when I get back I will give you the whole explanation of how it works in Madden...

If someone beats me to it, that's fine. But otherwise I can answer all those questions after I have dinner. :)

[mightypharaoh]

From the franchise newspapers.

A new injury bug is going around the NFL, but it has nothing to do with being tackled. NFL players are scared to be the next Madden cover guy, mainly bc of the supposed cover jinx. EA had no official comment on the matter.

If it's in the game....

[DuckFan]

Restricted Free Agents:

1) Who are they?

Players who have just completed their first contract out of college (almost always 3-yr deals). Draft a guy, sign him to a 3-yr deal. When that deal is done he will be an RFA going into the next season.

2) I have a couple RFAs on my team. What do I do if I don't want to re-sign them?

Do nothing. If you do not make a qualifying offer to him, he goes into the regular free agent pool after the draft (just like if you released him or chose not to resign him normally).

3) I have an RFA on my team that I would like to keep. What do they mean by qualifying offer?

For most RFAs there are four possible contracts you can offer, all for 1-yr. These are the qualifying offers. Once you make one, all the other bells and whistles take effect. If you don't make a qualifying offer, no one else can do anything with that player until the regular free agency takes effect.

4) What happens if I make a qualifying offer and no one else wants him?

Then he has to accept your offer and play for that salary. There is no further negotiation. He is just on your team now. And yes, that sometimes means he will be playing for much less money than he is worth.

5) So why would I make a big offer? It looks like my choices are 450, 630, 1.3M and 1.8M. Why wouldn't I just pay him $450K?

Once you make a qualifying offer, he is up for grabs and any team can try to beat your offer. If they beat your offer, then they get him and you are assigned compensation based on the amount you offered originally.

6) So do I get more compensation if I offered more in my qualifying offer?

Yes. If you make the minimum offer (450), you will get a 5th round pick from the team that signs him. If you made the 630 offer you will get a 3rd. If you made the 1.3M offer you get a 1st. If you made the 1.8M offer you get a 1st and a 3rd.

7) So why don't I just give them all big offers and get a bunch of free picks?

Because the AI opponents don't want everyone on your list. And you still have to pay the guy whatever you offered if no one else wants him. You can wind up paying $1.8M for a 77 CB, and you don't want to do that.

8) But if I make too low an offer they can take my guy and give me almost nothing?

That's how the game is played, yes.

9) So why does it say "none" under compensation on my guys? I thought they would have to give me picks if they signed them?

If no one has made an offer, it will say none in that column. Once another team makes a play for your player, it will show the draft picks they have to give you. So anyone that still "belongs" to his original team will say "none" under compensation.

10) I found a RFA on another team that I want to go after, but it says R1P12 next to his compensation and my pick is 10th in that round. What am I supposed to do?

If it has a specific pick listed, that means another team is making a play for him. And if no one else made a bid that is the pick that would change hands. If another team moves into the lead by bidding more money, the pick listed will change.

11) What if my pick isn't as good as the current leader?

You don't have to worry about that. The team agreed to any 1st when they made their offer. So if you offer more for the player you will still get him.

12) Does the draft pick I offer have anything to do with where the player was originally drafted?

Not a thing. It's just based on the qualifying offer. A guy could be drafted in round 7 and if his team gives him the $1.8M offer it will take a 1st and 3rd to get him from them.

13) Who's going to win the Super Bowl this year?

At my house, it will be the Detroit Lions. At your house? Who knows? :)

[XtremepH]

very good info as always from Duckfan.

thanks

[jandt]

A question on holdouts this year.. Just starting my 2nd year with the Lions and no holdouts this time around... Can anyone tell me if holdouts have changed this year? Last year my holdouts would sit out until I signed them to a new contract or the following year they retired, were FA etc... Is there a chance this year they will come back sometimes during pre season or regular season with no new contract as opposed to sitting out the entire time??

Also, has anyone had any repercussions from dropping morale? I benched Joey H. ( Sorry Duckfan, I like Mike's mobility too much ) before training camp and he was disgruntled all year long...He got seriously pissed when at week 6 I signed Rob Johnson ( yes, that Rob Johnson ) and made him my 2nd stringer..So Joey was on the bench and not even holding for fieldgoals..I got nasty emails from his agent and him almost nonstop and his morale seemed bad as it could get.. He never asked for a trade or anything...

As a side note, Tony Bruno gets on my nerves but it was funny how at the start of next year Priest holmes refused to show up for camp because he was shooting a movie in Hollywood..

[mightypharaoh]

jandt - I learned the hard way. I might have posted about it b4. I traded Sam Cowart and he was an Icon on my team. My team morale was in the tank until, I had several players make the pro-bowl and won the SB.

I believe I read a post in which DuckFan had a guy with his morale in the red for the whole season. With no major heat from the rest of the team.

I havent had a holdout yet so I'll let DF field that one.

Oh and this season Tony Bruno reports that Deuce McCallister isn't reporting 2 mini-camp bc he is playing in a summer basketball league. I wonder what would happen if he got injured, could u cut him based on a clause in his contract (what the Yankees did 2 Aaron Boone)

[theguru14]

Duckfan

Thanks for the complete breakdown of my questions. So far I have notice that you along with a feel others that you guys knowledge of football in a whole is impeccable. :cool:

[DuckFan]

jandt:

I am in year 4 of my Franchise and no one has held out for any team yet. Not just no holdouts on my team, but no holdouts on any team. Hard to prove a negative at this point, but I would lean towards there not being any holdouts at all this year. I think the fewest I ever saw in 2004 (in over 500 seasons played) was around 40 in the league. To not see a single one in the whole league three straight years is odd...

But by the same token, my Franchise has yet to see a deal between AI owners. Not one. I know they weren't possible last year, but two different reviews (both for the XBox) have indicated that they had trades by the AI. I have yet to see it. Lots of newspaper stories about guys on the block. But not a single deal done yet. I thought there had been in the second year of my Chise because 3 different teams had 2 1st round picks. But it turns out all those were compensation on RFAs. No trades yet...

So if trades really do exist then maybe holdouts do as well. But I haven't seen one yet.

And yes, I have two players who have now played entire seasons with one red square for morale. Both saying "I hate this place". One is Mike McMahon (who is still pissed I benched him after he won the starting job in year 1). The other is Onterrio Smith who I signed to back up Kevin Jones. O got 800yds on the ground as my #2 back but went full red over not starting. Some players are content to back up, some aren't. I have guys who have been backups all four years that are max green for morale. But Smith and McMahon are "upset players".

Neither has affected the morale of the team. If they were Icons I would have a serious problem. But they aren't...

I found out in year 4 that the system warned me about benching McMahon. I would have known sooner, but the first three years of my Chise the right-analog-scroll on the PDA was broken. If I tried to scroll down it just vibrated the text and I could never see the rest of what the email said. But for some reason it fixed itself in year 4. And I just saw a warning that says if the coach names a starter based on a position battle and I (the owner) choose to bench him for someone else, that he gets really pissed. So I guess I should have known better.

In year 4 I now have 8 Icons on my team. Traded for Julius Peppers, Boo Williams and some WR I never heard of, plus Lehman and Bly got promoted last year.

I have already decided NOT to take advantage of a broken Icon trick I found. I can't believe EA was dumb enough to leave it in. :(

[jandt]

4 years and no hold outs on any team.. WOW! Definitely a change from 2004 for sure..Not sure if I like how that sounds or not. It was frustrating at times but it did add another element..I didn't think to check the other teams yet but I will when I get home from work..

I can confirm 1 thing.. In my 2nd season , 1st draft , of my chise there was a draft day trade among the cpu..In the first round of the draft I actually got a popup box during the Cardinals turn saying that the Eagles had traded X player ( I didn't write down name ) and their 1st rounder to move up... I was impressed because I had heard they could happen... I didn't check last year for trades at all but will keep a eye out for it.

Check your PDA for email from me too complaining about keeping McMahon on the bench..haha.. Atleast trade the guy..He is a Hall of Famer waiting to happen.Reminds me of a young Brett Favre..

I have noticed how some are content as backups.. I benched one of our big FA signings Marion and he was not happy about it at all.. I made the long time Lion Porcher 2nd string though and he had no complaints at all.Actually seemed to like coming off the bench...

8 icons in 4 years is impressive.. We started with none if I remember.. At start of 2nd year Dre was made a NFL icon on my team...

Can you only adjust the team captains at end of preseaon before the 1st game? I played 1 game of season and couldn't find a way to change them?

I have no clue about the "broken icon" trick so can't comment on that..

Thanks for the detailed and great response as u ( and others ) always provide.

[DuckFan]

I should clarify...

I have had several trades between CPU teams all on draft day (though none of mine have ever involved players, they have always been just picks). Usually the team moving down makes a really stupid deal. Last night it was R1P18 for R2P5 and R4P15. Anyone who has played with the trading system knows that moving down 1 spot in the 1st can get you a low 4th, this guy moved down 18 spots...

I have also had the CPU offer me deals to move down on draft day, again only involving picks and always dumb deals for me.

But as far as trades during the pre-season and regular season (or any deal involving players), not a one.

I would assume that the Morale response to a player sitting on the bench is related to what he wants from the team (the screen you get when you sign free agents). If he has "Team Need" above 6% he probably gets pissed if he sits. A guy with a number above 15% there better be starting or he'll be red in a hurry.

Most of the random roster spot fillers I get have 87% Money, 6% Prestige, and 6% Icon or Team Talent... These are guys who just want to score chicks... "Hey baby. See this fat roll of 20s? Yeah, me and Dre Bly were chillin last night. Do I know him? Heck I play with him on Sundays! You wanna go back to my hotel room?"

[RunRickyRun]

Duckfan, if you would be so kind, enlighten me on this trick.

[ravenlunatic52]

Can anyone give me some hints on getting the most out of practice. I use practice but dont really have a plan and dont feel like I use it to its potential.

[mightypharaoh]

Can anyone give me some hints on getting the most out of practice. I use practice but dont really have a plan and dont feel like I use it to its potential.

The best thing for me this year is being able 2 practice with my players. I have the Virtual filmroom and it was frustrating 2 have 2 import your team 2 practice what was shown in the filmroom.

Ok so 2 start, lets focus on the running game. As noted by DuckFan your o-line loves it when they can pancake d-lineman. So focus on dives and blasts. Throw some counters in there as well. Be sure 2 lay off of the speed burst button until u clear your blockers. For read plays let your lineman lead the d-line up the field and then have your HB cut back into the hole. Same for tosses try and be patient and let the blockers lead the way so u can turn up the field. Constantly repeat 2 yourselfDON'T PRESS X UNTIL I CLEAR MY BLOCKERS!!!!

Passing, don't just run a play and hit the same option. Let's say the pass play u are practicing has 3 options. Practice running the play 15 times, hitting each option 5 times. The more options your play has the more times u practice the play. Keep your QB in the pocket, your o-line will only block for 4 seconds and if u drop 2 deep the ends can run around your tackles.

Run these plays against whatever defense u choose. U have the option of selecting the defense, having a random defense selected from a single formation or having a random defense selected from all formations.

For defense, get used 2 using the R3 stick and use the blitz, spy or send a player in coverage. For defense I would pick the offensive play and get used 2 playing down and distance.

Practice controlling different players, use the MLB 2 roam the middle of the field and take away crossing routes, the same with the deep safeties. One thing about the CPU, if u blitz on All Pro or All MAdden the QB genrally throws 2 the open area so make sure the pressure is fast and from multiple angles.

[theguru14]

Duckfan and who ever else might know the answer to this. I dont think this has happened yet, but what if I already have 10 picks(max allowed) before I get to the RFA section of the off season and I have a RFA with compensation and the other teams signs my guy. Do I lose my RFA and the draft pick compensation I was suppose to get? LMK :)

[mightypharaoh]

Duckfan and who ever else might know the answer to this. I dont think this has happened yet, but what if I already have 10 picks(max allowed) before I get to the RFA section of the off season and I have a RFA with compensation and the other teams signs my guy. Do I lose my RFA and the draft pick compensation I was suppose to get? LMK :)

this is were the addition of future draft picks would be beneficial 2 the game. GRRRRRRRRRRR madden wish list didn't listen :mad: .

[ravenlunatic52]

The best thing for me this year is being able 2 practice with my players. I have the Virtual filmroom and it was frustrating 2 have 2 import your team 2 practice what was shown in the filmroom.

Ok so 2 start, lets focus on the running game. As noted by DuckFan your o-line loves it when they can pancake d-lineman. So focus on dives and blasts. Throw some counters in there as well. Be sure 2 lay off of the speed burst button until u clear your blockers. For read plays let your lineman lead the d-line up the field and then have your HB cut back into the hole. Same for tosses try and be patient and let the blockers lead the way so u can turn up the field. Constantly repeat 2 yourselfDON'T PRESS X UNTIL I CLEAR MY BLOCKERS!!!!

Passing, don't just run a play and hit the same option. Let's say the pass play u are practicing has 3 options. Practice running the play 15 times, hitting each option 5 times. The more options your play has the more times u practice the play. Keep your QB in the pocket, your o-line will only block for 4 seconds and if u drop 2 deep the ends can run around your tackles.

Run these plays against whatever defense u choose. U have the option of selecting the defense, having a random defense selected from a single formation or having a random defense selected from all formations.

For defense, get used 2 using the R3 stick and use the blitz, spy or send a player in coverage. For defense I would pick the offensive play and get used 2 playing down and distance.

Practice controlling different players, use the MLB 2 roam the middle of the field and take away crossing routes, the same with the deep safeties. One thing about the CPU, if u blitz on All Pro or All MAdden the QB genrally throws 2 the open area so make sure the pressure is fast and from multiple angles.

cool thanks alot

[Ywfn.]

DF: When you were talking about signing players (that you lock in) you said to give them a bonus 20% of their base pay. When I go to resign a player it pops up with what they want...say 65M, but I can probably reduce that 65M to 60M and still sign them with a 20% bonus. At what point do you stop reducing them and calculate the 20% bonus?

~Ywfn~

[theguru14]

this is were the addition of future draft picks would be beneficial 2 the game. GRRRRRRRRRRR madden wish list didn't listen :mad: .

So that means if that scenario does happen we lose the player and the draft picks. :( :mad: :eek:

SO EVERYBODY BE CAREFUL WITH THIS PART OF THE GAME

You will be really upset if you dont know how many picks you have before the RFA section.

[mightypharaoh]

So that means if that scenario does happen we lose the player and the draft picks. :( :mad: :eek:

SO EVERYBODY BE CAREFUL WITH THIS PART OF THE GAME

You will be really upset if you dont know how many picks you have before the RFA section.

I can't say that for sure so don't quote me on it. But I did ask for future picks 2 ne included in this years game.

[sandman]

I feel like I am really out of the loop here. One aspect that I am upset EA did not make is the option of making money during the preseason. At least I don't think this is available. Does anyone express the same emotion as I? For example, a preseason ticket to see the Bills costs as much as a regular season ticket. That is valuable money. Plus, we have to account in concessions and merchandise sales.

Duckfan- I tried reading as many pages as I could. I didn't see if you mentioned this, but it sounds as if there is no possible way you could play every game. Could you give me an estimate on how many games you actually play?

[sandman]

I have a problem guys. This doesn't technically fall under chise stuff, but I need opinions. Darren Sharper ( 97 overall ) has always played FS for Green Bay. This year he has been switched to SS and I feel he more suited in the free safety role. My backup SS is a 75 overall while my starting FS is a 77 overall. I think the starting FS is a piece of crap and has made no contribution whatsoever during the preseason. Any suggestions?

[mightypharaoh]

I feel like I am really out of the loop here. One aspect that I am upset EA did not make is the option of making money during the preseason. At least I don't think this is available. Does anyone express the same emotion as I? For example, a preseason ticket to see the Bills costs as much as a regular season ticket. That is valuable money. Plus, we have to account in concessions and meechandise sales.

Duckfan- I tried reading as many pages as I could. I didn't see if you mentioned this, but it sounds as if there is no possible way you could play every game. Could you give me an estimate on how many games you actually play?

Good point bc I know they charge me in real life for preseason tix!!!!

If I remember correctly DF plays about 4 games per season, making sure that he wins those. I believe he has no included afew preseason games 2 take adavantage of progression points.

[theguru14]

I can't say that for sure so don't quote me on it. But I did ask for future picks 2 ne included in this years game.

I know. I am just letting people know to check before you go any further in your franchise.

[mightypharaoh]

cool thanks alot

Dawg I almost forgot....don't neglect the PA passes. Establish the run and then draw the db's in with a PA fake. For this it helps 2 have a solid oline (DUH right) a QB with an 55SPD or higher (I have had success with Pennington) and a QB with high AWR, it will help him get rid of the ball faster.

[mightypharaoh]

So I had my draft last night and even though my starting rookie HB rush for 1091 yds and won OROY I wanted a back with speed. Who do I luck up and get in round 3????? Your boy and mine #43 from Kansas State Darren Sproles!!!!!!

And guess what???? He still Tiki's (fumbles) a bit lol

[XtremepH]

for those wanting to know about Holdouts I can say for a fact that players still holdout. after finishing up my first season with the ravens I had Ray Lewis Holdout on me for more money even though I signed him to an extentions earlier in the year. I was thinking of trading him after signing him and making Hartwell the starting MLB but since I like running the 3-4 I decided not to.

[cmm]

this is prolly a stupid question but can u turn the salary cap of oncy you are in franchise mode and if so how??

[hobbs2324]

Sandman, MP replied on this yesterday and I thought the info was good so I didn't follow suit. Give the guy the mini camps, pre season and reps during the season and he will progress big time, put Sharper back to original position
MP, he'll get over it after the first season, remember?
XtremepH, I hate holdouts and trade them usually, but if I had ray I would give him my 4th born child and forget about the bad taste in my mouth :rolleyes:
cmm, proofread and spell check, your 2 sentence post took me 45 seconds to decode, as far as the question, go into available possibilities, usually game play mode while you aren't playing a game, and it should be there, maybe under options, my Madden or something like that

[mightypharaoh]

I posted this in the wrong thread

DuckFan - I know u have probably done it twice already , what's up with relocation this year. WHat's New with upgrades. I am playing with the Jets so I would rebuild for another 3 seasons at least. And being that I am in crappy Giant Stadium (what's up hobbs!) I don't get any upgrades.


cmm - no answer. Perhaps if u exceed your cap and need 2 fill roster spots. The CPU takes over and shut off Owner Mode and the cap. At least that's what happened in last years game. If u want a roster update either go online 2 EA or download it from ps2rosters.com

[sandman]

So basically, try to boost Anderson's stats ( 75 overall SS ) and put Sharper back at FS. BTW, I found another problem with the preseason. In the real NFL, preseason games go into overtime but they don't in Madden. I would prefer they do mainly because it would possibly mean more progression for my players.

[mightypharaoh]

If u go into my team and go into team info, u will get your PDA informing u of any transactions u have made. It gives u your record and win percentage. Also in your PDA u will have your team rankings and your prestige rating. At the bottom of the screen u have the option of clearing your cap penalites (if u have them) U will get a warning that doing so will drop your team prestige. I did it just 2 see what would happen. My prestige dropped 1 bar (it was at the max), I'll have 2 check after my next game 2 see what it does 2 my fan base( currently at 76%). Also it will affect potential FA's who have Team Prestige high on their interests from joining my team.

I'll fill everyone in later. Provided DuckFan doesn't sim his way through it first lol :D

[kdog1189]

How do you get the stadium upgrades and what are all of them?

[mightypharaoh]

How do you get the stadium upgrades and what are all of them?

after your season ends u go into the next season. A chart will tell u how much $$$ u made the previous year. before u go into off season schedule go down and look at your options.

There u can hire new coaches, change your ticket prices, hire a training staff, and purchase upgrades for your team.

LAst years upgrades included

Solar Panels
Laser Goalposts
On site medical facilities
Gene Spliced (grass 2 cut down on player injuries)
Team museum
Heated seats

The further along in your chise u get the more advanced the upgrades become.

[theguru14]

Here is another question for you guys. During the free agent signing period I offer a guy a certain amount $ and he is considering it. Now a whole day goes by and that player has just recieved other offers and I am no longer in his top 3 choices. Under his name and picture it states the highest offer he is being offered at the time. I now go and try to offer him more $,signing bonus and/or years to the contract but no matter what I offer the guy a pop up screen keeps saying that I havent offered enough to be considered in his top 3 teams. Why is that happening and is there another screen that I am suppose to be looking at??? :confused:

[mightypharaoh]

Here is another question for you guys. During the free agent signing period I offer a guy a certain amount $ and he is considering it. Now a whole day goes by and that player has just recieved other offers and I am no longer in his top 3 choices. Under his name and picture it states the highest offer he is being offered at the time. I now go and try to offer him more $,signing bonus and/or years to the contract but no matter what I offer the guy a pop up screen keeps saying that I havent offered enough to be considered in his top 3 teams. Why is that happening and is there another screen that I am suppose to be looking at??? :confused:

If u scroll across with the R3 stick u will see the offers the other teams have made the player. U can base your offer according 2 that. Then go back and check where u are in the players top 3.

[theguru14]

If u scroll across with the R3 stick u will see the offers the other teams have made the player. U can base your offer according 2 that. Then go back and check where u are in the players top 3.

I know about that part of the screen where it shows his top 3 choices and a green bar stating how close they are to each other. What I dont get is where it states who is offering him the best contract.

Example-Charles Woodson

Balt at this point has the best offer on table-->4 years at 20 million and a 4 million signing bonus.

Okay now I click on Woodson and lets say I offer-->4 years at 23 million and a 6 million signing bonus and hit the submit button. A screen pops up and says that my offer is not considered to be in the top 3 choices. I just dont get it. I have lost quite a few good players I needed because of this. :confused:

[mighty murtaugh]

So basically, try to boost Anderson's stats ( 75 overall SS ) and put Sharper back at FS. BTW, I found another problem with the preseason. In the real NFL, preseason games go into overtime but they don't in Madden. I would prefer they do mainly because it would possibly mean more progression for my players.

I think this should be a rule in the NFL. whats the point of going to overtime in preseason. Just gives teams more of a chance to loss players to injury. In madden though it keeps possition battles fair and equal giving all players equal playing time to rack up there stats. Win and loses mean crap in presason i don't understand why the NFL allows Overtime in Preseason. It bad for the game of football. The more players that are healthy the better there product. Whats the point. Oh no My cowboys lost a game to the texans i guess we are going to have a lossing season this year .... Its preseason. it Dont matter. Look how many superbowl teams started the season with a losing preseason.

[Big Riggy]

Hi fellas. Haven't got the game yet - not available in Europe for another month or so. But am enjoying hearing all your have to say so far. Hopefully (if I pay attention) I'll have a bit of an advantage when I do start my Franchise in '05.
Anyway, there's been a bit of talk about morale, but I havent seen anything that says what it actually affects ? Does it affect individual or team performance ?

Cheers

[jdbolick]

The only thing I know for sure is that it can affect whether or not a free agent chooses to sign with your team, but I suspect that it also has some kind of affect on performance. Someone else can probably answer that.

[mightypharaoh]

sandman - as for the overtime in Madden there's not enough time for u 2 do anything of note 2 gain possesion points. Maybe if u got a guy 3 sacks, or if a HB got a long run for a td that put him over 100 yds for the game.

mighty murtaugh - worried about injuries in a preseason game that goes into overtime???? The only players that have 2 worry about that even in week 4 are those players that either are fighting for a roster spot,or those who will be known as Master Splinter...as in they won't get off the bench.

Big Riggy - morale. Think about the Keyshawn Johnson situation last year in Tampa. The Bucs made a move bc they felt he brought the team down by not wanting 2 be there. Think about Lawyer Milloy getting cut before week 1 last year by the Patriots. What happened 2 them the following week??? Blasted by the Bills.

In the game if your players are unhappy they will look for a team that has what they want. In this years game u can see what a player rates in terms of importance as 2 why he would select a team. Perhaps u traded away an NFL Icon, this player might have Icon rated high on his list. Or other team Icons look at it and say if they got rid of him, they could get rid of me. Mow I haven't seen how it would play out on the field, I can only imagine that eventually the players would start a decline in their production as in going through the motions. I haven't seen that bc I play all of my games, but I did have a morale problem last season after trading an Icon. My solution....WIN!!!!! And win big, win major awards, have record breaking seasons. Why having several stellar seasons will lead 2 Icon status for a player. Again if FA'a are interested in coming 2 your team it's no longer about $$$$. What's the teams prestige? Icon on team? Mentors? Playing time?

It just makes for a more interesting game IMO

[adam5743]

In the game if your players are unhappy they will look for a team that has what they want. In this years game u can see what a player rates in terms of importance as 2 why he would select a team. Perhaps u traded away an NFL Icon, this player might have Icon rated high on his list. Or other team Icons look at it and say if they got rid of him, they could get rid of me. Mow I haven't seen how it would play out on the field, I can only imagine that eventually the players would start a decline in their production as in going through the motions. I haven't seen that bc I play all of my games, but I did have a morale problem last season after trading an Icon. My solution....WIN!!!!! And win big, win major awards, have record breaking seasons. Why having several stellar seasons will lead 2 Icon status for a player. Again if FA'a are interested in coming 2 your team it's no longer about $$$$. What's the teams prestige? Icon on team? Mentors? Playing time?

It just makes for a more interesting game IMO

I'm a first time poster here but I'm a big fan of franchise mode... you guys have some great notes and help here - but as for my question/comment.

It seems like some players care about the team's salary cap problems, but the thing is when I go propose a deal that puts me over the cap they look like they would accept it(the green bar), but when I go adjust my roster to free up $ they won't accept the offer they liked earlier because I have cap room now. That annoys me, but it seems like the players at least are trying to consider multiple options when weighing an offer...

As far as the 20% of the salary cap goes... I do like the theory of making new contracts once the big $ years get there, but rather than sit at the playstation with my calculator I actually play with the bonus back and forth until I notice that the cap number no longer decreases. That way I'm sure I'm getting the best cap figure for the early years of that contract. Just my 2 cents.

[mightypharaoh]

Welcome aboard adam!

I'll let DuckFan explain the 20% whenever he gets online. I myself am a fiddle with the $$$ until the cap# doesn't decrease also :D

[DuckFan]

theguru14

Not sure about losing the picks on a RFA, but I would suspect that you would. I have yet to have an RFA that the AI wanted (because all my good rookies get signed to at least 4 year deals).

If that IS the case though, it's yet another way you can screw over an AI team. Got a team you just hate? When the RFA process starts, if you see they have someone that is worth compensation, go get 3 extra 7th round picks and give them to them for free. Watch them lose out on the picks they were supposed to get. Heck, if the system really is broken, just send them 3 extra 7ths before the RFA signings, then bid on the guy YOURSELF. If they can't accept your picks in trade you get their RFA guy like he was a normal FA and he doesn'ty cost you picks at all.

If I get bored in the next couple days I will take over a Franchise that has some good RFAs and test all the parameters. But if someone finds out before then feel free to post.

Ywfn. Yes, I scroll back the contract to what the guy will accept, with 20% of that number being signing bonus. But usually it's pretty easy. A guy asks for 60M and a 10M bonus, I scroll his bonus up to 11, then scroll the contract back to 55 and see where he says no. A guy asks for 40M with 11M in bonus, I know I can't get him to accept 3M less in bonus, but I will scroll it back as much as I can, and may boost his total a little bit. My math skills are such that I can do all the conversions instantly, but you can always go with the scroll around until the stops method if you like. I thought it was hilarious watching (and listening to) a buddy of mine trying to work out 20% of a 44M contract by dividing by 5. Hearing him talk his way through the division was so hysterical I let him get all the way through before I asked "why didn't you just double the 44 and move a decimal point? Two times 44 is 88, boom, it's 8.8M." He just started at me, then told me to stop laughing... :)

Sandman Last year I played 4-5 games a year for most of my Chises, although the last 4 complete Chises I played I only played one game a season.

This year I am enjoying the game play much more. The new defensive audibles really appeal to me. I find running the ball to be much easier this year, and the short passing game seems easier as well. I feel like I am getting closer to what my players should actually do on the field. So I am playing more games. By this point last year I would have been around year 14. As it is I am about to finish year 5.

I have been playing 2 PreSeason games, plus about 5 regular season games, and all the playoff games. My team is already sick (I think my current OVR rating is at 95 with 96 on D) and I still have $19M in Cap Room. Year 4 was really interesting for me. There were 14 FA available with ratings over 90, including Vick, 2 WR over 93, 3 OL guys over 92. I stared at that screen forever, finally signing Koren Robinson. If Vick wasn't an Icon I would have signed him up to play spot duty. But in the new game he gets mad and you lose fans so I couldn't.

This year I have been struck by injuries. Tons of them. And YES I still have the best training staff and I did my Medical Upgrade. But I lost 3 players to Season Ending (all backups) in the first four weeks. At one point I had five different OL injured. In week 8 I had 11 guys listed on my injury screen including 6 guys with ratings over 90. In year 3 I lost a total of 4 man-games to injury. This year, I am around 90 man-games lost... :(

XtremepH

I am glad to hear that holdouts still happen. Although it looks like they really toned it down this year. It would have been a mistake to remove them completely, but I think they may have toned them down too much.

MP

Believe it or not, I have yet to move my team. And part of the reason is the crazy fan. Sounds silly, but I just love the fact that I have a guy in the stands who is wearing a Lion suit and waving a giant wrench! The first time I saw him the wife didn't believe me, so I had to score another TD in the right corner of the end zone (which seems to trigger him more often). Now whenever he shows up it's "Oh look! It's the dude with the wrench!"

Since I bought Madden about 2 weeks before I expected to, I will probably wait a little while before I move my team. Just enjoying the new gameplay for now. Probably as soon as Harrington retires I will start testing all the weird stuff again...

hobbs2324

4th born child, eh? Strangely enough, the AI in my Chise was willing to part with Ray for a middle 1st round pick last year. Hartwell had played well enough to pull Ray's IMP rating down so he was only a B (even though he was a 99). I decided I got better value by trading for Hartwell (since he was a 93 and only cost a low 2nd, not to mention the contract savings). I picked up Julius Peppers for a song when Robert Porcher finally retired and Peppers is on pace for the weirdest season I have seen yet from a DE. 10 games in and he only has 12 tackles, but 10 of them are sacks... I figured his ratings might drop since he expects 50 tackles a year, but he only expects 7-9 sacks so he's still a happy camper.

MP

I have only bought the Med Facility and Cup Holders so far. My strategy is to always have my Stadium at barely SOTA. So when it drops to excellent I buy one thing and that's it. And I focus on the stuff that actually improves players first (Med, Laser, etc...)

theguru14

With your FA, welcome to Madden 2005. The single biggest change this year is the personalities of the players and they have strong opinions about where they want to go. A guy may take $20M to play in Miami and turn down the $27M offered by Green Bay.

Always check the "player's interests" pop-up to see what the guy cares about. If "Team Need" is above 10%, that guy HAS to start on your team or he will give you hell. Some guys just want money and you can outbid your opponents. But if the main thing he cares about is prestige and yours isn't very good, he won't go there.

It is possible to outbid the AI no matter what the guy cares about, but it can get expensive. Watch the green bar (it IS green, right? because if it's not don't waste your time) at the top that shows how much he wants to join your team. You have to get that green bar to be higher than the guys bidding against you. If money is all a guy cares about, you can beat them with just a little more cash. But if money is only 20% on the guy's list, you can bump your offer $4M and still get beat out if they raise their offer by $2M.

As you scroll more cash, that green bar does get longer. But it may take more money than you expect. It's more like real life though. If you're a star LB would you want to go to the Cardinals? Wouldn't you take less money to go play for the Bucs or the Ravens or the Patriots?

For everyone

Anyone tried Coach Mode? I had some paperwork to do, so I decided to run a game using Coach Mode, selecting the plays and audibles but letting the AI actually run the plays.

Stats I got were very similar to what I get normally, although the AI spread the ball around more than I do. And I was stunned at some of the throws that the QB made, guys I would have never "read" as being open, but who clearly were. I found myself picking up some tips especially in the running game, since the AI follows its blockers at the "right" pace better than I do. It doesn't make some of the sick moves that I can pull off, but it was consistently a yard deeper into the play before it needed to, especially on plays following a FB lead blocker. I am prone to pushing X too much (just like a lot of players) and while I am getting better at laying off the speed burst it was amazing watching just how big of holes my O-line can open up if I actually let them. :p

I didn't actually get much paperwork done. But I did pick up some things...

[adam5743]

[For everyone

Anyone tried Coach Mode? I had some paperwork to do, so I decided to run a game using Coach Mode, selecting the plays and audibles but letting the AI actually run the plays.

Stats I got were very similar to what I get normally, although the AI spread the ball around more than I do. And I was stunned at some of the throws that the QB made, guys I would have never "read" as being open, but who clearly were. I found myself picking up some tips especially in the running game, since the AI follows its blockers at the "right" pace better than I do. It doesn't make some of the sick moves that I can pull off, but it was consistently a yard deeper into the play before it needed to, especially on plays following a FB lead blocker. I am prone to pushing X too much (just like a lot of players) and while I am getting better at laying off the speed burst it was amazing watching just how big of holes my O-line can open up if I actually let them. :p

I didn't actually get much paperwork done. But I did pick up some things...

I love coach mode for the 'sim' aspect of it. Right now I'm at the point where I run maybe half a dozen or so ball control type offensive plays (simple between the tackle runs using playmaker depending on the defensive lineup and WR motion combined with slants and curls depending on zone vs man coverage) and it kida gets me down that I can't run a more realistic offense when I'm at the controls. The AI QB I must admit has much better awareness than I do (I must be at a 30 on awareness if I'm not running the handfull of pass plays I'm consistent with). My style must be good for QB ratings - David Carr is a 99 after my first season. The only bad thing is the Texans have maybe $2mil in cap room in year 2 now. I need CB Aaron Glenn to retire! Do you get dead money due to retirements?

A couple Q's on a side note, do the number of players needed per position vary depending on what kind of system you run (need more DTs in a 4-3 vs a 3-4)? Can you change players positions like in NCAA '05? For example, I wanted to dump Gary Walker's contract and draft a top 5 rookie DE, but the top guy was a RE and Walker is a LE. Could I have changed his position permanently or would I have had to do it via the depth chart before each season? As it was I just traded back one draft slot at a time until the best LE was the best guy remaining. You can stockpile a lot of 4th round draft picks that way and cash 'em in for others... :o

Thanks for the welcome mightypharoah!!!

[DuckFan]

adam5743

Yes, you do get the dead money back due to retirements. In fact, if you have a guy that you know is going to retire soon on your team, you can sign him to a 7-year deal (which costs very little in the first couple years) and never pay him the rest of the money.

I wish they would fix that glitch, maybe have the player reject your offer because he doesn't want that long of a deal. As it is, it's completely broken, and you can get guys who "should" cost you $4M a year to play for $1.5M because they think they will get $9M later on. Then they retire and they never get the money and they have to give you back the signing bonus.

As far as I know you can't change player's positions other than with the depth chart. One thing I am glad they changed this year is that some players can play both sides well and some guys have a problem on the other side. Last year you could swap sides all you like and it never mattered. Now guys are usually 2-3pts weaker at their off position. And they actually FIXED the broken OLB-DE thing. In last year's game I used roster spot fillers almost exclusively at DE, because I could take a fast OLB that was an 85 and make him a 93 at DE. Saved me a fortune in contracts because they ask for money based on their rating not based on the rating they have at the position where you play them. But they have adjusted things this year so it rarely works.

Last year I used to have 4 DE that were all in the 50s, and 6 OLBs. This year I have to have a more normal roster...

[adam5743]

adam5743

Yes, you do get the dead money back due to retirements. In fact, if you have a guy that you know is going to retire soon on your team, you can sign him to a 7-year deal (which costs very little in the first couple years) and never pay him the rest of the money.

I wish they would fix that glitch, maybe have the player reject your offer because he doesn't want that long of a deal. As it is, it's completely broken, and you can get guys who "should" cost you $4M a year to play for $1.5M because they think they will get $9M later on. Then they retire and they never get the money and they have to give you back the signing bonus.

As far as I know you can't change player's positions other than with the depth chart. One thing I am glad they changed this year is that some players can play both sides well and some guys have a problem on the other side. Last year you could swap sides all you like and it never mattered. Now guys are usually 2-3pts weaker at their off position. And they actually FIXED the broken OLB-DE thing. In last year's game I used roster spot fillers almost exclusively at DE, because I could take a fast OLB that was an 85 and make him a 93 at DE. Saved me a fortune in contracts because they ask for money based on their rating not based on the rating they have at the position where you play them. But they have adjusted things this year so it rarely works.

Last year I used to have 4 DE that were all in the 50s, and 6 OLBs. This year I have to have a more normal roster...

Thanks for the response! I guess you have to do the re-signing at the proper point in the pre-season - correct? It didn't look like I had that option in the middle of the year... great point on the DE/OLB - I noticed that when I drafted Suggs in a fantasy draft in Madden '04. I doubt it really works like this, but shouldn't a 3-4 DE be hurt ratings wise if he is too light? No way is Jason Taylor going to fill Gary Walker or Robaire Smith's shoes so to speak! :eek:

[DuckFan]

HUGE CHANGE THIS YEAR

That I haven't seen anyone else mention yet, and I am stunned I didn't notice myself in my earlier Chise seasons...

You know that you get player progressions at the end of the pre-season, after week 5, after week 11, and after week 17...

You also get new progressions during the playoffs and you get them EVERY round. Each and every week you get fresh changes in your players' ratings. This is one of the things I *****ed like hell about last year. The idea that a rookie who played well in preseason got improvements but that same rookie who played well in the playoffs didn't. Seems kinda dumb that a guy gets credit for beating scrubs in August but doesn't get credit for making big plays when it counts.

Well they changed it dramatically for this year. And just FYI, all these games were simmed, so this wasn't a mad display of stick skills for me... :)

Dwight Smith went on a tear for me starting in week 17. He picked off a pass and made four tackles in the final game to clinch home-field.

New rating after week 17: up 2 to 93

Divisional round he has a monster game, 2 picks, 5 deflections and a FF.

New rating after divisional round: up 3 to 96

Conference Championships, another great game. Another pick, 6 deflections and 5 tackles.

New rating after conference championships: up 2 to 98

Super Bowl, a solid game with 5 tackles and 4 deflections.

New rating after the SB: up 1 to 99


And the ratings really do reflect what happens on the field. Joey Harrington got hurt in the first quarter of the conference finals. Backup Dave Ragone was already sitting out for 3 weeks, so 3rd-stringer Craig Nall comes in with his whopping 65 rating to try to lead the Lions back to the Super Bowl.

Craig throws 13 of 16 for 141 yds and throws a 4th-quarter TD to clinch the game.

His rating the next week: up 9 pts to 74! :eek:

Joey was back for the SB, so Nall only got back in for mop-up duty in the 4th, where he went 5 of 7 for 51 yds.

But that was enough to bump him another 2 pts to 76... His playoff experience and performance under pressure took him from worthless 3rd string to legitimate backup in just 2 games!

Man, I love Madden 2005! :)

[GateCrash]

DuckFan,

Doesn't that unbalance things horribly? With player progression like that, toss in a few minicamps and it sounds like you could have a team full of 99 OVRs in just a few seasons. Do player ratings drop off again as quickly if they don't get more playing time? Or are they simply capped at a certain level, and the players can get to that level more quickly now?


--GC

[adam5743]

DuckFan,

Doesn't that unbalance things horribly? With player progression like that, toss in a few minicamps and it sounds like you could have a team full of 99 OVRs in just a few seasons. Do player ratings drop off again as quickly if they don't get more playing time? Or are they simply capped at a certain level, and the players can get to that level more quickly now?


--GC

From my first season it seems like the younger the player is the more it will matter. The first 5 weeks probably matter the most (think compound interest), pre-season will matter a lot if you keep the young player in the whole game, playoffs are huge (if your player does well), and it also seems like QBs can get juiced up pretty quickly. I think players can start dropping off at age 32 or so, but I have a OL about that age that actually gained a point during the season. Only the players that basically have pro-bowl seasons or started off with very low ratings gain points that quickly so I don't think it is unbalanced. My RB (Houston's Davis) had 1600 yds rushing, about 20 total TDs, offensive MVP, best RB, etc... and he only got bumped up about 5 points that year to 93. Overall, if you really play well with your very young skill position players (like with the Texans - Carr, Johnson, and Davis) you can have near 99 triplets in a couple years... BUT just like in real life you will end up having to pay for them which means you can't keep everyone!

[DuckFan]

Not at all... because when players perform at around their expected level, they rarely change at all... Players all gain awareness over the course of time, but the rest of the skills are quite stable unless they are playing beyond their ratings.

In Craig Nall's case, you clearly would not expect a 65 QB facing a 14-3 team to complete 80% of his passes. So having that kind of performance gave him a huge boost. By comparison, Joey had a 27-35 321yd performance in the Super Bowl and not one of his ratings changed.

With Dwight Smith, he had played like a 91-92 for most of the two previous seasons and never really changed. But he went on a monster tear from week 16 on and closed the year as a 99. The other three guys in my secondary were 90, 92, and 96 at week 16. And they finished at 91, 92, and 97. They all performed well, but not well enough to see huge gains.

That's why I really think the game is more accurate now. My OL all jumped about 3-4 points during the playoffs (because let's face it, they were the reason Craig Nall could complete even one pass). But my receivers and LBs and DL all stayed about where they were. A little improvement here and there but not much.

Think about what happens in real life when a team makes an unexpected Super Bowl run and a bunch of players all take their game to "the next level". That carries over for years later. That one taste is enough to change their playing forever. And Madden now reflects that!

Your guys still have to perform. That didn't change. It's not like "being there" is enough to turn them into stars. But when a pretty good player rises to the occasion and steps up, Madden now reflects that going forward. :)

[DuckFan]

Overall, if you really play well with your very young skill position players (like with the Texans - Carr, Johnson, and Davis) you can have near 99 triplets in a couple years... BUT just like in real life you will end up having to pay for them which means you can't keep everyone!

Which is one of the biggest reasons why I sign long-term deals on the guys who will get lots of playing time... Sign a guy to a 7-yr deal when he is a 79. Grow him into a 92 by the end of year 3. You still get him for a couple more years at a bargain basement price (since they never holdout until year 6). If that same guy was signed to a 4-yr deal originally, not only would you pay more during the first 3 years, but he would automatically holdout the 4th year and you have to start paying him big bucks much sooner...

I got very lucky with Dwight Smith (who isn't exactly young) in my Chise. He still has 5 years left on a deal he signed when he was a 91. Now he's a 99 and I am getting him at a bargain...

[jandt]

this may have been discussed before many times but I can't find a solid response....

What do the different coach skill ratings work on increasing?? Awareness I can get increased several points on all my starters during the year at the regular intervals and my coaches all have high knowledge...

I know one team in 2004 the awareness wouldn't change much but my acceleration increased on all my players, I didn't think much of it at the time so never looked into who my staff was...

IS there a study or a chart that if u want to increase xx to get coaches of xxx? Even my WR's who catch 10 passes a game or rb's who get 25 touches and 150 yards or CB who run around all day this year are only getting awareness and maybe carry or catch increased.. haven't seen 1 increase in speed or accel on anyone.. I am in my 3rd year of chise using Lions.. help please..

[DuckFan]

For all the studying I did last year I was never able to pull together a full chart of how the coach stats interacted with the players... :(

What I can tell you is that if the assistant coach has a 90+ rating at the position of a player, he will give a bonus to the key stat for that player (OL get PBK and RBK, LB get a TAK bonus, etc). Head Coaches last year bumped AWR and STR based on Motivation and Work Ethic. This year I have +3 AWR on my whole team but have not seen a STR improvement from anyone.

In my Chise Mariucci currently has a 91 MOT, 89 ETH, and 97 KNW. I get a +3 AWR on every player, but no other bonuses from him.

I did find a very strange result when I scrolled through the rosters last night. There were two players on the 49ers who had stats in red (where yellow normally shows a bump due to coaching). I checked their individual pages and they actually were getting an adjustment down from bad coaching. I didn't bother trying to work out who the coaches were, since I always pay for the top guy at every position, but I thought it was odd that a coach could reduce the ratings of his players.

Also, last year by hiring the top training staff and having good coaches you could get +3 to +5 bumps on INJ and TGH for all your players. I have yet to see those bumps this year. Anyone else get them?

[theguru14]

adam5743

Yes, you do get the dead money back due to retirements. In fact, if you have a guy that you know is going to retire soon on your team, you can sign him to a 7-year deal (which costs very little in the first couple years) and never pay him the rest of the money.

I wish they would fix that glitch, maybe have the player reject your offer because he doesn't want that long of a deal. As it is, it's completely broken, and you can get guys who "should" cost you $4M a year to play for $1.5M because they think they will get $9M later on. Then they retire and they never get the money and they have to give you back the signing bonus.

As far as I know you can't change player's positions other than with the depth chart. One thing I am glad they changed this year is that some players can play both sides well and some guys have a problem on the other side. Last year you could swap sides all you like and it never mattered. Now guys are usually 2-3pts weaker at their off position. And they actually FIXED the broken OLB-DE thing. In last year's game I used roster spot fillers almost exclusively at DE, because I could take a fast OLB that was an 85 and make him a 93 at DE. Saved me a fortune in contracts because they ask for money based on their rating not based on the rating they have at the position where you play them. But they have adjusted things this year so it rarely works.

Last year I used to have 4 DE that were all in the 50s, and 6 OLBs. This year I have to have a more normal roster...

I did/do the same thing as well with the long contracts. I am not sure if it happens all the time this year as I am not deep into the game yet. I did notice that in year 1 R. Brown(RG) was a FA so I signed him but he would only take a 1 year deal, so for this instance it didnt work.

[theguru14]

HUGE CHANGE THIS YEAR

That I haven't seen anyone else mention yet, and I am stunned I didn't notice myself in my earlier Chise seasons...

You know that you get player progressions at the end of the pre-season, after week 5, after week 11, and after week 17...

You also get new progressions during the playoffs and you get them EVERY round. Each and every week you get fresh changes in your players' ratings. This is one of the things I *****ed like hell about last year. The idea that a rookie who played well in preseason got improvements but that same rookie who played well in the playoffs didn't. Seems kinda dumb that a guy gets credit for beating scrubs in August but doesn't get credit for making big plays when it counts.

Well they changed it dramatically for this year. And just FYI, all these games were simmed, so this wasn't a mad display of stick skills for me... :)

Dwight Smith went on a tear for me starting in week 17. He picked off a pass and made four tackles in the final game to clinch home-field.

New rating after week 17: up 2 to 93

Divisional round he has a monster game, 2 picks, 5 deflections and a FF.

New rating after divisional round: up 3 to 96

Conference Championships, another great game. Another pick, 6 deflections and 5 tackles.

New rating after conference championships: up 2 to 98

Super Bowl, a solid game with 5 tackles and 4 deflections.

New rating after the SB: up 1 to 99


And the ratings really do reflect what happens on the field. Joey Harrington got hurt in the first quarter of the conference finals. Backup Dave Ragone was already sitting out for 3 weeks, so 3rd-stringer Craig Nall comes in with his whopping 65 rating to try to lead the Lions back to the Super Bowl.

Craig throws 13 of 16 for 141 yds and throws a 4th-quarter TD to clinch the game.

His rating the next week: up 9 pts to 74! :eek:

Joey was back for the SB, so Nall only got back in for mop-up duty in the 4th, where he went 5 of 7 for 51 yds.

But that was enough to bump him another 2 pts to 76... His playoff experience and performance under pressure took him from worthless 3rd string to legitimate backup in just 2 games!

Man, I love Madden 2005! :)

Yes I saw it listed in the manual. They can progress/degress every 5th week. The playoffs I didnt know, thats cool. I have simulated about 5 separate year 1 franchises(Miami) and have noticed that about 50 of the players not progressing at all. The most I ever saw was E. Moore(LOLB) progress 5 points in franchise. So the progressing aspect has not been to good for me. Do you think it is because I am not playing the games myself? I dont think so and sure hope that is not the case.

[djwill13]

as mentioned before, younger players tend to progress more rapidly than older players. try getting your younger players more pt, thus bumping their stats. should help them progress fast.

also, if you play the games yourself, you can make sure that players gets his stats by putting him in on certain situations and building his stats

[McMadden]

theguru14
Sandman Last year I played 4-5 games a year for most of my Chises, although the last 4 complete Chises I played I only played one game a season.

This year I am enjoying the game play much more. The new defensive audibles really appeal to me. I find running the ball to be much easier this year, and the short passing game seems easier as well. I feel like I am getting closer to what my players should actually do on the field. So I am playing more games. By this point last year I would have been around year 14. As it is I am about to finish year 5.

I have been playing 2 PreSeason games, plus about 5 regular season games, and all the playoff games. My team is already sick (I think my current OVR rating is at 95 with 96 on D) and I still have $19M in Cap Room. Year 4 was really interesting for me. There were 14 FA available with ratings over 90, including Vick, 2 WR over 93, 3 OL guys over 92. I stared at that screen forever, finally signing Koren Robinson. If Vick wasn't an Icon I would have signed him up to play spot duty. But in the new game he gets mad and you lose fans so I couldn't.

This year I have been struck by injuries. Tons of them. And YES I still have the best training staff and I did my Medical Upgrade. But I lost 3 players to Season Ending (all backups) in the first four weeks. At one point I had five different OL injured. In week 8 I had 11 guys listed on my injury screen including 6 guys with ratings over 90. In year 3 I lost a total of 4 man-games to injury. This year, I am around 90 man-games lost... :(

So DF, whats the limit on players being injured on your team at one time? Last year I think Madden 2004 it was like 6-7 or am I getting injured reserve confused with injuries on your team?

[sandman]

Guys, I'm going to start my relocation project pretty soon that I never got to in 04. I'm going to see if you can run a successful chise in Alaska. The population is small and their income is very low. Not to mention the freezing temperature. Should be fun. :D I will take suggestions for team names. I have a few myself.

Anchorage Rage
Anchorage Air Assault
Anchorage Aurora Borealis

[sandman]

I just have one more question. I can't figure out for the life of me how to name team captains. I was thinking of naming Sharper the defensive captain and Favre offensive. :confused:

[theguru14]

I just have one more question. I can't figure out for the life of me how to name team captains. I was thinking of naming Sharper the defensive captain and Favre offensive. :confused:

At the beginning of each season go to roster-->view roster-->player management-->click the player you want to be a team captain--> PRESTO!!! :D

[XtremepH]

you also can remove the captain status away from a player if you like as well. Found that out last night.

[GateCrash]

What does being named a team captain do for a player? For the team? Affect morale? Affect stats? Affect desire to stay with the team?

DuckFan, regarding your earlier post about qualifications for a captain (min. 5 years' experience and signed to a long-term deal): why the long-term deal? Is there any benefit to naming the same captain season after season?

Also, I'm assuming that a player who says "I'm ready to step up and be a leader for this team" is captain material.

[mjustin24]

I have gone thru preseason and just completed my first regular season game. I have two players who lost position battles, and are now a little unhappy. Their comments talk about not being a good fit and their morale is medium yellow. When is the best time to trade these guys, and what can I expect in return? I have put them on the block with various proposals but have rec'd no offers yet.

The Players are a 73 WR (Ron Dixon) and an 82 RB (Anthony Thomas).

Can someone give me some ideas of what would be a good value for these guys either as a group or seperate, and when would be the best time to make my move?

Thanks.

[sandman]

Last night, I surprised by how many teams wanted to get rid of key players. I was in week three. The vikings placed Hovan on the trade block, Brunell was looking for a way out of Washington, and the Ravens put up Suggs. I thought Suggs would be a real nice addition to my team.

The Trade

Giving :

1. First round draft pick
2. 78 overall LOLB

Receiving :
1. Suggs
2. Third round draft pick
3. Fifth round pick

I also signed Chad Bratzke to a four-year deal because the Ravens originally wanted a DT for Suggs. I felt a DE would be close enough. They didn't bite. So my next trade was Bratzke to the Bills for a second round pick. The last trade I made was Craig Nall for a fourth round pick. I now have 10 total picks. My main question is how could I finangle a trade for a first round pick? Does anyone think a team would bite if I put up both second round draft chioces?

All 10 Draft Picks

2 Second Round Picks
2 Third Round Picks
2 Fourth Round Picks
2 Fifth Round Picks
1 Sixth Round Pick
1 Seventh Round Pick

[TruBluDevil3]

i drafted a 79 overall LOLB iwth the 3rd overall pick (using the draft pick trading trick ;) ) During the Super Bowl (he was up to a 84 by then), i decided to put him @ RE since he was a 88 :eek: speeD! i had very good success, so in the offseason i decided to swich him to RE permanently. HE went up 14 overall points to a 98!!!! :eek:

[djwill13]

guys, don't go crazy with the draft pick trades cause what will happen is you'll get a ton of superstars on your team and won't have any competition.

if you want a true sim, ask yourself if you would accept the trade and go from there

[mightypharaoh]

guys, don't go crazy with the draft pick trades cause what will happen is you'll get a ton of superstars on your team and won't have any competition.

if you want a true sim, ask yourself if you would accept the trade and go from there

What are u doing in this thread trivia boy???? :D

Nah that is a good point. Again this is why I wish they would have the option of trading potential picks. How many times do u hear, "traded for a first round pick in 2007"?

[djwill13]

hey, i've posted in here before, well in last year's version lol

you guys know i'm good for the knowledge lol

[DuckFan]

theguru14

Players progress just fine in simmed games. You don't have to play them to get results. But not every player is destined to be an All-Pro. That's just reality. Any guy who is a 90 by age 26 can be a 99 by the end of his career. But a guy who is an 85 at age 27 can really only hope to make 90 at best during his career.

Most guys are going to get slow and steady increases throughout their career (since everyone gains AWR over time and that does increase OVR). The guys who see fast improvements are young guys getting their first real playing time, or guys who suddenly have a much better supporting cast than they are used to. The first 2 years of my Chise, Shaun Rogers was surrounded by DEs who were in the 85-88 range, and a fellow DT who was an 84. That makes it tough for Shaun to ever get past 91-92. I traded for Julius Peppers (a 95 at the time), and Kevin Williams (a 92 at the time). Well now the DE on the other side is on a line with a 95, 91, and 92. So he climbed from 86 to 91 in one season. At the same time, Shaun Rogers (who had been carrying the entire DL on his back) felt a lot freer to make plays and it showed. He climbed from 91 to 96 over 2 seasons. Add in one 7pt Trench Fight drill for Kevin Williams and suddenly my DL is 97, 96, 97, 93.

It is VERY difficult for a player at a co-dependent position to ever be more than 6-7 points better than his peers. It's also difficult for a player to be more than 6-7 points worse! My OL strategy has always been to have four veterans and one guy in his first 2-3 years of play. My 4 veterans stay around 94-98. I bring in a rookie with a 77-80 rating. Within 3 years of being on that line he will be a 90-93. By that point another veteran is ready to retire, and I bring in another rookie and the cycle of life continues. :p

One of the things you always have to do when running your Chise is find where you have guys that are holding other players back. A rookie who develops next to a 94 will do much better than a rookie who develops next to an 85. Sometimes it makes sense to go get a stud not just because he will play well, but because he will make your other players better. Just don't expect one stud to drag three other players with him, because he can't. If your DL is four guys with 84s, bringing in a 97 DT won't bring the other three up, it will make the 97 wither.

And when you watch your progressions, remember that they are cumulative but you only get updates of the most recent one. So if a guy starts the year as an 82, gets 2 pts at week 5 and 1 pt at week 11, but you don't check him until week 17, you will see his rating as 85 with zero change. They only report the change since the last update. So if you don't have your players' ratings memorized you may not catch that he went up when you weren't looking. That's why I missed the weekly playoff progressions before. Since I didn't actually check them each week I never noticed that some of the guys were going up in different rounds. I just looked at the Pro Bowl and was disappointed. In retrospect, my player ratings seemed higher but since I was staring at a screen saying they didn't go up, I thought they didn't.

sandman

I moved a team to Anchorage and called them the Avalanche (although technically it would be more accurate to use Earthquake as the local natural disaster).

I find it interesting that they will let you move a team there at all. Did you know that the building code in Anchorage does not permit any buildings above two stories? It's easily the largest city in the US with no 3-story buildings. After the earthquake there in the 60s that wiped out the entire city they changed the code. So I guess you would have to play outdoors. :)

GateCrash

I noticed that when you name captains, some of the players get happier and some get angry. It's true of both the guy getting named and the other guys on his team. Several guys will drop Morale if they are named, and when I named a brand new guy I had just signed two other guys dropped Morale. No hard and fast rules yet, so I was modeling what the NFL does. No team is going to name a new addition as captain (unless he's an absolute legend) and naming young players seems foolish.

TruBluDevil3

Even "the original Chise guru" can ask stupid questions from time to time. How did you "permanently" change the guy's position?

FOR EVERYONE

Can anyone here personally confirm a player deal made between two AI opponents? I heard reference to a deal that included a throw-in player on a draft day deal. But the only deals I have seen between AI teams were draft-day draft pick deals. No other deals of any kind have been made in my Chise. Two different reviewers said that they saw "several" such deals, but it's always possible that the reviewer copies are different from what actually shipped to the public. Can anyone here confirm a PLAYER deal between AI teams? Thanks.

[DuckFan]

No, not your email at the house, silly...

I mean your email in the game.

Something I hadn't noticed, and I would bet very few people here noticed as well...

You already know that you get emails each week during the season, right?

And you probably knew that you get emails during the preseason and playoffs, right?

If you didn't know either of those things, please enroll in hobbs2324's weekly school of remedial Chise management. He has classes forming every Sunday. Send him a PM if you would like to enroll. :cool:

For the rest of us, I bet you knew that you get some during offseason as well...

But did you know that you get 40 of them during the offseason? What's that, you say? You say that you only get 5 at a time? Yes, that's true. But did you know that you get NEW email after EVERY single step during the offseason?

You get new email before retired players.
You get new email after retired players.
You get new email after RFAs.
You get new email after resigning.
You get new email after rookie scouting.
You get new email after drafting.
You get new email after signing draft picks.
You get new email after signing free agents.
You get new email after depth charts.

I freely admit I had no clue. I check the email every week during the season. And I checked it a couple times during the offseason. But I had no idea that it generates new ones after every step.

And for those of you who were also unaware, you will find some SPECTACULAR advice on signing drafted rookies included in your emails that you get between the drafting and signing stages. It explains exactly how long your contracts should be for your rookies, and why. And tells you how to maximize the value of your 2nd to 5th round picks.

And it's worth checking them every week just for the occasional gem... Like the email I got from Dre Bly saying his teammates were snapping him with towels in the locker room after I spent a 1st round pick on a CB... :)

[Saint]

New member here, and first time post. I just got 05 2 days ago so forgive me if I'm a little behind you guys. In 04 you could max out your advertising to increase attendance and then put it back to zero after your game but before you sim the rest of the week. You would get max attendance but would not have to pay for the advertising. Has anybody tried that yet in 05?

[sandman]

I know it was mentioned before and I'm very disappointed that the draft pick trades were not fixed. I was able to trade the Ram's second and my third for Detroit's first and their third. :(

[mightypharaoh]

DF - good stuff as always. U can only change the players position b4 the season starts. U do that by going 2 player edit. I drafted Bo Scaife at TE and converted him 2 FB. He still had a higher rating than the FB's available. His RBK/PBK were moderate. I was able 2 change his position so that left me free 2 draft other positions and not have a log jam or forced 2 sign some scrub of waivers.

emails I love that feature. It gives u the update of who is hot/not. Contract squabbles etc.

DF In last years thread. Someone felt it was more beneficial 2 play more games bc u could control the development of a player. With this years addition of progressions every 1/3 of the season do u think about playing more games? By the way in year 3 with my Oline averaging about 86OVR and climbing I actually see them opening up the holes and dare I say PULLING!!!!!

captains something weird. My captains are still listed as such in their Bio's but every game one of the captains is not on the field. Replaced by another player. At first I thought it was bc of performance, but John Abraham is having a sub par season and was still there at the coin toss. Odd.

cap penalties and team prestige a few games ago I noticed that u could remove your cap penalties but take a hit in team prestige. So I did it 2 see what happened. My team prestige dropped 2 bars. Fine. This was after week 6 and at the time my record was 5-0. So I progress to 7-0 and use my fan appreciation day. I check again and my prestige is back up to 100%, my fan base increased. I know that I beat a team rival in that span so that helped me a bit. I am curious 2 find out what will happen at the end of the season.

Saint I read on cheatplanet.com that the cheat still works.

[mightypharaoh]

A fix 2 the unhappy player. Complete cheese and a flaw in the AI. One of the biggest beefs by players is not starting. Currently my second year HB is starting and content even though he gets maybe 7 touches a game. My third string back Sarren Sproles is much faster and has progressed quickly.

How???

Simple Boyd (my starting HB) starts the games and is listed as #1HB in the depth chart. Now in the substitutions screen I have Darren Sproles as my HB in my I formation and my twins weak formation. I love the counters from those 2 formations and I get a bulk of my yards from them.

The only drawback is that in the last progression Boyd lost 1pt OVR. So I ahve 2 find ways of getting him the rock so I can keep his OVR up.

[Dumb Daddy]

In Madden2004, I would always favor speed, speed, speed, especially at my skill positions. Now I'm not so sure that the strategy is as valid. I'm still working through my first season (4-1 on All-Pro) but I've been amazed by the number of times that my speed guys have been run down from behind (no one should be able to catch Dante Hall when he is 5 yards in front of them). Should I modify my rookie draft philosophy? Speed doesn't seem to matter quite as much as it did in last year's game.

I noticed that they changed the draft algorithm as well. M2005 doesn't value the rookies as highly as in 2004. For example, it seemed like David Carr was a late 1st round/early 2nd round pick. This year there are no rookies chosen until much later. As a result, I ended up with 20 rookies on my team, including 12 that were 1st round picks in real life. I'm sure that my team will be pretty good in a couple of seasons.

Thanks in advance.

[djwill13]

IMO, if you play the games yourself you can concentrate on who your tryin to develope. (in theory at least)

i'll sim a season and play the same season all the way through and see what happens and report back to see how differently the players were if that's ok with you "chise guys" lol coming from a trivia guy that is lol

[TruBluDevil3]

DuckFan- in the offseason, you go to edit information, and you can switch it up.


chise updated: ramsey wanted to be traded, and even thought i made him team captain AND starting qb over brunell, he still wouldnt budge. I traded him for J.P. Losman. Was that a good trade for? And if not, should i trade J.P for a future draft choice (to select a qb, since brunell is 35)

[DuckFan]

mightypharaoh

The main reason why I don't play more games (other than the time involved) is that the games I play get lots of stats for a small number of guys. So if I play all the games I will have 8 starters getting great stats and 14 that don't get much at all. It's even more pronounced on D.

If I play the game running a 4-3, and hold the opposition to 160yds, here's what happens:

I get extra sacks for my DE
My DT don't get enough tackles, 1-2 a game max
My OLB get extra pass deflections
My MLB gets almost no stats
My CB get 1-2 tackles each and 3-4 deflections
My FS gets 1 tackle at most
My SS gets 2 tackles at most

My backup FS and SS get 4-5 tackles each (from special teams)
My backup ROLB gets 6-7 tackles (also on special teams)
My backup CBs get nothing

I can tweak the roster to try to spread the stats a little more (like making my #1 MLB also be the #2 ROLB so he plays on special teams). But I find that overall I get better progressions from my players if I only play about half the games. It sucks getting extra injuries. But last year my #3 CB got 2 tackles in the 8 games I played and 27 in the 8 games the AI played.

Plus by simming some games at the end of the year I can spread stats to different guys without sitting through an annoying game. If I clinch home field early and need more receiving stats I will switch to 80% passing all aggressive and sim a game where the QB puts up 62 attempts. Actually playing that game would be annoying...

As far as keeping a guy happy by "fake-starting" him, I do the same thing sort of. I have three stud WR who are all Icons and all get pissed if they don't start. So every two games I rotate the order. 2 games it will be Williams and Rogers with Koren Robinson sitting 3rd. Then 2 games with Rogers-Robinson. Then two games with Williams-Robinson. They never get pissed off enough to matter because they each start 4 games out of every 6....

As I side note, my team now features 17 Icons. And I am starting to get really worried about roster flexibility. Moving Icons is tricky, and as more and more of my guys get named it gets tougher to avoid a franchise meltdown. Right now I have 2 guys who don't start that are Icons (the WR and Scott Fujita who sits behind Lehman and Bailey). Thankfully I have yet to see an Icon at OL. So at least I keep flexibility there. But that's one position I never need it. Since my OL guys always retire on my team... :(

[mightypharaoh]

DuckFan- in the offseason, you go to edit information, and you can switch it up.


chise updated: ramsey wanted to be traded, and even thought i made him team captain AND starting qb over brunell, he still wouldnt budge. I traded him for J.P. Losman. Was that a good trade for? And if not, should i trade J.P for a future draft choice (to select a qb, since brunell is 35)

How old is Losman and what are his ratings? I would start getting him some reps now. build his progression pts up and the build more in mini-camp and preseason.

Were u able 2 swing any picks as part of the trade?

[gobulls404]

I'm in my second year and I'm the Bears.. In my first year Thomas Jones won the starting job so Anthony Thomas was pissed off. That off-season I let Thomas go and in the draft I drafted an RB with my first pick and then trades Jones for more picks. My draft pick(Shyrone Williams) is a 75. In the pre-season he sucked and Brock Forsey won the starting job and moves up three points to a 73. Now no matter what I'll have an unhappy player. Should I go with Williams(My RB of the future), or Forsey(Who plays better)?

[McMadden]

For those of you with NCAA do you tweak the players attributes who are Jr.s so that they will have a big impact on their teams then elect to come into the draft class, or is there another way to insure that certain Jr.s will try to join the PROs. Also, some teams with draft picks that are more than 3 how do you adjust your rosters for these new recruits? The practice squad is only set to 2 now if you take into account the roster size of 55 in Madden instead of the NFL norm of 53. (Hope that you don't have any injured reserves on your team by seasons end). Or can you have a roster after the draft larger than 55 man?

Chise guys, what do you all do?

[Saint]

DUCKFAN I like to play most of my games, but have suffered the same fate as you, the D gets very few stats. To try and help, I went to substitutions and put my starting D players on the kickoff team. It gets them more tackles, but may get injured more...we'll see.

[gobulls404]

There's not enough of them, so far I've had 2 and both were from games I simmed. I can't find any injury slider to make them more frequent. Anyone know something about this?

[DuckFan]

DUCKFAN I like to play most of my games, but have suffered the same fate as you, the D gets very few stats. To try and help, I went to substitutions and put my starting D players on the kickoff team. It gets them more tackles, but may get injured more...we'll see.

During a season I played last year where I was really enjoying my gameplay on D, I started punting on 2nd down because it was the only way to get my D enough stats... As soon as I had a 14pt lead I went with the Waterboy offense and put myself back on D.

Unfortunately the system cares more about tackles than results. There should be something built in that says that if the team gives up only 120yds passing a game, the secondary is doing a great job. But the system doesn't do that. If your guys don't get tackles, they wither.

I know in real life if your defense was limiting the opposition to 30 plays a game and generating tons of 3 and outs, it's a great D... But you do that in Madden and none of your guys will improve...

[hobbs2324]

I also won't trade a team and take a guy if he is the only one oplaying that spot, like a guard or tackle to one side. Also I wouldn't trade a guy top a team if they already have a better guy playing. I get a little ethical sometimes

[toostrike]

I will be picking up 05 soon,so for now I'm just soaking up some of the advice in this thread.I had a good grasp in the 04 version on trading,signing,and having cap room to make changes,but I will need to brush up on these skills in 05.Can someone please explain what RFA and franchise tags mean,and how they work. Thanks....

[Minicoy]

Hey folks,

New around here and found this site today. It is quite neat actually. And surprise, surprise I have questions. I played the Bengals up to the end of the first season, begining on rookie and changing to pro after about 5 games...we got all the way to the AFC championship game where we lost to the colts. I have not played 04 madden, but have played 03 and previous years. I am now at the first stage of the offseason....and have not done anything more till I know what i am doing.

1. How do I fire the assistant coaches...ie everyone but the head coach? I am going to turn on the game after this email and tinker with it.

2. I have several FA right now. Do I sign em now, or I do progress a little bit further.

3. Stadium upgrades. How do these work? The medical facility is pretty obvious but lets say the english pub, or sound system, what are the effects of purchasing these items. Does it increase merchandise sales? Does it mean more revenue coming in? I am sure I spend more money a year but not sure what the bonus is.

3a. When is the best time to rebuild your stadium. I had about 99% attendance last year and thought about doing it this year so I can get more attendance and more cash.

3B. What good is this cash that I make during the year. Obviously I can spend it on the upgrades, but does this money go to paying signing bonuses?

3C. How does selling merchandise work? I assume you set it as high as you can up till you hit that little up arrow. However what does it mean when you hit that arrow? Is it you are paying above league average? Or does it mean that fans will not purchase it when it hits that up arrow thing. Assume the same answer applies for tickets, parking, etc.

4. Also, let me get this straight...if I want to name the starter for the year...let's say Palmer over Kitna, I have to do that at the end of week 4 to prevent anyone from being upset. I benched kitna in favor of palmer, and a DT in favor of Gardner and got "I am upset" emails for a good while in the season.

5. If I sim through the preseason, will I incur more injuries, or not? I used to just sim through it and get to the meaty portions of the season.

6. Is there a way to see who is captain and who is not? Or do I have to scroll through each player. Or does it reset each year. Last year I had Chad Johnson and a few others.

EDITED TO ADD:
7. What advice do you have on creating special teams? How do I create my special teams players on returns and kicks? Basically what are the qualities I want from players? And where should I place them on the teams. I thought I noticed an O Lineman on one near the center of the field once on a runback. So that kind of queued up my interest in this. I just want to be able to create a great blocking and yard gaining return team and then also a speedy team for when I am kicking off or god forbid punting. ;) . If someone could shed some light on this, I would greatly appreciate it.

EDIT #2
Question 3C added. And yes am goin through the game now.

I have never played football in RL, am a huge fan though.

Thanks in advance for all of your help.

[mightypharaoh]

I'm in my second year and I'm the Bears.. In my first year Thomas Jones won the starting job so Anthony Thomas was pissed off. That off-season I let Thomas go and in the draft I drafted an RB with my first pick and then trades Jones for more picks. My draft pick(Shyrone Williams) is a 75. In the pre-season he sucked and Brock Forsey won the starting job and moves up three points to a 73. Now no matter what I'll have an unhappy player. Should I go with Williams(My RB of the future), or Forsey(Who plays better)?

Look about 3 posts up. Start forsey and check your formations so that Williams gets a bulk of the carries. This way u have a happy #1 back and gain progression points for your future HB

[DuckFan]

toostrike

RFAs are players who have just completed an initial contract of exactly 3 years after being drafted. Not 2, not 4, exactly 3.

So if you draft a guy, then sign him to a 3-yr deal, at the end of that deal he will be an RFA automatically.

As far as what happens next, I have covered it pretty well earlier in the thread, but if you still have questions after reading those posts feel free to ask.

The "Franchise Player" tag should almost NEVER be used. It's purpose is to force a player to sign with your team whether he wants to or not, for a very expensive 1-year deal. The player has no ability to say no, the tag lasts just one year. Its theoretical use is to ensure that a key player can't abandon your franchise right when they are on the brink of a SB. But believe me when I say you don't WANT to ever have to use it. Ideally you will go through your entire Chise without ever once tagging a guy.

[mightypharaoh]

McMadden - i totally forgot about the 55 man roster w/2 players on the practice squad. I'll probably be up till 4 am trying 2 end this season just 2 find that out. DuckFan don't beat me 2 it :D Now as for your question, u can't adjust the atributes for the players in NCAA, unless I guess u do it before u start a dynasty. I guess if u want a guy 2 leave as a JR make sure he has a monster season. And then don't try and talk him into staying. I have had players in NCAA that played 1 season as a RS Soph and enter the draft.

DuckFan I understand why u sim more. It does make sense as I can never get any stats for my MLB except for INT's if I use him as a spy. I also play a 4-3 and use many starters on special teams 2 boost their stats.

[DuckFan]

Now as for your question, u can't adjust the atributes for the players in NCAA, unless I guess u do it before u start a dynasty. I guess if u want a guy 2 leave as a JR make sure he has a monster season. And then don't try and talk him into staying. I have had players in NCAA that played 1 season as a RS Soph and enter the draft.

Actually you can do whatever you want to them, you just have to start earlier. You can create your own prospects with exactly the ratings you would like them to have, prior to the recruiting cycle. You can make them from your home state to give you an edge in recruiting and then just go after them hard. You can even make them JUCOs to get them to Madden faster.

I generated several 7-foot tall players just to see how they would do, gave them obscene ratings and sent them through the pipeline... But I think my all-time favorite was the 99 SPD LB who was 5-6 and weighed 390lbs (no typo, 390lbs of 5-6 thunder)... Man did that guy look silly... He was a 99 when he left college and was an 87 when he started in Madden...

[toostrike]

Duckfan-Thanks for the information.That clears 2 questions up real quick.The moral issues and trading players in the new version will definitely put a damper on my trading vets for younger talent,but that will make the game more realistic.

[mightypharaoh]

Actually you can do whatever you want to them, you just have to start earlier. You can create your own prospects with exactly the ratings you would like them to have, prior to the recruiting cycle. You can make them from your home state to give you an edge in recruiting and then just go after them hard. You can even make them JUCOs to get them to Madden faster.

I generated several 7-foot tall players just to see how they would do, gave them obscene ratings and sent them through the pipeline... But I think my all-time favorite was the 99 SPD LB who was 5-6 and weighed 390lbs (no typo, 390lbs of 5-6 thunder)... Man did that guy look silly... He was a 99 when he left college and was an 87 when he started in Madden...

I thought he was refering 2 regular recruits or existing players in the game. But there is a cap on how many points u can put into a player. Although u can create certain positions that start at 99 right away. 5'6" and 390...don't u mean rolling thunder? Or maybe waddling thunder? :D

[sandman]

DF- I ran into the wrench guy today while playing the Lions. He is by far the best fan I have seen. lol

[sandman]

Minicoy in regards to 3B., I'm pretty sure the money you make is related to the contracts coaches are offered.

Might P.- I was able to get my backup MLB up 6 points in 7 weeks. He had three fumble recoveries, a pick, and about 6 sacks. Barnett was injured and the backup really surprised me.

[hobbs2324]

Guys, go back and read Minicoy's questions and give him some answers. He posted a nice list of stuff and since I haven't taken the crowbar to my wallet for madden 2005 yet I wouldn't want to try and fudge my way through his post with things maybe having changed from last year

[finz101]

hey whats up guys

Can someone help me out wit drafting. How do I know who to pick?

I mean i go througha all the drills and stuff, but sometimez it shows wide receiver is fast, but when i draft him he is only 85 or 88 or watever. and the overall rating... thanks for ur help

finz101

[sandman]

Hey folks,

New around here and found this site today. It is quite neat actually. And surprise, surprise I have questions. I played the Bengals up to the end of the first season, begining on rookie and changing to pro after about 5 games...we got all the way to the AFC championship game where we lost to the colts. I have not played 04 madden, but have played 03 and previous years. I am now at the first stage of the offseason....and have not done anything more till I know what i am doing.

1. How do I fire the assistant coaches...ie everyone but the head coach? I am going to turn on the game after this email and tinker with it.

2. I have several FA right now. Do I sign em now, or I do progress a little bit further.

3. Stadium upgrades. How do these work? The medical facility is pretty obvious but lets say the english pub, or sound system, what are the effects of purchasing these items. Does it increase merchandise sales? Does it mean more revenue coming in? I am sure I spend more money a year but not sure what the bonus is.

3a. When is the best time to rebuild your stadium. I had about 99% attendance last year and thought about doing it this year so I can get more attendance and more cash.

3B. What good is this cash that I make during the year. Obviously I can spend it on the upgrades, but does this money go to paying signing bonuses?

3C. How does selling merchandise work? I assume you set it as high as you can up till you hit that little up arrow. However what does it mean when you hit that arrow? Is it you are paying above league average? Or does it mean that fans will not purchase it when it hits that up arrow thing. Assume the same answer applies for tickets, parking, etc.

4. Also, let me get this straight...if I want to name the starter for the year...let's say Palmer over Kitna, I have to do that at the end of week 4 to prevent anyone from being upset. I benched kitna in favor of palmer, and a DT in favor of Gardner and got "I am upset" emails for a good while in the season.

5. If I sim through the preseason, will I incur more injuries, or not? I used to just sim through it and get to the meaty portions of the season.

6. Is there a way to see who is captain and who is not? Or do I have to scroll through each player. Or does it reset each year. Last year I had Chad Johnson and a few others.

EDITED TO ADD:
7. What advice do you have on creating special teams? How do I create my special teams players on returns and kicks? Basically what are the qualities I want from players? And where should I place them on the teams. I thought I noticed an O Lineman on one near the center of the field once on a runback. So that kind of queued up my interest in this. I just want to be able to create a great blocking and yard gaining return team and then also a speedy team for when I am kicking off or god forbid punting. ;) . If someone could shed some light on this, I would greatly appreciate it.

EDIT #2
Question 3C added. And yes am goin through the game now.

I have never played football in RL, am a huge fan though.

Thanks in advance for all of your help.

About 3, certain upgrades will reduce costs. One example would be the solar panels because it takes the sun's energy instead of using electricity.

[sandman]

hey whats up guys

Can someone help me out wit drafting. How do I know who to pick?

I mean i go througha all the drills and stuff, but sometimez it shows wide receiver is fast, but when i draft him he is only 85 or 88 or watever. and the overall rating... thanks for ur help

finz101

Look at your needs on offense and defense. That should help out with drafting. Ask yourself questions such as did I lose a key player at a key position during free agency or did a veteran retire? On the topic of speed for the incoming rookies, there was a guide on gamefaqs. It stated the drill times and what the speed would be if the player ran it in that number of seconds.

[Minicoy]

Hey folks,



1. How do I fire the assistant coaches...ie everyone but the head coach? I am going to turn on the game after this email and tinker with it.
FIGURED THIS ONE OUT

2. I have several FA right now. Do I sign em now, or I do progress a little bit further.
I SIGNED EM AT THAT PORTION OF THE SELECTION



Sandman: Thanks for your answer. I guess I assumed that portion on the coaches bit, but very helpful that it is confirmed. In regards to the solar bit, that is good to know that there is a positive angle to these goodies. I was just trying to understand em more. I can't seem to find any real info in the tutorials...or maybe I missed it. I just wish there was a way of seeing these things in action, ie a shot of folks drinking in an english pub and so forth.

Just thought would give a little status update am now going through the signing free agents and all. Dont have room on the roster to pick anyone up and there is no one there who will fill a need I got. Plus am at the max in roster space, so have to do some wheeling and dealing to make some room.

I also franchise tagged John kitna, basically am going to trade him straight up in this season, since I am sure there is a need for a qb of his caliber. Plus I noticed in the offseason free agents that people were gobbling up the QB's. I hope the franchise tag wont hurt too much.

I am also curious to see the impact of moving a team. I think I might try this with the Bengals and move em to LA to see what happens.

Ah well, back to tinkering. Thanks for all the replies in advance. I guess you can tell that i like to micro-manage my team. :D .

[jandt]

Here is my experience with placing a franchise tag on a player.. I wanted to try it out.. I had my RT's contract up and he wanted to renew with me per his agents email.. He wanted a 3 year deal with a pretty good signing bonus.He was 28 and a 94 rating..I couldn't find a deal I liked trying longer and short contracts.. I figured I would drop it to a 1 year deal, take away signing bonus ( so I lost no money ), sign him for what the minimum he wanted for a year and then trade him for a high draft pick.. I hated to lose him for nothing at current time.. His 1 year deal with no bonus was over 8m...I tried trading him but the high salary kept teams from offering too much , not to mention the short deal he had..I figured this was my chance to try franchise, just to check it out.. So I loaded to try the tag on him and of course his agent and he sent me emails saying they weren't happy etc..Then I realized that the franchise tag only cost me a lil over 5m for the 1 year with NO signing bonus ( standard for franchise tags I believe )..So I placed him on the block and the offers from other teams increased greatly..This being because of the 3m salary diff even though still a 1 year deal.. I never saw team or player morale drop except for the 1 involved..He wasn't a icon so that helped..

Not sure how franchise tag works in real nfl for sure ( I know it is average of top 5 pay at that position ) far as trading goes but I think this is semi realistic so perhaps something you may be able to use to your advantage if you want to trade. I definitely would not franchise someone I was keeping since tagging him will only make him hate you more and increase his contract demands to stay..

Any other experience with this in MAdden or comments? I only tried it this once so far...

[jandt]

I just posted in this thread a minute ago and forgot to complain about something..I will put a player or 2 on the block asking for a draft pick..I get several responses but when I try to make the deal it tells me that the other team would exceed their maximum roster size.. So then I have to try another team or I have to add someone from their team and sometimes that is ok and other times it isn't for me... I feel that if you ask for something, they should not respond to your offer if it can't happen w/out me having to modify it.. Anyone else had this problem or thoughts on it?? If it was griped about before I didn't find it when I searched...

[hobbs2324]

it's info that you can use to your advantage the following week. If they lose a player or get rid of someone then you can deal them. It's just like when you or a team accumulate too many draft picks. It's time to bundle a c ouple to get 1 better one or find another team to do a deal with
minicoy, those upgrades usually improve your overall fan support, solar panels, I'm not sure if rainwater collection is available this year but that stuff would effect your bottom line operating expenses. The healthcenter that you can get should lower your players time out when they do get injured, training staff should reduce injuries altogether. You fire coaches by hiring new staff, use the stafing button in the offseason. If you do a bunch of upgrades and then announce you are moving, you basicaly threw $ out the window. As soon as you announce that you are moving, attendance and support will drop a ton and it will be nearly impossible to turn a profit so if you are moving don't do any improvements for the last couple years you are there

[seihjin]

Hello, I was hoping for some tips on the franchise mode and other modes so I ordered the VP for 2005 yesterday and the only email I got was a receipt for my order. When do I get instructions on how/where to download my softwear? Already paid. Thanks in advance...

[TruBluDevil3]

How old is Losman and what are his ratings? I would start getting him some reps now. build his progression pts up and the build more in mini-camp and preseason.

Were u able 2 swing any picks as part of the trade?
he was a 77, and hes 25 i think. I tried to get some picks, but i couldnt because they wouldnt budge with the trade

[mightypharaoh]

TruBluDevil3 25 is a good age. I'd start getting him some reps, maybe even in mop up duty. After the week 5 progressions I would look 2 have him play a half every game. After the week 11 progression he'd be my full time guy. I managed 2 get my backup qb 5 pts OVR just by giving him mop up duty.
seihjin Send an email or PM 2 VG Bert or Kobra. Check through the thread and when u have definite questions on of the 'chise guys will help u out.
jandt When I get the message from the other team that they have 2 many players I try 2 include a really crappy player in the deal that I can cut with no worries. other than that I just look for another trading partner, the CPU will still give u 2 much for what u offer.
finz101 I remember that gamefaq's page it was good stuff. As for drafting again as sandman said look at your rosters and see what u need, what positions have players in the last year of their contracts, what positions need viable back-ups, what players fit in your system. Then make as many deals as u can 2 acquire 10 draft picks so u have flexility. Don't feel that u need 2 have 3 first round picks. In a few years with mini-camp and the 3 regular season progressions and progressions after each playoff game, that 3rd rounder will be a beast in year 3.
Minicoy as for your kickoff team u want players that have good RBK (run blocking), and good AWR (awareness). In this years game kick returns will be few and far between. The key now is 2 be patient and try and wait for the blockers 2 set up and then find the holes. Mashing the speed burst will do little for u. Right now I just try and get my offense a good starting point on the field.

[hobbs2324]

email VG directly, I'm sure they will take care of it right away, if you can't find out how to get in touch with them look for the moderator list at the front page and contact one directly
We are all members, no one here is affilliated with the actual VG company

[sandman]

Another observation I want to make. For all those just looking for good field position and nothing more on the special teams, Brian Mitchell is a great pick up in free agency. He is 99 overall as a returner. His downside : won't be able to get you touchdowns. If you can live with that, I highly recommend him.

[MiaFLSurf]

Guys,

Ive just finished my first year of my Phins Franchise and currently looking to upgrade my stadium. I want to add the 10M Plasma screens to the Stadium, but only if it actually looks different when I play.

When I play the next year, will I see the new screens in my stadium or will it still look the same?

[maddenbowl62]

do u think i made a good deal in trading peyton manning for ben roethlisberger a 1st pick and 3rd rouund pick. i traded peyton manning bcuz i wanted to get rid of his huge contract. after that i cleared my cap penalties.

[TruBluDevil3]

^ how do you clear cap penalties?

[maddenbowl62]

^ how do you clear cap penalties?

go to team info and press o and ur prestige will go down.

[McMadden]

For those of you with NCAA do you tweak the players attributes who are Jr.s so that they will have a big impact on their teams then elect to come into the draft class, or is there another way to insure that certain Jr.s will try to join the PROs. Also, some teams with draft picks that are more than 3 how do you adjust your rosters for these new recruits? The practice squad is only set to 2 now if you take into account the roster size of 55 in Madden instead of the NFL norm of 53. (Hope that you don't have any injured reserves on your team by seasons end). Or can you have a roster after the draft larger than 55 man?

Chise guys, what do you all do?

Does anyone have an answer?

[mightypharaoh]

McMadden check about a page or so ago, DuckFan and I both responded. The players that are in the game, u can only change their attributes before u start a dynasty. After that the attributes are locked. U can however create a prospect and give him as many points as the system allows. After his 3 year (that's RS So or JR year) if he has a monster season he will look 2 test the waters. So if u want that guy 2 leave feed him the ball on offense and on defense make sure he makes tackles, sacks, picks etc.

maddenbowl62 How much team prestige and team morale did u lose for trading Manning who is an Icon? U will have 2 check and see if your players are unhappy. But a player for a younger player at the same position and 2 draft picks is fine with me.

MiaFLSurf unless they changed it from last years game, no. U only see new screens if u rebuild your stadium and include them, or if u renovate it. But not from the upgrades, those help save u money and make your stadium state of the art.

McMadden 55 is the limit. no practice squad. I don't know how that affects IR as I currently have 55 on my roster

[Ywfn.]

Ah....my copy of Madden 2005 should reach me in Iraq in 5 days or less, woohoo! I can't wait to start tearing it up again. I have a problem though! The military internet blocks certain pages that have to do with games (I was lucky to get on this page), porn, hacking etc. so I can't get to a site that has the updated rosters of Madden 2005! AHH! Is there any way somebody could post a direct link to the download or something? Also...how do I get the roster from this computer to the PS2, or do I have to hook the PS2 up to the internet? (Hopefully not because that won't be happening haha) If I were to put it on a jump-drive would my PS2 be able to read it off of there?

Also, DuckFan: I've been experimenting with your 7 year 20% bonus signing scheme, and it does seem to free up a lot of space. I am just not quite sure at which point I should stop lowering the salary and then taking 20% of it. The 20% figure is easy enough to figure out, but I can reduce their salary a ways from what they originally want and they'll still sign. I guess all I am asking is how far should I drop it before I calculate the 20%?

Im not totally convinced I like that tactic either though....because as I experienced this last season I simmed in 2004 - Derrick Brooks retired! Now I have a gaping hole at my ROLB position and nothing to compensate me for his loss. I think it would be better if at the age of 32-35 to resign GOOD 94+ players to 2 year deals with no bonus, thus allowing me to trade them with 1 year left on their contract for high picks or good young players. What do you think? It just hurt when he retired and I didn't have jack to put there haha.

Peace~

Ywfn.

[maddenbowl62]

McMadden
maddenbowl62 How much team prestige and team morale did u lose for trading Manning who is an Icon? U will have 2 check and see if your players are unhappy. But a player for a younger player at the same position and 2 draft picks is fine with me.



i also traded edgerrin james(icon). after i did those trades i lost almost have my prestige( i had full prestige).

[DuckFan]

Ywfn.

Unlike last year's game, you don't have to guess in 2005. You get a real-time update of whether the player will accept the contract or not while you scroll. There is a green bar that changes to red as soon as you reduce the contract too low.

In 2004, you had to know what you were doing (or waste a lot of time scrolling back and forth). But in 2005, you don't have to, you just scroll until the bar clicks red and then tweak from there to test the 20%...

FOR EVERYONE

Still no confirmations of a player deal between AI teams. I have played five seasons without one. Has anyone seen one yet? Or has anyone else completed multiple years without them?

[Boomer05]

I've been lurking the last couple of days and have found this thread to be a treasure trove of great information. One gem (of many) was:

It is VERY difficult for a player at a co-dependent position to ever be more than 6-7 points better than his peers. It's also difficult for a player to be more than 6-7 points worse!

DuckFan: Which would you say are the groupings of co-dependent postions?

You mentioned offensive and defensive lines, and, it seems to me, those would be the most co-dependent.

What about the defensive secondary? Do they depend enough on each other to make the weak link in the group better (or drag down the single strong link)? Or is the nature of the position such that, even if a few strong members of the secondary can carry one weaker player, the weaker player still won't get the stats and won't improve?

Is there significant enough co-dependence in the receiving corps for this principle to apply? Does the extra attention that a better receiver commands from the defense improve a lesser receiver's chances enough for you to consider this when developing your team?

And what about linebackers? It seems the abilities of the defensive line might have as much to do with their run-stopping stats as do the other linebackers. And as pass defenders, they have the same issues as the secondary. So do you use two or three solid veterans to bring along one young linebacker? Or does that not work as well as for the lines?

I've really enjoyed and benefited from your posts (as well as those of other regulars), DuckFan, and I'm interested in your further thoughts of this principle.

[dancingbones]

With Madden 2005, this is the first time that I am trying an all-sim franchise. Early on, I found myself going for the "cheese" draft pick trading (or trading for players, especially undervalued rookies). But then I said, NO MORE!

I just thought I'd let y'all know about my newfound self control, and the limits I'm putting on my trading (plus I'll put this down in writing, so I can remind myself when the temptation rears its ugly head).

1) No trading for draft picks from preseason through trading deadline. The only trades I'm allowing myself are immediately before the draft, or during the draft itself, when the A.I. can accurately figure what the pick is worth. NOTE: Made two trades during the draft last night (one to move up to pick #6, and the other to move up to grab a RT in the late 2nd - very fun, and very realistic, IMO).

2) Related to #1, once I find the "magic combo" needed to get the pick that I covet on draft day, I do not allow myself to include the "bonus" 4-7th round picks that the CPU will always toss in. If I'm trying to move into the 2nd, I get only that 2nd, and no more.

3) No trading for another team's players (unless it is a player for player deal, and they have their player on the block). If they don't want to part with their players, I won't entice them. *EDIT - It will be OK to trade my picks for another team's player on the trading block, as long as that pick has a real numerical value placed on it (i.e. R1P18)

4) No signing of free agents for the sole purpose of trading them. No FA can be traded until the off season (OK to trade for either picks or players in the off season).

I think that covers it. Feel free to chime in if you have any ideas of other tactics that I should put on the "forbidden" list, on the grounds that it is something no real life GM in their right mind would ever do.

[dancingbones]

Quick question on the symbols on the "team info" page:

What does the icon that looks like a gift represent? Is it special teams?

I know the others are passing, rushing, DEF, I just can't get a handle on that one. Thanks.

[Boomer05]

2) Related to #1, once I find the "magic combo" needed to get the pick that I covet on draft day, I do not allow myself to include the "bonus" 4-7th round picks that the CPU will always toss in. If I'm trying to move into the 2nd, I get only that 2nd, and no more.

If you stick with number 1, I'm not sure number 2 is necessary because, as you said, the AI can accurately value the picks. Here's my thinking:

The reason the AI is willing to accept a proposed trade is because it perceives that it is getting more value than it is giving up. Because it evaluates the picks properly immediately before or during the draft, it is getting a good deal. When you ask for slightly more (in the way of a late-round pick), the deal is still good for the CPU-controlled team, unless it was just barely a good deal in the first place, in which case they'll reject the new proposal. But it's not like you're taking advantage of them; they're still getting fair value.

Anyway, that's just my take on it.

One other tactic you might want to put a self-imposed prohibition on is signing and trading freeagents--the ones who are on the open market who other GMs would simply sign themselves rather than giving up talent to you for.

[dancingbones]

If you stick with number 1, I'm not sure number 2 is necessary because, as you said, the AI can accurately value the picks. Here's my thinking:

The reason the AI is willing to accept a proposed trade is because it perceives that it is getting more value than it is giving up. Because it evaluates the picks properly immediately before or during the draft, it is getting a good deal. When you ask for slightly more (in the way of a late-round pick), the deal is still good for the CPU-controlled team, unless it was just barely a good deal in the first place, in which case they'll reject the new proposal. But it's not like you're taking advantage of them; they're still getting fair value.

Anyway, that's just my take on it.

One other tactic you might want to put a self-imposed prohibition on is signing and trading freeagents--the ones who are on the open market who other GMs would simply sign themselves rather than giving up talent to you for.That's a good point about the CPU having the chance to evaluate the relative value of the picks, and trading accordingly. However, I think that the CPU makes some poor choices in evaluating 4th & 5th round picks (with a grade of F).

For example, in my move to get the #6 pick yesterday, I traded R1P32 (conditional from losing a RFA), R2P18 (my pick), and R3P32 (conditional from losing a RFA). The CPU wouldn't take R4P18 (F value) in place of R3P32. However, the CPU was willing to toss in a R4P6 and R5P6 (if I remember correctly). That seems like the CPU has problems with the 4th & 5th rounders, and those are some picks that definitely have some value. I don't think a real life GM would make that deal.

Of course, the Browns gave up their 2nd rounder to move up one spot in the first this year, so I could also see the argument of that trade being realistic. In the end though, it felt like it was taking advantage of a glitch, so I just went for the 1st rounder.

Good idea about the free agents. I'll edit that onto my "realistic rules" page.

[Boomer05]

For example, in my move to get the #6 pick yesterday, I traded R1P32 (conditional from losing a RFA), R2P18 (my pick), and R3P32 (conditional from losing a RFA). The CPU wouldn't take R4P18 (F value) in place of R3P32. However, the CPU was willing to toss in a R4P6 and R5P6 (if I remember correctly). That seems like the CPU has problems with the 4th & 5th rounders, and those are some picks that definitely have some value. I don't think a real life GM would make that deal.

Hmmm . . . I see your point. So essentially the CPU's logic says that the difference between R3P32 and R4P18 is more than the combined value of R4P6 and R5P6. I agree that the CPU seems to undervalue those picks.

[hobbs2324]

maddenbowl, you should have seen if you could have gotten [2] 90+ players for manning, then turned around and traded those guys for picks and the QB you got, may have gotten more bang for the buck
Truebluedevil, do you want to disable the cap penalty completely or know how they go away. They go away at the end of the season as long as you don't trade anymore players with bonus on their contracts. The outstanding prorated bonus is what becomes your penalty, and lasts for the current year only

[DuckFan]

I've been lurking the last couple of days and have found this thread to be a treasure trove of great information. One gem (of many) was:



DuckFan: Which would you say are the groupings of co-dependent postions?

You mentioned offensive and defensive lines, and, it seems to me, those would be the most co-dependent.

What about the defensive secondary? Do they depend enough on each other to make the weak link in the group better (or drag down the single strong link)? Or is the nature of the position such that, even if a few strong members of the secondary can carry one weaker player, the weaker player still won't get the stats and won't improve?

Is there significant enough co-dependence in the receiving corps for this principle to apply? Does the extra attention that a better receiver commands from the defense improve a lesser receiver's chances enough for you to consider this when developing your team?

And what about linebackers? It seems the abilities of the defensive line might have as much to do with their run-stopping stats as do the other linebackers. And as pass defenders, they have the same issues as the secondary. So do you use two or three solid veterans to bring along one young linebacker? Or does that not work as well as for the lines?

I've really enjoyed and benefited from your posts (as well as those of other regulars), DuckFan, and I'm interested in your further thoughts of this principle.

With the linebackers, my experiences have been mixed. When running a 3-4 the co-dependency is very clear, especially between the two MLB. But when running a 4-3 it is less so. And it seems as though (as you might expect) the MLB affects the OLB more than the OLB effect each other. DEs feed off each other because a break down on one side of the line can pull the blockers to that side and free up the rushers on the other side. But you don't really get that from the OLB. Even though in real life a dominant OLB on one side will force the opposition to run plays away from him (improving the stats of his counterpart) it really doesn't work out that way in Madden.

So in general, I would say that 2 great OLB in a 4-3 can bring along a MLB. And when playing a 3-4, 3 LB can bring along the 4th guy. But I have seen many circumstances where a MLB and OLB were great and the other OLB wasn't and he just never came up...

In the secondary, the codependency between the safeties is stronger than that between the corners. I have had several examples of a shutdown CB on one side and an 85 on the other. But safeties work together a lot more...

For the receivers, 2 great ones can get solid stats for the #3 guy. But a #1 can't really help a #2 no matter how good he is...

[Boomer05]

. . . I traded R1P32 (conditional from losing a RFA) . . . and R3P32 (conditional from losing a RFA).

It kind of sucks that you lost your RFA to the team with the worst draft picks to offer (the 32 picks in each round). It's realistic that a team that figures to have less valuable picks would be more willing to ante up the cash for an RFA, because it costs them less to compensate you, but I wonder if that actually factors into the AI when the CPU makes the RFA an offer?

Given the CPU's difficulties in evaluating draft picks, I'd hardly think so.

[DuckFan]

And BTW, I disagree that the CPU values picks correctly on draft day...

It values them correctly when dealing with you (with the exception of the 3-pick glitch), but certainly not when dealing with each other.

Anyone who has spent a lot of time doing draft day deals knows exactly how much it is worth to drop from pick 8 to pick 9, or from pick 17 to pick 18. The margin to drop one place in the middle of the 1st round is exactly a 4th. Yet the CPU will make deals to drop 14 places in the 1st round in exchange for a 4th...

Every CPU team that moves up on draft day in a deal with another CPU team makes out like a bandit... Hopefully they will fix that next year.

[Boomer05]

Thanks for the response, DuckFan. Good stuff!

[dancingbones]

It kind of sucks that you lost your RFA to the team with the worst draft picks to offer (the 32 picks in each round). It's realistic that a team that figures to have less valuable picks would be more willing to ante up the cash for an RFA, because it costs them less to compensate you, but I wonder if that actually factors into the AI when the CPU makes the RFA an offer?

Given the CPU's difficulties in evaluating draft picks, I'd hardly think so.I'd be interested to know the answer to that.

On a related note, I did have the option to meet the offer (from the Bucs) for my RFA (HB Lee Suggs). He was a newly minted Icon, so I don't know if that makes a difference in being able to keep him or not. He's the first RFA I've had that anyone made an offer on.

I wanted a HB with more speed or more power, so I used the #6 pick on a HB with a 4.25 40 - came in at 98 spd, 80 OVR! Got him locked in for 7 years!

:thumbsup:

[dancingbones]

Quick question on the symbols on the "team info" page:

What does the icon that looks like a gift represent? Is it special teams?

I know the others are passing, rushing, DEF, I just can't get a handle on that one. Thanks.Does anyone have the answer for this?

[McMadden]

McMadden check about a page or so ago, DuckFan and I both responded. The players that are in the game, u can only change their attributes before u start a dynasty. After that the attributes are locked. U can however create a prospect and give him as many points as the system allows. After his 3 year (that's RS So or JR year) if he has a monster season he will look 2 test the waters. So if u want that guy 2 leave feed him the ball on offense and on defense make sure he makes tackles, sacks, picks etc.
McMadden 55 is the limit. no practice squad. I don't know how that affects IR as I currently have 55 on my roster

Okay thanks for the responce, (didn't see your post at first a few pages back, still can't find Duck Fans respocne) what I was looking for was whether you could get a Jr., and now a RS Sophmore to enter the draft by tweaking his attributes before you start a dynasty I guess you can. Now for season 2 in your chise, what I was looking for was how many rookies do you sign per season. and what do you do if your roster is almost full and you have 10 draft picks? Release players then sign the rookies then release rookies after preseason and hope to get your vets back? I guess I should have explained that better the first time. Sorry. :D

[finz101]

hey whats up guys

Can someone help me out wit drafting. How do i know which player will have higher overall rating, is there anyway to tell or is it just luck?

I mean i go through all the drills and stuff, but sometimez it shows wide receiver is fast, but when i draft him he is only 85 or 88 or watever.

finz101

ps orginally i posted the same question but i couldnt exlplain it properly, hopefully this is better (sandman thx for replying)

[dancingbones]

hey whats up guys

Can someone help me out wit drafting. How do i know which player will have higher overall rating, is there anyway to tell or is it just luck?

I mean i go through all the drills and stuff, but sometimez it shows wide receiver is fast, but when i draft him he is only 85 or 88 or watever.

finz101

ps orginally i posted the same question but i couldnt exlplain it properly, hopefully this is better (sandman thx for replying)
I used this link (http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/madden_nfl_2004_scouting.txt) for Madden 2004. I think that the info is much the same for 2005.

[DuckFan]

Ywfn.

Im not totally convinced I like that tactic either though....because as I experienced this last season I simmed in 2004 - Derrick Brooks retired! Now I have a gaping hole at my ROLB position and nothing to compensate me for his loss. I think it would be better if at the age of 32-35 to resign GOOD 94+ players to 2 year deals with no bonus, thus allowing me to trade them with 1 year left on their contract for high picks or good young players. What do you think?

My answer to that is always the same. If I can succeed in reducing my team payroll by $12-18M by having all my older players on 7-year contracts, I can afford to have 3-5 extra superstars on my team. That's what compensates me for the fact that I am not able to get the salvage value back out of them. By saving as much payroll every year as I possibly can, I am able to stockpile far more talent on my team.

To give you an idea:

In the 2nd year of my Lions Chise, my team rating was 92 and I had $19M in available cap room.

In the 3rd year, my team rating was 93 and I had $18M in cap room.

In the 4th year, my team rating was 94 and I had $17M in cap room.

In my 5th year, my rating is 95, and I currently have $20M in cap room.

If I wanted to, I could afford to sign 3 extra WR at 92+ in free agency and bench them just to keep other teams from having them, and I would STILL have $10M left in cap room.

So I don't worry as much about not getting the residual value. If Michael Vick hadn't been an Icon (or if I understood exactly what happens to Icons better than I do) I would have signed him as a FA last year just to convert him to DB and see how he would do...

And the Icon change this year is what causes problems with the strategy you describe (a strategy I freely admit that I used last year for my first 5 Chises). If you have old 94+ players on your team that you plan to trade at the end of their careers for draft picks, in all likelihood they are Icons. And trading Icons will hurt your team morale and team prestige. So it is far better to let them retire on your team in 2005...

Down the road, I may have a strategy as to dealing with Icons to prevent the downsides of moving them. But I don't yet. And as MB said, moving two of them may be enough to cause you to lose half your prestige...

dancingbones

Sorry I forgot to clarify earlier... But yes, you always have an opportunity to match an offer on one of your RFAs. In fact, 6 of the 7 times I have made an offer on a CPU RFA, the CPU team has matched it and I didn't get him.

And I am VERY surprised no one has replied yet, but I believe the picture that looks like a wrapped package is a "present" or a "gift" and represents turnovers/efficiency...

[sandman]

Finz101, this should help you out a lot.

40 Time- Speed

Time Range
4.24-4.35 = 90-99
4.36-4.52 = 80-89
4.53-4.67 = 70-79
4.68-4.81 = 60-69
4.82-4.96 = 50-59
4.97-5.10 = 40-49

[sandman]

DF- I'm really confused at the 20% strategy. What I have gotten so far is to take the lowest minimal cap hit, make sure the signing bonus is 20% of the total. You said in the original post that if the signing bonus is 2.1 raise it to 2.8 How does raising it lower the hit?

[DuckFan]

DF- I'm really confused at the 20% strategy. What I have gotten so far is to take the lowest minimal cap hit, make sure the signing bonus is 20% of the total. You said in the original post that if the signing bonus is 2.1 raise it to 2.8 How does raising it lower the hit?

The contract referred to was a $14M total contract, which is where the 2.8 came from...

[sandman]

What I'm trying to say is, I know the cap hit you take is the amount of signing bonus. You said if he wanted 2.1 raise it to 2.8. How does raising the amount help lower the hit?

[jandt]

I hate icons.. I forgot that Dre Bly was one on my team and traded him in the pre season and next thing I know EVERYONE of my starters was mad and all told me they wanted out in the off season and how much they didn't like it in Detroit...All morale was below half and this was after a year in which we got to the 2nd round of playoffs and everyone was happy...I had no idea 1 player could affect everything that much. I still have no idea what problem low morale can cause but I don't like it...Luckily we won our first few games of the season and had a great pre season and they all got a little better.. I did notice that none of my backup players were upset over it though, just my starters..

I have never successfully signed a RFA unless he was below 75.. All others the team has matched... For my RFA's. If over 80 they always seem to get signed from me regardless of which offer I made..

Has anyone had speed or acceleration increase for players? I just started my 5th season of franchise and not one of my players has had ether stat increasesince day 1!!!!!! I know I asked before if anyone had a coach skill to rating increase chart and noone did , I am just wondering if anyone has had it happen so I know it atleast is a possibility..

[DuckFan]

What I'm trying to say is, I know the cap hit you take is the amount of signing bonus. You said if he wanted 2.1 raise it to 2.8. How does raising the amount help lower the hit?

The cap hit you take from signing bonus is only if you release or trade a player during his contract.

On a yearly basis, the amount the contract counts toward the cap is part-salary part-bonus. And the lowest total of those two numbers is reached when the bonus is exactly 20%.

So when the guy asked for $14M including a $2.1M bonus, you could reduce the 1st-year impact of the contract by raising his bonus to $2.8M. This will also reduce the cap impact of every year in the 1st half of the contract. It greatly increases the cap impact of the final year, but the idea behind this strategy is that no player ever plays that year on your team. He always gets renegotiated or retires first. You play Wimpy, and just constantly tell the players you will pay them later for a hamburger today, and later NEVER comes...

[jandt]

So what does everyone consider a successful 30 ( is it still 30 in 2005?) year franchise when you are done?

What are your baselines for how many years of being in playoffs, amount of profit made, fan support etc? I know alot of things are tied into each other but what are your goals for 30 years?

[finz101]

sandman thanks

what about the overall rating?

[hobbs2324]

OVR rating wouldn't matter when you are talking about speed. Realistically, if you get the fast guy and a decent set of hands you should be able to make him into a powerhouse just by your controlling him, the retart HB with blinding speed has the advantage because you directly are in control of his awr, break tackle and stuff like that which will alter his OVR rating unless you are simming which in that case what fun is it having the super fast back for anyway

[dancingbones]

And I am VERY surprised no one has replied yet, but I believe the picture that looks like a wrapped package is a "present" or a "gift" and represents turnovers/efficiency...Thanks DF, I'll check that out.

[Terramar]

Hey Guys,

I know a couple days ago I saw something posted about holdouts and wanted to throw in something that happened to me last night.
I'm using the Dolphins and after I sim'd the first season my FB Rob Konrad was a holdout. If I remember correctly last year in 04 you had to sign the holdout to a new contract before you could trade them, but I was able to trade Konrad without offering him a new contract which I was very happy to see. I only got a pair of picks for him, a 3rd and 5th round pick but I wasn't really trying very hard. I was more interested in discovering if you could trade a hold out player without resigning them first.

[jandt]

Hey Guys,

I know a couple days ago I saw something posted about holdouts and wanted to throw in something that happened to me last night.
I'm using the Dolphins and after I sim'd the first season my FB Rob Konrad was a holdout. If I remember correctly last year in 04 you had to sign the holdout to a new contract before you could trade them, but I was able to trade Konrad without offering him a new contract which I was very happy to see. I only got a pair of picks for him, a 3rd and 5th round pick but I wasn't really trying very hard. I was more interested in discovering if you could trade a hold out player without resigning them first.

This is great news! thanks for posting it.. Now if I could just have a hold out..

[sandman]

DuckFan, thanks because it helps a lot. I just was getting why raising would lower the hit, but you explained it very well.

Finz101- There is no way to tell the overall rating of a player until they are drafted. The only way I could think of is figuring out what their attribute is by looking at the drill and then averaging them all together to get the final overall number. Trust me though, this would be waaaay too time consuming. My first season is almost over and I'll try to give this method a test run and see if it works.

To Everyone- I wanted know if the new challenge rule where you win the first two and receive a third is in the game?

[mjustin24]

My advisors keep telling me that my coaches are unhappy with their current salary. But I can't find out how to increase it. Do I have to wait for the off-season?

[maddenbowl62]

maddenbowl, you should have seen if you could have gotten [2] 90+ players for manning, then turned around and traded those guys for picks and the QB you got, may have gotten more bang for the buck
Truebluedevil, do you want to disable the cap penalty completely or know how they go away. They go away at the end of the season as long as you don't trade anymore players with bonus on their contracts. The outstanding prorated bonus is what becomes your penalty, and lasts for the current year only

i was surprised when i traded him. i gave him three points in the pocket presence and made him a 99 awr and acc. i tried to get more but no team really thought manning was important. i tried to trade him for tom brady and tom brady was an a and manning was a b. the only good player i could get was mike vick but the falcons didnt have 1st round pick.

[maddenbowl62]

My advisors keep telling me that my coaches are unhappy with their current salary. But I can't find out how to increase it. Do I have to wait for the off-season?

yes u have to wait to wait for the offseason.

[mjustin24]

yes u have to wait to wait for the offseason.

Thanks maddenbowl.

[McMadden]

Finz101, this should help you out a lot.

40 Time- Speed

Time Range
4.24-4.35 = 90-99
4.36-4.52 = 80-89
4.53-4.67 = 70-79
4.68-4.81 = 60-69
4.82-4.96 = 50-59
4.97-5.10 = 40-49

I don't know how true to form this is nowadays. I read somewhere on-line that the SPD attribute is more attributed to game speed not 40 times. SO how do you measure game speed?

[Saint]

I usually play all of my games in a season, but am getting ready to start a new chise that I will sim every game. Does it make any difference-as far as player stats-which difficulty setting is on (rookie,pro,etc)? How about quarter length? It seems to me that the longer quarters would yield more stats.

Also, in my current chise that I am playing games in I have a dillemma. I am playing the Redskins and am sick of paying LE Wynn(OVR 79) because he sucks. He has a big contract, and nobody seems to want him in a trade. Any suggestions?

[Dumb Daddy]

The round that the players are estimated to be drafted in is roughly analogous to the overall but it is not a clean correlation. My technique from Madden2004 allowed me to remove the uncertainty.

After two rounds of drills, I would decide whether or not that draft class had what I wanted/needed. If I needed a top OT and there weren't any that looked promising, I would quit without saving and do it again. The key is to have saved before the transition to offseason.

If I liked the draft class, I would save before the final round of drills and use the draft as a mock draft. I usually try to take punters and kickers and other people that wouldn't normally be drafted in the early rounds so that I would get the best estimate of when they'd be drafted as possible. Then I skip to sign free agents and look at the NFL roster, sorting by age. Then I look through the different positions, identify the interesting players, see where they were drafted and quit without saving.

Then I would go back to the third round of scouting, putting in all the players that I found interesting (to keep them on my radar screen). I would draft who I could or trade for them in training camp or preseason.

The procedure is pretty long and involved but it was the only way to ID the guys that I wanted. I'm not convinced that the procedure is any less ethical than simply trading for the players after the fact.

[bodizafa]

This is the coolest board & thread I have ever seen...

*stares in awe*

:eek:

[sandman]

We appreciate the compliments bodizafa.

McMadden - I don't know how accurate those are in this year's game, but I got the stats from gamefaqs last year.

[jandt]

In my off season today when viewing my roster, I noticed 2 of my superstars had " trade me" quoted in red in the upper right when viewing their name in my roster list..When I went to player management screen for them they said they would never play another down for the Lions and other one said they were sick of the organization and wanted to be traded now.. I ignored them and moved ahead to resign players to see if they were holding out and they did not...In fact, neither of them was under contract...I went ahead and resigned them ( Bailey and Jones )..

Does this new " trade me" quote for them just mean they are unahppy but again, other than morale being bad no consequence???

Also, on average, how much time does everyone spend in the off season, not including playing preseason games? I guess I average about a hour, a little longer if I play every training camp drill which I don't always do based upon my mood..

[hobbs2324]

I always spend hours, I get so into it that I lose track of time. Between stadium upgrades, staffing, trading, roster moves, scouting and drafting I can blow most of a night doing that stuff

[FamilyGuy123]

DuckFan, i know you sim a lot of your games. How do you ensure a playoff berth by simming so many. Im in my second year with the Jags and I went 14-2 last year and lost in the Super Bowl, but I cant seem to win any simmed games, so i wind up playing most. Thanks for the help.

[maddenbowl62]

i just started a new franchise. didnt like where my old colts franchise was going. i did a fantasy draft. my goal was to get young players. i successfully completed that bcuz everyone on my team is 25 or less except for two players(chad johnson(26) and todd bouman(31)).

qb eli manning
hb clinton portis
backup hb tony fisher
fb justin griffith
wr chad johnson
wr anquan boldin
wr rashaun woods
te kellen winslow(traded ben troupe 2nd and 3rd round pick for winslow and 4 and 5th round pick)
ot levi jones and mike pearson
og eric steinbach and toniu fonoti
c dominic raiola
de kenechi udeze and anthony weaver
dt kevin williams and tommie harris
olb rocky boiman and terrell suggs
mlb nick barnett
cb nate clements and sammy davis
fs sean taylor
ss ed reed
k nate kaeding
p nick harris

[maddenbowl62]

How is it possible to not have any players progress in preseason? I had a young team (look at my previous post). Not even Eli manning progressed. The only person who progressed was Todd bouman (31 years old). And Sean Taylor lost a point in preseason.

[ATOMDOMB]

Quick question about changing package plays...I like the package that brings a TE into the FB spot and hot routing the TE to the flats. I use the pats and want to use the rookie watson due to his 87 speed. can i set up the package so he is always the TE in the package?

[jdbolick]

How is it possible to not have any players progress in preseason? I had a young team (look at my previous post). Not even Eli manning progressed. The only person who progressed was Todd bouman (31 years old). And Sean Taylor lost a point in preseason.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think that your backups progress more than your starters, even if their playing time is even or favoring the starter. In my franchise I noticed that Rodney Peete had about a four point improvement, which is a bit on the ridiculous side, but not so bad that I can't work around it. Just make sure the players you want advanced are listed as backups all the way through the pre-season.

[laceratetheskin]

I really need some help, i have made my own playbook, saved it and everything is cool. well i cant figure out how to load it to use during an actual game. can anyone help me? oh and this is the gamecube version. thanks

[NYJREG]

I am trying to change positions for John Abraham, from DE to LB in the 3-4 scheme, so as to take advantage of his speed. Any hints??

[FamilyGuy123]

you might have to wait until the offseason. im not positive, but i think its somewhere earlier in this forum.... hope that helps