[quote name='Ultimate Matt X']Anyone have any tips for managing all the new aspects of the online franchise? I've played franchises before, but I guess maybe I haven't had to worry about it as much playing the CPU.
I've seen people talking about cutting and resigning players and I'm not entirely sure if that is or isn't allowed around here, but in general are there any tips or info to keep players, have a good draft, manage the cap, use practice effectively, or whatever else anyone might recommend?
As of now I'm feeling like I'm getting back into managing the game well enough, but I'm a little lost in the stuff outside of things on the field.[/QUOTE]
Well, if you go look at your Salaries section under "Strategy", you can view your players that only have 1 year remaining on their deal. These are the guys who will be free agents after this season.
You can also look at your salary cap space to see how much money you've got unallocated (in addition to the players coming off the books), so you'll have a rough idea of how much you'll have to spend. Then, it's just a matter of deciding who's worth keeping, and who you want to let walk. Not a whole lot people can advise you on there. Some players are worth the money and some aren't. It's going to be subjective.
As for team practice, it's no secret that "Easy Win" is the most efficient one to do. As its name implies, it's very easy to do, and you get 1800 XP for your coach for it. The hardest practice option only gives you 2000 XP, and it's WAY harder (holding a 6-3 lead in 2nd quarter vs. coming back from 35-3 in the 3rd quarter). These were terrible choices by EA, as there's really no incentive to do anything other than "Easy Win".
Cutting and re-signing players is just a means of saving money, but it definitely shouldn't be exploited. The only saving grace is that you'd only be allowed to re-sign those guys to a one year deal. But the bad part is that there's no type of waivers or anything to allow other teams a crack at them. You're basically just killing long term deals to free up money at the risk of not being able to re-sign that guy long-term. But since the deals in Madden are all backloaded, this can quickly become a nefarious practice. Anyone doing it excessively and using it as a means for circumventing the cap will be handled appropriately.