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Core concepts

Contracts explained

Years, structures, guarantees, rookie deals, and the formula behind re-sign prices.

Every player on your roster is on a contract: a salary, a number of years, a structure, and a guarantee. Together those four things decide what the player costs you now, what he'll cost you later, and what it costs to walk away.

Years and the minimum salary

Contracts run from one year up to your league's maximum contract length. Longer deals lock in today's price (plus annual escalation) but carry more dead-cap risk if the player busts. The league minimum salary defaults to 1% of the cap, so even end-of-bench players cost something real.

Structures: flat, frontload, backload

A flat contract costs the same every year. A frontloaded contract costs more early and less late — painful now, cheap later, and easier to move or cut near the end. A backloaded contract is the opposite: cheap now, expensive later. Backloading is how contenders squeeze one more star into this year's cap, and how future-you inherits a problem.

Guarantees

Your league's guarantee structure decides how much of a contract survives as dead cap when a player is cut. Fully guaranteed leagues make every signing a real commitment; non-guaranteed leagues let you churn rosters freely; partial guarantees (25%, 50%, or 75% — 50% is the default when partial is selected) sit in between. Check your league's setting before you hand out a long deal — it changes what "risky" means.

How re-sign prices are calculated

When you re-sign or extend one of your own players, Capr prices the new deal with a formula instead of a negotiation, so every team pays fair market for its own guys. The formula blends four factors:

Re-sign pricing weights (league-configurable; defaults shown)
SettingDefaultRangeNotes
Weighted points per game28%Recent production, weighted toward the latest seasons.
Positional finish29%Where the player ranked among players at his position.
KTC market value28%Dynasty trade market value from KeepTradeCut.
Age curve15%Adjusts for where the player sits on his position's aging curve.
Price ceiling25% of cap5–50%The most the formula can charge for any single player.

The ceiling matters: even a league-winning quarterback can't be priced above 25% of your cap by default, which keeps elite players expensive but never impossible.

Rookie contracts

Drafted rookies sign cost-controlled deals — 3 years by default — priced by your league's rookie pay scale, with early picks costing more than late ones. Cheap rookie deals are the biggest value engine in Capr, exactly like the real NFL.