I wonder how this works for a teams OWN free agents.......would we have been able to sign Moss, Asante, Gay, etc??
It's actually better in some ways, and worse in some ways, than it looks.
First off, the rules do NOT apply equally to all eight teams. The final four are the worst off.
Each of the four Clubs that participated in the NFC and AFC Championship games the Prior League Year shall not be permitted to negotiate and sign any Unrestricted Free Agent to a Player Contract, except: (a) any Unrestricted Free Agent who acquired that status as a result of the NFL waiver system; (b) any Unrestricted Free Agent who was under contract to such Club on the last date of the last League Year of the player’s most recent Player Contract; and (c) any Unrestricted Free Agent signed pursuant to Section 4 below.
This answer's fgssand's question--it would have no effect on resigning your own FAs.
The next four get one additional vehicle for signing UFAs:
(d) any Unrestricted Free Agent as follows:
(i) One such player for a Player Contract that has a first year Salary of $4,925,000 or more; and
(ii) Any number of such players for a Player Contract that has a first year Salary of no more than $3,275,000 and an annual increase in any future contract years of no more than 30% of the first contract year Salary, not including any amount attributed to any signing bonus. In addition, each such Club and each such player entering into a Player Contract pursuant to this Subsection may not renegotiate to increase the amount of Salary to be paid during the term of the Player Contract for a period of one year after the signing date of such contract.
Here is the "Section 4", to which King refers:
Replacement of Free Agents Signed by Other Club: Each of the eight Clubs subject to the provisions of this Article shall be permitted to negotiate and sign one Unrestricted Free Agent to a Player Contract (“New Player”) for each Unrestricted Free Agent who was under contract to such Club on the last date of the prior League Year, who has signed with another Club (“Previous Player”), so long as the Player Contract for the New Player shall have a first year Salary of no more than the first year Salary of the Player Contract signed by the Previous Player with the New Club, and an annual increase in any future contract years of no more than 30% of the first contract year Salary, excluding any amounts attributable to any signing bonus. In addition, each such Club and each such player entering into a Player Contract pursuant to this Subsection may not renegotiate to increase the amount of Salary to be paid during the term of the Player Contract for a period of one year after the signing date of such contract.
But here's the real kick in the groin:
Section 7. Trade Limitation: No Club subject to the provisions of this Article may, for one League Year, trade for a player it otherwise would not be permitted to sign as an Unrestricted Free Agent as a result of the provisions in this Article.
The way I understand this is that if a team resigns all its FAs, and doesn't lose any, it can't trade for UFAs, period, but it can go after RFAs. And, of course, the waiver wire always remains open.
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The interesting question is what happens in future years; it's not at all clear to me that this would(n't) apply in years after the first uncapped one.
But remember that there's poison pills on both sides--the NFLPA accepted a salary cap in exchange for earlier FA. If the cap goes away, there are going to be some unhappy fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-year players.
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