Retirement Management 101

By Alvin Leadbetter

Most veteran coaches in FbPro know all about what is going to be written here, and I am sure some know things that are not written. I have read the following information on a couple other leagues, and taken it to heart. The below works, at least in all of my tests. Since NPL is a league for less experienced coaches to have fun and compete on the gridiron, I thought it best to post this for all coaches!

Why do players retire? Some retire because of career ending injuries (These are few and far between), Some retire because they are just plain old! The following will tell you all about those grey haired guys! Other freak retirements (Mostly with young players in inactive slots) can happen, there is no way to predict those, but they are rare enough that it is not as important as the Old guys!

Fbpro has two basic slots when it comes to retirement due to age Slot 1 and Slot 2. Slot 1 players are any players that are the first player in the lineup, This is HB1, QB1, WR1. If you are not slot 1 you are slot 2, (hb2, wr2, de5, etc.) Players will retire based on which slot they are in. The Following table will show you these critical ages. It should be noted that a players age for retirement is determined after actual aging for the year. So that QB of 11 years right now will be 12 after aging, and would retire if he is in slot 2.

Position Slot 2 Slot 1

Quarter Back 12 15

Running Back 10 13

Receiver 8 12

Offensive Lineman 10 14

Defensive Lineman 10 13

Linebacker 10 13

Defensive Back 8 12

Punter/Kicker ? 15

What this chart means is if you have any player in slot 2, and they are Equal to or over the slot2 age, they will retire. If they are in slot 1 they will not retire until they are equal to or over that age. This all occurs when the start new season button is pressed. and all players are aged, retired. You should also know the other drawback to older players, at aging their playmaking abilities will degrade! Does this mean you should get rid of them? No, they may not be as good as last year, but they can still be a part of the team, and what they do loose in Aging (IN and DI are unaffected by Aging), might be able to be recovered in training Camp. Although Aging is somewhat random I have found that in most cases starting at Age 9 the age of the player -1 is the normal amount of points they will loose overall, also a player will loose about half as many points in Potentials.

Also remember Young players left deep in the roster slot (especially Rookies in inactive spots) may also retire on you! So how do you handle this, simple got an old player and want to keep him, make sure he is in Slot 1, if you have to many players that are over the slot 2 age in the same position, Trade them. Don't expect a fortune for them, but I'd rather get a 7th round pick for Joe Blow than have him retire and get nothing! Also sometimes you can find a team that is heavy in old players at another position that you are young in, this is an obviously good trade for both of you!

Example

Cedar Rapids has three very talented Defensive backs that are ages 10,10, and 11. if any of them are not in the slot1 position when the end season button is pushed they will retire! Since only two of them can be in the #1 slot (One as a safety, and 1 as a CB, Cedar will loose one of these guys. Cedar management either has the option of trading the player before the end season button is pushed, or watch the player retire and gain nothing from him!

Well that about does it, if you have questions, or suggestions to make it better, contact me