[cdcox]

I'm going to take down the site to load the free agent system up now. Shouldn't take too long.

I'm going to leave the bidding system inactive until Thursday night Sunday, June 9 to allow everyone to do the following:

1. Become familiar with the list of free agents.
2. Cut your rosters to 53. You won't get your bid buttons active unless you are below at or below the 53 man roster.
3. Begin planning Plan how you will invest your salary points between players now on your roster and in free agency.
4. Sign all the players that you are keeping to contracts.

From a mechanics point of view, there are two screens you will want to work with: manage roster (which you've seen before, but it now has new functionality) and the free-agent bid board, located under the draft tab.

In general, I've included all players that saw significant playing time in 2011 or 2012. If an older player missed 2012, I may have not included him on the assumption that he is retired. If you want anyone to be listed that I've missed, shoot me a PM. I need to add some punters and kickers.

Note: on the Manage Roster page you can juggle the various contracts up and down and watch the effect on your bankroll. They do not become final until you hit the button sign all contracts. That will finalize any contracts where it has a finite duration, rather than "no contract" indicated. So if you want, you can sign contracts in batches-- just make sure the players you aren't ready to sign say "no contract". To release a player, you must hit the release button for that player.

You do NOT have to finalize all your contracts of the players on your roster by Thursday. You will need to before the beginning of the simulation season, or at a point that we believe will help game play during this beta test.

In general it will behoove you to avoid signing players to contracts and then releasing them later to make room for a free agents.