Cap and contracts
Salary cap, contract years, player rights, future contracts, and expirations as format standards.
Contracts are the core of Keeper GM. Each franchise works with a yearly salary cap and a limited pool of contract years. Together, those limits control how many players you can keep and for how long - and they power free agency before the draft.
Our recommended standard is a yearly salary cap paired with a fixed number of contract years per franchise (for example, a $200 cap and 10 contract years). Your league can raise, lower, or restructure either value.
What a contract does
Signing a contract reduces available salary cap by the dollar amount on the deal and uses the committed contract years. While the contract is active, your franchise holds that player's rights.
After a contract expires, the standard format carries those rights into free agency as a restricted free agent (RFA), unless the player was dropped earlier and the rights were forfeited.
For planning, total contract exposure is often thought of as yearly dollars times remaining years. The immediate cap hit at signing is usually the dollar amount on the contract.
When you can sign
The main signing window is free agency (before the draft). During the regular season, many leagues also allow future contracts for players already on the roster; those deals take effect the following year.
Standard guidance: players already under contract generally cannot be re-signed or extended mid-deal, and signing is paused during playoffs and during the short window between playoffs and free agency. Your league can adjust those windows.
To sign a rostered player in-season under the standard rules, you need available contract years and enough remaining cap to meet the player's market value, then choose a length within your remaining years.
Expirations and terminations
Draft day typically begins a new contract year. Active contracts are reduced by one year at that time. When remaining length reaches zero, the contract expires and the player can hit free agency before the next draft.
Leagues usually refund salary and contract years only for rare terminations (for example retirement). A normal drop generally does not refund the contract - confirm your league's policy.