Front Office Football Nine Documentation

Your actions in Front Office Football are governed by the yearly calendar, which you can always find on the Manage Team screen.

During the season and playoffs, activities follow a regular pattern. You play games on Sundays, create game plans and work with the depth chart during the week. You can sign players to fill holes in your roster, though once the regular season begins, players will only sign a one-year contract. You can make trades that fit under the salary cap until the trading deadline, which is early in week 8 of the season.

The off-season has more rigid guidelines. There are two vacation periods during the year. If you simulate to the beginning of one of those periods, the game will advance the calendar to the end of that period.

The first vacation period is after the championship game. This lasts about a month. The second vacation period is after a brief free-agency period after the annual Amateur Draft. This summer break lasts until the beginning of training camp - about two months. Other than those two breaks, the calendar advances one day at a time.

The off-season is divided into five sections: league year start, free agency, amateur draft, late free agency and training camp.

Day by day, activities are very limited as the league year begins.

The first day back is the Stadium Plan Deadline. You can, if your stadium is at least 20 years old, submit a plan to have a new stadium built for your franchise. Your metropolitan area will then hold a vote and decide whether you will receive that stadium. If the voters have turned you down, you may, instead of asking for a new stadium, ask to move your franchise to a new city and receive a new stadium in that area. The voters of that area will vote on that plan. You will learn about stadium votes later in the off-season.

The following day is the Ticketing Plan Deadline. You can set the ticket prices for the various sections of your stadium, as well as luxury box prices. The best prices maximize profit without sacrificing attendance. You can charge more if your franchise is doing well on the field, if you have a newer stadium or if you're in a larger metropolitan area. Having popular star players on your team helps.

The next day is Staff Retention Deadline. You can resign staff members to new contracts. They will tell you how much money they require. If you allow a staff member's contract to expire, you may lose him to another team.

The following five days are the time period for signing new staff members. The first day is head coach day, followed by offensive coordinator day, then defensive coordinator day, then assistant coach day and finally strength coach day. Some teams may sign new coaches earlier in the day than you can. This is based on your franchise's financial performance during the previous year.

The day after all staff is signed, the draft class is revealed for the upcoming Amateur Draft. That's your first look at next season's rookies.

The following day is the Franchise Player Deadline. You have the option to resign one of your free agents - a player whose contract just expired at the end of the last season - with four or more years of experience to a one-year contract at the average compensation level (salary plus bonus money per year) of the top five players in the league at his position group. That signing is automatic, but you can only do so for one free agent on your roster.

Once free agency begins, you can sign your own free agents to a renegotiated or new contract. On the second day of free agency, you can make contract offers to other team's free agents. A free agent must have at least four years of experience or not be attached to a team.

Players who have less than four years of experience but whose contracts have expired are restricted free agents and can only be resigned by their current team during this period.

Each of the top free agents in the league chooses a day (the best free agents tend to go early) that he wants to sign. You can make an offer earlier than that date, but he will still wait for other offers.

The day after early free agency ends is Fifth-Year Extension Day. When rookies are drafted, they sign four-year contracts. The money is based on their draft position. Teams have a fifth-year option on first-round picks. At the start of a player's fourth season in the league, teams have the option of extending their former first-round picks to a fifth year. The one-year contract is for the average compensation (salary plus average bonus money) between the top five players at his position group and the top 20 players at his position group.

The Amateur Draft lasts three days, with the first round taking place on day one, rounds two and three on day two and rounds four through seven on day three. Teams take turns making picks. Rookies automatically sign contracts based on their draft position.

The day after the draft ends, late free agency begins. This works the same as regular free agency, only restricted free agents are no longer restricted and you can sign undrafted rookies. This is a relatively short period, with most of the action taking place the first day when undrafted rookies are first available.

There are two important dates during training camp. The first is the Weight Training Plan Day, at the start of camp. On that day, you can direct your players, if they can, either to try and lose weight or try and put on weight. Players perform better if they are closer to the ideal size for their position group. Height cannot change. Hand size or arm size cannot change (the league has yet to embrace HGH). But weight can change, within certain guidelines (players can't keep gaining or losing - there are limits).

The second date is the last day of training camp, the Playbook Deadline. That's the last day you can work on the 200-play offensive playbook your team will use during the season. While in-season, you can change up to eight plays in your playbook in a given week. The rest must come from your existing playbook.