[tysok]

It was a design decision.

It actually makes less sense to allow you to use your cash for extensions. Or at least it does in an owner controls budget league... but as I've said elsewhere that title, "Owner controls budget" isn't quite what you might expect.

It would be nice if they were two different functions. They aren't. The owner controls budget function ONLY smooths out the changes in your budget. So you couldn't go from a 50 million budget to 25 million... even if you SHOULD. You'd go from 50 million to 45 million to 40 million (max drop is some percentage).

It would be more complex if you were able to spend your cash on extensions, as well as not be quite right if the owner controlled the budget.

First, everything is figured off of next year. If you wanted to use your cash for extensions next year and further it would have to either look out further, or charge off your cash for every season.

So you have no budget room for next year, but 10 million cash. You would be able to sign him up for 10 years at 1 million, 5 years at 2 million, 3.some years at 3 million etc.... even if you had no contracts scheduled for the year after next. Or it would have to look at what you have scheduled for those years and charge off your cash appropriately. Markus doesn't want to do the second one. He could do the first one, and maybe should do the first one for when "owner controls budget" isn't on. But that's separating the functions that I get the idea he doesn't want to do either.

If owner controls budget IS on then you shouldn't be able to use your cash for extensions. The owner just told you what your budget is, it makes no sense to be able to spend over what he just told you that you could spend. He's said you can spend 80 million dollars next year... you can't spend 90 million just because you know he's got a lot of money in the bank, you have 80 million dollars.
The cash should be available to you for emergencies, your star CF goes down and you need to bring in someone else, or a star 3B comes available and you think he'll put you over the top. To streamline the process that money is made available to you for those reasons.
The owner has said you have 80 million dollars to spend, don't spend over 80 million dollars. Realizing that the world isn't cut and dry and perfect and that you may need a little extra to be the best you can be this year he also gives you the checkbook trusting that you know your job and can handle the responsibility. If you need extra money this year you can spend it..... but your budget is 80 million dollars and he fully expects that you won't give him a report of salaries for next season that tally up to 100 million dollars.

So the cash not being available is a design decision that was brought on because: A) Markus doesn't want to look at finances any further than next season and B) it makes sense when there's a field called "Budget".