Free agent offers and future budgets

[dcd111]

I'm not clear on how the availability of funds in future seasons is calculated. I have an enormous amount of money available for free agent signings for the upcoming season, but I can't offer long-term deals because the amount available in future years appears to sharply decrease.

It also seems to change over time even though nothing else has changed. I offered a big free agent a 7-year deal worth over $5 mil per year (this is supposed to based on 1987 financials, so I'm not sure why any player thinks they should be paid this, but that's what the going rate has suddendly become for the top few free agents). The owner said it was okay.

The player dragged me along for awhile, I made several counteroffers, and then the player finally just rejected the offer, leaving the possibility of future offers open. I went back to the contract offer screen for this player, and without changing the offer, the Owner won't let me make the same offer again because a future season is over budget. Nothing else has changed, I haven't made any other offers or signed anybody else. How do I know what the budget is for future seasons? With some testing, it appears that anything over $5 is not acceptable in the third season, but the salary report shows hardly anything for that year, most of my current contracts end in the second season.

If anybody has any insight into this, it would be appreciated.