So, I had a few contract offers our there and a few signed with the last sim, but two didn't. Am I safe to assume it's because the player is holding out for a better offer?

Will they sign during this next/last free agency period regardless of the offer (assuming no one else offers a contract and I don't increase mine)?

Sometimes the player's demands change at the last minute. In that case, he will reject your contract. That's why you should always try to sign people sooner. Sometimes it's okay to let people walk. The game tries to get you to sign everybody, but you don't need to do that. It is often less than tragic to let contracts run out. The actual rule is a little more nuanced than this, but in general any player who has a total value of less than 75 is one you should allow to become a free agent. Kickers and punters in particular are players whom you can easily replace. Unless they're special, plan to do that.

All free agents have to sign a contract if one is offered, though they don't "have" to until the last FA sim. Yes the player is holding out for a better offer, but if none comes, he will sign.

Good info, thanks.

I should have stated they were free agents, but now I know how to react to my pending free agents.

That being said, do the pending free agents contract demands increase or decrease based on their in-season performance?

Perfect, thanks.

Assuming you're actually talking about signing Free Agents, yes, they're holding out an extra week to see if a better offer is received. They will always accept their best offer by the time the last week of Free Agency (or Late Free Agency in this case) occurs.

They act the same. There is a default AI rating (not your personal weights ) and that dictates renegotiated contracts , FA contracts , and trade scores .

A player can have a 56 default rating and run for 1000 yards but he will command the same trade and financial numbers at any stage no matter his in game success .

The " opinion of you" feature will change stuff up a bit as well. If a player is unhappy with you that will change his demands and that "opinion " is developed through default AI ratings (at various positions ) and how much playing time he's getting .

In general the games development has speed being undervalued in the default ratings for skill positions . To me that would drive overpaying for slower and less effective players . I don't count on the games values here.

This is what really decides all of my roster moves as speed is pretty constant throughout a players career until it drops dramatically in his twilight . Totaling 20 to 30 points of speed and strength will be lost at year 9 for smaller players and year 12 for bigger players .

Ideas of the in game performances having an effect on salary has been tossed around but it is not in the game yet.