Reinstate FBPro Computer Aging

[Charlie-49ers]

On Discord Friday night, we started a discussion about player aging. Many believe we have too many players in their advanced years while maintaining full physical attributes, which is unrealistic in the NFL. Several, if not many of us on the conversation, thought we should revert to letting the game age players, while we would allow some "unicorns" per team. I am sure this is a noncontroversial topic, but I would be curious about your opinion.

Please comment below, should you care, but please keep your comments restricted to the topic or closely related.

[Barney - Vikings]

I think most of the people on Friday liked the idea of eliminating transfer rolls and physicals either starting a season earlier or modifying the odds so a player would be more likely to retire.

[Matt-Jacksonville]

I'm not against it. I just think we need to delay a season or two to allow everyone a chance to update their roster plans.

[Mitch-Oilers]

I think this is a good idea and can help create more diversity among the players in the league.

A couple of thoughts I have to go along with this change: O
1) Quarterbacks, kickers and punters should continue the current anti-aging process.

2) Faces of the franchise exception
Each team can have one player on offense and one player on defense each season to go through the current anti-aging physical's process. These are separate from QBs, Ks, and Ps.

3) This change will need to be synchronized with reducing the number of veterans in the free agent pool as well as continued separation of ratings in the draft pool.

[Jerry-Redskins]

We trying to turn this into the PCFL? Lets see data first.

Oh by the way. Is the NFL different just because the players are all almost the same and the salary cap makes a difference? The two leagues in 2025 are not the same. Data around 2000 would be more pertinent most likely

[Steve-Buffalo Bills]

I’m a big NO on eliminating transfer rolls and letting the game control aging. I agree with Rich that transfer rolls actually force retire many players who might otherwise survive another season because of the dice rolls.

I’m against game controlled aging because that puts the work back on the coach instead of Rich. We’d have to submit roster moves again. No thanks!

My alternative is that the only players that get dice rolled are the ones who did not get transferred to.

Basically if you transfer a player’s roll, he will retire.

If a player is not the recipient of a roll, he gets no dice roll and will retire.

However, you are allowed to protect one player with your franchise tag. This tag automatically protects a player from aging in addition to getting a one season contract.

[Steve-Buffalo Bills]

Basically I’m saying we should keep the current system with a slight change that provides only two ways to protect a player from aging:

- players who receive transfer rolls
- players who receive the franchise tag

This forces far more retirements faster. And even better, there is a chance the players receiving the roll don’t survive the rolls.

Example: If you have three players at physical age, you’ll only be able to protect one with the dice unless you use a franchise tag to protect another. But one of them will retire for sure at end of the next season.

[Justin-Chicago]

The game does not do a good job of aging players. Let’s not forget that is why a different system was created in the first place.

Could we create a better system? Sure. Steve and I exchanged some ideas on this a while back.

But hell no, I don’t want to revert back to letting the game age players.

[Dean-Atlanta]

Maybe we keep the current system with changes, and in those changes...

Limit each team to a set number of "aging protections" for veteran players above the "auto protect" age for aging. Teams then can trade protections for the upcoming season, so teams relying more on youth may trade protections to teams (for a player or draft pick or points) to a team with more veterans players that could use more protections. If teams are limited in how many protections they get each season, they should be able to be traded, so GMs that use fewer of them can trade them to those who use more of them, as is the case with points now.

And a single protection can be used to protect on one (so that players get the rolls), or transfer to another player, causing the retirement of that players. So this idea keeps transfers.

[Rich-League Officer]

James and I had a very very lengthy conversation on this topic.
Keeping the same system in place but a slight tweak making it tad more difficult to keep your players from passing their physical.
Nothing would happen till the 2048 Physicals.