MLS Salary cap questions

I'm embarking on my first stint in the MLS. Everything seems fine and I understand a lot of the system but the salary cap is throwing me off.

Do staff salaries count towards the cap? Or can I go ahead and offer larger wages?

Thanks.

While I'm asking, how is the draft? can i secure good talent in both the superdraft and supplemental draft? I like trading for picks.

Staff salaries should not not count towards your salary cap. The cap is only for players. As for the draft. You can usually find good players in the 1st and 2nd rounds of the SuperDraft. I haven't had much luck in the Supplemental Draft, but you may find players to round out your lower level salary types (i.e. backup players).

If you're going to trade, trade for 1st or high 2nd round picks in the draft. I've had some players I've picked end up become very, very good. Also, look for players with a Generation Addidas designation in the draft; there are I believe 15 each year. Their salaries should not count against your cap either as they are a special educational program paid out by Adidas on behalf of the MLS.

Cheers.

Thanks mate. I ended up at Colorado, they dont seem to have any DP slots so I assume they traded them away? How do i know when the slots will return?

I don't think DP slots are tradeable,only International slots. You shouldn't have zero...

Thanks for answering rancer980, I used to follow your career thread several versions of FM ago, it was a great read.

I looked again and Colorado have no players on DP contracts nor can I offer a DP contract when looking for players. I only have options for Senior or Senior Entry level contracts.

You need someone with enough reputation to be able to sign him to a DP contract. The board won't let you sign the likes of Conor Casey, Marvell Wynne, and Caleb Folan to DP contracts...

Did you try getting a report of potential DPs from your ass man?

I used my ass man to get a loan report - is it the same option tab so i can choose it when it next becomes available? )I only quickly glanced at the options before hastly selecting midfielders)

There's a separate one just for Designated Players if you manage in MLS and it's the same place where you get the loan availability report.

I cant go any further without playing a match so will have to wait until tomorrow to see what DPs show. I'm too tired now, was actually planning on going to bed a while ago but have really enjoyed the beginning with the Rapids. Getting a squad together definately takes a lot more management, I really like this challenge.

Any other things that would help me to know?

Like others said, DP contracts can only be offered to those who have reputations who warrant it. You will have 2 DP contracts possible, and you can pay I believe $325 00 (divided up to all other teams) for an additional 3rd slot. However, you may not need to spend DP slot for a quality player. I was able to bring Jermaine Defoe from Tottenham to Vancouver as only a Senior contract so DP's are not necessary in all cases

MLS is amazing.

As stated you can purchase a DP slot if the MLS offer one or the board want to buy one.

However, I have David Bentley and Luigi Bruins on $4k p/w contracts and not D/P players.

My DP are J Jones and J De Guzman.

You can sign anyone from any league if the finances are there (not included in Allocation Money).

However, i prefer to make my wage cap bigger rather than spending transfers, plenty of free players and Super Draft players who are good enough.

Also year on year your cap gets bigger. GA and Dev players don't have to be registered. Can't remember if they count towards the cap though.

D/P players will take $4k wages and rest paid by MLS.

Very enjoyable save at the moment.

Where exactly do I find the asistants DP report? I see the "Assistant Advice" tab and in the drop down I only see "Compile loan players availability report"

edit....

I found it where you said, I took over the Colorado job and the computer manager before me must have enquired just before I took over. I received a news item saying he could not find any suitable players. I am now sending my new assistant to see.

Anyone know what to do if my salary cap is over? I usually have to holiday the game for 1 day to get past the squad registration screen each time. I cant waive anyone as I get a message saying their wages will still count to the salary cap. How do I bring it down so I dont have to keep "cheating" by holidaying the game.

You'll have to waive someone not on a guaranteed contract, but not developmental players or Generation Adidas players as their salary doesn't count against the cap. There was an issue with not being able to release injured players, so you were stuck with their salary when they came back healthy (even if you didn't want them on your team.) I don't know if that's what you're experiencing, but it happened to me and I had to use FMRTE to change the player's contract and have it expire immediately.

In fact, I highly recommend using FMRTE (and paying the $1 or so to activate the save feature) for the purpose of editing the draft players. Time consuming...but well worth it in terms of filling the league with decent players (decent attributes are far more important than PA.)

The DP issue can be tricky; the club only seems interested in the player's reputation and not their ability, so even if you find a potential wonderkid willing to sign with you as a DP, your board may not let you offer him a DP contract. Also--and I've raised this issue in the Bugs forum--the moment you have a DP slot open up on your team, you'll likely have one of your players demand a pay increase (and a DP contract.) Don't fret, though- if you find a player that you'd rather have as a DP instead, the other player will happily take a small pay raise. I had one player ask for $1.5 million per season (he was making $225,000 and, despite being a Brazilian monster and the greatest scorer I've ever had, my board wouldn't let me offer that much) but when I signed a different player to the DP contract, he happily signed a 5 year deal at $275,000.

Thanks for the reply looknohands. I cant find anyone to waive that will let me save in salary. It tells me the wages will still count towards the cap as its after the roster guarantee date of July 1st. I guess I'm not understanding it afterall, I can still sign players too which dosent make sense, why would the board let me keep going past the leagues salary cap?

To better describe the "cheating" I have to do - When registering the squad before each MLS game my salary of the squad shows as 33,966 (with a warning triangle next to it) the leagues maximum squad salary is 33,653. I am 313 over the cap. I cant confirm and exit as it tells me the total squad salary must be less than 33,653.

I cant waive anyone as its past the roster guarantee date so i have to holiday the game for 1 day and then i can continue.

In that case, if there's a player or two that you don't need, you can always try and offer some to other clubs, both in MLS and outside of the league. If the player is traded or signed that should free up some cap space.