Free agent

In professional sports, free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with any club or franchise, i.e. not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present, but who is allowed to solicit offers from other teams. In some circumstances, the free agent's options are limited by league rules.

Types

Terms

Unrestricted free agent

Unrestricted free agents are players without a team. They have either been released from their club, had the term of their contract expire without a renewal, or were not chosen in a league's draft of amateur players. These people, generally speaking, are free to entertain offers from all other teams and to decide with whom to sign a contract.

Restricted free agent

The specific rules of restricted free agency vary among the major professional sports, but in principle it means that a player is free to solicit contract offers from other teams; however, this player cannot sign with the competing club if the current club matches (or in some leagues come within 10%) the terms of the offered contract. For a restricted free agent, some leagues require the competing team to offer up to the original team a draft pick(s) when an offer is not matched, as compensation for losing the player.

NBA salary cap

The NBA salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that National Basketball Association teams are allowed to pay their players. Like many professional sports leagues, the NBA has a salary cap to control costs, defined by the league's collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This limit is subject to a complex system of rules and exceptions and as such is considered a "soft" cap.

The actual amount of the salary cap varies from year to year, and is calculated as a percentage of the league's revenue from the previous season; for instance, the cap for the 2007–08 season was approximately US $55.6 million per team, and in 2008–09 it was $58.68 million. Under the CBA ratified in December 2011, the cap will continue to vary in future seasons based on league revenues; for the 2014–15 season, the salary cap was $63.065 million and the luxury tax limit was $76.8 million.

History

The NBA had a salary cap in the mid-1940s, but it was abolished after only one season. The league continued to operate without such a cap until 1984–85, when one was instituted in an attempt to level the playing field among all of the NBA's teams and ensure competitive balance for the League in the future. Before the cap was reinstated, teams could spend whatever amount of money they wanted on players, but in the first season under the new cap, they were each limited to $3.6 million in total payroll.

Free agent (disambiguation)

A free agent is an athlete whose contract with a team has expired, leaving the individual free to sign for another team.

Free agent or FreeAgent may also refer to:

Music

Television

Other uses

See also