Free NFL Analytics Platform — A Directory of Our Hubs
StickToTheModel is a free NFL analytics platform organized around a few core hubs. Each hub is the home for a specific category of NFL coverage — pick the one that matches what you're looking for. No signup required.
Our Hubs
Mock Draft Simulator — The simulator hub. 7-round NFL mock drafts with trades, AI opponents, and instant grades.
NFL GM Simulator — The GM mode hub. Manage salary cap, cuts, trades, franchise tags, and the draft for any team.
2026 Draft Prospect Hub — Big board, scouting reports, combine measurables, and team visit tracker.
Free Pro access for NFL content creators. YouTubers, podcasters, newsletter writers, and bloggers can partner with StickToTheModel to use our NFL analytics tools, draft coverage, and salary cap data in their content. Trusted by Yahoo Sports, Yardbarker, and EssentiallySports.
Our platform offers data-driven NFL analysis with tools for draft preparation, fantasy football, and player research. All core features are free with daily updates during the NFL season.
The platform serves fantasy football players, NFL Draft enthusiasts, dynasty league managers, sports bettors, content creators, and casual fans exploring NFL statistics.
NFL Encyclopedia
Plain-English definitions for the NFL terms that actually matter: salary cap mechanics, draft
capital, fantasy scoring, and the analytics behind our tools.
All Terms
Salary Cap: The NFL salary cap is the maximum amount of money a team can spend on player salaries in a given league year. It is set
Cap Space: Cap space is the difference between the salary cap and a team's total committed cap charges. It represents how much room
Cap Hit: A player's cap hit is the total amount charged against the salary cap in a given year. It includes base salary, prorated
Dead Money: Dead money is the cap charge a team must absorb for a player who is no longer on the roster. It typically consists of un
Cap Ceiling: The cap ceiling is the maximum salary cap figure for a given league year. It is the hard limit that no team can exceed i
Cap Floor: The cap floor is the minimum amount teams must spend on player compensation over a defined period. Teams that fall below
Top 51 Rule: During the offseason, only the 51 highest-paid players on a team's roster count toward the salary cap. This gives teams
Cap Rollover: Cap rollover allows teams to carry over unused salary cap space from one league year to the next, effectively increasing
Cash Spending vs Cap Spending: Cash spending is the actual money paid to players in a given year, while cap spending is the accounting charge against t
Salary Cap Projections: Salary cap projections are estimates of future cap figures based on expected league revenue growth. Teams use these proj
Base Salary: Base salary is the fixed annual compensation a player earns for being on the roster. It counts fully against the cap in
Signing Bonus: A signing bonus is a lump-sum payment made to a player upon signing a contract. For cap purposes, it is prorated evenly
Roster Bonus: A roster bonus is a payment triggered when a player is on the active roster on a specific date. Unlike signing bonuses,
Option Bonus: An option bonus is a payment that a team can choose to exercise, typically adding years to a contract. Once exercised, i
Incentives (LTBE vs NLTBE): Contract incentives are bonus payments tied to performance benchmarks. They are classified as Likely To Be Earned (LTBE)
Guaranteed Money: Guaranteed money is the portion of a contract that a player will receive regardless of whether they are cut, injured, or
Prorated Bonus: A prorated bonus is the annual cap charge created when a signing bonus (or option bonus) is divided evenly across the ye
Void Years: Void years are contract years that automatically void (cancel) on a specific date. They exist solely to spread signing b
Average Annual Value (APY): Average Annual Value (APY) is the total value of a contract divided by its length in years. It is the standard benchmark
Fully Guaranteed Contract: A fully guaranteed contract means every dollar of the deal is owed to the player regardless of performance, injury, or r
Escalators: Escalators are contract clauses that automatically increase a player's salary or guarantees if specific performance or p
Per-Game Roster Bonus: A per-game roster bonus (PGRB) is a payment earned for each game a player is on the active 46-man gameday roster. It rew
Franchise Tag: The franchise tag is a designation that allows a team to retain an impending free agent for one year at a salary based o
Transition Tag: The transition tag retains a pending free agent at the average of the top 10 salaries at their position. The tagging tea
Exclusive Franchise Tag: The exclusive franchise tag prevents a player from negotiating with any other team. The salary is set at the average of
Non-Exclusive Franchise Tag: The default franchise tag that pays the higher of the average of the top 5 salaries at the player's position or 120% of
Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA): A player whose contract has expired and who has four or more accrued seasons in the NFL. UFAs may sign with any team wit
Restricted Free Agent (RFA): A player with three accrued NFL seasons whose contract has expired. RFAs can negotiate with other teams, but the origina
Exclusive Rights Free Agent (ERFA): A player with fewer than three accrued NFL seasons whose contract has expired. If the team offers a minimum salary tende
Offer Sheet: A contract offer from a new team to a restricted free agent or a player under a non-exclusive franchise/transition tag.
Right of First Refusal: The ability of a player's current team to retain the player by matching any contract offer the player receives from anot
Compensatory Draft Picks: Additional draft picks awarded to teams that lost more or better compensatory free agents than they signed. These picks
Pre-June 1 Cut: Releasing a player before June 1, which accelerates all remaining dead money into the current cap year. This is the defa
Post-June 1 Designation: A roster designation that spreads a released player's dead money across two cap years instead of one. Teams may designat
Practice Squad: A supplemental roster of up to 17 players who practice with the team but are not on the active 53-man roster. Practice s
Injured Reserve (IR): A roster designation for players with injuries that prevent them from playing. Players placed on IR must miss at least f
Physically Unable to Perform (PUP): A preseason designation for players recovering from injuries sustained before training camp. PUP list players do not cou
Non-Football Injury (NFI): A designation for players unable to perform due to injuries or conditions not sustained during NFL football activities.
Commissioner's Exempt List: A special designation that allows the NFL commissioner to remove a player from all team activities while an investigatio
53-Man Roster: The maximum number of players an NFL team can have on its active roster during the regular season. Teams must cut down f
Waiver System: The process by which released players are made available to all other teams before becoming free agents. Waiver priority
Vested Veteran: A player who has accrued four or more credited NFL seasons. Vested veterans bypass the waiver system when released, imme
Rookie Wage Scale: The CBA-mandated pay structure that determines the maximum allowable contract values for drafted rookies based on their
Fifth-Year Option: A one-year contract extension available exclusively for first-round draft picks. Teams must exercise the option after th
Slotted Draft Pick Value: The predetermined contract value assigned to each draft pick position under the rookie wage scale. Each slot has a fixed
Rookie Pool: The total amount of salary cap space a team must allocate for all of its draft picks' contracts in a given year. The poo
Undrafted Free Agent (UDFA): A player who was not selected in the NFL Draft and is free to sign with any team. UDFAs typically receive minimum salary
Draft Pick Compensation: Draft picks exchanged between teams as part of trades, or awarded by the league to compensate for lost free agents. Draf
Traded Pick Value Chart: A reference chart that assigns a point value to each draft pick position, used by teams to evaluate the fairness of prop
Compensatory Pick Formula: The NFL's proprietary formula that determines which teams receive compensatory draft picks based on the net value of fre
Rookie Contract Structure: First-round picks sign four-year deals with a team option for a fifth year, while rounds 2-7 sign four-year contracts. A
Rookie Minimum Salary: The league-mandated minimum base salary for first-year NFL players. For 2025, the rookie minimum is $795,000, and it inc
Trade Deadline: The NFL trade deadline falls on the Tuesday after Week 8, after which teams cannot trade players or draft picks until th
Cap Implications of Trades: When a player is traded, the acquiring team absorbs the remaining base salary and any new prorated bonus, while the orig
Conditional Draft Picks: Draft picks included in trades whose round or existence depends on specific performance conditions being met, such as pl
Trade Compensation: The assets exchanged in an NFL trade, typically a combination of draft picks, players, and occasionally cash considerati
Player-for-Player Trades: Trades where both sides exchange active roster players rather than (or in addition to) draft picks. These are uncommon i
Sign-and-Trade: A transaction where a team signs one of its own free agents to a new contract and then immediately trades them to anothe
Trade Kicker: A contractual clause that pays the player an additional bonus if they are traded, typically calculated as a percentage o
Future Draft Pick Trades: Trades involving draft picks from upcoming drafts rather than the current year's draft. The NFL allows teams to trade pi
Restructure: A contract modification where a portion of a player's base salary is converted into a signing bonus, which is then prora
Contract Extension: A new contract that replaces or extends a player's existing deal, typically adding years and increasing total value whil
Cap Casualty: A player released primarily because their salary cap hit is too large relative to their production or the team's availab
Backloaded Contract: A contract structured with lower salaries in the early years and escalating salaries in later years, creating short-term
Frontloaded Contract: A contract with higher salaries in the early years and lower salaries in later years, providing the team with more futur
Conversion (Salary to Bonus): The process of converting a player's base salary or roster bonus into a signing bonus, spreading the cap charge over rem
Creating Cap Space: The various methods NFL teams use to generate additional salary cap room, including restructures, cuts, trades, extensio
Cap Accounting Tricks: Creative but legal contract structures and roster maneuvers that NFL teams use to manipulate their salary cap position,
Spread the Pain Strategy: A cap management philosophy where teams distribute dead money and cap charges across multiple seasons rather than absorb
Kick the Can Strategy: A cap management approach where teams repeatedly push salary cap obligations into future years through restructures and
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA): The master labor agreement between the NFL owners and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) that governs all aspects of pl
Revenue Sharing: The NFL's system for distributing league revenue among all 32 teams and between owners and players. Teams share most nat
Minimum Team Cash Spending: A CBA requirement that each NFL team must spend a minimum percentage of the salary cap in actual cash paid to players ov
Performance-Based Pay: An annual fund distributed by the NFL to players whose on-field contributions (measured by playing time) exceed their co
Veteran Salary Benefit: A cap credit that reduces the salary cap charge for qualifying veterans signed to minimum salary contracts, with the lea