It has been this way for several years. I never play online, so I may be wrong, but my guess is that a lot of these rules are to keep a level playing field for online leagues/teams. However, there should be a very simple fix for that: online league, one set of rules, offline, you can do whatever you want.
For franchise, the lack of financial options (limited window for re-signing players, inability to manage cash flow, etc.) is a significant draw-back. Managing the financial aspects of the game is 95% of what real GMs do.
Exactly. I was also referring to offline career mode. It doesn't make sense. And makes it impossible to keep a team in tact for more then 2 seasons. The technology existed 5 plus years ago. What happened to it
