Contract year phenomenon is a term used in North American sports to describe the occurrence when athletes perform at a very high level in the season prior to their free agency eligibility. Most often, these athletes have seasons that are statistically better than previous years, but then once they sign their new contract, they return to their previous level of performance.
An archetype example of this phenomenon was NBA player Eric Dampier. In the year prior to his 'contract year' with the Golden State Warriors, Dampier averaged 8.2ppg and 6.6rpg in 82 games (all starts). The following (contract) year, Dampier upped these numbers to 12.3ppg and 12.0rpg (4th in the league) - both career highs - in 74 games (all starts), and was awarded a lengthy and lucrative contract. The following year with the Dallas Mavericks, Dampier's production dipped to 9.2ppg and 8.5rpg in 59 games (56 starts), albeit in an injury-interrupted season.
The contract year phenomenon is most associated with the NBA due to the league's high salaries and lengthy guaranteed contracts. This occurrence is sometimes seen in MLB, but it is almost never found in the NFL due to the league's relatively low salaries and most importantly, the lack of guaranteed contracts. NFL players who sign contracts with new teams and then don't perform can simply be released from their team, as the team is then only held responsible for the bonuses in the contract.
Famous quotes containing the words contract, year and/or phenomenon:
“The way in which men cling to old institutions after the life has departed out of them, and out of themselves, reminds me of those monkeys which cling by their tails—aye, whose tails contract about the limbs, even the dead limbs, of the forest, and they hang suspended beyond the hunter’s reach long after they are dead. It is of no use to argue with such men. They have not an apprehensive intellect, but merely, as it were a prehensile tail.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“The phenomenon of nature is more splendid than the daily events of nature, certainly, so then the twentieth century is splendid.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)