Madden NFL 27 Franchise Mode Salary Cap Guide: What You Need to Know Before Signing Your Next Big Contract?

Madden NFL 27 received an update on August 26th. Besides the fixes announced by EA in advance, some changes not highlighted in the patch notes were observed during gameplay.

The most noticeable impacts of this update on Franchise are concentrated in Training Camp Mini Games and College Coach progression system.

In addition, the game added a batch of new Rivalry Uniforms, shoes, masks, and other cosmetic items.

Training Camp

One of the most noteworthy changes for Franchise players in this update is in Training Camp Mini Games and weekly training sessions.

Before the update, development trait upgrades were rarely seen when players developed Focus Players through training mini-games. Even with consistent weekly training, it was difficult for young players to achieve Star, Superstar, or even X-Factor development traits through this system.

This contrasts sharply with Madden 26. Previously, Training Camp was a crucial pathway to developing young players. However, Madden 27 removed the effect of Camp Counselor, which increased the probability of Dev Trait upgrades, significantly diminishing the system's practical value.

August 26th update has noticeably changed this. Current testing shows that Dev Trait upgrades are being triggered multiple times in over ten training sessions since the update, a stark contrast to the previous situation where upgrades were ineffective.

Whether EA has fixed Dev Trait activation or simply readjusted the upgrade probability remains unclear. Regardless, the update has at least re-established a link between Training Camp and young player development.

For Franchise players, this is far more important than a simple bug fix. Young player growth no longer relies solely on season performance, Breakout events, or other random opportunities.

As long as Dev Trait upgrade mechanism in training remains stable, weekly Training Camp will once again become a worthwhile investment of time in long-term team building.

For players who want to spend less time on resource grinding, buy Madden NFL 27 Coins from EZG.com and dedicate more time to building the lineup you actually want.

College Coach

College Coach type has also seen some tangible changes. After the update, some related Player Development abilities are now obtainable, such as Campus Conditioning. These abilities provide attribute bonuses to the entire team, including +1 Strength, with the highest tier even providing +1 Speed.

Unlike regular coach abilities, these bonuses cannot be maxed out directly; instead, corresponding Progression Goals must be completed. For example, completing two rushing touchdowns in a single game or reaching 100 rushing yards is required to unlock the next tier.

This also gives players another reason to plan around their coach build during Franchise games. If a specific bonus matters to your roster, completing its Progression Goals becomes part of weekly team development instead of something that can simply be unlocked with accumulated ability points.

College Coach progression now requires more than just ability points, as you also need to complete specific goals in Madden 27 games to move up each tier.

However, there seem to be some issues with the fourth tier of abilities; whether the final +1 Speed ​​for the entire team can be reliably unlocked is not entirely certain. However, Progression Goals and team-wide attribute bonuses at least give it a practical use.

New Uniforms and Equipment

Besides Franchise, the most immediately noticeable change in this update is a batch of new uniforms and equipment.

Rivalry Uniforms now cover Vikings, Bears, Lions, Packers, and several teams from AFC South.

The designs vary considerably in style. Texans lean towards a retro feel reminiscent of Houston Oilers, while the new blue of Titans is quite eye-catching. Their design opinions may be polarized, but entering the game in Madden 27 certainly provides a wider range of visual styles to choose from.

There are also many equipment updates. Nike Diamond Turf 2 has appeared in the new content, along with more Nike and Under Armour sneakers, and a new turtleneck top.

The number of Facemas is particularly large, approaching 20. These include both more traditional styles and some very exaggerated new designs. For players who enjoy customizing player appearances, this feature might be more appealing than new shoes.

Additionally, Guardian Caps have been added, and anniversary patches have been added for 49ers, Saints, and Texans, including 49ers' 80th anniversary, Saints' 60th anniversary, and Texans' 25th anniversary.

These features don't significantly affect gameplay, but they still have meaning in a sports game like Madden. The more timely the real-season uniforms, gear, and commemorative badges are, the more the games will look like an ongoing NFL season, rather than just a changed roster.

In August 26th update for Madden NFL 27, Training Camp is truly worth the attention of Franchise players.

With the reappearance of Dev Trait upgrades, weekly training is no longer just about grinding experience; it also provides a more valuable path for developing young players. College Coach has also improved, but whether some advanced abilities will unlock correctly remains to be seen.

As for Rivalry Uniforms, new shoes, facemask, and the anniversary patch, they primarily enrich player customization and match presentation. For Madden 27 players, the real focus should be on whether Dev Trait upgrades can be reliably triggered in the coming seasons.

Every year in Madden NFL series, there are hidden features that EA Sports doesn't explain, and Madden 27 is no exception. This year's version hides some game-changing features that can completely revolutionize your offense, defense, and tactical choices.

These hidden features are difficult for the average player to discover on their own. Therefore, this article introduces four hidden features in Madden NFL 27 that can change the game's dynamics. Once you know them, they will become your winning weapons. Let's take a look.

Formation Shifting

The most useful hidden feature in Madden 27 is called Formation Shifting, which changes the entire formation the instant the ball is thrown - without consuming any tactical commands.

How to Use?

Before the throw, move the right stick left or right. A Shift indicator will appear in the lower right corner of the screen. Next, as you scroll the screen, the game will display all available formations with the same personnel configuration.

Then select the formation you want to use and issue a tactical command. The on-field play will appear to match your current formation, but when you kick off, your team will switch to the formation you selected and execute your play instructions.

Effect

Imagine if you maintain an advantage in the first half with a Trips Tight formation. Wouldn't your opponent adjust accordingly, strengthening their defense and closely monitoring your offensive habits? In such a situation, wouldn't your advantage be significantly reduced later on?

In such circumstances, you can use formation shifting. Start with Pistol Bunch Tight, but set the formation shifting to Trips Tight, keeping the play unchanged. When the defense is caught off guard and loses their defensive advantage, your running back can find an opening that wasn't there before.

Chip and Release

EA never mentioned this feature in the pre-release promotional materials for MUT 27, but for pass-oriented players, Chip and Release may be the most useful new feature.

How to Use?

Select a passing play, then have your running back or tight end quickly run down any route. Once he's on your desired run, hold down Y or Triangle button, select his icon, and then press X button on Xbox or Square button on PlayStation. You'll see Chip and Release displayed.

His run will now be a purple/blue line, delaying his advance and keeping him in the screen position for a slightly later release - this short step is crucial.

Effect

Against Zone Coverage

This extra half-second allows linebackers and safety to move further into the defensive zone, creating a larger opening below. A delayed flat run can translate into a 15-yard advance simply because the defender's attention shifts elsewhere.

Against User-Controlled Defenders

Most players will see your running back standing still and immediately ignore him. By the time the opponent realizes something's wrong, it's too late.

Countering Raids

If the defense applies extra pressure, your running back or tight end will intercept before getting past the raider, buying the quarterback valuable passing time. This acts as a built-in safety valve.

ID the Mic and Untarget Defenders

The next hidden feature I'll introduce is incredibly useful in running offense. If you don't know about it, you're missing out! In MUT 27, you can identify microphones and untarget defensive players during running offense.

Why use ID the Mic in running offense? Because it truly helps you complete longer runs.

How to Use?

Press A button on your Xbox or X button on your PlayStation. A small M icon will appear, which you can move using the left analog stick.

If you want to run to the right outside, you might need to identify a cornerback defender further out. Simply press A button on your Xbox or X button on your PlayStation to select him. You'll find your advance significantly improved, your blocking more effective, and you lose fewer yards due to tackles.

In addition, you can untarget players. Typically, you can use this feature when playing against real players in Madden 27. For example, if you're passing the ball and the opposing team is trying to exploit a gap in your defense, you can unlock the opposing player, allowing your offensive line and teammates to ignore them.

How to Use?

Hold down the left trigger button + press Y button (Xbox) or the triangle button (PlayStation). A flame icon will appear on the screen. Move it to the defender you want your teammates to ignore and confirm.

Play Call Substitutions

This feature sounds simple, but its power is far greater than you might imagine. In previous Madden NFL games, you could substitute players in and out of specific formations, but these changes were temporary and limited to those formations.

In Madden 27, you can now directly modify the roster depth table in the tactics selection screen, and the changes will apply to all formations.

How to Use?

In the tactics selection screen, hold down the right trigger button (R2 on PlayStation), and simultaneously select any tactic within the formation. A substitution menu will pop up; then, find the player you want to substitute.

This is a clever time-saving feature that eliminates the hassle of manually substituting players every time you attack or switch formations, significantly impacting lineup management in competitive matches.

This concludes our analysis of the hidden features in Madden 27. EA may not have heavily promoted these features, but their existence is justified. Using them, you'll quickly realize they're not gimmicks - the cornerstones of a winning strategy manual.

Developer EA Sports suddenly performed emergency maintenance on Madden NFL 27 at 6 AM (Eastern Time) on August 19th, a move that nearly enraged players.

This maintenance wasn't a routine optimization; rather, it was due to two major bugs severely impacting gameplay in the game's two most popular modes, MUT and Franchise Mode, which had only been released for a week. This forced the developers to work overtime to fix them.

Currently, some bugs have been fixed, but player complaints haven't stopped.

MUT Mode Bug

In MUT mode, players collect player cards through packs, trading, or completing missions to build their own player lineups and compete against other players. This has always been the most popular mode in Madden series.

However, players discovered a bug in EVO player cards added to Madden 27's Evolution Store within this mode.

Specifically, EVO player cards allow players to permanently upgrade the stats of lower-rated player cards, unlock new skills, and even change the player's prototype by completing specific evolution missions, making them quite popular.

Players can acquire these EVO player cards using Coins or Madden Points in the in-game Evolution Store. However, each card is only available for one week; if a player doesn't acquire it within that week, they may never get it again.

For players with limited resources who need to quickly farm Coins to redeem EVO player cards, the remaining availability time is crucial information. However, a bug in the in-game display caused many players to miss out on their desired player cards.

To compensate for the players' losses, the developers extended the availability of the previous week's EVO cards until August 25th.

However, this was just the beginning. Soon, many players found themselves completely unable to access MUT mode, with some even being "shut out" of MUT mode for five or six hours starting at 11 AM that day.

A series of problems finally ignited the players' anger. Many players had invested real-world currency in MUT mode, not just game time and Madden NFL 27 Coins; this mode shouldn't have had so many bugs.

The developers responded with multiple tweets within hours and quickly scheduled emergency server maintenance for the following day.

Franchise Mode Bug

If the problem with MUT mode was that you could play but couldn't log in, then the problem with Franchise Mode was that you could log in but couldn't play.

Franchise Mode is another core gameplay element of Madden 27. In this mode, players take on the role of a team's general manager or head coach, responsible for managing the team's roster, salary cap, draft, training, and simulating multiple seasons of striving for the Super Bowl.

However, according to player feedback, almost simultaneously with the bug in MUT mode, a serious bug appeared in Franchise Mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X platforms:

When a player's Sim matches progressed to Week 2 of Season 1, the game would crash. Worse still, the entire Franchise Mode save file would be completely corrupted and unrecoverable, forcing players to create a new league from scratch.

Some players created as many as five different leagues for testing, trying various methods such as disabling pre-order bonuses and Franchise Points, but all resulted in crashes in the second or third week.

Regarding this equally serious issue, the developer only stated that they were investigating.

However, since players could still access Franchise Mode, the community discovered a temporary workaround:

First, go to Options in the game's main menu, select League Settings, and then go to Team tab; then, change Max Cloud Replay Downloads for Halftime and Weekly from the default 5 to 0.

Afterwards, some players found that their game no longer crashed. This indicates that the bug is likely related to a data reading error when the game attempts to download and play post-game highlight reels. Directly disabling replay downloads can temporarily bypass the crash point.

If your Franchise Mode bug hasn't been fixed yet, you can try this method first.

Why are Players Angry?

The contrast in the developers' handling of these two issues reveals the problem - they take bug in MUT mode very seriously; however, they postpone addressing Franchise Mode bug.

This difference in attitude is the core reason for player anger.

Similar incidents have occurred more than once. NFL 27 also has a bug that has existed since its release but the developers have never directly addressed - College Coach's exclusive ability unlocking failure bug.

Specifically, this game features a crossover with CFB 27. Players with a CFB 27 save file who create a College Coach in the game can unlock exclusive abilities, such as the top-tier Coach Ability called Visionary.

However, many players have discovered that even if they meet the unlock requirements, they still cannot unlock Coach's exclusive ability. The game prompts them that "College Football 27 save data is required to unlock". This bug still exists.

In short, what angers players so much is not just the bug in Madden NFL 27, but more importantly, a question buried in many players' minds: does the developer's speed in fixing bugs depend on bug's impact on their profits, rather than its impact on the game's quality?

However, given that Madden 27 has only recently been released, perhaps we need to give the developers more patience and confidence. We believe they will fix these bugs one by one in the future.

The core of Madden NFL 27's Franchise Mode is transforming a struggling team into a championship dynasty, and I believe there's nothing more satisfying than rebuilding a team.

But the question is, which team has the best chance of achieving your goal? And once you've chosen, how do you actually take action?

This guide will delve into the best rebuilding candidates in Madden 27 and explain the key strategies that will determine whether a team achieves a turnaround within three years or a decade of mediocrity.

Best Rebuilding Candidates

Generally, the best rebuilding teams share some key characteristics: a young core of players around whom you can build, a clear path to acquiring your core quarterback, and manageable salary cap space. Here are a few standout choices in my opinion:

New York Jets

New York Jets are an excellent rebuilding option for MUT 27, possessing ample draft picks and salary cap space to quickly acquire talent. After more than a decade of struggle, this team desperately needs a complete rebuild.

Despite a strong 2026 NFL Draft, which added promising young defensive players like David Bailey and D'Angelo Ponds, the team's offense remains a major problem.

Therefore, finding a player who can consistently fill the quarterback position is a top priority. Once the quarterback issue is resolved, strengthening other positions on the offense will undoubtedly create a competitive team.

Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals' situation may be even worse than New York Jets. They waived Kyler Murray in the offseason, leaving rookie Carson Beck as their only quarterback.

However, the good news is that the team's offensive roster does have some promising young players worth developing, such as Marvin Harrison Jr., Trey McBride, and Jeremiyah Love. Once they develop, a strong lineup can be built around them.

Pittsburgh Steelers

You might be surprised to see Pittsburgh Steelers on the rebuilding list, but given their current 50% win rate, a rebuild might be warranted.

While this team doesn't have any glaring weaknesses, they also lack true star players. However, if you choose Pittsburgh Steelers for a rebuild, they offer a stable foundation. No position is so bad as to require immediate reinforcement, meaning you can patiently draft and gradually build a competitive team in Madden 27.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a major variable on this list. This team showed championship potential early last season but then collapsed. This was due to the recent loss of Mike Evans, followed by Baker Mayfield's contract dispute.

In Madden 27 Franchise Mode, the right approach would be to let Baker Mayfield go and then completely rebuild the team.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers have some solid players to utilize, such as Tristan Wirfs, Antoine Winfield Jr., and Bucky Irving. Building around these three, and then adding a young quarterback, could put this team back on the championship bandwagon.

Strategies for a Successful Rebuild

Mastering Draft and Player Development

The draft is the lifeblood of any successful rebuild. For teams like Cardinals and Jets, early draft picks are crucial for finding a cornerstone quarterback and bolstering the offensive line.

Furthermore, in Madden NFL 27, player development largely depends on your coaching staff. To maximize long-term growth, Development Wizard archetype is arguably the best option for rebuilding.

Its balanced development approach ensures steady progress on both ends of the court, and its permanent boost to player development provides a significant cumulative advantage over several seasons. This is an ideal strategy for teams that primarily build through the draft.

Understanding and Utilizing Team OVR

In MUT 27, team OVR can be deceptive. Two teams with the same rating can perform drastically differently due to their offensive and defensive strengths. For example, Steelers have an OVR of 81, but their 87-point defense is their strength, while their offense is their weakness.

Understanding this allows you to develop a game plan around your team's strengths while using the draft to address their weaknesses.

Leverage Coach DNA and Scheme Fit

The head coach you choose is more than just a sideline director; their coach DNA brings tangible developmental benefits to the team. Therefore, when selecting a coach, you must assess whether their tactical system fits your roster.

If you have a young, inexperienced quarterback, a coach with a QB Whisperer archetype is crucial to accelerating their development. Similarly, a defensive Maestro can help a young defensive unit like Jets maximize its potential.

Therefore, you need to choose a coach whose strengths are based on the core players of your roster and reinforce those strengths through targeted training.

Stick To It

Team rebuilding isn't something that can be done in a short time. Don't expect immediate results. Teams like Jets and Cardinals have a long way to go before they can truly contend for a championship.

You just need to stick to your plan, believe in your player development strategy, and avoid panic trades that could jeopardize your long-term vision.

This concludes the article on how to rebuild your team in MUT 27 Franchise Mode. By choosing teams wisely and combining this with a rigorous long-term strategy, you can definitely transform a bottom-tier team in the league into a dynasty.

If you're new to Madden NFL 27 and love Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) mode, you might be facing a common dilemma: you want to build a strong team, but you're short on coins.

Don't worry, there are several ways to quickly earn coins in the game. One method utilizes a newly introduced mechanic and involves completing the simplest gameplay to earn over 200,000 coins in 30 minutes.

Below, I'll explain the entire process of this method in detail.

Solo Challenges

This method doesn't require advanced game skills. It starts with one of the most basic modes in Madden 27 - Solo Challenges. This is a very simple mode in MUT, often considered a training ground for beginners to familiarize themselves with game mechanics and tactics.

You need to enter Training Camp section in MUT 27 and complete 30 Solo Challenges. These Challenges are designed to be very easy, taking only about 30 minutes to complete.

After completing these 30 Challenges, the system will reward you with several different tiers of Packs. These packs are free and contain random player cards.

Then it's time to frantically open Packs! The player cards you get will be the reason you accumulate a huge amount of Coins in a short time.

Ultimate Captain

You might wonder: although you got free packs, why can the player cards you get from them sell for exorbitant prices?

To explain the secret, I must first introduce the core and most revolutionary new gameplay of Madden NFL 27 - Ultimate Captain.

In the game's MUT mode, players can choose any player with an OVR between 70 and 82 from Core Player pool as their Ultimate Captain, and all positions can be selected - except for Long Snapper.

Most importantly, players can develop their Captain abilities without spending any coins. The only way to improve a Captain's abilities is by completing specific in-game objectives to earn Skill Points - each Captain can have a maximum of 100 Skill Points.

Acquiring enough Skill Points will increase Captain's OVR. Currently, OVR cap is 83, but EA will gradually increase this cap in future.

Because everyone can develop their favorite low-rated cards into top-tier stars without spending coins, all player cards in 70-82 overall rating range suddenly possess enormous growth potential.

Currently, Madden NFL 27 players are flocking to Auction House, searching for physically gifted and fast players with potential to become their Captain candidates.

For example, a Darian Porter with an overall rating of only 74 can fetch 60,000 coins at the auction house due to its excellent speed and other key attributes; a Deionte Thompson with a rating of 72 can sell for around 50,000 coins; and a Xavier Worthy with a rating of 77 is said to sell for as much as 200,000 coins.

Therefore, players can earn a large number of coins at once by listing player cards acquired in Solo Challenge on Auction House.

Operation Guide

Now that we understand principle, how do we actually do it? The key lies in choosing which team's pack to open. Specifically, there are two strategies:

The first is a safe strategy: players can choose Las Vegas Raiders Pack as a safe bet.

The reason is that Raiders Pack contains two low-OVR but high-value Gold Cards - Darian Porter and Deionte Thompson, with OVRs of 74 and 73 respectively.

Because their OVR is lower, the drop rate in Packs is relatively higher, guaranteeing you a profit.

The second strategy is a high-risk, high-reward approach: If you believe in your luck, you can try your luck with the big prize. For example, Kansas City Chiefs Packs offer a chance to draw OVR 77 and extremely fast Xavier Worthy, rumored to sell for as much as 200,000 coins;

Or Philadelphia Eagles Packs offer a chance to draw OVR 79 Jihaad Campbell, which can be sold for 100,000 coins.

However, note that in Madden 27, a high OVR also means a lower drop rate. If you don't draw these high-OVR cards with good attributes, you might actually earn less.

But if you're lucky enough to draw them, you can instantly earn hundreds of thousands of coins.

Advantages

With so many ways to farm coins in MUT 27, why choose this method? I believe this method has the following advantages:

First, it requires no initial investment of coins, making it a completely zero-cost start. You only need to invest about 30 minutes of your time, while the return can reach hundreds of thousands of coins.

Even if you're unlucky and don't get good player cards, you can still gain thousands to tens of thousands of coins, as well as a wealth of game experience. This is much more cost-effective and controllable than gambling with Madden Points to open player card packs.

Second, this method will remain effective for a long time. While players only need to utilize Ultimate Captain mechanic to develop high OVR player cards in the early stages of game, as time goes on, more powerful new cards will replace these early gold cards, and their prices will naturally drop.

But based on past experience, that will take at least half a month to a month. And you only need to enter the game now and spend half an hour to earn this amount of coins.

That's how to quickly farm a large number of coins in Madden NFL 27. Currently, there is almost no simpler and lower-cost way to farm coins in the game. This guide is perfect for all newcomers to MUT mode.

Madden NFL 27 was released globally on August 13, 2026. I thoroughly enjoyed Madden 25 and Madden 26, thoroughly appreciating their gameplay and Dynasty Mode. Therefore, I had very high expectations for MUT 27. However, after playing it, I found that this new title doesn't quite live up to them.

Would you be surprised if I said Madden 27 is the worst installment in the series I've ever played? While it's not entirely without improvement, it certainly has a lot of flaws.

This article will provide a brief review of MUT 27, analyzing some of its strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths

Compared to previous titles, this new game doesn't have many advantages, which I'll briefly mention.

Franchise Mode

In Madden NFL 27, Franchise Mode has undergone some changes. The contract management and free agent market are particularly impressive, and new content allowing players to choose to renew player contracts before they expire shows that EA has put some thought into it. This new content allows players to have a more immersive gaming experience.

Broadcast and Commentary

MUT 27's broadcast and commentary are excellent. Different holiday broadcasts feature different packaging, making me feel like time was actually passing.

The commentators seem to be doing a better job than before when discussing the importance of the game, its history, current league statistics, and the leaders, creating a truly immersive experience.

Weaknesses

Now, I'm going to talk about the game's shortcomings. I'm really angry and need to vent.

AI Defense

The opposing AI defenders' movements are unrealistic, completely suppressing the new timed catch system, making it almost impossible for them to function properly. The opposing AI defenders are simply too crazy.

I played on All-Star difficulty because I just wanted to sit back and relax, not be too stressed. But even on this difficulty, AI-controlled defenders seem to anticipate the ball's trajectory almost telepathically. This is ridiculous! How am I supposed to play? Has this game started excluding casual players?

Passing Accuracy

The quarterback's passing accuracy and consistency are extremely poor. Even if you manage to beat their telepathic abilities, it's useless because the passing system itself is a bug.

To test the passing system, I spent a lot of Madden 27 Coins acquiring various players, and I found that regardless of whether you're using a 99 or 60 OVR quarterback, there are several times in every game when the pass inexplicably misses an open receiver. It's absurd.

Receiver Drops

In previous games, there was a phenomenon where the receiver would drop the ball as soon as they touched it. In MUT 27, I think the situation is even worse.

I experience at least 7-8 fumbles per game. My quarterback finally gets the ball to the receiver, only for the receiver to twist their body in some silly way, or the defender makes an illogical extra move, and then the ball falls.

This makes my short passing incredibly painful. I can't exploit defensive gaps to complete the pass now, so what should I do? I'm really at a loss.

DB Catch Better Than Wide Reciever

This problem has existed in the past three or four games, but I think it's the most severe this time. When I throw the ball, the defensive backs can catch it as soon as they get close. The wide receivers, however, give up halfway through their run. Is this some new bug? What is EA trying to do?

Cluttered Franchise Mode Menu

Franchise mode menu in Madden 27 is cluttered and confusing. Maybe I haven't gotten used to it yet, but I really feel that the new menu layout is terrible, and finding things is particularly difficult. I often wander around in circles in the menu, and sometimes I even accidentally exit the menu.

Why can't EA make the menu simpler and cleaner? It's so cluttered and disorganized, hindering my game progress. I'm here to play, not to admire the menu. This approach really prioritizes the game over its content.

Re-Signing System

The player renewal system feels incredibly rudimentary and is entirely triggered by random events.

While I like the basic setup of the renewal system - starting with a base offer and then adjusting based on player needs - it feels very realistic. However, I think the most foolish thing is that you can't choose which players to renew; you can only choose those randomly triggered by the game.

For example, you have a wide receiver with unlimited potential whose contract expires in three years, and you want to renew him before his market value rises? Then you'd better hope a prompt pops up in the menu!

Or, you have a developing free agent quarterback, and only then do you have a chance to renew him before his experience and performance increase his value.

I really want to ask EA, why can't players go into the menu to see which players qualify for NFL renewals and then choose the ones they want to renew? NBA 2K does this exceptionally well; why not learn from them?

After listing so many flaws, you probably think I lost a lot in Madden 27, right? Actually, no. I've only played for a few hours, but I've already scored over 70 points in several games.

But I feel like half the game is a battle I can't win, and the other half feels like easily breaking through the defense. There's absolutely no sense of urgency or even competition on the field. Winning doesn't feel rewarding either; what's the fun in that?

That concludes my review of Madden NFL 27. I had a great experience with CFB 27, so I had high expectations for MUT 27. It seems the development team has botched it again.