Editing Free agent (section)

== Deadlines and terms ==
In some leagues, free agency has [[Time limit|deadlines]]. For example, under the most recent [[NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement]], restricted free agents who do not sign contracts by December 1 of a given year will be ineligible to play in the [[National Hockey League]] for the balance of that season. However, other leagues (such as the [[National Basketball Association]]) have no such restrictions on signing periods in season, despite having a moratorium in the offseason.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/news/free-agency-explained|title=Free Agency Moratorium – Explained|work=nba.com|access-date=17 October 2023}}</ref>

In Europe, players can only move during [[transfer window]]s—during the close season and halfway through the league season. There are exceptions for unsigned professional players in the lower divisions.

=== Unrestricted free agent ===
'''Unrestricted free agents''' (UFA) are players not under contract with 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 (sports)|draft]] of amateur players. These people, generally speaking, are free to entertain offers from all other teams in the player's most recent league and elsewhere and to decide with whom to sign a contract. Players who have been bought out of league standard contracts may have restrictions within that league, such as not being able to sign with the buy-out club for a period of time in the NHL, but are otherwise not restricted.

=== Restricted free agent ===
{{Main|Restricted free agent}}
Restricted free agents (RFA) are typically players under contract with a team but are able to negotiate offers from other teams, with their current team able to match the terms of the newly offered contract. For a restricted free agent, some leagues require the comp team to offer to the original team one or more [[Draft (sports)|draft]] picks, when an offer is not matched, as compensation for losing the player.

=== {{anchor|Undrafted}} Undrafted free agent ===
{{Redirect|Undrafted|the film|Undrafted (film)|the album|Undrafted (album)}}
{{see also|List of National Basketball Association undrafted players}}

'''Undrafted free agents'''- In a league's annual draft of amateur players, they are free to negotiate contracts with any team. In most American professional sports, players are drafted by sequencing each team from worst to best (according to the teams' win{{ndash}}loss records the previous season, sometimes invoking a draft lottery factor to avoid having teams intentionally lose their last games to gain higher draft position) and allowing said teams to claim rights to the top players entering the league that year. Players who pass through an entire draft (usually several rounds) without being selected by any of the league's teams become unrestricted free agents, and these players are sometimes identified simply as ''undrafted free agents'' (UDFA) or ''undrafted sportspersons'' and are free to sign with any team they choose. The term "undrafted free agent" is most common in the [[National Football League]] (NFL), where rookies enter directly into the NFL and do not play in a [[minor league]] system. It can also occasionally be seen in the [[National Hockey League]] (NHL), which increasingly uses [[College ice hockey|college hockey]] as a source; the [[NHL entry draft]] usually drafts players of high school age (i.e., [[junior ice hockey|junior leagues]]), which allows overlooked players who excel at the college level or in European professional leagues to bypass the draft and sign directly with the NHL.

=== Legal provisions in the EU ===
In the [[European Union]], the 1995 [[Bosman ruling]] by the [[European Court of Justice]] established the right of free agency for [[association football]] players in all EU member nations. The Bosman ruling has since been extended to cover other professional sports and players from Eastern Europe. Players were still tied to their clubs unless their contract ran out until the [[Webster ruling]] allowed players the opportunity to move between nations, though it does not allow free players to move within the national league in which they currently play.