This is correct. You can renegotiate any player's contract except in the year that they signed their current contract. So if they sign a 3-year deal, you can't renegotiate in year 1, but you can in years 2 and 3. If they sign a 1-year deal, you won't be able to renegotiate with them at all, because they will always be in the first year of their contract.

So in the last year you can't renegotiate? You have to do it when they have 2 years left?

No, you can renegotiate in any year except the _first_ year of the contract. If you sign a player to a multi-year contract, you _can_ renegotiate in the last year of the contract (and unless they are willing to take a pay cut you usually have no reason to renegotiate any earlier).

I usually sign players to a 2-year deal if they are just for roster depth, because if you sign them to a 1-year deal they will automatically be a free agent the following year. If you sign them to a 2-year deal, you won't be able to renegotiate in the first year, but in year #2 you will.

Does that make more sense?

You _can_ renegotiate in the final year of the contract as long as it was a multi-year contract. That is in fact what the warning you receive is about - you have players who are in the last year of their contract and will be free agents once the season ends if they are not signed to a longer deal.

My standard MO is to always offer 2-year contracts unless I'm not going to lose any sleep over the player leaving at the end of the season (because he's there for depth and would be easily replaced by the existing free agent stock). Then anyone in the final year of their contract, I try to extend to minimum bonus 2-year contracts if they're asking for a 1-year deal (near the end of the season), that way they are at least on my roster next year but don't cost too much if I decide to cut them.