[NoOne]

he initial few years can be a bit odd with all sorts of things. give it time. it will find an ~average to float around. you can estimate this stuff based on the estimates given for revenues etc... unless they changed it, you have to use common sense to deduct expenses from est. revenue. estimates beyond revenue aren't so good. ~25-30m for non-payroll expenses is typical average, if i recall. supply and demand will cause it to eventually be profitable, if not year 1.

as far as comparing what happens in game to RL... unless you enjoy frustration, stop expecting it to match up. things happen in similar ways, but many choices are made differently. if teams don't have money, then they likely extended more players than their RL counterpart or anything else that costs money.

a real players 2018 league starts after free agency. few relevant teams should have excess money at this point.

edit looked it over a bit...

did you change any financials? revenue looks light. no big deal if you did. like i said don't look at their estimates beyond revenue and expensis.

the AI will not run a -10M average. they won't spend like that. expect payrolls to be ~120M. current salaries are a bit bloated for that revenue, so it will take time to recede. first couple years may have a few FA signing 1 year deals that are cheap and not a whole lot of sense -- but not 100s or anything.