Definition
Plain language
How far ahead of a contract's expiry date you start talking about renewing it.
As stated in the literature
Median months between opening a renewal negotiation and contract expiry; one of three behaviors positively correlated with FM-Bench score across all seeds.
Why it matters: It is a simple, measurable sign of whether an agent is looking ahead or only reacting to problems once they have already become urgent.
For example, opening talks eight months before a star player's contract runs out, rather than waiting until the last week when he can leave for free.
Heard on the show
“And third, renewal lead time, which is how early it opens contract talks before a player's deal expires.”Episode 245 — Fifteen Models Ran Football Clubs for Twenty Years, and Size Didn't Decide It