I have noticed that some teams are able to front load contract bonuses, so the amount owed in the later years is lower than what is paid at the start. It is preset to auto increase by 5% on my screen .. I am sure there is a button to check to manually adjust but I can't find it. Any help would be appreciated.

the 5% is related to annual salary increase

i believe the bonuses that you see are stacked....meaning a player was given a new contract before the previous one expired. the new bonus amount is then added to the existing bonus. here is Lions stud RB Lawrence Knowles for example https://uro.myfootballnow.com/player/10863 i did not frontload his bonus..... it is just compounded with the bonus that was already on the books

i do this often in order to have 6 year contracts expire once the players attributes start to decline....30yo for most positions..... more for line players, QBs, Ks & Ps

if this does not explain what you see please provide an example

I believe that is what it is. threw me off when the player had multiple years left on contract when signing a new one. Maybe that is a strategy I should stary looking into

yes if you look at that players transaction page you will see he was a rookie in 2093. all rookies are given 4 year contracts and rookies drafted in round four or earlier are given bonuses. then he signed a 6 year contract during the most recent simulation and his new bonus was added onto what he was already owed