A draft idea.

[IMK]

Just had an idea pop into my head. I've barely thought it through, but imagine this:

1. No draft.

2. Each team has 10 million dollars of cap space to allocate to rookies.

This strikes me as a very fair and equitable system, both to the teams and to the players. What do you think?

[sfphillyfan]

So Fantasy Football, cap style?

The problem is that you don't make bad teams better, which has always been the intent of drafting 1 through 32.

I just think they need to put in a rookie scale but guarantee all the contracts for 3 years.

You do your 3 years service, you get to go for the big bucks.

[taz]

The system would have to be air tight, because nerds like Banner (good for us) will find ways around it so teams will unfairly gain. I think the draft is and should be here to stay. Every major sports league has a draft as a point of entry into its league. The biggest problem with the NFL draft is the dollars are unbalanced. Number 1 overall picks are getting more guaranteed dollars than star veterans. Fix that part of it and I think the draft will be just fine

[IMK]

The problem is that you don't make bad teams better, which has always been the intent of drafting 1 through 32.

I just think they need to put in a rookie scale but guarantee all the contracts for 3 years.

You do your 3 years service, you get to go for the big bucks.

I don't see a ton of evidence that the current system makes the bad teams better, do you?

Under this system, bad teams could stock their rosters with solid prospects (guys with 2nd-3rd round grades) instead of committing gobs of cash to one guy (who could bust and further cripple your team.) Or go ahead and throw the farm at a stud if you want. Any offseason plan is feasible.

[Jukin]

The only real solution is to set a dollar amount for each draft slot and remove the negotiation completely. A player drafted 3rd overall and one taken 151st will each know exactly what they're going to get as soon as their name is called. Make all rookie contracts a 3 year deal with players being RFAs at the end of the 3 years. That will allow them to negotiate a fair deal at the end of the rookie contract based on their actual performance. Since the league has antitrust protection they can set the dollar amounts for the draft slots and no one can do anything about it. As long as they appear to be fair in setting the value I think the players will go along with it.

[Eaglebreath]

So, all the eligable players become UFAs??

It's interesting, but I think it would be complete chaos when the market opened. I don't know how that would work. There's so many players, and teams. It would be nuts.

I tend to agree that there needs to be a salary structure for draft picks. There's just far too much money being spent on players who's future contributions are entirely unpredictable, and too many fail.

High draft picks are supposed to help bad teams get better. As Katy said, it certainly doesn't seem to work. And, one of the reasons is because these teams spend too much money on Jamarcus Russel.

They can keep the draft. BUT MOVE IT BACK TO SATURDAY AFTERNOONS, YOU A$$HATS. oops, sorry...anyways, the financial compensation for being drafted needs to be aligned with reality. It has to be fixed. Also, anything they can do to slot rookies will hopefully put a damper on these lengthy holdouts and other agent driven shennanigans that create a situation where a player is getting paid money up front that there's little chance of him earning because he's falling behind.

[sfphillyfan]

I don't see a ton of evidence that the current system makes the bad teams better, do you?

Under this system, bad teams could stock their rosters with solid prospects (guys with 2nd-3rd round grades) instead of committing gobs of cash to one guy (who could bust and further cripple your team.) Or go ahead and throw the farm at a stud if you want. Any offseason plan is feasible.

That's the fault of the teams, not the system.

It's the same system as the NBA and in the NBA, if you get the #1 or #2 pick, you've got a good chance of turning your team around. Yes, I realize 12 vs 53 guys but the theory that the worst team drafts first and can improve more is a good one. Alternately, they could simply trade #1 for a bunch of second and third rounders. The NFL can't help it if Matt Millen and his ilk are fools.

[IMK]

That's the fault of the teams, not the system.

It's the same system as the NBA and in the NBA, if you get the #1 or #2 pick, you've got a good chance of turning your team around. Yes, I realize 12 vs 53 guys but the theory that the worst team drafts first and can improve more is a good one. Alternately, they could simply trade #1 for a bunch of second and third rounders. The NFL can't help it if Matt Millen and his ilk are fools.

You say it's the teams, not the system, but the system FORCES bad teams to throw giant contracts at giant question marks. You can't 'simply' trade #1 for a bunch of second and third rounders. You have to find a trade partner, and those are rare. (Only twice in the last ten years has a team traded for the #1 overall.) Many teams don't want to go anywhere near a top 5 pick these days due to the salaries.

The NBA is a completely different situation. For one, a single star player has a DRAMATICALLY greater impact on the team. Two, there are only about 10-15 decent players in any given draft, and only a tiny handful of really good players.

[sfphillyfan]

And my solution to fixing the issue is to fix the contract issue, not the order of draft issue. Is Matthew Stafford the best player for Detroit? Most likely. Does he deserve 50 mil guaranteed? no.

To me, all scouting departments being equal, the first player pick SHOULD be the best player in the draft and so on and so forth. I like that the last team goes first.

[musicman]

Don't wish to change the NFL draft process,but Bill Polian said the other day that 50% of 1st rounders don't make it,that's a lot of cap space teams are tied to.Heaven forbid you miss twice in a short period.A salary structure for these players is indeed needed.
sfphillyfan,I would have a hard time choosing between your avatar and Kate in the first round.Best case, I could position myself somewhere between the 2.

[beagle]

Also the league is making money with televison on the draft now, the draft isn't going anywhere.

[sfphillyfan]

music - kate's got more money....

the signing bonuses and guaranteed money for top 10 draft picks is out of control. Greedy agents/players and desperate teams are gonna be their own downfall. You really gotta institute a scale to keep it fair.

[IMK]

Don't wish to change the NFL draft process,but Bill Polian said the other day that 50% of 1st rounders don't make it,that's a lot of cap space teams are tied to.Heaven forbid you miss twice in a short period.A salary structure for these players is indeed needed.
sfphillyfan,I would have a hard time choosing between your avatar and Kate in the first round.Best case, I could position myself somewhere between the 2.

Interesting that Polian would say that, because he's the one guy who has never had a first round bust in a dozen years.

[eagle eye]

The draft order is supposed to be a major way parity is created, but it can be a burden as well as a plus. It may help some if there is no cap but imo the salaries of the early picks needs to come down a lot and should just be pre-slotted. It's hard for teams to trade out of those early slots the way it is now which is a further handicap. Other times the team invests huge sums for a player who just starts to get good after 4 or 5 years when their massive contract is set to expire, putting the team in a further quandry.

I think the current structure is a reason why some teams are perennially bad.

[andrewaters]

The draft will not change ever and I don't think it should. It does serve its purpose to a degree.

Think about it. The Cards were able to finally get better. The Jets drafted Ferguson, Mangold and Revis and got better. The Falcons got Matt Ryan and quickly turned around the entire organization.

Yeah, you have teams that just screw it up constantly like the Raiders, Chiefs, and Bills but I'm not sure free agent bidding would fix that. In fact, I think it would get worse because small market teams would have more trouble.

It is the best system. Some teams just really suck at it.