Comments on: Down with Crabtree! Down with the draft?

By: John

John — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:07:31 +0000

Jim’s analysis is spot-on. At a more general level, if an auction-style system were used in the presence of a salary cap, truly bad teams would be much better able to build for the future because they could concentrate on stockpiling lower-valued depth rather than being cap-crushed by signing an overpriced/unproven QB, LT, or DE.

The risk-reward structure under the present system is really, really out of whack. See contract implications of Russell, JaMarcus.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:21:30 +0000

The draft is as mush of a parity tool as anything else. It is arranged to give the weaker teams a chance to accumulate premium talent.

Under an auction system, why would any marquee player opt to goto Detroit or Oakland if the numbers were anywhere close.

I believe parity is a good thing for the NFL, and the draft (like the salary cap) is a tool to preserve parity.

By: Benjee

Benjee — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:03:04 +0000

Though I’m no fan of the draft system, an “auction” would stir some fairly controversial images. Imagine hundreds of mostly black college football players standing on a stage, getting bid on by 30 mostly white general managers. What sordid aspect of our nation’s history would that scene remind you of?

By: Vik

Vik — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:59:23 +0000

Interesting thoughts, Chris.

How would the auction system or the Madden-type system factor in trades? For example, if a player (Anquan Boldin, for example) were to be traded during the season, what sort of compensation would the Cardinals get?

By: MichaelC

MichaelC — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:29:02 +0000

Why not just let the player “pass” on a drafting team if they do not want to play there. Then they can negotiate with the highest bidder. If it meant the loss of the draft pick by the selecting team, they would be well-advised to arrive at a satisfactory contract offer before even drafting the player. Of course, this is all dependent upon a salary cap which would limit the Jerry Jones effect.

By: Dave M

Dave M — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:58:26 +0000

“Was Crabtree required to participate in the draft?”

Yes, he couldn’t just refuse and become a free agent. And if even seniors could, he came out early.

By: stan

stan — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:49:29 +0000

The draft is (and has been ruled to be) a blatant antitrust violation. Only the alternative universe that labor law has become allows two groups of people to sell out the rights of a third group for their own gain so blatantly.

As for the draft, it seems that the rookie pay structure has gotten to the point where a lot of teams aren’t willing to part with much value in order to move up in the draft — it costs too much to sign them. As the perceived value of draft picks drops, will we eventually see a team decide to give up an early first round pick rather than incur the salary? That is, they don’t want to pick and can’t find anyone to take it because the quality of the players available doesn’t seem to warrant the cost of their salary in that slot.

By: dr

dr — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:43:30 +0000

The lingering question behind this whole debate is why haven’t the contracts become more results oriented instead of prospect oriented. In other words, you give a WR a good base salary and then give him bonuses for catches, YAC, blocks on TD runs, etc. Instead, these guys are given huge contracts and then have no real incentive to perform until their contract is up for renegotiation.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:07:23 +0000

I really thought I was the only one that believed the NFL are bogus. The whole idea of the draft makes little sense for anyone except the league office really. The worst team that drafts first is forced to take a QB, LT, or a pass rusher as no other position warrants the money given in that slot. The whole top 10 are taking players that have huge salaries that do more to hurt the team than help in most cases. If there was a free market for entering players bad teams would be able to go in and take the QB that would have been drafted number 1 a left tackle that would have went 8th and a WR that would be 18th in the draft and actually have a chance of contending the next year. There would be no hold outs. The players would know their market value but maybe more importantly not be forced into bad organizations that will hurt there careers. The biggest argument against this I find unconvincing which is that the rich will get richer. But, that just does not make sense as a team will only keep one and maybe 2 high priced QB’s on the roster and what stud QB coming out will want to wait behind 2 other players just to get a shot.

By: I R A Darth Aggie

I R A Darth Aggie — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:07:20 +0000

Was Crabtree required to participate in the draft? I don’t see why he couldn’t refuse to participate in the draft and negotiate as a free agent like any other job seeker.

Of course, it’s a union shop so he has to abide by the labor agreement regardless of his status in the union. Oh, and he might get a nice signing bonus as a prospective free agent, but nothing like he might be able to get as the 10th pick.

Of course, we have previous examples of John Elway and Eli Manning getting what they wanted.