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Texans QB
David Carr
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Bubbling beneath the surface, ready to rise up and shake up football more than any
divisional realignment, is an innovation as logical as it is radical.
It would be so dramatic, so startling, that Mel Kiper Jr. would pull out his hair.
Draftniks would go into cardiac arrest. And NFL teams would be the ones in most need of
shock therapy.
Yet, so sound is the idea, the NFL should study it with the intensity the United States
has reviewed its military policies. And then, the NFL should abolish the draft.
Immediately.
The no-draft system that replaces it essentially should be the same one already in
place during free agency.
Each team has a salary cap. It can spend its dollars whichever way it chooses. But once
the salary-cap space is gone, so is the chance to continue upgrading the roster. It is so
simple, so obvious, it is only surprising such a forward-thinking league hasn’t
already contemplated it.
Los Angeles-based agent Don Yee, who represents Patriots QB Tom Brady, backs the idea.
"The NFL is the ultimate Darwinian enterprise, and this would be a system that
would reward the smartest, shrewdest and most-skilled organizations," Yee said.
"And isn’t that why the owners, coaches and players compete? To determine
who’s the smartest, shrewdest and most-skilled organization out there?
"All the draft does is help unproven players establish a market value when
they’ve contributed nothing to the league and their production is speculative at
best. There is no downside to getting rid of the draft. A no-draft system would create a
league of the best competing against the best."
If the draft were put on waivers — as it should be — the benefits would
appear immediately. No longer would a majority of unaccomplished rookies be paid more than
accomplished veterans.
As it is now, once a player has Round One or Two or Three attached to his name, he is
subjected to a corresponding pay scale. Without the draft, there would be no rounds and no
pay scale. The best players with the best agents and best information would get the most
money. Easy enough.
No longer would teams try to trade down in the draft, as so many like to do to avoid
paying larger signing bonuses. Without a draft, a team wouldn’t be locked into a high
pick if it doesn’t want it. It would be able to pursue the same player it might have
drafted high — without the consequence of possibly paying a large bonus because the
player is a top-10 pick. Less economic risk.
No longer would college graduates be forced to move to cities while top entrepreneurs
at Harvard, top lawyers at Yale and top students at Brown can select their destination.
Players who play at Colorado could remain in Colorado; players who play in Pittsburgh
could remain in Pittsburgh. This would only increase fans’ ties to their local teams.
Better for the game.
No longer would publicity be confined to one weekend in April and the week leading up
to it. Shortly after the bowl games ended, the NFL’s signing period could begin. For
days on end, fans could read about the tour a talented quarterback such as David Carr is
taking. Or the interest DE Julius Peppers is generating. Or the offers S Roy Williams is
receiving. The NFL spotlight would not shut off.
In this environment, teams would have more incentive to hire the best coaches and
operate the best training facility, all to lure the best players. In this environment,
competition would rule. It would be chaotic for a while, sure. But it also would conspire
against complacency. The best organizations would quickly make the most sense of it. They
always do.
So draft the legislation now. Abolish the NFL draft.
"Without a draft, only a handful of players would command large bonuses because
teams would be able to play one player against another," Yee said, "And since
there would be no draft, there would be no calendar, and without a calendar, signings
would occur over a period of several months. Given the rookie salary cap, it could reward
those players who are willing to cut deals early. Teams would be able to do to the rookies
what they’re doing to veteran players now.
"Therefore, it would behoove any rookie to hire an experienced agent with good
information and judgment. As for the teams, the teams that are effective in targeting
players and getting them signed would be able to bring them into minicamp earlier;
consequently, they’d be in the best position to get the most out of their
rookies."
Over time, without very many realizing it, the draft has become a veteran that is too
slow to play the game. In these new times, with the game so different, it can’t keep
up.
The draft is supposed to structurally subsidize the worst organizations and give them
the fairest chance of catching the best ones. Yet, year after year, teams such as the
Chargers, Bengals and Cardinals find themselves in the top 10, but not the top 10 they
would like. Instead, they are heading up ESPN’s Draft Day coverage.
Part of the problem is that, in their draft positions, the worst teams are forced to
give signing bonuses larger than the gross national products of some countries to unworthy
players. Ryan Leaf is rewarded with riches. Akili Smith is showered with millions. Andre
Wadsworth is handed a golden parachute. For what?
Even the teams in the bottom half of the draft despise their positions. Just last week,
Seahawks director of college scouting Scot McCloughan said it’s easy to find 10 to 15
impact players coming out of college, but really difficult to find any more beyond that.
Yet once the Seahawks selected a player at the No. 28 spot in the first round, they became
obligated to pay him more than they were willing to give TE Shannon Sharpe when he was a
free agent.
Instead of waiting its turn, as the Broncos did in the first round of the draft, a team
could pursue whomever it wants, whenever it wants, and the team would be able to pay what
it wants to as many as it wants — as long as it fits within the rookie salary cap.
The system would put a greater emphasis on an organization’s scouting skills and
budget balances. It would allow the best organizations to shine and the worst ones to
wallow in inescapable sludge. It would root out the novice agents and reward the informed
ones. But most of all, the system would make sense.
Sometimes we get stuck in routines when there are better ways to do things. The NFL is
stuck in one right now, but improvements can be made. Let Kiper’s Q-ratings drop.
Give draftniks a new way to spend beautiful April Saturdays. And brace NFL teams for the
shock of their lives.
The draft has quit doing its job. Fire it.
Adam Schefter covers the Broncos for the Denver Post. |
