You think this would shake up the Draft!?

mrreddman

No way in hell that happens. Its way to risky if you want a specific player. Not to mention your gonna piss of your fan base, player, agents etc. and have a difficult contract negotiation to deal with whenever you do pick. Plus why not just trade back and pick up a pick or 2 in the process?

GMScud

They need to change the rookie pay scale. The fact that teams would even consider this stuff is silly.

No one wants to give damn near $40M in guarantees to a kid who has never played a snap of professional ball, especially if those teams with the top few picks aren't sold on any one player.

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Daseal

IMO -- Not a terrible idea if you can't get a player signed pre-draft. It's a good way to save money and still get one of your top players. Perhaps Detroit has Stafford, Curry, Monroe, and the other OT (name escaping me right now) all ranked very closely. Why not save millions of dollars and still come away with someone you really want.

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53Fan

It's the only logical thing to do. For a rookie to come into the league and be paid like a pro bowl player without ever playing a game at this level is ridiculous.

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Dirtbag59

ESPN actually has a cool mock draft application and in doing mine I got pretty scared. When I did it Crabtree fell to 7 and as a result Jeremy Maclin fell to us. It made me very sad face.

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Lotus

Spot on.

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SC Skins Fan

It would make a mockery of the draft system and would (or should) embarrass the NFL. The Lions would take some PR heat for it, but it would be a good statement about the absurdity of rookie contracts at the top of the draft. Maybe it would force the NFL to seriously consider a rookie pay scale, though I guess it would be the players would be resist such a move. Which doesn't make much sense to me since it would result in higher contracts for veterans (if the revenue was still divided in the same way) and the current system only benefits a small handful of guys.

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Mattyk

It sure would be interesting wouldn't it?

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CRedskinsRule

But, Detroit is not looking for a specific player and would be just as content with one of about 3-4 players, QB OL, or LB. You say why not just trade back, because NO ONE will trade for a top 3 pick.

Personally I think it would be hilarious if the draft went 30 minutes (top 3 teams) and no pick had been made because no one wanted to pay that 1st pick type of money.

I hope the new CBA (whenever it is reached) has a 2yr Rookie Contract clause. Is it possible to structure the pay based on average years per position? for example a RB may only average about 8-10 years, but a safety may average 13-15. So a rookie RB contract might be paid slightly higher, than at the end of 2 years, the drafting team is given a strong ability to re-sign the player at market conditions. It seems like this would enable teams to build home grown talent, plus make draft day trades more do-able.

Hog1

I will be..........waiting......watching

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Dr Do Itch Big

Uh Oh........Trirckle effect all ready? This is hilarious! Its like a game of hot potato for who picks "first". This is great!!!!
The National Football Post | Rams Willing To Trade #2 Pick

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SkinsFanSince91

I dont have the Lions taking Stafford anyways, so if they pass on the 1st pick, m ymock draft may look a little more realistic.

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gully

The team with the first pick has the advantage of negotiating with whoever they want. They could go to Alex Mack, for example, and negotiate a deal that recognizes that Mack isn't the best player in the draft, just the one that they are picking first. They could pay Mack like he was picked 15th - as long as he agrees.

Owners don't actually have to pay a player they pick in the draft if they can't get a reasonable deal, but historically agents have bent the owners over a barrel and maybe they are just used to it.

The real issue with trading out of the tops picks is an outdated tradevaluechart which is very broken. If the team that has a top pick like #2 and wants to drop down to #8, theyshould be willing to make that trade for minimal compensation in return, like a 3rd and a 4th. But the stupid tradevalue chart says that the difference is 1200 pts. My point is that the point value of these top picks should be drastically diminished, the scale is way out of whack.

Maybe the team with the high pick that doesn't want it can do something imaginative with it, like trade it to another team for their 6th round pick for the next 100 years (which according to the chart, is a steal for the team giving up the 6th round pick).