A Sleepless Night Ahead (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Pasquino]

Since the court granted a temporary stay, some teams will be concerned about three major items:

1. Free agents - no idea who is going to be a free agent. If it is the old, old rules (2009) then about 500 players are fair game. If it is 2010 rules, only 200 are available. HUGE difference.

2. Free agents (part 2) - Based on #1, up to 300 players may (or may not) be on their current team. Another concern for guys like Sidney Rice or DeAngelo Williams, for example.

3. UDFAs - Or not. After the draft concludes, teams will NOT be able to sign these players now. That makes teams with a large number of picks on Day 3 very much in charge of Day 3 and very big potential trade partners. Keep in mind that comp picks cannot be traded in the NFL, so after around Pick 233 (Green Bay) then that's the end of dealing.

With all that in mind, they have to look and see who is available and draft for talent first, need second - or so they should be. Odds are that many teams will look for some "just in case" picks, such as a RB or WR or other key cog of the team suddenly not being an RFA or available whenever the dust settles yet again.

 

[shader]

Very interesting. What a strange offseason this has been. I've thoroughly enjoyed the last two days of football talk, but tomorrow it's back to reality.

 

[Jeff Pasquino]

My skill position shopping list for teams on Day 3 (assuming they all want to address a team need, absent the chaos of free agency):

QB:

Miami

Arizona (cough, Kolb, cough)

Washington

Top 2 QBs left:

Ricky Stanzi

Tyrod Taylor

(no other QB has >5.0 on NFL's grading system)

RB:

Atlanta

Baltimore (assuming McGahee does not return)

Chicago (C. Taylor gone)

Cincinnati (Benson not signed)

Denver

Indianapolis (Addai may be gone/RFA, tiring of Brown?)

NY Giants (Bradshaw could be gone, BJacobs grumbling about contract)

Philadelphia (no backup for McCoy)

Pittsburgh (not 100% confident in RB2s)

St. Louis

Seattle

Tampa Bay (Caddy gone)

Washington

RBs available (quite a large number - should be a fun Day 3):

Taiwan Jones

Kendall Hunter

Johnny White

Jacquizz Rodgers

Jordan Todman

Dion Lewis

Derrick Locke

Delone Carter

Bilal Powell

Roy Helu

(end of RBs with >4.5 score)

WR:

Arizona (if Breaston is RFA)

Carolina

Cleveland (are the comfy with their depth?)

Houston (Jacoby Jones coming back?)

Jacksonville

Kansas City (still need more)

Minnesota (Rice could be RFA)

NY Jets (Edwards and Holmes both could be gone)

San Fran (need a third WR)

Tennessee (need depth)

Washington (Santana Moss could be gone)

WRs available:

Tandon Doss

Edmond Gates

Dwayne Harris

Greg Salas

Jeremy Kerley

Niles Paul

Ricardo Lockette

Cecil Shorts

Jamel Hamler

Darvin Adams

(end of WRs with >4.5 score)

TEs:

Buffalo (if they think Nelson can't stay healthy)

Carolina (need youth / backup for Shockey)

Denver (if they ever use one)

Miami

NY Giants (Boss could be gone)

TEs available:

Luke Stocker

Virgil Green

DJ Williams

Jordan Cameron

Charles Clay

Weslye Saunders

(end of TEs with >4.5 score)

Sleeper TE (unlisted on NFL.com) - Andre Smith

 

[Stinkin Ref]

great breakdown Jeff...some quality left at RB and TE fo sho...

 

[Sabertooth]

This makes really no difference to us Packer fans as Ted has shown that free agents aren't needed to build a championship. You guys keep chasing that dream.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I'm not sure the Ravens will take a RB. They've got Rice, McLain, and ?? (name escapes me - young dude) already even without McGahee, though I'd also like to see Willis in the fold for another year.

If it were me, I'd concentrate solely on LB, DB, and OL the rest of the way. But Ozzie's a helluva lot smarter than I am.

 

[identikit]

I'm not sure the Ravens will take a RB. They've got Rice, McLain, and ?? (name escapes me - young dude) already even without McGahee, though I'd also like to see Willis in the fold for another year.If it were me, I'd concentrate solely on LB, DB, and OL the rest of the way. But Ozzie's a helluva lot smarter than I am.

Parmele, Steele too..

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I'm not sure the Ravens will take a RB. They've got Rice, McLain, and ?? (name escapes me - young dude) already even without McGahee, though I'd also like to see Willis in the fold for another year.If it were me, I'd concentrate solely on LB, DB, and OL the rest of the way. But Ozzie's a helluva lot smarter than I am.

Parmele, Steele too..

Thanks - my memory is slipping in my old age. I've read here and there that the Ravens need to beef up the run game, but they don't need better RBs. It's the O line that has disappointed. They drafted a mountain named Jah Reid yesterday to compete at RT so maybe he'll help. But the interior and Oher need to get better too.

 

[comfortably numb]

Are teams allowed to negotiate with their drafted players?

To essentially get a deal "in place" but not sign?

 

[GroveDiesel]

Are teams allowed to negotiate with their drafted players?To essentially get a deal "in place" but not sign?

Seems like a terrible idea for teams. "Hey Cam, we'd be willing to pay you $70M over 5 years."-Then a new CBA is finally agreed upon with a rookie cap."Hey Cam, I know we told you we thought you were worth $70M over 5 years, but thanks to the new CBA we're paying you $20M over 4 years. No hard feelings, right?"

 

[Hoss_Cartwright]

Thanks for posting this, good job.

 

[QuizGuy66]

This is a great posting Jeff. Total side note, but I think Goodell's constant fumbling of names this year probably was product of getting like 1 hour of sleep with all the other goings on.

Kinda of rooting for my Bengals to get Jacquizz Rodgers...uh, no reason

-QG

 

[Jeff Pasquino]

This is a great posting Jeff. Total side note, but I think Goodell's constant fumbling of names this year probably was product of getting like 1 hour of sleep with all the other goings on. Kinda of rooting for my Bengals to get Jacquizz Rodgers...uh, no reason -QG

I don't think he did much worse than some of the NFL players did.Although I did at NatRAINE Means... someone didn't play enough Tecmo.

 

[Jeff Pasquino]

This makes really no difference to us Packer fans as Ted has shown that free agents aren't needed to build a championship. You guys keep chasing that dream.

So Frank Zombo wasn't worth anything? OK....

 

[comfortably numb]

Are teams allowed to negotiate with their drafted players?To essentially get a deal "in place" but not sign?

Seems like a terrible idea for teams. "Hey Cam, we'd be willing to pay you $70M over 5 years."-Then a new CBA is finally agreed upon with a rookie cap."Hey Cam, I know we told you we thought you were worth $70M over 5 years, but thanks to the new CBA we're paying you $20M over 4 years. No hard feelings, right?"

So the draft was under the old CBA allowing the draft to go on uninterupted? But the signing of this class will be under the new CBA agreed upon?

 

[GroveDiesel]

Are teams allowed to negotiate with their drafted players?To essentially get a deal "in place" but not sign?

Seems like a terrible idea for teams. "Hey Cam, we'd be willing to pay you $70M over 5 years."-Then a new CBA is finally agreed upon with a rookie cap."Hey Cam, I know we told you we thought you were worth $70M over 5 years, but thanks to the new CBA we're paying you $20M over 4 years. No hard feelings, right?"

So the draft was under the old CBA allowing the draft to go on uninterupted? But the signing of this class will be under the new CBA agreed upon?

Nobody knows the answer for sure. The draft was provided for in the old CBA, but the signing of the players after the fact was not. However, if the 8 Circuit court upholds the injunction against the lockout, then the most likely scenario is that this year's draft would probably end up falling under the previous rules. Unless the NFL and players end up creating a new CBA in the very near future before players are signed. I'd say the chances of each scenario happening in order of probability would be:1) Lockout is struck down and the NFL goes on this year under very similar rules to 2010 while this thing goes through the courts2) Lockout is struck down and the NFL goes on for now under the 2010 rules, but then a new CBA is agreed to before the season. No rookie cap for 2011, but potential rookie cap for 2012.2) Lockout is struck down and the NFL and players create a new CBA that dictate terms for this year, including a potential rookie cap3) Lockout is upheld and nothing happens until right before the season starts, or even a few weeks into it. Players then cave and sign new CBA with the owners which potentially includes a new rookie capI think number 1 is the most likely outcome. But with even the potential for the other options, there's no way teams can sign anyone until they know one way or the other anyway.

 

[smackdaddies]

This makes really no difference to us Packer fans as Ted has shown that free agents aren't needed to build a championship. You guys keep chasing that dream.

So Frank Zombo wasn't worth anything? OK....

Howard Green really didn't do anything either ...