Abolishing the draft (1 Viewer)

[westbrook36]

What I like about the draft is that, for two days at least, the entire league is compelled to compete on an entirely even playing field. It's a great equalizer, and the best that the league has even after all of these years with trying to come up with others including the salary cap system.

red, my good friend, I don't see what is so even about a team getting the first pick every round while another team gets the 32nd pick every round. This isn't like one of our fantasy drafts where No. 32 also gets the 33rd pick.

In a literal sense, you're right of course, but as you know that 's meant to account for team strengths, etc. My point is that the draft forces teams to take turns picking the rights to sign players, rather than it being a mad scramble that is primarily centered upon ability to pay.

Well I agree it would be a battle for the union to agree to this, but the NBA managed to get it done somehow and their union is stronger than the NFL's is. The NBA has it set up where the first two years are guaranteed, but the NFL can obviously adjust this to make it fit their league better. The current CBA runs for a while, so for now this system is staying.

 

[renesauz]

After reading most of this thread, there seems to be good reasons both for and against the current system, but at least no one is arguing about how the top picking teams are NOT getting the advantage they are suppsed to be .

I like the idea of capping the rookie bonuses (to make cutting top rookie picks less painful), but dislike the idea of a hard rookie salary cap. With that said, I do think there should be a cap....just a fairly large cap that isn't pick position specific. (Like say the CAP for ALL picks in this years draft is 1.25 times the average signed by picks 5-10 last year.) Such a measure should satisfy both sides as it provides for a high cap unlikely to affect any but the very top picks. The advantage of picking high would be restored, but the biggest problems inherent in a cap would be avoided.

Rookie free agency is a very bad idea which would lead to a lot of cheating, and make parity far more difficult to obtain.

 

[Liquid Tension]

Interesting tidbit on PFT earlier today about some teams, GM's, etc redoing the value chart commonly used with draft picks. The top picks get paid a great deal and that makes their relative "value" less than the current chart (primarily developed by Jimmy Johnson and the Cowboys) a bit outdated. It is a logical next step in the progression of the NFL draft.One idea not noted in this discussion yet:If the draft was abolished a dirty little segment of the football world would become much more prevalent...agents influence over prospective rookies would become almost unbearable and do a great deal of damage to the NFL game (and probably college football). See also, the NBA in the 1990's and early 2000's. NFL owners "tampering" with free agent players currently in the league is one thing but does anybody doubt that certain organizations would start courting players in college behind the scenes? No thanks.

your first paragraph shows that the GM's are starting to think like I think they should.Your 2nd paragraph does make a good point of why the draft should be there, but maybe tweaking the dollars per slot would make more sense? The auction could still work though, but I think it would need to reflect proper years and signing bonus' in your bid. Perhaps a set signing bonus would be in place and then you bid on the 4 year contract that is split a set way