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Should The NFL Abolish The Player Draft? (1 Viewer)

Should The NFL Abolish The Player Draft?

  • Definitely Abolish The Draft

    Votes: 10 9.0%

  • Probably Abolish The Draft

    Votes: 1 0.9%

  • On The Fence

    Votes: 4 3.6%

  • Probably Keep The Draft

    Votes: 10 9.0%

  • Definitely Keep The Draft

    Votes: 86 77.5%
  • Total voters
    111
Joe Bryant

Joe Bryant

Guide
Staff
Asked this in the Shark Pool but wondering what folks here thought too.

There is talk the NBA should abolish the Player Draft. https://twitter.com/kevinarnovitz/status/1140998606108758016

The NBA has been trying to figure out why its players aren’t happier. One possible factor as we head into the draft: Incoming NBA players aren’t afforded the most basic amenity of professional and personal happiness: a say in where you work and live:
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ESPN is running an article saying Zion Williamson should be allowed to choose where he plays. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/NBADraftplayerspotlight26972005/let-zion-williamson-choose-where-wants-play-next

What would you think if the NFL abolished the Draft?

 
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Easy no, this is stupid. If leagues did that you may as well just abandon all your non-warm weather/non-major media market franchises.

Goodbye Boston, Seattle, Portland, Pennsylvania, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, etc, etc. Absolutely horrible idea for any sport.

Also another huge reason for the NBA unhappiness is modern team policy of forcing these young kids to engulf themselves in social media.

 
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I feel like this is a "be careful what you wish for" scenario. I know that a lot of players feel like they're being unfairly restricted from choosing their own employer, but if we eliminated the draft then we'd also eliminate the prestige of being the #1 pick (or a 1st round pick, etc.), which could ultimately lead to a drop in salaries.

 
Joe Bryant said:
Asked this in the Shark Pool but wondering what folks here thought too.

There is talk the NBA should abolish the Player Draft. https://twitter.com/kevinarnovitz/status/1140998606108758016

ESPN is running an article saying Zion Williamson should be allowed to choose where he plays. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/NBADraftplayerspotlight26972005/let-zion-williamson-choose-where-wants-play-next

What would you think if the NFL abolished the Draft?
Click to expand...
This is a sure fired way to get me to no longer care about sports the same way I currently do.  Not saying I wouldn’t still watch but I wouldn’t be emotionally invested.

 
in my mind the employer is the nfl not a particular team and how and where hr puts you well thats up to hr and you just get back to your cubeical and finish your tps reports thats what i say take that to the bank bromigos

 
I like this idea for the NFL, where there's a hard cap.

It's way more dubious in a sport with no hard cap because of the competitive imbalance that would result. We know pretty much exactly what that looks like, because that's what the European soccer leagues do I believe. That product- where the same small group of teams sign all the best players and win all the championships for decades- won't fly with American sports fans IMO. They've been conditioned to expect parity and to always have at least a remote hope that the local team will win a championship. I can't see them being happy with qualifying for various things and staying in the league and maybe getting lucky in single elimination secondary tournaments, as is the case for fans of non-elite Euro soccer clubs.

 
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Another possible factor why players aren't happier is that only one team can win each season. Maybe leagues can eliminate the championship game and implement co-champions each season to double the amount of winning players?

 
I think we should also do away with games.  You're just asking for people to get hurt.  Studies show that more athletes get hurt PLAYING sports than any other activity.  It's crazy how no one addresses this.  Also, fine teams that win by too big a margin.  It's disrespectful.  I'd say take away a draft pick to repeat offenders, but no more draft.  Lastly, get rid of the owners.  Let the players run the teams and have full control over everything.  So tired of the rich getting everything they want just because they have money.  It's not fair.

 
TobiasFunke said:
I like this idea for the NFL, where there's a hard cap.

It's way more dubious in a sport with no hard cap because of the competitive imbalance that would result. We know pretty much exactly what that looks like, because that's what the European soccer leagues do I believe. That product- where the same small group of teams sign all the best players and win all the championships for decades- won't fly with American sports fans IMO. They've been conditioned to expect parity and to always have at least a remote hope that the local team will win a championship. I can't see them being happy with qualifying for various things and staying in the league and maybe getting lucky in single elimination secondary tournaments, as is the case for fans of non-elite Euro soccer clubs.
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You aren't wrong, but if you compare the top flight of English soccer to the NBA over the past 40 years - same number of franchises have won it all. So we are kind of already dealing with that to some degree, although there is no relegation here to deal with. The titles are more evenly distributed amongst the winners in the NBA though. 

I know it's kind of a separate issue, but it's somewhat related, but there is just absolutely no reason why we should have major athletics tied to our institutions of higher learning. We're getting away from that model in soccer because we actually have to compete with other countries, but in bball and football there's not enough competition to expose how terrible of a system it is. 

 
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stupid.  nba players are unhappy?  screw them.  they play a freaking game for a living and get paid stupid amounts of money to do it.  i'm sooooooooo sick of everyone's feelings getting hurt.  shut your mouth and do your job. a job, that pays you an OBSCENE amount of money.  booo hooo...poor zion.  he's only gonna make 30 million or so, his first 4 years.  not counting endorsements.  how on earth is he going to make it?   

NFL, learn how to negotiate a better CBA.

 
Now that I think about it if you were to abolish the draft you'd almost have to scuttle the whole amateur/NCAA system anyhow. Teams in less than desirable locales would need to be able to identify and sign young talent before they are ready to actually play in the league. You'd have to have a more robust minor league or youth league as well. 

 
I don't think the nba cares if their players are actually unhappy. They get paid millions to play basketball. What are they going to do, quit?

I think they just want to uphold an image.

 
Joe Bryant said:
What would you think if the NFL abolished the Draft?
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Without a thorough explanation detailing why and accounting for all intended and unintended consequences that would stem from such a change I think it's a very silly subject to waste even this sentence writing.  It strikes me as clickbait at a time in which writers need to generate clicks but don't have anything of substance to actually provide.

 
Joe Bryant said:
Asked this in the Shark Pool but wondering what folks here thought too.

There is talk the NBA should abolish the Player Draft. https://twitter.com/kevinarnovitz/status/1140998606108758016

ESPN is running an article saying Zion Williamson should be allowed to choose where he plays. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/NBADraftplayerspotlight26972005/let-zion-williamson-choose-where-wants-play-next

What would you think if the NFL abolished the Draft?
Click to expand...
If they abolish the NBA draft...they might as well just move 15 teams to FL and 15 to CA.  Top level players don't want to play anywhere else as it is now. 

 
Black Box said:
Another possible factor why players aren't happier is that only one team can win each season. Maybe leagues can eliminate the championship game and implement co-champions each season to double the amount of winning players?
Click to expand...
They could eliminate the championship game altogether and announce at the end of each season that everyone is a champion. Hand out trophy's and rings and each city gets a parade and bragging rights. Let everyone know at the beginning of the next season that you won't be doing that again but when the next season ends name everyone a champion again. Some players would start to realize they will be champions anywhere they play and everyone will be happier.

This could spread to all sports and even the regular workforce. Everyone is a champion. Good times...

 
Moe. said:
You aren't wrong, but if you compare the top flight of English soccer to the NBA over the past 40 years - same number of franchises have won it all. So we are kind of already dealing with that to some degree, although there is no relegation here to deal with. The titles are more evenly distributed amongst the winners in the NBA though.
Click to expand...
Also, the NBA champions have come from places like San Antonio, Cleveland, and Toronto. A team from Milwaukee was probably on the verge of a title this season, considering what transpired after they lost their playoff series. A team from Oklahoma City has come tantalizingly close on multiple occasions, and a team from Utah would probably have a couple titles if not for a singular talent who stood in their way. Go back 44 years instead of 40 and you can add champions from Seattle, DC and Portland to the list. Other than Toronto, none of that happens without a draft.

Compare that to the Euro model- how many EPL champs outside London and Manchester (I know about last year)? How many La Liga champs outside Madrid and Barcelona? I think that's what the American leagues would resemble of they followed the no draft, no salary cap or soft cap model, and I don't see American sports fans going for it.

 
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AAABatteries said:
This is a sure fired way to get me to no longer care about sports the same way I currently do.  Not saying I wouldn’t still watch but I wouldn’t be emotionally invested.
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I can't tell of you have tongue firmly implanted in cheek or not.

I know you are a huge soccer fan and this is how soccer works all over the world.

 
I definitely prefer the model where teams develop their own players from a young age but NCAA Football and Basketball are so ingrained, it is a model that will never be removed from the NBA or NFL imo.

Leagues like MLB, MLS and NHL could more easily move into a full time develop your own model.  MLS is almost there already as Moe said earlier, they were forced to change to keep up with the rest of the world.

 
[scooter] said:
I feel like this is a "be careful what you wish for" scenario. I know that a lot of players feel like they're being unfairly restricted from choosing their own employer, but if we eliminated the draft then we'd also eliminate the prestige of being the #1 pick (or a 1st round pick, etc.), which could ultimately lead to a drop in salaries.
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Maybe but also imagine what kind of rookie deal Zion or Baker Mayfield could have gotten if teams were able to bid against each other for their services.

 
TobiasFunke said:
Also, the NBA champions have come from places like San Antonio, Cleveland, and Toronto. A team from Milwaukee was probably on the verge of a title this season, considering what transpired after they lost their playoff series. A team from Oklahoma City has come tantalizingly close on multiple occasions, and a team from Utah would probably have a couple titles if not for a singular talent who stood in their way. Go back 44 years instead of 40 and you can add champions from Seattle, DC and Portland to the list. Compare that to the Euro model- how many EPL champs outside London and Manchester (I know about last year)? How many La Liga champs outside Madrid and Barcelona? I think that's what the American leagues would resemble of they followed the no draft, no salary cap or soft cap model, and I don't see American sports fans going for it.
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I hear you. If you throw Birmingham and Liverpool in with London and Manchester that's all of the titles except two, but on the other hand that's like all of the big cities in England. It's always difficult to compare the US/Canada and its vastness to a country like England - the geography is just so different. We have so many more middle of the road cities compared to the Euro countries. The economics have changed so drastically in the last decade or so in England that your point is even more salient now. Leicester was amazing a few years ago because it was such an anomaly. 

I wouldn't favor a no draft/no cap model for any of the major US leagues, but that's in large part because we have no competition. If Japan had a big-time gridiron football league and was regularly kicking our ### and signing all of the best players because there was no cap over there, we'd probably change things up. 

 
Definitely abolish the draft.  Why are we rewarding poor performance?

How would we like it if the top grad at Wharton was told he/she had to go work at Sears after graduation, because Sears sucked really bad last year?

Get rid of the draft in all sports.  Make teams compete for talent.  Best run teams will thrive, ####ty teams will sink.  As it is, we, the public, are simply subsidizing mediocrity.

 
TobiasFunke said:
Also, the NBA champions have come from places like San Antonio, Cleveland, and Toronto. A team from Milwaukee was probably on the verge of a title this season, considering what transpired after they lost their playoff series. A team from Oklahoma City has come tantalizingly close on multiple occasions, and a team from Utah would probably have a couple titles if not for a singular talent who stood in their way. Go back 44 years instead of 40 and you can add champions from Seattle, DC and Portland to the list. Other than Toronto, none of that happens without a draft.

Compare that to the Euro model- how many EPL champs outside London and Manchester (I know about last year)? How many La Liga champs outside Madrid and Barcelona? I think that's what the American leagues would resemble of they followed the no draft, no salary cap or soft cap model, and I don't see American sports fans going for it.
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Leicester City won EPL just a few years ago...

 
Sinn Fein said:
Definitely abolish the draft.  Why are we rewarding poor performance?

How would we like it if the top grad at Wharton was told he/she had to go work at Sears after graduation, because Sears sucked really bad last year?

Get rid of the draft in all sports.  Make teams compete for talent.  Best run teams will thrive, ####ty teams will sink.  As it is, we, the public, are simply subsidizing mediocrity.
Click to expand...
Also get rid of all barriers to entry age wise not based on the legal work age limits set by the government. Big time college sports will still make outrageous sums of money even if they don't have the most elite 18 year olds forced to play in the NCAA.

 
a lot of people don't like where they live and work. People are stuck in dead end, unfulfilling and unsafe jobs all over the world....that's if they are even lucky enough to have one. Cry me a river. 

 
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glvsav37 said:
a lot of people don't like where they live and work. People are stuck in dead end, unfulfilling and unsafe jobs all over the world....that's if they are even lucky enough to have one. Cry me a river. 
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I'll never understand how this country turned into a land filled with people who barely make enough money to survive and save for retirement feeling sorry for multimillionaires because they have to live in a certain area of the country for a couple years.  And because they are forced to do things, like actually play the game they paid to play.

I blame ESPN.  ESPN used to be filled with guys who fans.  (Guy I went to HS with is a big name talent for the show.)  Then they started hiring former athletes and all of those normal guys started sucking up to them.  "What's that, Mr. Moss?  You think athletes are treated bad?  Me too!  We should be friends for life!"  Instead of that channel being filled with the thoughts of the everyday man, it's now filled with the thoughts of the athletes.  And social media fed into it even more.  Fans agree with tweets hoping to get a like or retweeted.  They think they are friends.  "I'll side with John Smoltz because I always stick up for my friends.  Did you see he liked my post!!!"

There are no sports personalities who side against players.  None.  It's not shocking that this article is from ESPN.  

 
The argument of "you can't choose your employer" because of the draft seems like a bad one to me.  The league is your employer and they have various offices scattered around the country.  If you don't want to be part of that employer because of the way they do things then choose a different employer.  You can go to a different country (employer) to play or actually find a real job. 

The draft is necessary for any chance of competitive balance.  The reason why some leagues are getting top heavy (NBA) is due to free agency.  This allows dynasties to be purchased.  A professional sports league is unlike most industries.  In sports leagues you actually need your "competitors" to do well to have the league flourish which in turn helps you flourish.  In most other industries you want your competitors to go out of business because then you take over the market.  In professional sports if your competitors go out of business you have nobody to play and your business goes away too. 

 
Walking Boot said:
Disagree. 

There's still a limited number of roster spots per team. Once Miami and Los Angeles fill their rosters, you'll still have teams with spots open.

I have to think that some guy out there would rather take $8 million to play for Buffalo rather than become a lyft driver in Tallahassee. 

Let 'em play where they want. It's bad enough they have to live under draconian NCAA rules as long as they do. 

Honestly, some elite college player should just opt-out of the draft for a year and negotiate a free agent contract just to blow it open for everyone else who doesn't get the opportunity.

The draft is idiotic and should be abolished. How would you feel graduating with a degree from MIT and getting recruited by Facebook and Google but you get forced to work at Pinterest for 4 years otherwise be unemployed?
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This is not the same thing as a draft.  The Warriors are not Facebook and the Raptors aren't Google.  The NBA is the company they are working for.  If you want to work for another company because you are "forced" to work in the Orlando office then go choose to work for a different company.  Go to Europe and get a job with that company instead. 

Professional leagues need competitive balance.  The draft helps them get there by distributing the talent.  With no draft many teams would go under because they would have no chance to compete.  Once that happens everything falls apart.  Sports teams aren't like typical businesses.  They need the other businesses to stay in business or they die too. 

 
TobiasFunke said:
I like this idea for the NFL, where there's a hard cap.

It's way more dubious in a sport with no hard cap because of the competitive imbalance that would result. We know pretty much exactly what that looks like, because that's what the European soccer leagues do I believe. That product- where the same small group of teams sign all the best players and win all the championships for decades- won't fly with American sports fans IMO. They've been conditioned to expect parity and to always have at least a remote hope that the local team will win a championship. I can't see them being happy with qualifying for various things and staying in the league and maybe getting lucky in single elimination secondary tournaments, as is the case for fans of non-elite Euro soccer clubs.
Click to expand...
Does the NFL have parity?  The draft, the schedule, the salary cap - all supposedly geared toward producing parity, but how many NFL teams have a legitimate shot at a championship?  5 or 6?  The fact is, the draft, salary cap and NCAA development system are geared toward one thing only - eliminating industry competition and maximizing revenue for ownership.  It will obviously never happen in our lifetimes, but I've no doubt the league would be much better for consumers/spectators if they would eliminate the draft, eliminate the salary cap and eliminate the NCAA. 

 
I believe it would lead to an anticompetitive league and eventually to disinterest and to contraction.  Salaries would then plummet as T.V. revenues would decline.  A sure fire death knell for the league. 

Competitive balance is what makes the league.  Players left to their own devices would not only kill the goose which laid the golden egg, they would abuse the corpse.

 
Gally said:
The argument of "you can't choose your employer" because of the draft seems like a bad one to me.  The league is your employer and they have various offices scattered around the country.  If you don't want to be part of that employer because of the way they do things then choose a different employer.  You can go to a different country (employer) to play or actually find a real job. 

The draft is necessary for any chance of competitive balance.  The reason why some leagues are getting top heavy (NBA) is due to free agency.  This allows dynasties to be purchased.  A professional sports league is unlike most industries.  In sports leagues you actually need your "competitors" to do well to have the league flourish which in turn helps you flourish.  In most other industries you want your competitors to go out of business because then you take over the market.  In professional sports if your competitors go out of business you have nobody to play and your business goes away too. 
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I yield the remainder of my 2019 like allotment to you sir! 

 
CletiusMaximus said:
Does the NFL have parity?  The draft, the schedule, the salary cap - all supposedly geared toward producing parity, but how many NFL teams have a legitimate shot at a championship?  5 or 6?  The fact is, the draft, salary cap and NCAA development system are geared toward one thing only - eliminating industry competition and maximizing revenue for ownership.  It will obviously never happen in our lifetimes, but I've no doubt the league would be much better for consumers/spectators if they would eliminate the draft, eliminate the salary cap and eliminate the NCAA.
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I think it's more than 5-6.  Especially if you look out beyond just next season, which is the sort of parity the draft is intended to create.

I agree with the rest, though.  And I think the salary cap is way more important to creating NFL parity than the draft.

 
TobiasFunke said:
I think it's more than 5-6.  Especially if you look out beyond just next season, which is the sort of parity the draft is intended to create.

I agree with the rest, though.  And I think the salary cap is way more important to creating NFL parity than the draft.
Click to expand...
He also said to eliminate the cap, which I don't think you agree with. 

 
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