Teams wanting to trade down, but no one wants to trade up

[Nesta]

I agree with you, but imo I still think veteran contracts should be garunteed. I think garunteed contracts will also keep the price of contracts down because owners won't want to pay 50 million bucks to a guy on the IR or who retires early due to injury or someone who under performs to expectations.

 

The owners save some money lower contracts, and the players are happy because they can't be released after they break their spine without getting paid or lifetime insurance.

 

 

But isn't that the problem with guaranteed contracts?

It's the 50 million dollar contracts that rarely get paid, because only a small part of it Is guranteed.

The rest is performance bonuses which players only live up to in their own egotistical minds.

 

The guys who get hurt and get paid are the guys with guranteed contracts aren't they?

 

I could be wrong here.

[Nas]

Whoever would pick first would be picking the 1st pick of the 1st round, it doesn't work that way. But if the Dolphins were to sit out the first and pick #32 they would be picking first and second in the second round.

 

I'm trying here.. work with me, please

[gateb]

Who did the Vikes miss out on in that fiasco anyway? Who did they end up with?

It happened twice. I think they missed out on DJ Williams one year.

[mws44]

If you pass.....then the next team drafts and then it's your turn again....in which you can pass again if you wish.

 

When Minnesota fucked up...they simply lost their turn and were back on the clock with the next pick.

 

Teams that are in "cap hell" have problems because they'll have to cut several veterans after Spring training to keep the rookie and stay under the cap. If you've got lots of cap space, then that would be a factor and no reason to pass....unless there was no player that you "had to have" still sitting on the board.

Thats not true. If you miss your pick, you miss your pick. It's gone. The team just has to wait for it's next round pick.

[mws44]

My bad. You were right. I found an article on it. Link I could have swore that the Vikings completely missed out on their first rounder one year, but I havn't found anything on it yet.

[BleedinBlue]

My bad. You were right. I found an article on it. Link I could have swore that the Vikings completely missed out on their first rounder one year, but I havn't found anything on it yet.

I've never seen the rules on it, but I do remember that when Minnesota didn't pick in time, that the next team in line went on the clock and after they made their pick, Minnesota was again on the clock.

 

I've never heard of "forfeiting" a pick, just "passing" or "missing a turn" due to the clock.

[CrazedDogs]

It happened twice. I think they missed out on DJ Williams one year.

 

They didn't miss out on anyone, they got their guy - one of the Williams, if I recall - they just were certain the next team up wasn't going to draft him, and wanted to pay their pick a little less. Cheap bastard, that last owner they had.

[BleedinBlue]

An article today addresses the idea of "passing" when on the clock and jumping back in at their convenience.

 

Could the Dolphins' No. 1 pick be no one?

By Harvey Fialkov | South Florida Sun-Sentinel

April 13, 2008

 

Just imagine, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell walking to the podium on April 26 at about 3:10 p.m., and he says, "With the first pick of the draft the Dolphins ..." Tick. Tick. Tick. ... Silence.

 

"The Dolphins pass and the Rams are now on the clock," Goodell continues.

 

OK, it's highly unlikely that the Dolphins will pass on the overall first draft pick, but what if?

 

In fact, it's never been done before, intentionally that is. The Vikings inadvertently dropped from No. 7 to No. 9 in the 2003 draft when a trade discussion with the Ravens caused their time to elapse.

 

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed that it is a legal maneuver, and that any team can pass on their pick without any penalty. He also said that team could then jump in front of any team that has a later pick.

 

Why would the Dolphins ever contemplate such an outlandish maneuver? Simple. They're a 1-15 team with more holes to fill than a Manhattan street.

 

"We need linebackers, we need secondary players, we need receivers, we need linemen. We need a bunch of things right now," coach Tony Sparano said recently.

 

Also, the Dolphins have the top pick of a draft with no clear-cut difference-maker who would be worth a potential $60 million contract, including a signing bonus around $35 million. The consensus top six players of the draft who have been invited to the proceedings at Radio City Music Hall in New York are: Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, Michigan tackle Jake Long, Virginia defensive end Chris Long, LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden and Ohio State linebacker Vernon Gholston.

 

All have upsides and downsides.

 

"I wouldn't think it would be an intelligent move, no," said former Packers General Manager Ron Wolf, a friend of Dolphins vice president of football operations Bill Parcells. "I don't know why anybody would do that.

 

"It puts a negative spin on your organization. You're trying to be positive. Miami has the first pick. They've got a whole new regime there. ... The object is to get a good player so that you can compete and be representative in a very short period or someone else will be sitting in your chair."

 

If the Dolphins purposely slid to No. 4, they could save approximately $12 million in guaranteed cash, based on what the Raiders gave quarterback JaMarcus Russell at No. 1 last year vs. what the fourth pick — defensive end Gaines Adams — received.

 

"Goodell would shove his foot up the butts of [GM] Jeff Ireland and Bill Parcells [if that happened]," said an agent who wished to remain anonymous. "It's absolutely atrocious. It makes a mockery of the draft process and of the collective-bargaining agreement. ... I think it's beyond realistic, and I'd advise against any team doing it. If it was my client they took at No. 5, I would want first overall pick money or my kid's not reporting to training camp."

 

The team with the top pick is permitted to sign a player before the draft, and the Dolphins have already begun negotiations with the agents of Jake Long and Gholston. So they do appear to be honing in on their selection.

 

If the Dolphins did shock the NFL establishment by taking a pass, the league could mandate that teams forfeit the pick if they didn't use it.

 

"It would be detrimental to the league and force them to change the rule," said retired NFL executive Tom Braatz. "The first pick has always been so valuable that everybody tries to trade up. This is the first year nobody wants it."

 

Such a move could push the NFL and NFLPA to amend a rookie scale that creates instant millionaires out of untested players while teams cut established veterans so they could get under the salary cap.

 

Parcells has had the top pick twice before. In 1993, he was coaching the Patriots and selected quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who guided New England to a Super Bowl berth four years later. In 1997 with the Jets, Parcells traded down twice from No. 1 to 6 to 8 and took linebacker James Farrior, who didn't blossom until he was with the Steelers. The Rams ended up with future Hall of Fame tackle Orlando Pace at No. 1.

 

"There's no value in doing that," said agent Leigh Steinberg, who has represented eight No. 1 picks. "The Chargers in 2004 made a tremendous trade, getting rid of a player they didn't want in [No. 1] Eli Manning for [No. 4] Philip Rivers, and he got a bundle for it. There still could be somebody who covets Bill's place ..."

 

Because of the signing bonus, finding a suitable trade partner for the pick or passing on it would be as realistic as watching defensive end Jason Taylor dance on television in a pink tutu.

 

Oops.

 

"It's not going to happen," agent David Cantor said. "The Dolphins owe it to their fans to have a decisive, rock-solid 100 percent consensus on a player to become the face of this franchise, and that's what they're going to do."

[mws44]

Well I'll be damned. I guess i dreamt that.

 

"Goodell would shove his foot up the butts of [GM] Jeff Ireland and Bill Parcells [if that happened]," said an agent who wished to remain anonymous. "It's absolutely atrocious. It makes a mockery of the draft process and of the collective-bargaining agreement. ... I think it's beyond realistic, and I'd advise against any team doing it. If it was my client they took at No. 5, I would want first overall pick money or my kid's not reporting to training camp."

...

 

"There's no value in doing that," said agent Leigh Steinberg, who has represented eight No. 1 picks. "The Chargers in 2004 made a tremendous trade, getting rid of a player they didn't want in [No. 1] Eli Manning for [No. 4] Philip Rivers, and he got a bundle for it. There still could be somebody who covets Bill's place ..."

...

 

"It's not going to happen," agent David Cantor said. "The Dolphins owe it to their fans to have a decisive, rock-solid 100 percent consensus on a player to become the face of this franchise, and that's what they're going to do."

Sounds to me like some agents are getting a little nervous. Maybe they realize that they have driven the bar too high in recent years and see the teams are ready to put an end to it. That reads as a huge cut in their signing bonus percentage.