Abolish the Draft

[masomenos]

In a recent article on ESPN.com, Malcolm Gladwell briefly talked about the benefits of getting rid of drafts in pro sports. Instead, he mad the argument that players and teams should choose for themselves. Basically, it would work the same way as national signing day in college football. It sounds like a crazy idea, but I think that there's some merit behind it.

First, it's better for the players, without question. They would get to decide what's important to them, whether it be money, location, loyalty, history, etc. If I were a star college player from FL and was being offered 5 million a year from Seattle or 4.5 million a year from Tampa, then there's a good chance that I will stay where my home is. As another benefit, with multiple bidders for their services, players would be ensured the best contract possible.

Second, it's better for the fans. Instead of having players who were chosen to be on your team, you root for players who wanted to be there. The drama and excitement of acquiring new players is still there, it's just in a different format.

Third, it's better for the teams. Instead of being punished for succeeding, good teams are still able to pursue the players who they really want. Dallas wanted Unger and Crabtree this year? It could have happened. With a hard salary cap in place, teams would still be on an equal playing field. Now, would it punish the bad teams? No, it just wouldn't reward them.

I think it's a really interesting idea.

 

[Whiskey Cowboy]

It seems like an interesting idea...the problem is lower echelon teams such as Cincy, Det, etc. wouldn't have a chance to compete against higher profile teams such as Dallas or NYG....and considering the NFL is all about Parody these days the draft will always be around...not to mention it's one of my favorite days of the year

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

Did you see the guys picture? Looks like he watches a lot of middle school softball games

 

[masomenos]

Did you see the guys picture? Looks like he watches a lot of middle school softball games

Who's picture? Gladwell?

 

[masomenos]

It seems like an interesting idea...the problem is lower echelon teams such as Cincy, Det, etc. wouldn't have a chance to compete against higher profile teams such as Dallas or NYG....and considering the NFL is all about Parody these days the draft will always be around...not to mention it's one of my favorite days of the year

Bad teams would still be able to compete for players. For example, if you're Matt Stafford and Det. comes to you with an offer and there's a similar offer from Pitt., which team do you choose? The one where you're going to play. It's just like college football, the top prospects don't always go to the national champion, or even a major bowl game winner. They go where they are going to get to play.

 

[Whiskey Cowboy]

Bad teams would still be able to compete for players. For example, if you're Matt Stafford and Det. comes to you with an offer and there's a similar offer from Pitt., which team do you choose? The one where you're going to play. It's just like college football, the top prospects don't always go to the national champion, or even a major bowl game winner. They go where they are going to get to play.

Myabe you're right, But if I'm Matt Stafford being the top prospect this year, I can think of a few more (better) teams other then Detroit that need a QB that would offer up as much coin to play for them (Denver or Tampa for example) my point is there are cheap *** owners out there that would rather not pay top dollar for top prospects hence their teams would not be as competitive as higher profile teams in the league.....but I do like the premise of the Idea of no draft...I just don't think it work in todays NFL

 

[SLATEmosphere]

Bad teams would still be able to compete for players. For example, if you're Matt Stafford and Det. comes to you with an offer and there's a similar offer from Pitt., which team do you choose? The one where you're going to play. It's just like college football, the top prospects don't always go to the national champion, or even a major bowl game winner. They go where they are going to get to play.

If your Pitt, then your most likely not going to give Stafford 70+ mil to backup your franchise QB. Kind of defeats the purpose. So ya, I agree with you on players going to places where they know they can start and get paid. If your a RB, your not going to get paid in Minnesota.

 

[masomenos]

If your Pitt, then your most likely not going to give Stafford 70+ mil to backup your franchise QB. Kind of defeats the purpose. So ya, I agree with you on players going to places where they know they can start and get paid. If your a RB, your not going to get paid in Minnesota.

Exactly.

 

[daschoo]

i know i'm going to get slated for bringing soccer into this debate but here goes. there is an obvious difference in that over there you have the college system whereas here clubs are in charge of player development. i know that with the salary cap it might not happen to the same extent but over here the best players want to play with the best clubs and as they are more succesfull they have more money therefor can afford to pay both the wages and the transfer fee. this in turn leads to a lack of competition. its been 24 years since someone other than celtic or rangers won the title in scotland, lyon before this season had won the french league 7 years in a row and in england the last fifteen years the league has been won by only three different teams. compare that with the number of superbowl winners over a comparative time and i think its clear that its more competitive. i'm not saying that the way players go from club to club and are drafted in the first place is the only reason for this but i certainly wouldn't be looking towards abolishing the draft.

 

[Ren]

i know i'm going to get slated for bringing soccer into this debate but here goes. there is an obvious difference in that over there you have the college system whereas here clubs are in charge of player development. i know that with the salary cap it might not happen to the same extent but over here the best players want to play with the best clubs and as they are more succesfull they have more money therefor can afford to pay both the wages and the transfer fee. this in turn leads to a lack of competition. its been 24 years since someone other than celtic or rangers won the title in scotland, lyon before this season had won the french league 7 years in a row and in england the last fifteen years the league has been won by only three different teams. compare that with the number of superbowl winners over a comparative time and i think its clear that its more competitive. i'm not saying that the way players go from club to club and are drafted in the first place is the only reason for this but i certainly wouldn't be looking towards abolishing the draft.

I agree the soccer system is broken, we had the same champion in Norway for 16 straight years until a few years ago

 

[Hostile]

As a certified Draft Nut, I would hate it.

 

[Cowboys22]

This would be the death of pro football. The best players every year would go to the same 5-6 teams and it would be like they had 4 or 5 first round draft picks and all the other teams had none. Dallas would probably be one of those teams and it would be great for a few years but the league would lose all it's luster and appeal and most fans would abandon it very quickly.

 

[SDogo]

Horrible idea.

The NFL is about parity. It's good for the league to try and have all 32 teams competitive. I don't care what you say about money and this and that. If the NFL adopted this policy there would be several USC's, Oklahoma's and Florida's but a lot more Pitt's and Syracuse who will celebrate a major signing here and there but can not compete on the same level.

You might as well dump the salary cap as well and hand the trophy to the same several teams each year.

I hate the idea, not only as a draft geek but as a fan of the league.

One of the worst arguments for doing it was about the contracts. You have Stafford landing a 6 year 78 million dollar deal which 41.7 million of it was guaranteed.

How much more out of hand does it need to get?

It's not good for the league now and needs changed, the last thing we need is rookies creating a bidding war and driving contracts up to the point where the league prices itself out of the main stream.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Abolish the draft?

You hate Mel Kiper that much?

 

[casmith07]

Horrible idea.

The NFL is about parity.

I think his idea would better encourage parity than the draft, at least until some sort of rookie salary cap is instituted that will prevent teams from being hogtied by a bust QB or something for years.

It would be more like recruiting...but then again what if everyone wanted to play for New England? There would be no parity whatsoever. So I see your point, Home.

 

[iceberg]

As a certified Draft Nut, I would hate it.

heh, was wondering about your chiming in hos.

i like the draft, but it's too long and now it's being made to be like prime time and kinda 'selling out'.

but if we take out 2 days of forcing players to play for you and put in say 1 week of signings, think of how much fun it would be to see where the players *want* to go! teams getting in bidding wars and the like.

that would be a fun week wouldn't it?

 

[CATCH17]

The draft is awesome.

Goodell is the only one who can screw it up.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

I am against De-structure-ization.


"The draft e stays-ah like-a before"

 

[CF74]

i know i'm going to get slated for bringing soccer into this debate but here goes. there is an obvious difference in that over there you have the college system whereas here clubs are in charge of player development. i know that with the salary cap it might not happen to the same extent but over here the best players want to play with the best clubs and as they are more succesfull they have more money therefor can afford to pay both the wages and the transfer fee. this in turn leads to a lack of competition. its been 24 years since someone other than celtic or rangers won the title in scotland, lyon before this season had won the french league 7 years in a row and in england the last fifteen years the league has been won by only three different teams. compare that with the number of superbowl winners over a comparative time and i think its clear that its more competitive. i'm not saying that the way players go from club to club and are drafted in the first place is the only reason for this but i certainly wouldn't be looking towards abolishing the draft.

The same teams dominating year after year is just flat out boring and bad for the league as a whole.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

The same teams dominating year after year is just flat out boring and bad for the league as a whole.

I didnt mind the Cowboys/49ers/Packers domination of the 90's. We usually came out ahead.

Is that bad that I didnt mind? :laugh2: