What do you think the draft is?
The commisioner is simply the owners' representative. The owners determine where players go in the draft. The players themselves have no say in the matter.The commish determines where players go in the draft? Uh ok...
No it's not. That's the silliest statement I've seen on these boards.The draft itself is a form of communism. So is the salary cap. You want a free market system? Easy: abolish those two things. Any player can sign with any team for whatever they can negotiate.
Sure they do. As w/ any business, the players do not have to work for this company.The commisioner is simply the owners' representative. The owners determine where players go in the draft. The players themselves have no say in the matter.
Guilty as charged.What do you think the draft is?This is a common misconception. MLB is the only sports league with a blanket anti-trust exemption, dating back to a Supreme Court decision in the '20s. In later cases, the Supreme Court declined to extend such an exemption to the other major sports leagues. Congress has given the NFL a limited anti-trust exemption, but only when it comes to negotiating TV rights, not with regard to labor relations.
The reason the draft is legal is that it is negotiated as part of a collective bargaining agreement between the league and the union. Collective bargaining agreements are allowed to include provisions that would be anti-trust violations if ownership tried to impose them unilaterally. But if the NFLPA wanted to abolish the draft (or the salary cap, for that matter), they could decline to agree to it as part of the next CBA. And there would be war.
Sure they do. As w/ any business, the players do not have to work for this company.
This is some strange stuff.
It's a silly idea. If the same teams starting winning every year, the fans would start staying away in droves, teams would fold and the league might. If someone was serious when suggesting this, they are completely ignoring consequences and long term logistics.Guilty as charged.
I'm not a big parity proponent because I see what's done for us, but I don't see changing the draft order as good for the league. Maybe flip it around for the later rounds, if we have to do something to it.
Complaining about the draft and teams acquiring the drafted player's exclusive rights reeks of hate that has been fostered and grown by agenda driven rhetoric.Yep. Just ask Eli Manning.
All a draft pick actually gives a team is the right of first refusal for a contract - basically they can offer a player a deal before anyone else can. Now players want to be on teams that want to have them, and the opt-out process can get kind of messy if a player doesn't want to be on a team (like Eli and Bo Jackson), so 99.99% of players sign the team's offer.
No, it's not like any other business, not even close. In other industries, if you have a job offer from one company, you can decline it and go apply to any other company in the industry. In the NFL, if you're drafted by the Cowboys and turn them down, you are barred from getting hired by any other team in what is essentially the entire industry.Sure they do. As w/ any business, the players do not have to work for this company.
This is some strange stuff.