As things stand right now with the lockout, there will still be a draft held, however, barring a legal injunction that states otherwise, there won't be any signing of players to contracts until a new CBA is in place.
And while the majority of the NFL fans could care less, the most significant way this affects us draft fans is that there will be no signing of undrafted free agents.
I haven't read any detailed articles about what to expect, I do have a few informed guesses as to how this may affects things during the draft, particularly towards the end.
Teams trying to acquire more picks.
Many of the league's top teams are those who not only use their draft picks wisely, but also sign and develop undrafted players most effectively. Given that teams will only be able to lay claim to the rookies they actually draft, we may see some teams working hard to pick up as many later round picks as possible to make up for the lack of undrafted players.
For example, any team willing to trade back with another may try to squeeze every pick they can out of the deal, even those otherwise fairly unnotable 7th rounders. This may cause a reduction in trading overall since teams may prefer to keep as many picks as they can rather than give up 2 or 3 to trade up for one.
More trades of future picks.
Along those same lines, we might see teams using 2012 picks to acquire a few extra picks this year to make up for the lack of undrafted free agents they will have. And as there are teams like the Patriots who seem to love stockpiling future picks, there may be plenty of takers. Teams perhaps giving up a 2012 6th rounder for an extra 7th this year or something like that.
More skill position players drafted late for use on Special Teams.
Since the best chance most undrafted players have of making an active roster each year is to contribute on Special Teams, teams may be accustomed to having those guys to work with. So, it's possible that we may see teams selecting more DBs, LBs and WRs late in the draft with the intent of developing them as their post-lockout special teamers.
Just a few thoughts I had. Feel free to share if you can think of other ways this may affect the draft itself.
And while the majority of the NFL fans could care less, the most significant way this affects us draft fans is that there will be no signing of undrafted free agents.
I haven't read any detailed articles about what to expect, I do have a few informed guesses as to how this may affects things during the draft, particularly towards the end.
Teams trying to acquire more picks.
Many of the league's top teams are those who not only use their draft picks wisely, but also sign and develop undrafted players most effectively. Given that teams will only be able to lay claim to the rookies they actually draft, we may see some teams working hard to pick up as many later round picks as possible to make up for the lack of undrafted players.
For example, any team willing to trade back with another may try to squeeze every pick they can out of the deal, even those otherwise fairly unnotable 7th rounders. This may cause a reduction in trading overall since teams may prefer to keep as many picks as they can rather than give up 2 or 3 to trade up for one.
More trades of future picks.
Along those same lines, we might see teams using 2012 picks to acquire a few extra picks this year to make up for the lack of undrafted free agents they will have. And as there are teams like the Patriots who seem to love stockpiling future picks, there may be plenty of takers. Teams perhaps giving up a 2012 6th rounder for an extra 7th this year or something like that.
More skill position players drafted late for use on Special Teams.
Since the best chance most undrafted players have of making an active roster each year is to contribute on Special Teams, teams may be accustomed to having those guys to work with. So, it's possible that we may see teams selecting more DBs, LBs and WRs late in the draft with the intent of developing them as their post-lockout special teamers.
Just a few thoughts I had. Feel free to share if you can think of other ways this may affect the draft itself.
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