Couple of basic questions about the NFL draft system

[Superbuu3]

Ok so i been watching ballers and I don't know a thing about american football and they keep mentioning the draft. So can someone explain a couple of things to me.

 

Correct me if anything is wrong:

 

So I gather that the draft is a free transfer of college players to the big leagues. I assume they are still under normal contract conditions and wages.

 

1. I'm guessing 1st draft is best player, but what determines the order the teams get to pick (are the better or worse teams first to pick)?

2. What is the big deal about having a single digit draft number?

3. How many players get drafted and can players who don't get drafted still be signed?

4. Can you refuse a draft?

5. Who are considered the biggest NFL teams?

6. Are wages standardised for the new players who are drafted or can teams offer incentives?

 

If there's anything else you think that helps make sense it would be appreciated.

[Willstown]

Did a bit of digging and found a friendly bbc article for us Brits that helps explain.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/american_football/8014105.stm

 

The team with the worst record in the previous season gets 1st pick, it's a way of balancing things and trying to get the leagues competitive.  Getting the low draft numbers suggests you were an in demand player so it's a prestige things. Like the best kids get picked 1st in the playground .  So the 1st round picks are the guys that are going to have the big expectations.  The players that are in the draft are generally the graduating college players, college football is a huge thing in the states in itself.

Undrafted players can become free agents and can still be signed, generally people don't refuse a draft.  Once drafted though they get to negotiate their terms before signing so wages / incentives etc come in at this point.

[Quaedam_Animae]

Ok so i been watching ballers and I don't know a thing about american football and they keep mentioning the draft. So can someone explain a couple of things to me.

 

Correct me if anything is wrong:

 

So I gather that the draft is a free transfer of college players to the big leagues. I assume they are still under normal contract conditions and wages.

 

1. I'm guessing 1st draft is best player, but what determines the order the teams get to pick (are the better or worse teams first to pick)?

2. What is the big deal about having a single digit draft number?

3. How many players get drafted and can players who don't get drafted still be signed?

4. Can you refuse a draft?

5. Who are considered the biggest NFL teams?

6. Are wages standardised for the new players who are drafted or can teams offer incentives?

 

If there's anything else you think that helps make sense it would be appreciated.

 

1. Someone breaks a stick and forces the players to fight each other.

2. To show they have a bigger dick.

3. All players get killed-er drafted and they can still get signed up in hell afterwards

4. NO ONE refuses that draft. NO. ONE.

5. The team that lives.

6. None of the above. They all die.

 

Sorry I don't really know either but I am curious as well.

[skateak]

Ok so i been watching ballers and I don't know a thing about american football and they keep mentioning the draft. So can someone explain a couple of things to me.

 

Correct me if anything is wrong:

 

So I gather that the draft is a free transfer of college players to the big leagues. I assume they are still under normal contract conditions and wages.

 

1. I'm guessing 1st draft is best player, but what determines the order the teams get to pick (are the better or worse teams first to pick)?

2. What is the big deal about having a single digit draft number?

3. How many players get drafted and can players who don't get drafted still be signed?

4. Can you refuse a draft?

5. Who are considered the biggest NFL teams?

6. Are wages standardised for the new players who are drafted or can teams offer incentives?

 

If there's anything else you think that helps make sense it would be appreciated.

1. Yep, also best player would be debated since there are different positions that each have "the best players." The draft picks go from team with the previous worst season gets first pick while the best gets last pick. There are 33 picks in 7 rounds.

 

2. Single digit just means you are a great player and that means more money. Bragging rights for being picked before other players.

 

3. 231 players, sometimes more, get drafted out of about 3,500 total eligible draftees. If you don't, you go into a pool called "Free Agents" and you can be signed by any team during the season.You can trade players too but 8 weeks into the season, they take the ablitily to take away.

 

4. That is a good question but I highly doubt anyone ever would in the first place.

 

5. Big teams at the moment are Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals and some others although they change a lot each year. 

 

6. The team can pay the players whatever they want as long as their salary cap checks out at the end of the season, as far as I know. There are a lot of incentives team give players to coax them into playing for them.

 

I am only a casual Football watcher so I am sure there are people that can go a lot more in depth than me and there might be stuff I was slightly wrong about.

Edited September 15, 2016 by skateak

[Superbuu3]

 

1. Yep, also best player would be debated since there are different positions that each have "the best players." The draft picks go from team with the previous worst season gets first pick while the best gets last pick. There are 33 picks in 7 rounds.

2. Single digit just means you are a great player and that means more money. Bragging rights for being picked before other players.

3. 231 players get drafted. If you don't, you go into a pool called "Free Agents" and you can be signed by any team.

4. That is a good question but I highly doubt anyone ever would in the first place.

5. Big teams at the moment are Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals and some others although they change a lot each year. 

6. The team can pay the players whatever they want as long as their salary cap checks out at the end of the season, as far as I know. There are a lot of incentives team give players to coax them into playing for them.

 

 

Thanks that makes a lot more sense now

[skateak]

Thanks that makes a lot more sense now

No problem. I have slightly edited my OP with more info and better readability.

[StrickenBiged]

Did a bit of digging and found a friendly bbc article for us Brits that helps explain.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/american_football/8014105.stm

 

The team with the worst record in the previous season gets 1st pick, it's a way of balancing things and trying to get the leagues competitive.  Getting the low draft numbers suggests you were an in demand player so it's a prestige things. Like the best kids get picked 1st in the playground .  So the 1st round picks are the guys that are going to have the big expectations.  The players that are in the draft are generally the graduating college players, college football is a huge thing in the states in itself.

Undrafted players can become free agents and can still be signed, generally people don't refuse a draft.  Once drafted though they get to negotiate their terms before signing so wages / incentives etc come in at this point.

 

That's so weird...

 

I thought Americans were supposed to hate communism in all its forms, but the system you describe - allowing the weakest team first pick, etc - smacks of a communist system, especially in comparison to the Premier League, for example, which is free market capitalism almost at its purest - best teams win more money, and can trade players for whatever money they want. 

 

Edit: Typo

Edited September 15, 2016 by StrickenBiged

[Hourisathand]

There have been a few cases where a player drafted refuses to sign with the team that drafted them such as John Elway refusing to play for the Colts so he was traded to the Broncos. Another case is Eli Manning refusing to go to San Diego so the Chargers didn't even bother drafting him.

[Cleggworth]

That's so weird...

I thought Americans were supposed to hare communism in all its forms, but the system you describe - allowing the weakest team first pick, etc - smacks of a communist system, especially in comparison to the Premier League, for example, which is free market capitalism almost at its purest - best teams win more money, and can trade players for whatever money they want.

The premier league and soccer/football in general could take a lot from American Sports. The technical foul from basketball would do wonders for example Edited September 15, 2016 by Cleggworth

[damon8r351]

1. I'm guessing 1st draft is best player,

 

Aw, this is adorable. No, seriously, this part made me smile.

 

No, by no means does it always mean that the best player gets picked first. Absolutely not. I still remember the tirade that got launched after I listened to a Raiders fan moan about quarterback issues for his team one year, and I muttered, not quite under my breath, "Sounds like it's time to start canvassing the local gas stations to see if JaMarcus Russell's not busy, right?" Turns out Raider Nation is still sore over JaMarcus Russell.

[Superbuu3]

Aw, this is adorable. No, seriously, this part made me smile.

 

No, by no means does it always mean that the best player gets picked first. Absolutely not. I still remember the tirade that got launched after I listened to a Raiders fan moan about quarterback issues for his team one year, and I muttered, not quite under my breath, "Sounds like it's time to start canvassing the local gas stations to see if JaMarcus Russell's not busy, right?" Turns out Raider Nation is still sore over JaMarcus Russell.

Damn

 

So who actually rates the players or is the number 1 draft pick available out of the whole pool of two hundred players the team signing has to do its own research?

Did a bit of digging and found a friendly bbc article for us Brits that helps explain.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/american_football/8014105.stm

 

The team with the worst record in the previous season gets 1st pick, it's a way of balancing things and trying to get the leagues competitive.  Getting the low draft numbers suggests you were an in demand player so it's a prestige things. Like the best kids get picked 1st in the playground .  So the 1st round picks are the guys that are going to have the big expectations.  The players that are in the draft are generally the graduating college players, college football is a huge thing in the states in itself.

Undrafted players can become free agents and can still be signed, generally people don't refuse a draft.  Once drafted though they get to negotiate their terms before signing so wages / incentives etc come in at this point.

Thanks interesting read

[Cleggworth]

Damn

 

So who actually rates the players or is the number 1 draft pick available out of the whole pool of two hundred players the team signing has to do its own research?

The team decides, they will have scouts that tell them what is what. There's two theories. Pick the best player for your position of need or pick the best player regardless of position and figure it out later. You could even draft a player with absolutely no intention of signing him and trade them for someone else

[damon8r351]

Damn

 

So who actually rates the players or is the number 1 draft pick available out of the whole pool of two hundred players the team signing has to do its own research?

Thanks interesting read

 

Teams scout the players and pick them based on how they feel they might do in the NFL, based on their past performance in college football. Obviously someone who was doing well in their last year of college is going to attract more attention from different teams looking to recruit them. Draft numbers are just the order that teams get to pick players from the available pool of recruitable players, starting with the teams with the worst record last year down to the best record, for each round. Who the team picks for that slot is just an indicator of how well the team thinks that player is, not how good they may actually be. Ryan Leaf was a number 1 draft pick and did nothing with it. Tom Brady was picked at over number 200 one year, and despite the fact that he's a rampant asshat, he's a good quarterback. Some teams have used their first round draft pick to recruit a punter.

Edited September 15, 2016 by damon8r351

[Kubanga]

1. Technically teams draft the "best" player in the draft with the 1st pick. There is a decent chance however that said player turns out to be a bust, and is a underachiever basically, while other players taken later in the draft go on to have much better careers. The top picks 1-20 are based off of record and how the teams preformed. 21-32 are based off of where the teams finished in the playoffs, with #32 being the last pick.

2. It's a big deal because you get 1 of the 9 "best" players in the draft.

3. There are a total of 256 picks in the draft, assuming no picks have been taken away by the NFL for teams cheating. There are 32 additional picks given out by the NFL to teams that lost their players in free agency. Also, yes you can sign Undrafted Free Agents after the draft is over. A few great players have been unsigned free agents (Vontaze Burfict, Kurt Warner, James Harrison, Antonio Gates etc etc etc). Most go on to do almost nothing in the nfl though.

4. No not really.

5. The most "popular" teams are the Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. The reason I quoted popular was because these are the teams everyone bandwagons to because they, at the time were the shit.

6. Ever since the new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement), The Draft has non-negotiable salaries based on where the player was drafted. Sometimes though you will have a douchebag, *cough* Joey Bosa *cough* who will try to get their guaranteed money upfront and will holdout until they have their way.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Kubanga

[Superbuu3]

2. It's a big deal because you get 1 of the 9 "best" players in the draft.

6. Ever since the new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement), The Draft has non-negotiable salaries based on where the player was drafted. Sometimes though you will have a douchebag, *cough* Joey Bosa *cough* who will try to get their guaranteed money upfront and will holdout until they have their way.

 

So in the show one of the guys is going on about getting a top 5 draft like its a big deal. So this would mean he'd go to a team that finished in the bottom 5, but he would theoretically get a bigger slary then the people picked after. He also would be hyped big time.

 

Would those be the main reasons he'd want a high number or have I misunderstood?

 

I got the impression from that the closer to 1 your draft number is the higher the non negotiable salary.

[Andrea]

Keep in mind most of my knowledge of American football comes from playing madden (with a small amount of knowledge imparted from American family members who like it.)

 

Teams can trade draft picks, so sometimes if you see a team with 2 or 3 picks in a round that would be why.

 

The draft system (and salary cap) is in place to promote the idea of parity. Combine that with a single-game elimination playoff system and the goal is definitely to promote new blood winning the title (or at least competing for it) rather than having largely the same couple of teams on top every year. Calling it communism is laughable, but it is definitely implemented with the goal of ensuring bad teams have the opportunity to be good, though there are plenty of perennial basement dwellers.

 

Also note that in the NFL, unlike many other professional sports, the vast majority of contract money is not guaranteed. If you get hurt or play badly, you can get cut and lose all of that money. That's why a player who thinks they have some leverage (Joey Bosa, etc) would hold out - they need to get paid while they can because one bad injury can ruin everything. In the NBA, on the other hand, contracts are fully guaranteed with only a handful of exceptions.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Andrea

[Cleggworth]

So in the show one of the guys is going on about getting a top 5 draft like its a big deal. So this would mean he'd go to a team that finished in the bottom 5, but he would theoretically get a bigger slary then the people picked after. He also would be hyped big time.

Would those be the main reasons he'd want a high number or have I misunderstood?

I got the impression from that the closer to 1 your draft number is the higher the non negotiable salary.

This is the projected rookie scale for this coming year

1) Los Angeles Rams: $28.65 million

2) Philadelphia Eagles: $27.36 million

3) San Diego Chargers: $26.56 million

4) Dallas Cowboys: $25.65 million

5) Jacksonville Jaguars: $23.96 million

6) Baltimore Ravens: $21.02 million

7) San Francisco 49ers: $18.71 million

8) Cleveland Browns: $16.38 million

9) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $16.26 million

10) New York Giants: $15.62 million

Quite a difference as you can see and that's just the first 10 picks!

Edited September 15, 2016 by Cleggworth

[Superbuu3]

This is the projected rookie scale for this coming year

1) Los Angeles Rams: $28.65 million

2) Philadelphia Eagles: $27.36 million

3) San Diego Chargers: $26.56 million

4) Dallas Cowboys: $25.65 million

5) Jacksonville Jaguars: $23.96 million

6) Baltimore Ravens: $21.02 million

7) San Francisco 49ers: $18.71 million

8) Cleveland Browns: $16.38 million

9) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $16.26 million

10) New York Giants: $15.62 million

Quite a difference as you can see and that's just the first 10 picks!

 

I can see why getting into the top 5 would be a big deal.

[PerryToxteth]

I can see why getting into the top 5 would be a big deal.

- Just to add some additional info, the NFL Draft occurs every April. The players picked are football players at least three years out of high school so they are 21 to 22-year-olds. 99% of the players chosen come from the American college football system, which has different tiers based on enrollment, academics, etc. The vast majority of players play in the NCAA Division 1 FBS, which is mostly comprised of large state schools. There are also a handful of private college that play at this level as well. College football players in the top level get "free rides" meaning their tutiton and room and board is paid for by the University. The lower tiers of college athletics get less funding and less tuition money so most of these athletes hope to garner a free ride offer while they play high school sports.

- Also, the draft is weighted so the worst team gets the first pick, the Super Bowl winner gets the last pick in each round. There are seven rounds of drafting. This is helpful to keep balance in the league, as well as parity. The NFL does this because it is a corporation. There are 32 teams with owners but those teams are all aligned under the NFL umbrella and each team gets the same amount of money from the league called revenue sharing. That way if your team owner is worth $10 billion, he cant just outspend the rest of the league to win. The Draft is the most efficient way for teams to better themselves and that is why there is so much discussion about it. If your favorite team had a horrible year, you can at least look forward to the draft and hope your team gets better because they get first crack at the top players.

[Hemiak]

I think most everything had been covered but I'd like to add one or two small points.

That gauranteed money for a draft puck is over the course of 4 years, and the player has no leverage to renegotiate during that period. They can also be traded with no say in it.

A player can choose to completely skip the draft if they think they'll get taken by a team they don't want. This immediately puts them into the free agent pool and they'll almost certainly end up getting paid much less, but have complete freedom over the contract they accept.

If a player is drafted, he belongs to that team. If he chooses not to sign at that point, and the team doesn't feel like trading that pick, he cannot play in the NFL for a full year. At that point he can rejoin the league as a free agent.

[stitchesnscars]

Aw, this is adorable. No, seriously, this part made me smile.

 

No, by no means does it always mean that the best player gets picked first. Absolutely not. I still remember the tirade that got launched after I listened to a Raiders fan moan about quarterback issues for his team one year, and I muttered, not quite under my breath, "Sounds like it's time to start canvassing the local gas stations to see if JaMarcus Russell's not busy, right?" Turns out Raider Nation is still sore over JaMarcus Russell.

Good one we also can't forget about the greatest bust ever Ryan Leaf. 

[PerryToxteth]

Good one we also can't forget about the greatest bust ever Ryan Leaf.

Each generation has their own "bust." Late 80s had Tony Mandarich, Aundrey Bruce. Early 80s had Kenneth Sims, Lam Jones.

[Superbuu3]

Thanks for all the replies guys this has been a really interesting thread. I like the idea that your NFL players get looked after and sorted out with an education. Also seems like a great idea to keep the teams more balanced. The clear incentives to try hard in sport and give opportunities that wouldn't have them otherwise is really cool.

 

Also now Ballers will ake a lot more sense too so thanks again.

[skidmarkgn]

Thanks for all the replies guys this has been a really interesting thread. I like the idea that your NFL players get looked after and sorted out with an education. Also seems like a great idea to keep the teams more balanced. The clear incentives to try hard in sport and give opportunities that wouldn't have them otherwise is really cool.

 

Also now Ballers will ake a lot more sense too so thanks again.

Having GM's, coaches and owners who can read a draft is of huge importance in the NFL.  Especially beyond the first round picks.  The Seahawks are a great example of this.  Most of their top players, some of which are in the conversation for the best in the league at their position were either drafted very late or not at all.  Being able to scout talent that isn't an obvious first rounder is usually what will set teams apart.  They get four years of paying an extremely talented player the league minimum and spend the rest of their cap in free agency.  They just have to make sure to be consistently successful because eventually rookie contracts expire and the salary cap won't allow them to keep everyone.