It actually happened two years in a row to the Vikings and it led to a protracted holdout. The player's agent argues the player should be slotted with the higher salary that comes to the xth pick of the draft while the team argues he wasn't really the xth pick of the draft but the yth pick of the draft. So your stud misses training camp which means he's useless the first year.
There's nothing to be gained by doing it other than making your team look cheap, stupid or both (which the Vikings are).
It would be cool to see the first hour of the NFL draft go by with nobody being selected while Chris Berman freaks as if someone grabbed his toupee but that's just for the sheer entertainment value of it. In terms of helping a team's payroll, it's completely worthless.
Truth is that the #1 overall money pretty much dictates that you have to draft a QB or a DL because no other positions should be making that much money from the get-go unless its the marketing machine that is Reggie Bush. So the Lions should find someone to trade down with or just take Stafford and be done with it.
The NFL is not in a financial death rattle. Their business model is very socialistic and they are working on contracts with the networks and Direct TV that won't be reflecting any economic downturn until the next decade. They may see a fall-off at the gate but that isn't where they make most of their money. The money they make is mostly tv and merchandising revenue. And they "spread the wealth" amongst themselves. So the Lions ain't hurting more than any of the other teams. Heck, the Saints lost half their damn city and still stayed in business.
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