What if the Lions Passed on #1 Overall?

[Keith]

I first brought up this question of the Lions 'passing' on the #1 pick in this thread, and the notion is not a completely crazy one. In fact, if you're keeping up with the news of the economy the last eight months or so, especially in Michigan with the auto industry, the thought that Detroit and the Ford family gives this serious consideration is not totally bonkers.

As much hullabaloo as you'd think this would cause on draft day, apparently the league accepts this as a possibility. From a recent mlive.com article:

I had been under the assumption that the league would frown on a team passing its pick - basically thumbing its nose at the draft process - and that penalties might be possible from the Commissioner's office. That's not the case.

"If a club passes during the draft, it gives up its pick at that point and can re-enter at any point to make its selection,'' said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello.

I then wondered if Detroit skipped down to No. 5, whether that pick would be considered the real No. 1 pick (because he was taken by Detroit) or the No. 5 choice.

"To use your example,'' Aiello wrote in an e-mail, "if a player is selected 5th, he is the 5th pick. There is no other way to view it.''

And no potential fines or sanctions coming from Commissioner Roger Goodell?

"It has never been an issue,'' Aiello wrote. "There is no penalty for passing, other than losing a higher pick.'' ...

[nunusguy]

You know something like this happened a few years ago (I think it wa the Vikings) when the team failed to make its pick during the alloted time. And it was in
the top 10 picks of the whole Draft. Several teams were able to make their pciks in the intervening time before the tardy team finally cast it choice.
I always assumed it was accidental, incompetance whatever you want to call it but maybe it wasn't ?
Anyway as I recall the team had to pay the going rate on the Draft pick for its preslotted position even though they picked several spots later as
I recall ?

[HPF Bob]

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.

[popanot]

They won't pass. Even the dumb@ss Lions know it would make a mockery of the draft and be a total embassament to the league. You make your point at the CBA negotiation table, not at one of your banner events.

Just for grins, I propose they make a change next year. I think they should clear out a big path in the center of arena and let the top-5 teams have a race to see who can get their card up to the podium first. Maybe even use bikini-clad cheerleaders representing each team as the runners.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

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.

How can the Lions possibly "find someone to trade down with" when any potential trade partner would know they'd then be stuck with the same dilemma the Lions had ? And don't think for a minute that a Matthew Stafford offers any certainty as a solution since we here in Houston know all too well that the bust factor is all very real for a top rookie QB candidate. And to your list of QBs & DLinemman I'd add OLT to the list of positions which might justify top money, as the 'Phins did last year and the Lions may do this year ?
The biggest problem with this massive amount of cap is that the top choice is getting being paid far more in many cases than established NFL stars.
I think there is one solution though I don't expect to see it happen anytime soon. The team with the top pick should consider tossing in an additional pick(s) to the team willing to get them out of the #1 slot and thereby save themselves a chunk of cap resources.

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

And to your list of QBs & DLinemman I'd add OLT to the list of positions which might justify top money, as the 'Phins did last year and the Lions may do this year ?

I thought about OTs before I made that claim but o-lineman historically get paid less than d-lineman although I may be using old fashioned assumptions. I remember in the early 80s when the Oilers drafted a bunch of offensive linemen in the first round (Matthews, Munchak, Steinkuhler), some accused Bud Adams of drafting o-lineman because they were the lowest paid positions in the NFL so he wouldn't have to pay as much as if he drafted a QB or a DT.

[Keith]

The Lions are not giving serious consideration to letting time expire. Sounds like a smokescreen to me.

So much for that let-the-clock-run-out draft theory.

Lions president Tom Lewand essentially quashed any notion Monday that the team will let its allotted time elapse for making the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft so it can pick a few spots lower and save money.

"We don't want to comment on any specifics," he said of the team's draft plans, "whether they're logical or illogical." ...

http://www.freep.com/article/2009041...ick+--+sort+of