PA Season Ticket Holder
05-05-2003, 02:08 PM
(May 5, 2003) -- Sure, on draft day the Minnesota Vikings took a public relations beating for not sealing the deal with the Baltimore Ravens on time, thus passing on their pick at No. 7. But they still got their man, defensive end Kevin Williams, at the No. 9 spot.
When teams believe they can get the man they want at a lower spot, they attempt to trade down in the draft and pick up some additional selections. That's good business, but it has occurred to a few teams that the concept of passing when your turn comes could also be good business, especially if you can't get a team to trade with you.
Williams and his representatives can argue all they want about the idea that Williams was supposed to be the seventh overall pick in the draft. The fact is, he was the ninth pick, and with the rookie pool reflecting that fact and "slotted contracts" being the reality of rookie negotiations, Williams most likely will be paid as the ninth pick. I know I would pay him as the ninth pick. The Vikings saved themselves a few $100,000 of cap space, and probably over a million dollars in cash over the contract.
That being said, it brings up the whole idea of the virtue of passing during the draft.
I sat right on the floor of the draft when the Vikings got to the end of their allocated 15 minutes and neither consummated a trade nor handed in a pick. The advantage the Vikings created for themselves was that they could hand in a name at any second even though other teams would be on the clock. From where I was, I saw the teams behind Minnesota -- Jacksonville and Carolina -- run up to the podium and submit the names of players they wanted ( Byron Leftwich and Jordan Gross, respectively). These teams had no real time to make a trade with any team even if they wanted to. It turned out that because they wanted to get their picks in, they didn't control the clock. Who did? The Vikings, and they handed in their card soon after the Panthers handed in theirs.
http://nfl.com/draft/story/6354342
When teams believe they can get the man they want at a lower spot, they attempt to trade down in the draft and pick up some additional selections. That's good business, but it has occurred to a few teams that the concept of passing when your turn comes could also be good business, especially if you can't get a team to trade with you.
Williams and his representatives can argue all they want about the idea that Williams was supposed to be the seventh overall pick in the draft. The fact is, he was the ninth pick, and with the rookie pool reflecting that fact and "slotted contracts" being the reality of rookie negotiations, Williams most likely will be paid as the ninth pick. I know I would pay him as the ninth pick. The Vikings saved themselves a few $100,000 of cap space, and probably over a million dollars in cash over the contract.
That being said, it brings up the whole idea of the virtue of passing during the draft.
I sat right on the floor of the draft when the Vikings got to the end of their allocated 15 minutes and neither consummated a trade nor handed in a pick. The advantage the Vikings created for themselves was that they could hand in a name at any second even though other teams would be on the clock. From where I was, I saw the teams behind Minnesota -- Jacksonville and Carolina -- run up to the podium and submit the names of players they wanted ( Byron Leftwich and Jordan Gross, respectively). These teams had no real time to make a trade with any team even if they wanted to. It turned out that because they wanted to get their picks in, they didn't control the clock. Who did? The Vikings, and they handed in their card soon after the Panthers handed in theirs.
http://nfl.com/draft/story/6354342