How To Fix the NFL Draft

For all of the excitement and hype surrounding the NFL Draft, drawing more people to their couches with a beverage in one hand and a handful of chips in the over, there is something inherently wrong with the way the weekend is set up.

Time wasn’t the issue.

Reducing the first round selection time from 15 to 10 minutes makes the process go faster, but it’s merely a congenial change, one that hardly addresses the problem that has long plagued the sport.

There are no set rookie contracts for each draft pick like there is in the NBA. Because of this, teams — the Minnesota Vikings in 2003 — are allowed to “miss” their pick and offer the player they really wanted a cheaper contract.

Not that there’s anything wrong with trying to save a little dough, but it can lead to a chain of events that strangles the sport.

Suppose the player’s agent suspects the team that selected his client dropped a few spots in the draft on purpose. He’ll try to wrestle the franchise out of more money. If an agreement isn’t reached before training camp — or even the start of the season — the player gladly sits out.

This has happened so many times before with the latest being JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn. The mess is a headache for teams, and sitting at home waiting for the right offer doesn’t help these athletes learn the trade of the next level either.

Bryant McKinnie was despicably slow and rusty when he suited up for the first time with the Vikings because he didn’t sign until the season was half over.   

Another problem with the draft, and reason why players hold out, is because there is too much focus on what the player at the same pick made last year.

But what if last year’s class was stronger than this year’s? What if Reggie Bush is better than Calvin Johnson, or what if Adrian Peterson is better than whoever will be selected seventh this year? Should this year’s player really get a contract of equal or greater value? Don’t think so.

Miami did the smart thing by reaching an agreement with Jake Long prior to the draft to avoid these problems.

Until the NFL gets in gear and changes the structure of the draft by fixing contracts based on where the player was drafted, and forcing teams to pick (or trade) when they’re on the clock,  the Vikings will continue to slip down the draft board and the Russell’s and Quinn’s of the world will continue to gripe.