Detroit Lions, Jim Schwartz Should Pass On No. 1 Pick

The Detroit Lions, who last year completed a historic 0-16 season, have undoubtedly become the NFL’s model for “how not to do things.”

But, surprisingly, in this month’s upcoming NFL Draft, the Lions have a unique opportunity to blaze a trail—in a good way—and perhaps for the first time in years, they have an opportunity to do the game some good.  

And all they have to do this April in order to take this grand stand, is stay seated when it’s their time to make their first-round draft pick. 

Yes, that’s right. When the first round of the draft begins and their ten allotted minutes have passed, the Detroit Lions should pass as well, and let the St. Louis Rams have their pick of the litter.

As prize for Detroit’s win-less 2008, a season chalk-full of embarrassment and failure, the Lions are the owners of the No. 1 overall selection in the 2009 NFL Draft, which will be held on April 24-25.  

In most professional sports leagues across the country, the No. 1 overall pick of the rookie draft is like a big-time federal bailout. It gives a struggling franchise and their fan base hope for the future that instant help is on the way. 

Ken Griffey Jr. LeBron James. Sidney Crosby. First overall picks are supposed to be cornerstone franchise players capable of totally reversing the fortunes of mediocre to downright horrible organizations with their talent and marketability.  

But in this year’s NFL Draft, many experts agree that there is no such player available for the Lions. There is no consensus No. 1 player in a sport that foolishly guarantees upwards of $35 million signing bonuses to kids barely old enough to buy a beer, who have never stepped onto an NFL field.  

And therein lies the problem for the Lions. The value of the No. 1 pick is essentially nullified by the fact that they are all but required to offer such a ridiculous amount of guaranteed money to a player whom they might not feel deserves even half that much (the Denver Broncos reportedly refused to take the No. 1 pick from Detroit in the recent Jay Cutler sweepstakes).

If the Lions select quarterback Matthew Stafford first overall, the rookie from Georgia would instantly be making more guaranteed money that virtually every other quarterback in the league without ever having even participated in a single practice.

That would be bad enough for even the most ballyhooed incoming rookie, but take into account the mediocrity of this year’s draft, and the first overall pick isn’t the asset it should be.  

So what about just declining the opportunity to pick first? In the NFL, each team has their allotted 10 minutes on the clock, but after that time has passed, as the Minnesota Vikings have learned on more than one occasion, the next team is then put on the clock.  

The Lions could theoretically just sit and wait for their 10 minutes to elapse and force the St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, and Seattle Seahawks to make their picks and deal with the financial headaches before Detroit swoops in somewhere around picks five or six, drafting perhaps Stafford, USC signal-caller Mark Sanchez, or one of the several offensive tackles expected to be drafted in that range while saving millions of dollars in the process.  

Not only would the Lions be able to save themselves some cash by claiming they drafted their guy at five or six, and not first, but perhaps such drastic action would somehow cause the high-powered agents in the NFL to agree to a rookie-salary scale, similar to the one the NBA employs, in the upcoming collective bargaining meetings. 

John Elway and Eli Manning spurned their potential suitors, declaring that they would not play for the Colts and Chargers respectively, forcing those franchises to look elsewhere (San Diego ended up drafting Manning first overall in 2004, but traded him just hours later).

So why can’t the Lions flip the script and tell the top prospects that they aren’t interested?

New head coach Jim Schwartz would be able to boldly announce his arrival with an earth-shattering statement of conviction. 

Perhaps seeing a laughing-stock such as the Lions actually refuse to select and pay the top prospects would be enough of a message sent and an embarrassment to them and their agents that the league might actually be able to reign in the out-of-control money that NFL rookies are paid.