A Question (Opinions wanted)

But, in the end, I think the teams will cave on the money like they always do.

this is over the point of ridiculous…its insane.

Its a nice thing you pointed out…the Rams aren’t in a good financial situation, so that could definitely influence their decision on who to draft, especailly when there is a talented DT who should go no 1

If they draft a dark horse to get the contract terms down, they risk allienating the fans if its a non-big name draft pick. they may save on the contract, I am sure not by much, but your the ticket sales may suffer from it. As you stated, even if its a dark horse, the agent is still going to want more than last years #1 pick.
If they pick the so called for sure talent, they will pay for sure talent money. This may sell more tickets, but is it enough to offset drafting the higher for sure talent.
I have stated this before, the choice for the Rams is not going to be easy. Do they draft a franchise QB, or do they draft Suh. Adding the ecomomy into it just makes it that much tougher. The only way I see the dark horse card in this senario is if the Rams are truely trying to tank the team to get them out of St. Louis.

My questions are:

1) Will the Rams pick a QB or will they trade down because of their poor financial situation?
2) Will any team in a better financial situation want to trade up to #1?
3) Will the Rams take less than usual in order to trade out of the number one pick, simply because everyone knows they are in a bind, or will they hang themselves and pay #1 pick money if they can not get a blockbuster trade done?
4) Will the current economic situation of the Lion’s organization (paying big money last year for Stafford) force them to trade down from pick 2, or will old man Ford pony up and draft the big name player if he is there at pick 2?
5) Will the Lions stay put at pick 2 and draft a lesser player who will sign a economically friendly contract at pick 2 (thereby alienating US and pissing off the Pope himself in the process)??

The list goes on and on……..

I don’t think the Rams will shell out more money than Stafford got to a DT…..that is for sure.

The talk from the Rams site is that if Suh goes #1. Parker will want more than what Stafford got. And maybe the Ram’s FO will not sheel out that kind of money for a DT

The other problem is that the Lions can not discuss contact with players until they have drafted them( I believe this is true).

Is it possible to trade out of the number one spot before the draft? That way the team that gets into the #1 slot is able to make contract negotiations prior to the draft similar to what has gone on the past few years with Stafford, Jake Long and others? Don’t ever remember it happening, just curious.

I think the Rams are, by this point in league history, resigned to the fact that this first pick is going to cost them dearly. Even the option to sign a “lesser” player “at a discount”, isn’t all that much of a discount. Agents will be driving up the pricing and playing off the labor uncertainty to try to get the best contract for their clients, but I think teams already know this. Ownership might try to push back a little using the same selling points, but it’s probably futile. Really, the player holds most of the power as the team just wants the damn player on the field doing what they drafted him for. What might get more dicey is the verbiage and clauses in the contract and the contract lengths. It’s tough for teams to know exactly how the new contracts will impact their teams financially when the parameters of the new CBA are unknown at this time.

But back to the Rams… all things considered, I believe they will still take the best player available. I’m not sure it’s in the best interest of the club not to. Are you really saving that much by taking a LB or DB at one overall just because you might be able to negotiate a better rate? My guess is the extra money is worth Ndamukong Suh. I think the Rams will see it that way too and take him. Suh will get a worthy contract at number one… no doubts there. I think the bigger question is who will be taking him there? I think the Rams are more likely to try to trade out rather than take a lesser player for a lesser contract. If they want to get out of it that badly, just trade down by offering less cost to the tradee. I doubt that it will happen, so my money is still on them to take BPA… which is Suh.

What will be interesting for the 2011 season (if there is a season), is if one of the big bargaining points – the rookie salary cap – is instituted. This will change the draft as we know it…. for the better, IMO. Good discussion topic, TCLion.

Is a QB and a DT worth the same amount of a “X” contract? What happens in 2011. If there is a “rookie cap”? What scenario would the Ram’s FO feel more comfortable with? A potentially good DT having a 80 million dollar contract? Or, a potential franchise quarterback making 80 million dollors? At what point does BPA verus contract come into play?