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The Business of the NFL Draft

by David Snyder

Late round steals like Tom Brady and Marques Colston are brought up every year during pre draft television shows to illustrate the quality of a football executive's drafting ability.

Then there are busts like Ryan Leaf and Lawrence Phillips that can come to symbolize a franchise's bad decision making for an entire era.

This weekend 255 college football players will have a value and price tag put on their athletic ability, personality, and intellect.

The NFL Draft is the most important two days of the professional football off-season. Teams are built up on free-agency; they are molded through the youth and promise of this weekend.

The unrelenting truth is that teams that do not draft well do not win. Five teams have not made the playoffs in the last five years. Four of these teams are amongst the worst drafting teams in the NFL.

The Miami Dolphins have only drafted seven starters in their last five drafts. In the draft year of their first playoff last season, Miami's first two picks, Randy McMichael and Seth McKinney are the only two players left in the league. Neither of them is still with the Dolphins.

The Detroit Lions have become contemporary legends due to their drafting woes. They too only have seven starters drafted in the last five years, but six of the nine players they drafted in 2002 are no longer in the league. This number means that only three of those picks turned out to have any value for the franchise. It has not gotten any better since then with draft bust notables such as wide receivers Mike Williams and Charles Rogers.

The Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans have fared better than Detroit or Miami with 24 starters produced between them during their last five drafts. But when the teams look back, the Bills have no one from the 2002 draft on their roster and Houston has recently cut the first overall pick in their franchise history.

And so a formula seems to be apparent.

In fact, the only non playoff team in the last five year that has had success in the draft is Arizona, and before Dennis Green showed up they drafted six of eight players in that 2002 draft that are no longer in the league.

The only business plan that makes sense in the NFL is to draft and build upon your own talent. To rely on free agency as your talent pool is futile and expensive - ask Dan Snyder.

Trading away draft picks for veteran players can eventually cost you your job - ask Dave Wannstedt.

For an example of how effective quality drafting can be for your team just look at everyone's favorite and cheapest franchise, the Patriots. Before this off season it was completely against the team's policy to spend big dollars, a decision that has cost them New England draft gems Deion Branch, Daniel Graham, and soon Asante Samuel. It does not affect the franchise, because when one leaves there is a plethora of quality picks that will rotate up. For every Graham there is a Benjamin Watson, and for every Samuels there is a Randall Gay.

This weekend not only young careers, but also franchise futures hang in the balance. This year's draft could impact playoff scenarios years down the road.

I mean all you have to do to build a dynasty in the league is have five or six years of perfect drafts. Good luck Matt Millen.