What happens to traded draft picks if there is a lockout?

[PromisedLand]

Forgive me if this has been answered before - I haven't been here for awhile. But I was wondering, what would happen to a 2011 draft pick which has been traded if there is a lockout in 2011? Of course I am thinking in particular about the Oakland first round pick we received for Richard Seymour.

 

[vattha]

The 2011 draft will happen even if there is a lockout.

 

[PatsBoy12]

The 2011 draft will happen even if there is a lockout.

Yeah, I believe I heard this mentioned before a few weeks ago. I think this is correct info.

 

[Sciz]

Yep. The 2011 draft is guaranteed to happen. Of course, if there's a lockout, a lot of underclassmen will probably wait to declare. So it could be a poor draft, but there will be one.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Yep. The 2011 draft is guaranteed to happen. Of course, if there's a lockout, a lot of underclassmen will probably wait to declare. So it could be a poor draft, but there will be one.

Good point.

To anyone who has the answer, when will we actually know whether or not there'll be a lockout? When will all the talks cease?

 

[PromisedLand]

Good point.

To anyone who has the answer, when will we actually know whether or not there'll be a lockout? When will all the talks cease?

That's a good question - but I would think we would know by the time the NFL calendar year starts (around March 1st), because if there isn't a new CBA by then teams would not not what the rules are going to be to sign free agents.

So it would be before the draft, and (I believe) before underclassmen would have to declare for it. So in conclusion, if it looks like a lockout will be looming (as it does now) we will probably not get a full opportunity to get full value for the Seymour draft pick (given what the other poster said about underclassmen not wanting to declare, which seems correct to me.)

 

[spacecrime]

Yep. The 2011 draft is guaranteed to happen. Of course, if there's a lockout, a lot of underclassmen will probably wait to declare. So it could be a poor draft, but there will be one.

Maybe. All the seniors will be in the draft, though. What percentage of the draft is underclassmen?

And why wait annway? If they get signed, they get a signing bonus. If they don't sign or get drafted and refuse to sign, they go back in the 2012 draft and have lost nothing.

 

[italia44]

Yep. The 2011 draft is guaranteed to happen. Of course, if there's a lockout, a lot of underclassmen will probably wait to declare. So it could be a poor draft, but there will be one.

This is also why so many underclassman,came out this year(and why the jedi-master stockpiled so many 2010 picks).

 

[Ring 6]

Wont the draft occur before the lockout?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

In early March, whenever the date was scheduled to be the first day of the new league year. If they are talking at the time there may be extensions as there was in 2006 when FA was put on hold while talks continued. But those just postpone the new league year temporarily and everyone remains in limbo. Eventually (and it's usually within days and not weeks) one side or the other will set a drop dead negotiation deadline in that case, however. They cannot operate without a new CBA because of anti trust law (that allows for things like drafts and salary caps and revenue sharing), so unless the union decertifies to preclude a lockout, in which case the last offer ownership had on the table would become the interim defacto CBA until either a new union emerges or the old one gets a court to rule in it's favor on substantial portions of the existing offer, or they somehow reach agreement on a new CBA, there will be a lockout sometime in March 2011.

As for those draft picks, they may well have to agree to deals or terms they don't like or just wait until owners decide to sign them since there will be no OTA's or camp pressure to get them signed in time if there is a lockout... They'll be in limbo just like the rest of the players including FA who can't sign anywhere... And whether there is a new CBA or a lockout or the league operates based on the last offer on the table, it will absolutely include a rookie contract cap going forward. That's why a lot of underclassmen and players with injury or performance concerns who still had eligibility remaining opted to come out this season. 2011 will be a shallow class, but that doesn't mean there won't be depth at certain positions or within the first couple of rounds. Beyond that may be slim pickings.

 

[Headcase]

Wont the draft occur before the lockout?

My understanding is that the draft will be the last thing to happen in this league year. Which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, since it is the 2010 season, and 2011 draft, but I just have to assume that it has to do with the uncapped year rules.

SSDD

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Wont the draft occur before the lockout?

Nope. Draft will go on in April as it always does. Lockout if there is one will occur before a new league year starts which is in March. There won't be any off season programs to skip in 2011 because if there isn't going to be a season then owners aren't going to pay roster and other bonuses that trigger early in March (or lately using the terminologyat the start of a new league year) and they aren't going to let anyone in the building to claim injury...

 

[MoLewisrocks]

My understanding is that the draft will be the last thing to happen in this league year. Which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, since it is the 2010 season, and 2011 draft, but I just have to assume that it has to do with the uncapped year rules.

SSDD

It's not the last thing to happen in this league year. It's simply the last piece of business by what is actually the 2006 CBA which should have run through 2011 but it had opt out language that allowed either side to opt out 1 or two years early while still prescribing a final draft be held after it expired if no new CBA was agreed to in time. Had they not done that it would have been chaos and a whole class of NCAA players would have had no way of entering the NFL. This way their rights are assigned and once play commences again they will be under the control of an NFL team.

 

[goheels22002]

There is so much money at stake for both sides that the CBA ought to be in place by the 2011 Draft. Too many teams (led by the Cowboys) are leveraged up the wazoo with capital improvements or borderline finances (Buffalo) that the owners need cash-flow in 2011 beginning with the pre-season. A deal gets done after much public teeth-gnashing.

With a rookie salary cap in whatever CBA emerges, that Seymour #1 becomes even more valuable so Bill Belichick will probably trade the Seymour #1 for a pile of picks in 2011 and 2012 anyway. This is a such a huge win-win for the Patriots going forward. This year's draft is a template I think - lots of picks overall (12) and a preponderance of round 2 through 4 selections where quality is available in weak years as well as strong ones.

 

[DarrylS]

There is so much money at stake for both sides that the CBA ought to be in place by the 2011 Draft. Too many teams (led by the Cowboys) are leveraged up the wazoo with capital improvements or borderline finances (Buffalo) that the owners need cash-flow in 2011 beginning with the pre-season. A deal gets done after much public teeth-gnashing.
.

I agree, there is just too much money on the table for everyone to walk away... both sides need a labor agreement.

 

[Off The Grid]

Good questions, GREAT answers.

May I ask another?

5th Year Eligibility.

Does anyone here know if any of 2011's impending Seniors have the ability to simply stay another year, if they so choose? Do they have to have a particular reason ~ injury, for example ~ or is it something they can just opt for, without needing a particular reason?

I believe the answer is currently "No", but I read, a few months ago, that there was a campaign, afoot, to allow them that option on a universal basis.

So really, it's a 3 part question, which I hope you College experts will answer:

1 ~ Do the impending Seniors have the automatic option of extending for a 5th?

2 ~ If not, is there any chance that this will change, between now and March?

3 ~ If the answer to #1 and #2 is "No" for both...is there anywhere I can Google up a list of Seniors who ~ for whatever reason ~ might have that option, on a case by case basis?

 

[JoeSixPat]

That's a good question - but I would think we would know by the time the NFL calendar year starts (around March 1st), because if there isn't a new CBA by then teams would not not what the rules are going to be to sign free agents.

So it would be before the draft, and (I believe) before underclassmen would have to declare for it. So in conclusion, if it looks like a lockout will be looming (as it does now) we will probably not get a full opportunity to get full value for the Seymour draft pick (given what the other poster said about underclassmen not wanting to declare, which seems correct to me.)

I think you've got it all right - I believe the NFL has been very clear that there will be a draft no matter what - paying those players is a different matter and won't happen in a lockout, but the NFL teams will retain the rights to drafted players.

When it comes to the FA class, since they are being "drafted" based on money, there's no money without a season and a CBA, so free agency is pointless.

Can free agency be pushed back, one month, two months three months, after an agreement is reached? Would the season be pushed back and shortened too? Who knows.

As far as underclassmen not declaring, I could see that going either way. I have a tough time thinking that a player who thinks he could be drafted in the first round will stay away from the 2011 draft. If many draftees stay out of the draft then you've got a VERY crowded 2012 draft... meaning 1st round guys will slide to the 2nd, 2nd round guys will slide to the 3rd etc etc etc.

Even though the next CBA will likely rein in outrageous 1st round salaries, that's really only going to affect the Top 10 players. The rest of them will get salaries depending on where they were drafted. Sitting out the 2011 draft to be drafted lower in a very crowded 2012 might not be desired by agents.

 

[DaBruinz]

This is also why so many underclassman,came out this year(and why the jedi-master stockpiled so many 2010 picks).

Actually, there were something like 75 underclassmen who came out.. Which is about the same amount that comes out every year... Many people rumored that 2009 and 2010 would have extraordinary amounts of underclassmen and they didn't. Which was a surprise to many. Though I know some guys who were underclassmen in 2009 and opted to stay in when they should have come out. Several of them lost millions by staying in school.

 

[DaBruinz]

There is so much money at stake for both sides that the CBA ought to be in place by the 2011 Draft. Too many teams (led by the Cowboys) are leveraged up the wazoo with capital improvements or borderline finances (Buffalo) that the owners need cash-flow in 2011 beginning with the pre-season. A deal gets done after much public teeth-gnashing.

With a rookie salary cap in whatever CBA emerges, that Seymour #1 becomes even more valuable so Bill Belichick will probably trade the Seymour #1 for a pile of picks in 2011 and 2012 anyway. This is a such a huge win-win for the Patriots going forward. This year's draft is a template I think - lots of picks overall (12) and a preponderance of round 2 through 4 selections where quality is available in weak years as well as strong ones.

Where do you get that the Cowboys are leveraged up the wazoo? Jerry Jones paid very little for that new stadium, getting the City of Arlington to pony up a majority of the cost. Not to mention the PSLs and such.

Also, the TV contracts, are guaranteed money, though the league would have to refund it after the fact. It's one of the things the NFLPA is up in arms about claiming that the League is stiffing the players because of how the contracts are written.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I agree, there is just too much money on the table for everyone to walk away... both sides need a labor agreement.

In theory yes. But the owners are the ones who pulled the plug on the current CBA deeming it too costly.

They must be thinking that negotiating now, in a down economy when NFL revenues and ticket sales would be more apt to backup the ownerships position, could gain them concessions that will more than make up for 1 season of lost revenue down the line.

So yes, while to us there's an unimaginable amount of money on the table that the owners seem willing to walk away from in 2011, I'm guessing they perceive the potential for a significant net gain, even factoring in 2011 losses, through the duration of whatever CBA is worked out.