Albert Breer – tireless lockout correspendant for NFL.com – is reporting that significant progress has been made on the rookie pay scale within the new CBA. This could be the final hurdle to clear before a deal can be struck. From a pure draft perspective, it makes total sense. Holding the #1 pick shouldn’t be a lottery blessing once every generation if you’re fortunate enough to be there when Peyton Manning’s available. It shouldn’t also force teams to be selective positionally because the investment is so huge. In order to make the #1 pick truly fair for the team with the worse record, it must be more cost effective and it must filter down the board.
Pat Kirwan at NFL.com has a piece looking at some of the upcoming decisions for the NFC West teams if the lockout finally ends. Kirwan pinpoints the likes of Jonathan Joseph, Eric Wright, Antonio Cromartie and Barry Cofield to improve the defense. He also says the Seahawks should do what it takes to bring Carson Palmer to Seattle, possibly by offering a player-plus-picks deal. Carroll and Kirwan are close, but it’s important to stress this appears to be an opinion piece and Kirwan isn’t saying the Seahawks ‘will’ trade for Palmer, rather that they should. I still firmly believe it’s Palmer or Matt Hasselbeck for the starting gig in 2011.
I conducted an interview with Dan Kelly at Fieldgulls this week and you can see it by clicking here. Among the topics discussed – Terrelle Pryor, the NFC West’s 2011 draft and Georgia running back Caleb King.
Walter Cherepinsky has a 2013 mock draft at Walterfootball. Tyler Bray is the #1 pick, an upcoming sophomore quarterback from Tennessee. He needs to add some weight and get physically stronger to max out his potential. There’s something there, but when I watched Bray in 2010 he didn’t necessarily strike me as a future top pick.
If you missed it earlier in the week, don’t forget to check out my piece on Kirk Cousins (QB, Michigan State) and why I think he compares favorably to Kevin Kolb.
Ryan Lindley (QB, San Diego State) positive/negative tape courtesy of TMB Draft:
