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After spending most of the last few decades ignoring the very idea of earning compensatory draft picks, the New Orleans Saints maneuvered themselves to receive a few extra selections in the 2021 NFL Draft. Their trades in this year’s draft gave up future selections in the same rounds they’re expected to receive additional picks, adding an element of strategy to those moves.
One of those picks is projected to be a third-rounder, which the Saints would earn for losing Teddy Bridgewater in free agency. While the team is negotiating a deal with veteran passer Jameis Winston, their savvy move to wait until after Monday’s cutoff date for qualifying picks would protect that pick.
Unless the NFL steps in. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein reported Tuesday that conversations around the league suggest the NFL might step in to penalize teams believed to have “intentionally gamed the system” by following the rules and not signing a free agent until after the established deadline. That doesn’t pass the smell test.
It would be difficult for the league office to prove any such collusion happened, requiring statements from both the team and the player’s agents that both sides agreed to wait until after the cutoff to finalize a deal. And even if that were the case, these sort of “handshake agreements” have been happening for years.
Why on earth would the NFL punish one of its franchises for being mindful of a deadline it maintains? What’s the point in scheduling that cutoff date if they plan on penalizing a team for taking action to work around it? Why have it in the first place?
As Zierlein himself noted in his report, he doesn’t expect anything to come of this noise. So it’s probably just a big nothingburger. But the fact that any discussions are happening at all sure smells fishy.
Had an NFL cap guy tell me yesterday the league has vaguely mentioned they could take action via compensatory picks if they believe teams intentionally gamed the system by waiting until just after deadline to sign free agents so they won't count. My money is on nothing happens.
— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) April 28, 2020
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