For those not familiar with the NFL offseason structure, the next big date to look forward to is the opening of free agency. Don’t worry if you haven’t read your free agency primer just yet. You have time. Free agency technically opens March 16-18. That’s when players’ agents are able to talk to prospective teams and start negotiating deals. Well, if that’s the case, how do we have deals announced at midnight on March 16? Well, the obvious answer is that players, teams, and agents have been talking this entire time. Tampering is a joke, but back to the main point: in the NFL, first comes free agency and then a little more than a month later, the NFL Draft arrives.
The NBA has that schedule flipped. Instead of going with free agency first. The NBA has the draft and then free agency. The question is which one is better? Would the NFL ever consider flipping its calendar to have the draft followed by free agency?
There are benefits and drawbacks — as there are with every situation. If the NFL were to flip its timeline, it would allow teams to plan long-term before targeting its free agents. For example, if Jordan Love or Justin Herbert fell to the Colts in the draft, they would not have to work on bringing in a veteran quarterback into the mix. The same could be said for a team like the Colts who need a long-term answer at quarterback. They may still make a run at someone like Philip Rivers, but they could do so with more knowledge. The veteran players who are signing deals would also have more information when choosing their next location. Maybe Rivers looks more at Tampa Bay if he knows he’s one and done in Indianapolis. The same can be said for teams even further back in the draft. If Herbert fell to the Saints, they may not have to be in the market for someone like Teddy Bridgewater or they could let Taysom Hill walk.
Having the draft first may allow teams to avoid high-priced free agency mistakes as well. There’s no reason to invest in a long-term deal if they have some sort of knowledge of what their rookies might project as.
Of course, it works both ways. NBA fans will say that the NFL has it right. Free agency happening first sets a team up for the next two to three years. There’s no reason to reach for a need in the draft because that need was hopefully filled in free agency. There’s even more short term fantasy with the NFL having free agency first versus having the draft. If there’s a chance for a free agency bust, that bust probability jumps exponentially when it comes to the draft. Besides, teams can still take younger players and fill in the role. There are 53 members of the active roster. It’s fine to have Philip Rivers, Jordan Love, and another veteran backup. Teams have one-year, three-year, and five-year plans. They aren’t stuck like the NBA with its smaller rosters.
The truth is that the NFL probably has it right. Most NBA fans have been clamoring for the league to flip the calendar because signing a free agent creates more possibilities for trades. Sign a free agent, trade your current starter, move up in the draft, and there you have it. It makes sense to know exactly what a team has before they start making major moves and trades. Trades are exciting and this allows more trades to happen because there’s a bit more short term certainty. The NFL has it right.