|Zach|
04-23-2005, 04:39 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2043355
Over the two days of the draft, football futures, fortunes and finances will be determined for a lot of young men.
And, no, we're not referring to the players who will be selected Saturday and Sunday.
Certainly this is a weekend for prospects. But there remains an undeniably suspect, and still unemployed, group of veteran players in the free-agent market. And if you think some of those veterans still looking for jobs will have no interest at all in what transpires between noon Saturday and sometime early Sunday evening, when the draft concludes, well, you're deluded.
By the time the New England Patriots anoint the 2005 "Mr. Irrelevant" on Sunday night, 255 more players will have entered the NFL workforce. And that means 255 roster spots that are gone, occupied by rookies, largely taken up by cheap labor and, most significant, unavailable now to veteran free agents trying to squeeze out another paycheck.
Every time a team plucks an offensive tackle prospect from the draft board, it represents one less opportunity for, say, unrestricted free agent Victor Riley, a seven-year veteran who has mostly been a starter in his stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints. Journeyman quarterback Jeff Blake, a 13-year veteran with a resume that includes more than 20,000 passing yards, should cringe when clubs select much younger arms in the draft. The anticipated "run" on cornerbacks in the first and second rounds? Well, it could run veterans such as Chad Scott or Dewayne Washington, released by Pittsburgh and Jacksonville, respectively, this offseason, right out of the league.
Said one player representative on the level of anxiety that exists among the remnant group of veteran free agents right now: "I've still got a couple of [unsigned veterans], and I guarantee you that if a team called just offering the minimum [base salary] to sign them, both would take the deal in a heartbeat. It's a pretty desperate time for some guys. Some of them could be shut out by the end of the weekend."
If this weekend represents two days of potentially fulfilled dreams for hundreds of youngsters in the draft pool, it is a time that might try the souls of veteran players who are still waiting for the telephone to ring. There was the characteristic trickle of veteran signings this week, as some teams checked a few remaining items off the "to do" list in advance of the draft. But come Monday morning, with rosters reinforced by the lottery and even fewer jobs to offer, the free-agent faucet, which has only been dripping of late anyway, will be further tightened.
Think about this: Every spring, an average of about 100 veteran free agents never get re-signed to NFL contracts. Their careers, essentially, end involuntarily. They don't retire; they get retired. And the draft is certainly a component in the attrition process. That helps explain why some agents hit the phones hard this week, attempting to line up roster spots for their unsigned veterans before those slots are consumed by rookies.
"Let's be honest," agent Joel Segal said. "You make your money on all the big contracts you negotiate for well-known players. But you earn your commissions trying to find jobs for guys who are fringe-type players. There is a lot of turnover at the bottom of every roster in the league. Teams feel like those last five or seven roster spots are kind of interchangeable. If they can fill the spot just as efficiently with a kid making the rookie minimum salary ($230,000), rather than someone making, say, the five-year minimum ($540,000), they'll take the younger player a lot of times."
That said, it still is puzzling why some free agents -- tailback Anthony Thomas, a former offensive rookie of the year; linebackers Warrick Holdman, Rob Morris and Anthony Simmons; defensive tackle Ellis Johnson; and offensive tackle Chris Terry, just to cite a few -- haven't, as of Friday morning, lined up gainful employment for 2005.
"You worry," said one unemployed safety, "if time is running out, if things are starting to shrink on you."
Certainly the clock will be ticking on some careers this weekend. And by Monday, the classified ads definitely will be reduced.
For a lot of veterans who went into free agency with high expectations, the process can be a blow to the ego. And, unfortunately, this weekend is one in which a sharp pin might be poked into the balloon of inflated free-agency expectations.
Over the two days of the draft, football futures, fortunes and finances will be determined for a lot of young men.
And, no, we're not referring to the players who will be selected Saturday and Sunday.
Certainly this is a weekend for prospects. But there remains an undeniably suspect, and still unemployed, group of veteran players in the free-agent market. And if you think some of those veterans still looking for jobs will have no interest at all in what transpires between noon Saturday and sometime early Sunday evening, when the draft concludes, well, you're deluded.
By the time the New England Patriots anoint the 2005 "Mr. Irrelevant" on Sunday night, 255 more players will have entered the NFL workforce. And that means 255 roster spots that are gone, occupied by rookies, largely taken up by cheap labor and, most significant, unavailable now to veteran free agents trying to squeeze out another paycheck.
Every time a team plucks an offensive tackle prospect from the draft board, it represents one less opportunity for, say, unrestricted free agent Victor Riley, a seven-year veteran who has mostly been a starter in his stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints. Journeyman quarterback Jeff Blake, a 13-year veteran with a resume that includes more than 20,000 passing yards, should cringe when clubs select much younger arms in the draft. The anticipated "run" on cornerbacks in the first and second rounds? Well, it could run veterans such as Chad Scott or Dewayne Washington, released by Pittsburgh and Jacksonville, respectively, this offseason, right out of the league.
Said one player representative on the level of anxiety that exists among the remnant group of veteran free agents right now: "I've still got a couple of [unsigned veterans], and I guarantee you that if a team called just offering the minimum [base salary] to sign them, both would take the deal in a heartbeat. It's a pretty desperate time for some guys. Some of them could be shut out by the end of the weekend."
If this weekend represents two days of potentially fulfilled dreams for hundreds of youngsters in the draft pool, it is a time that might try the souls of veteran players who are still waiting for the telephone to ring. There was the characteristic trickle of veteran signings this week, as some teams checked a few remaining items off the "to do" list in advance of the draft. But come Monday morning, with rosters reinforced by the lottery and even fewer jobs to offer, the free-agent faucet, which has only been dripping of late anyway, will be further tightened.
Think about this: Every spring, an average of about 100 veteran free agents never get re-signed to NFL contracts. Their careers, essentially, end involuntarily. They don't retire; they get retired. And the draft is certainly a component in the attrition process. That helps explain why some agents hit the phones hard this week, attempting to line up roster spots for their unsigned veterans before those slots are consumed by rookies.
"Let's be honest," agent Joel Segal said. "You make your money on all the big contracts you negotiate for well-known players. But you earn your commissions trying to find jobs for guys who are fringe-type players. There is a lot of turnover at the bottom of every roster in the league. Teams feel like those last five or seven roster spots are kind of interchangeable. If they can fill the spot just as efficiently with a kid making the rookie minimum salary ($230,000), rather than someone making, say, the five-year minimum ($540,000), they'll take the younger player a lot of times."
That said, it still is puzzling why some free agents -- tailback Anthony Thomas, a former offensive rookie of the year; linebackers Warrick Holdman, Rob Morris and Anthony Simmons; defensive tackle Ellis Johnson; and offensive tackle Chris Terry, just to cite a few -- haven't, as of Friday morning, lined up gainful employment for 2005.
"You worry," said one unemployed safety, "if time is running out, if things are starting to shrink on you."
Certainly the clock will be ticking on some careers this weekend. And by Monday, the classified ads definitely will be reduced.
For a lot of veterans who went into free agency with high expectations, the process can be a blow to the ego. And, unfortunately, this weekend is one in which a sharp pin might be poked into the balloon of inflated free-agency expectations.