All Draft, All Day

Since I'm not going to focus on anything other than the draft until well after the draft, I thought I'd break up the positional previews with some general ideas as to how to make the draft better. And yeah- that's a picture of Brian Bosworth. Why? I have no idea, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. If I was a Seahawks fan, I would definitely want a Brian Bosworth jersey. As it is, I keep searching ebay for a Maurice Clarett jersey. At any rate...

• Institute a rookie salary cap. I have no idea why the Player's Association hasn't already pushed this. They fuck over retired players by saying they don't work for those guys. Well, they don't work for players who have yet to be drafted, either. A cap would mitigate the long term impact busts have on bad franchising, which would further promote the parity that the NFL loves. Further, there would be more dollars available under the existing salary cap for veterans. Since the NFLPA works for them, it seems ludicrous that this wouldn't be an issue. Additionally, there would no longer be wild speculation that, say, a Mario Williams was drafted before Reggie Bush because he was cheaper. Finally, a rookie salary cap would eliminate training camp holdouts, thus ensuring that the players who need the most time to get acclimated to your organization actually spend the most time in camp. A rookie salary cap would work the same way the NBA's works- draft slots regulate how much you get paid. It can be argued that if, say, a guard is drafted 10th this year, while a quarterback was drafted 10th last year. My response is- "tough shit." Don't draft a guard 10th. It just seems like common sense.
• Change up the time limits. Why do teams get 15 minutes for the first round, 10 for the second, and 5 from there on out. Shouldn't it be easier to draft in the first round? Did New Orleans really need 15 extra minutes to pick Reggie Bush after knowing Houston had already signed Mario Williams? Of course not. Also, teams would no longer get an additional 15 minutes to pick after making a trade. If you made a trade, you made it for a reason. You get 5 extra minutes.
• I get to be the guy handing in the draft card. Well maybe not me, per se, but teams should hold contests to pick the guys who sit at the little desk and hand in the card. The NFL goes out of its way to make the league fan unfriendly, what with luxury boxes, stupid uniform rules, celebration limits, communism, et cetera. Do me a favor and throw me a bone, would you NFL? I spend piles of money on the DirecTV with the NFL Sunday ticket, and on the officially licensed hoodie (retail price- $75) and on the officially licensed sideline hat, and the officially licensed Zubaz, and on the officially licensed jerseys... do this one thing to show NFL fans that you don't hate them. Get someone to pony up the cash to sponsor it. Let people use their Coke Rewards points to enter. Let me enter to win via my teams website, where the team can sell more internet advertising. It's not like the guy manning the table does anything. He just walks a card up to the podium. You could even put a real live team official next to me to make sure I don't "accidentally" fill out Reggie Nelson's name when the Broncos wanted Jamaal Anderson. The main qualification to hand in the draft card seems to be "feet." I have feet, NFL, and a hand- let me use them.
• More draft merchandise. This is another win-win. The NFL loves to make money, and this would provide them with the opportunity to make more money. Bring back the helmet phones. Who doesn't love helmet phones? Answer- no one. I would keep a helmet phone in my closet and break it out only for the draft. Sell an officially licensed NFL draft Big Board. The possibilities are.. well, not endless, but those are two.
• Move the draft out of New York. Yet more proof that the NFL hates the fans. Why do Jets and Giants (and Eagles fans, I guess) get all the fun in booing their draft picks. I want to boo my draft picks, too. ("No, I wasn't saying BOOOOOO after selecting Willie Middlebrooks, I was saying SMOOOOOOOT.") I understand that it's more convenient in New York, since that's where the league offices are, but here's the thing- I don't care. Bring the draft to Denver, bring it to Houston. Hell, bring it to Jacksonville so writers can bitch about how shitty Jacksonville is. I guarantee you that Broncos fans would fill the Pepsi Center if you held the draft there. Sell them tickets- like I said, you assholes love money.
• Live fan comment scroll on the bottom. Let fans text message in their comments about draft picks. Use officially licensed wireless provider Sprint, or Cingular, or whoever ponies up the most money. Have someone read through all the comments and put the good ones up on the scroll. The NFL makes money, the sponsor gets visibility, the fans get to feel like part of the action. Do you see a theme developing here?
• Obligatory ESPN joke. Berman sucks. Kiper's hair, Stuart Scott... blah blah blah. I'll probably check out the NFL Network coverage this year, if only because there's very little chance of me having to see Michael Huff in night vision goggles.

These are just a few ideas I had toward improving the NFL draft. Other suggestions are welcome. As it is, I already plan to spend the whole weekend eating and drinking and bitching about players I've never heard of ("Tony Scheffler? Who the FUCK is Tony Scheffler?"), but it's not like the league couldn't make it so much better.