Scholarship table
Trevor Lawrence, Clemson's QB, was the highest rated HS recruit EVER by Rivals. They said the only comparison is Peyton Manning. He is the first true Freshman since Jameel Holloway in 1985 to start and win the National Championship. He beat an Alabama team by 28 that was thought to be one of the greatest teams in CFB history.He is not eligible for the NFL draft for two years but if he was eligible this year, he would be the #1 pick.So NFL scouts are drooling over this 19-year old kid thinking he is the most important pick in decades.So here is the conspiracy theory.Teams like Dallas and New England would love this kid, but they are not going to get the #1 pick anytime soon. So, they speculated that a Jerry Jones would give Vince McMahon $20 to $30 million to offer this kid to play in his rebooted XFL. Then after two years he is a free agent and Dallas (or New England, or whoever has money), can offer him the richest contract in NFL contract in history.They also suggested this could be a way around the three year rule and render the draft less important. Good Freshman and Sophomores leave early to get paid for a year or two in the XFL then jump to the NFL as a free agent.You buying or selling this tin foil hat theory?
What I buy is if TL has another fantastic season next year, he just leaves school, trains all year, sign an agent, get endorsements a year early, hedge a possible injury, and one less year of tape for scouts to pick apart.
Why not now? He is already considered a franchise savior after this past season. Hard to get his stock much higher.Why not leave now and sue to get into this year's draft?
I’m buying that Heise wants his click count up.
Great idea!Best regards,Maurice Clarett
Maurice, I guess you forgot that you actually won your case and then it was overturned on appeal. (FYI - now Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor overturned the ruling when she was on the appellate court.)You dropped it because tOSU threw you out of school on some trumped up academic violation charges (no one takes classes at tOSU). You also did not help your situation by getting arrested for armed robbery.Lawrence could sue and now not suffer because of it. Clemson will probably not run him out of school. And if they did, Oliver Luck has a big checkbook waiting for him.
Maybe I am missing something, but if this type of workaround was attempted, what would stop the NFL from changing their rules to say that anyone who wants to join an NFL team for the first time has to enter the draft?
To your highlighted question ... that means no more free agent market. So you are either drafted or can never play in the NFL, ever?(For instance, no signing European soccer players as kickers or punters without them going through the draft?)
This.Do I believe that the Pats and Cowboys would openly break rules to gain an advantage? Absolutely, two of the most historically dirty teams in the NFL. Would the NFL simply make a rule like you propose to solve any possible problems. Yes. Would the Kraft and Jones fight the new rule, also an absolute yes.
Maurice, I guess you forgot that you actually won your case and then it was overturned on appeal. (FYI - now Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor overturned the ruling when she was on the appellate court.)
Very easy fix. Must first register (and be eligible) for the draft, or supplemental draft. If undrafted, can sign with any team as a free-agent.Any European soccer players or Australian rugby players that think they may someday want to play in the NFL can register. If they don't register, tough luck.
This circles back to my original question. If you are Jerry Jones and/or Robert Kraft and you see Trevor Lawrence as the second coming. What do you do to get him? The answer is he has to become a free agent so he does not get drafted by a Buffalo or Jacksonville.The XFL is one way to get him to bypass the draft and get him to free agency in two years (when he is 21).
The NFL cannot unilaterally make this rule. It has to be part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.You think the players association is going to want to agree to this form of restricting players into the league? The answer is they will if the NFL agrees to raise the minimum salary and fatten the pension benefits. So, does the NFL feel this rule change is so important that they will pay for it? I'll guess no.
Why would he become a free agent if he goes to the XFL instead of playing in college? How does playing for the XFL invalidate the NFL draft rules codified in the collective bargaining agreement with the union?
Draft eligibility is now part of the collective bargaining agreement. See page 17.https://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/collective-bargaining-agreement-2011-2020.pdf