# 2012 NFL Pre-Draft Discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 8, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215 "2012-02-08T18:05:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/381 "2012-03-14T02:30:18Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > The Bears have apparently moved on from Mario Williams, and are already targeting another DE in FA [Jeremy Mincey](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/13/bears-working-to-sign-free-agent-jeremy-mincey/) from Jacksonville. If this works out it’s be pretty exciting, I love the Williams fantasy and honestly I think he’d be an upgrade over Peppers should he become a cap casualty a year or two down the road but that’s a lot of money to tie up on the D Line. Offense wins these days, Mincey should be much more affordable. > > Also, [apparently Kellen Davis](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/13/source-kellen-davis-to-visit-cowboys-steelers-bengals/) will be making a tour of other teams around the league in need of a second TE. Hopefully the Bears, wanting him to be their starter, will end up being his preferred landing spot. I wrote a lot about liking him and he has a huge opportunity with Martz leaving and Tice taking over. The Bears running game could be downright scary with Davis and Marshall blocking downfield. I don’t know Mincey so much, but it looks like a good direction for the Bears. This will allow them to aim for other needs in the draft. the Bears would also be smart to lock up Davis. I remember reading one of your posts on him and I agree with you. He’s got size, good athleticism, and he caught the most TDs for the Bears despite being in an offense that didn’t want to throw to him as well as having its wheels fall off after Cutler got injured. I’d hope Tice would want him there. He’s not elite, but he’s big enough to create mismatches and be a big target. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/382 "2012-03-14T02:33:22Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Tough day? Tough butthole. (I’m not even sure what that’s supposed to mean.) ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/383 "2012-03-14T02:37:21Z")
This is great! Love all the breaking news. It’s the wild west out there. I have to wonder if there’s going to be a handful of tampering cases raised with how quickly some of these deals got done. Reggie Wayne is [staying](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/13/three-years-17-5-million-for-reggie-wayne/) in Indy, which should be very good for Andrew Luck. I thought Miami or Denver should have signed him on principle to bait Manning, ditto Hutchinson. The Jason Campbell to Chicago deal [is official](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/13/jason-campbell-is-jay-cutlers-new-backup-in-chicago/). I like it. It’s a one year deal, no word on the price, but it’s a good move. Robert Meachem is supposedly going to the Bills along with Mario. If those deals get done I love what the Bills are doing right now. cortland Finnegan gets $50M over 5 years to go to [St. Louis](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/13/rams-do-five-year-50-million-deal-with-cortland-finnegan/). Looks like Fisher is trying to bring that hard-ass edge to St. Louis, between Gregg Williams and Finnegan there’s a real chance that this will be a nasty, dirty defense that teams hate to play. I think that price is way too high, Finnegan isn’t that good, but the Rams probably need to pay more because they are the Rams. Carlos Rogers is expected to stay in San Francisco. Smart for both sides, we’ll have to see what the price is there. Red Bryant resigned in Seattle. He’s a hell of a player that they needed to keep. The Bears took care of perhaps their top 2 needs today, WR and backup QB, and resigned the first of a few important UFAs in Tim Jennings. They still have a lot of work to do, they have to get Kellen Davis back and they need to add a pass rusher and a LB but I like the way Emery is doing business so far. If he can close the Davis, Mincey and Hawthorne deals I’ll be ready to give him an A. If he adds a top notch OL to go along with that it’s an A+ and they will be able to go BPA all draft. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/384 "2012-03-14T02:40:15Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > (I’m not even sure what that’s supposed to mean.) I’m not sure what you mean either. Unless you’re secretly Jay Cutler, I don’t quite get why pointing out stats makes me a butthple. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/385 "2012-03-14T02:42:52Z")
[NFL suspends Packers’ Mike Neal four games](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/13/nfl-suspends-packers-mike-neal-four-games/) ---
**Author:** ![Ennui](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ennui/32/3396_2.png) [@Ennui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ennui)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/386 "2012-03-14T03:09:00Z")
“Jason Campbell to Chicago” the man’s agent should be bitch slapped. Cleveland may not land Matt Flynn and if that deal falls through Jason Campbell could be getting starters money with the Browns. I forget exactly which bardo of hell that would be and it’s been so long since I’ve read the _Book of the Dead_ that I’m not sure if that one is higher or lower than the bardo of hell where Colt McCoy is our starter. But they are in the same book. I want to believe in Colt McCoy, he’s my team’s QB and he seems like a great kid. However I have watched every single game the guy has played in and while stranger and more magical things have happened they don’t happen here. The team offered an astounding price for the right to select RG3 and fell just short. They’ll offer an astounding price for Matt Flynn and fall short. If Colt is our game one starter he’ll know for sure the team didn’t want him to start another game. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/387 "2012-03-14T03:11:44Z")
Goshdarnit if the Bengals aren’t being quiet in free agency. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/388 "2012-03-14T03:57:12Z")
Sigh. Bye, VJax. Rationally I knew it had to happen to give A.J. the cap room to shore up the O-line and _find a damn pass rusher already_ — and if Rivers did nothing else in 2010, he proved he can throw to whatever gaggle of misfits you pull out of the parking lot that Saturday — but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy to see him go. So now, Mr. Smith, you’ve got Spanos’ money burning a hole in your pocket, three crucial gaps to fill (I’m counting corner as one of those; if Norv doesn’t move Jammer to SS I’m going to throw rocks at something), and the clearest single-season ultimatum you’ll find in the league. What’s your next play? (Hint, hint: try looking down in Houston, and bring a Texas-sized checkbook with you.) ETA: Unless of course you get beaten to it by frigging Beefalo, in which case, fucked if I know…Dwight Freeney? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/389 "2012-03-14T04:48:22Z")
> [@Roland\_Orzabal](#): > > Sigh. Bye, VJax. Rationally I knew it had to happen to give A.J. the cap room to shore up the O-line and _find a damn pass rusher already_ — and if Rivers did nothing else in 2010, he proved he can throw to whatever gaggle of misfits you pull out of the parking lot that Saturday — but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy to see him go. > > So now, Mr. Smith, you’ve got Spanos’ money burning a hole in your pocket, three crucial gaps to fill (I’m counting corner as one of those; if Norv doesn’t move Jammer to SS I’m going to throw rocks at something), and the clearest single-season ultimatum you’ll find in the league. What’s your next play? (Hint, hint: try looking down in Houston, and bring a Texas-sized checkbook with you.) > > ETA: Unless of course you get beaten to it by frigging Beefalo, in which case, fucked if I know…Dwight Freeney? Reports are that the Chargers just landed Robert Meachem. 4-years $25.5M. Pretty solid move I think, a little pricey for such an unproven player but the WR market was getting mighty thin and based on what VJax and Garcon are getting it looks like a real bargain. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/390 "2012-03-14T05:04:51Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > The Bears have apparently moved on from Mario Williams, and are already targeting another DE in FA [Jeremy Mincey](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/13/bears-working-to-sign-free-agent-jeremy-mincey/) from Jacksonville. If this works out it’s be pretty exciting, I love the Williams fantasy and honestly I think he’d be an upgrade over Peppers should he become a cap casualty a year or two down the road but that’s a lot of money to tie up on the D Line. Offense wins these days, Mincey should be much more affordable. Mincey [is out](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/14/jaguars-keep-jeremy-mincey-in-fold-with-four-year-pact/), resigned in Jacksonville for 4-years. Crap. Finding a DE is a priority. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/391 "2012-03-14T05:10:20Z")
Rumors that the Browns might trade for Ben Tate. I think that’s who they originally wanted instead of Montario Hardesty. Would like them, if he can be had for a 3rd or later. They seem to either be letting Hillis walk, or at least giving him an idea of market value before they resign him. A mistake, I think. Hillis seems like a natural fit in New England to me. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/392 "2012-03-14T05:28:45Z")
The 49ers are bringing back all eleven starters from last year’s team, plus OLB Aldon Smith, who will become a full-time player this season. With a starting WR now signed, now we look to see if they can plug the holes at left guard, possibly center, and an aging Frank Gore. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/393 "2012-03-14T05:32:15Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Rumors that the Browns might trade for Ben Tate. I think that’s who they originally wanted instead of Montario Hardesty. Would like them, if he can be had for a 3rd or later. They seem to either be letting Hillis walk, or at least giving him an idea of market value before they resign him. A mistake, I think. Hillis seems like a natural fit in New England to me. > [@garygnu](#): > > The 49ers are bringing back all eleven starters from last year’s team, plus OLB Aldon Smith, who will become a full-time player this season. > > With a starting WR now signed, now we look to see if they can plug the holes at left guard, possibly center, and an aging Frank Gore. It Tate is really on the block, San Fran is the team who should be bidding on him. ---
**Author:** ![Jules\_Andre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jules_andre/32/9334_2.png) [@Jules\_Andre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules_Andre)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/394 "2012-03-14T07:28:00Z")
I’d like to trash Washington for signing three WR2s, but I think Josh Morgan is underrated and he may end up being a really great signing. They’ll have a solid WR group, even if it is still fourth in the division. Big first day of free agency. Fans in Philly are freaking out because the Eagles haven’t done anything of note and now Philly fans expect the bonanza in 2011 to happen every year. So far it looks like every signee has been overpaid, so I’m glad they’re sticking it out and waiting for the second tier when everyone has blown their wads. Not that they’ll do much of anything major anyway. They have extensions for DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy coming up, along with (hopefully) resigning Evan Mathis and Derek Landri. Toss in your draft picks and maybe they can swing signing a veteran to plug a spot, but nothing spectacular. Something along the lines of London Fletcher, for example. On the Redskins/Cowboys cap beatdown, I actually remember bitching that the Eagles weren’t doing the exact same thing. I guess now I know why. Just another reminder that it’s fun to armchair GM, but there’s no point in getting uppity because there’s just so much we don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/395 "2012-03-14T13:42:41Z")
Apparently the police in NYC are investigating a report that Brandon Marshall punched a woman in the face a few days ago. The Bears knew about it when they traded for him, but it might explain why the Dolphins were willing to take less than market value for a very good receiver. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/396 "2012-03-14T13:45:44Z")
Meachem to the Chargers is a great move for my Dynasty league team, but a curious one for the Chargers considering the money involved. He pretty much plateaued at 45 catches and 650 yards a season in New Orleans, so $25 million for 4 years is a lot. On the other hand, he’s always had the size and speed to be a top flight NFL wideout, and maybe he just needs a change of scenery. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/397 "2012-03-14T13:55:04Z")
Like **Omni** , I’m also surprised to see no one discussing the 'Skins/Cowboys salary cap penalties. (ESPN’s NFC East blog has a quick (text) breakdown of the situation [here](http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/36904/qa-on-the-cowboys-redskins-cap-mess), and a screed [here](http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/36923/cap-controversy-shows-nfl-at-its-worst).) In truth, I’m mostly fine with the NFL’s action. To the extent that it is problematic, I think it’s an issue about process: they had to do this informally, under the table, and they \*probably \*had do some horse-trading to get the NFLPA to look the other way because this is _probably_ against the letter of the law. That’s all bad. OTOH, I think the league should be able to enforce these kinds of rules and penalties, and I think they should be able to “collude” in this particular way. Here’s the thing: the league shouldn’t be able to tell teams “don’t spend a lot of money in the uncapped year,” as such, and some people who have a big problem with this (e.g. Mike Florio in the vid that \*\*Omni \*\*linked to) are portraying it like that. But the NFL will say (and after a little bit of research I believe) that the issue was legitimately not one of \*total \*spending or \*total \*player compensation. Rather, what the league asked teams not to do is structure contracts in ways that dump huge percentages of their value in 2010 (the uncapped year) so as to make them artificially cheaper (for accounting purposes) when the cap was eventually reinstated. This seems to be what Dallas and Washington are being punished for: they went overboard in pushing salary specifically into 2010, to the point of losing plausible deniability. The main Cowboys example is easy to understand: they signed Miles Austin to a 7-year, $57M deal with $18M guaranteed, but instead of a signing bonus they just gave him a [first-year base salary of $17M](http://www.rotoworld.com/teams/contracts/nfl/dal/cowboys) (then $1.2M, then $6.7M, then $5.5M, etc.). Hence, none of the guaranteed money has to be accounted for after the first year, and Dallas thereby accrues over $2M in salary cap savings every year from 2011 until the end of the deal. There may have been other, smaller deals like this. The Redskins’ infraction is a lot more complicated. From [here](http://insidethecap.blogspot.com/2010/03/redskins-finally-leverage-uncapped-year.html): > [@J.I. Halsell](#): > > **Under the Cap: The Redskins Finally Leverage the Uncapped Year** > > As of March 11th [2010], the Redskins had a total team salary amount of $141.6 million, by virtue of the [Albert] Haynesworth and [DeAngelo] Hall renegotiations of March 12th, this number is now roughly $170 million. To put this in perspective, the baseline salary cap in 2009 was $128 million. So what did the Redskins do? > > In his infamous $100 million contract of 2009, Haynesworth had a $21 million option bonus. As part of the deal, the Redskins reserved the right to convert that option bonus to signing bonus, and that’s exactly what they did according to league sources. However, they did this conversion with a slight twist. Not only did they convert the option bonus to a $21 million signing bonus, but they also added a voidable provision by which if Haynesworth pays back $16.8 million of the signing bonus, then the 2011 – 2014 contract years void away. From a team salary accounting standpoint, because the voidable is solely in the player’s control, the proration of the signing bonus does not go into 2011 – 2014, meaning all of the $21 million signing bonus counts in the uncapped year of 2010. As a result, Haynesworth’s team salary number in 2010 went from $8.8 million to a whopping $25.6 million. His subsequent team salary numbers are $6.4 million, $8.2 million, $10 million, $10.8 million, and $12.8 million respectively. With this new voidable provision, if Haynesworth decides he’s unhappy with his role in the Redskins’ new 3-4 defense and he can come to an agreement in principle with a new team that would guarantee him the $16.8 million he’d have to pay back to the Redskins, then in theory 2010 could Haynesworth’s last year in Washington. > > Similarly, Hall had a $15 million option bonus in his contract signed in the 2009 offseason. The Redskins converted this $15 million to signing bonus and also provided Hall with the voidable clause, whereby the entire $15 million, from a team salary accounting standpoint, stays in 2010. As a result of this maneuver, Hall’s team salary number went from $6.8 million to $18.3 million in 2010. His subsequent manageable team salary numbers are $5.3 million, $6.8 million, $8.3 million, and $9.5 million respectively… > > … As I’ve previously written, given the uncertainty of what 2011 holds, _ **clubs who take advantage of the uncapped year by incurring high team salaries in 2010 run the risk of possibly being penalized in 2011 as part of a new salary cap and CBA. Clearly, this is a risk the Redskins are willing to take** _, or perhaps they know something the rest of us don’t. Bolding mine. I admit there are a couple of things about this I’m not 100% clear on\*, but, basically, the Redskins used accounting gimmicks to cram as much salary into the uncapped year as possible, specifically so they would have a lot of extra space in 2011 and beyond. It worked, too: remember the people upthread wondering how the @#!\*% the Redskins, who always spend like drunken sailors, managed to have such a huge amount of free cap space? This is why. Against the league’s express wishes, they (and to a lesser extent the the Cowboys) used the uncapped year to lower their future cap numbers while other teams (apparently, or mostly) did not. Even if the request was technically informal, they gained a de facto advantage by ignoring the the league’s request – the other teams should have a right to expect restitution, and the league should have the right to exact a penalty for the sake of competitive balance. Anyway, I haven’t done a ton of research on this, so if it turns out that lots of teams were pulling these kinds of blatant tricks, on a similar scale, and the only teams that are being punished are the ones who spent the most money _total_, then I suppose I would stand corrected. If that’s not the case, however, then I think this is, at worst, a very benign form of collusion. - =\> Specifically, I’m not sure why the 'Skins would bother converting the (presumably non-prorated) option bonuses into (theoretically prorated) signing bonuses when their intent was apparently to make it so that the bonuses _wouldn’t_ be prorated for cap purposes. Was it just to keep up appearances if the league wasn’t looking too closely (e.g., “Oh, hey, we tried to prorate these bonuses, but woudja look at that? Seems like they have to be non-prorated after all. Shucks.”)? Seems unlikely, but that’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/398 "2012-03-14T14:05:00Z")
Oh, and I should also say that, whatever the ultimate truth of the matter, that Mike Florio completely ignored this angle in his (very long) breakdown of the situation will henceforth cause me to look somewhat askance at his analysis and expertise. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/399 "2012-03-14T14:06:15Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > Like **Omni** , I’m also surprised to see no one discussing the 'Skins/Cowboys salary cap penalties. I think it’s a combination of two things. First, the details of the salary cap and how it can and is manipulated is beyond the average football fan’s interest. At this time of year, it’s “Hey, we got THAT GUY!!! We’re going to be fucking awesome this year!!!” and not “Signing bonuses must be prorated over the length of the contract under the salary cap rules made pursuant to the CBA …” So, in effect, free agency overshadowed a more technical and hard to understand ruling. Secondly, I think it happened to Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones, and those bastards deserved every damn ounce of scorn and bad rulings, so no one really cares. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215/400 "2012-03-14T14:09:48Z")
Third, everyone in the fucking world talks about the Cowboys and Redskins too much already. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-nfl-pre-draft-discussion/612215.md?page=21)