Understanding the Game of the Nike Samurai' that throw the leather egg

[Hunter Rider]

Ive just got back into the NFL and I am sure there are others here that are interested but don't fully understand how it all works.

Now personally I get the on field side of things pretty easily but I don't understand how players move from team to team and how drafts and such are done. For instance in Soccer if a player is transferred from one team to another, it's a purchase, example - Chelsea paid Milan £30M for Shevchenko.

How does this all work in the NFL ?

For anyone else, feel free to use this thread to ask questions and help you gain more insight and understanding on how this great game works.

 

[Alex The Great]

How does Miami think that drafting a KICKER in the first round of teh draft last year IS GOOD?

 

[Jerry!]

Admit football is superior to soccer and maybe I'll explain these crazy confusing concepts known as the NFL Draft and the act of players being traded and/or signed.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Mister J]

Ive just got back into the NFL and I am sure there are others here that are interested but don't fully understand how it all works.

Now personally I get the on field side of things pretty easily but I don't understand how players move from team to team and how drafts and such are done. For instance in Soccer if a player is transferred from one team to another, it's a purchase, example - Chelsea paid Milan £30M for Shevchenko.

How does this all work in the NFL ?

For anyone else, feel free to use this thread to ask questions and help you gain more insight and understanding on how this great game works.

Player movement is handled by presence of contracts; either signing a new one or a trade involving a player currently under contract. A player signs a deal for a specific number of years and a corresponding salary for each year. At the end of the deal (or if the team decides to release him prior to the expiration of the contract), he's free to sign with any other team. In the alternative, a team can decide to trade a player to another team, in exchange for other players, future draft picks or sometimes, cash considerations. It can get more complicated, but those are the basics.

The draft is an annual selection of players that have never played in the NFL, comprised largely of college players. The team with the worst record in the league makes the first selection, followed by the team with the second worst and so on until the team who wins the Super Bowl makes the last selection of the round. This happens for 7 rounds in total with (absent any prior trading of picks) each team making 7 selections. Overall, it's to allow teams to get new players who will help them be successful in the future as they current ones get older.

How does Miami think that drafting a KICKER in the first round of teh draft last year IS GOOD?

Do you mean drafting a KICK RETURNER (Ginn) in the first round last year?

I asked the same question (via heavy usage of profanities) as I dropped the cup of cranberry juice I was drinking, which was intended to be a celebratory toast to Brady Quinn being picked.

Damn Cameron and Mueller. That's why their asses don't have jobs today.

 

[Jerry!]

Ginn was picked that high because they thought he would have a Devin Hester-like effect. And cranberry juice? What was it, your period?

 

[Alex The Great]

ah. RETURNER! mah bad

 

[Mister J]

Ginn was picked that high because they thought he would have a Devin Hester-like effect. And cranberry juice? What was it, your period?

Expecting another player to be anywhere that devastating as a returner, when really no one in league history has been such, was foolish, especially when so many other every down areas needed attention. The draft is always a crap shoot, but Miami turned down a potential franchise QB for someone whose greatest impact (because he wasn't much as a receiver) could be avoiding by simply kicking the ball out of bounds. It's not as if Ginn is a bad returner, but they would have needed the second coming to justify that pick. The Dolphins management has sucked for a while. I'm glad Parcells is aboard.

Hey, I take my consumption of antioxidants (and my chasers for vodka) seriously. Besides, it's not like I said it was in a juice box. Then again, I didn't say it wasn't.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Player movement is handled by presence of contracts; either signing a new one or a trade involving a player currently under contract. A player signs a deal for a specific number of years and a corresponding salary for each year. At the end of the deal (or if the team decides to release him prior to the expiration of the contract), he's free to sign with any other team. In the alternative, a team can decide to trade a player to another team, in exchange for other players, future draft picks or sometimes, cash considerations. It can get more complicated, but those are the basics.

Thanks J, So if a guy like T.O for instance wanted a move to another team, the Cowboys and the other team would most likely have to decide on a trade b/c he's locked to a deal ? Do most of the players drafted..if successful, get contracts and then see what happens from there ?

Is it also the case that a really talented young player that gets drafted to a smaller team, will be traded to a major team over the next season with some financial gain for the smaller team ?

The draft is an annual selection of players that have never played in the NFL, comprised largely of college players. The team with the worst record in the league makes the first selection, followed by the team with the second worst and so on until the team who wins the Super Bowl makes the last selection of the round. This happens for 7 rounds in total with (absent any prior trading of picks) each team making 7 selections. Overall, it's to allow teams to get new players who will help them be successful in the future as they current ones get older.

Got it.

 

[Fran]

I was avoiding this thread because I thought it was about Rugby

:idiot:

 

[Mister J]

Thanks J, So if a guy like T.O for instance wanted a move to another team, the Cowboys and the other team would most likely have to decide on a trade b/c he's locked to a deal ? Do most of the players drafted..if successful, get contracts and then see what happens from there ?

Yes, assuming they don't just release him, the Cowboys and whoever would need to work out a trade.

A player has to have a contract before playing. Depending on how well they performed, they may have some room to negotiate when the deal expires.

Is it also the case that a really talented young player that gets drafted to a smaller team, will be traded to a major team over the next season with some financial gain for the smaller team ?

That's more of an issue in baseball and basketball, where the contracts are guaranteed. In the NFL, a player can be released without the team having to pay him for what's left on his contract. Because of that, teams can usually avoid being in a bind where they literally can't afford to keep a player. The financial structure in football pretty much allows for players to get their money in large or small markets, if the team decides they want to pay the guy. The contracts don't have to be for equal amounts in each year, so they can be structured in a backloaded format that can save the team some money down the road.

I was avoiding this thread because I thought it was about Rugby

:idiot:

We need an Australian Rules Football thread, just so there can be pictures of the official doing that 'bang bang' motion with his hands when someone scores. I love that ****.

 

[Cmill216]

Just play a season of Madden's Franchise mode.

It'll teach you all the basics of how the NFL runs, like how the price of bratwurst impacts a team's ability to re-sign their Pro Bowl left tackle.

 

[Hunter Rider]

New questions.

The NFL is broke up into the AFC and NFC with 3 divisions is each right ? So how exactly does the regular season work, you play each team in your division home and away was what i thought, but then i read that the Giants played the Pats a couple of weeks ago and they are from different conferences, how is the regular seasons structured ?

Also, on Saturday i heard a few guys on the TV refer to Favre as one of the top 5 QB's ever, who are the others that make up that 5 ? I'm thinking Montana, Marino and Brady would be 3.

 

[Mister J]

New questions.

The NFL is broke up into the AFC and NFC with 3 divisions is each right ? So how exactly does the regular season work, you play each team in your division home and away was what i thought, but then i read that the Giants played the Pats a couple of weeks ago and they are from different conferences, how is the regular seasons structured ?

• Each team plays home and away against its three division opponents, which accounts for six games on the schedule.

• Each team plays four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle, which accounts for four more games.

• Each team plays four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle, which accounts for another four games.

• Each team plays two intraconference games based on the prior year's standings. For example, the first-place team in a division will play against the first-place team from another division within the same conference.

Also, on Saturday i heard a few guys on the TV refer to Favre as one of the top 5 QB's ever, who are the others that make up that 5 ? I'm thinking Montana, Marino and Brady would be 3.

Woooooo Danny!

People have varying opinions but, in addition to the four guys you listed, John Elway, Johnny Unitas and maybe Terry Bradshaw and Fran Tarkenton would also be among the most common names. Bradshaw and Tarkenton wouldn't get as much mention as the rest because they're both a bit removed from the modern era. Unitas seems to be the only non-recent name that seems to endure and rightfully so.

 

[Fran]

-Kurt Warner (Rams days)

 

[Cmill216]

Brady
Favre
Montana
Elway
Marino

Honorable Mention: Manning, Bradshaw