Draft dodging

Championship picks come through free agency

Once upon a time, the draft actually meant something in the National Football League. It was the one chance that bad teams had to reverse their fortunes, an influx of new college talent to begin a torturous rebuilding program, starting now with Bubba, the first pick in the land, potential on the cloven hoof.

This is not the case anymore. Not really.

Oh, the dance still will be held and the general managers and player personnel directors still will gush out the platitudes and the Bubba of the Year -- Fresno State quarterback David Carr, already signed to a $60 million contract by the expansion Houston Texans -- will smile for the camera, but it all is pretty much meaningless. Championships aren't won on draft day anymore. They're won at the end of the agate table on the scorecard page, the little list published through the winter under the heading "Free Agent Signings."

Free agency and the salary cap have changed this entire NFL game. The desirable players now are third-year, fourth-year, fifth-year pros, hard-bitten boys who know how to play this game for money. Plug them into the lineup now. No waiting. No learning, just go -- like the New England Patriots did last year, 20 free agents on their Super Bowl juggernaut.

So watch the draft if you like. Enjoy the babble of all the experts with their heights, weights, stopwatch times for the 40-yard dash. Just know that it all doesn't mean very much.

By the time these kids win a Super Bowl, they'll probably be playing on different teams.

Leigh Montville's commentaries appear regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated.

 

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