NFL: Ten Veteran Players affected by the draft

As a Solider progresses throughout their career they may be asked to give back to the Army as either a Recruiter or a Drill Sergeant. A Recruiters job, in a nutshell, is to find civilians that are willing to join the military and ship them to Basic Training; a Drill Sergeants job is to mold those civilians into Soldiers (a task that normally takes ten weeks). My last assignment in the Army was a Drill Sergeant. Every ten weeks a new crop of Soldiers would come in, get trained, graduate, and the next new batch of Soldiers would come in. At the time, I was an Army Reserve Drill Sergeant but after becoming active duty I realized that Drill Sergeants train new Soldiers to replace the Soldiers getting out of the Military. This is unlike any other company in the world; when a company hires a new person it is to replace another employee. In a more cynical way, this is how the NFL draft works. Teams draft (or hire) new employees to replace employees already on the roster.

Next Thursday/Friday and Saturday I’ll watch the NFL draft and see players excited to join new teams and making their NFL dreams come true. I can only imagine certain veterans of teams watching the draft with a state of nervousness and anxiety. I remember when the Carolina Panthers drafted Dwayne Jarrett in the 2007 NFL draft and Keyshawn Johnson who was on ESPN at the time commenting that the Panthers drafted Jarrett to replace him. The draft selection made sense; Johnson was getting older and the Panthers thought process was to find a replacement. Later in the off-season, Johnson was cut. The following players could find themselves cut or traded due to the team’s selections in the NFL draft:

1. Nick Foles: With the Rams trading up for the number one overall selection in this year’s draft (giving up a bounty of picks….very similar to the Great Trade Robbery). The target with a number one pick is going to be a quarterback. (Teams do not generally give up a bounties worth of picks to draft a defensive back (Jalen Ramsey) or a tackle (Larry Tunsil) although some exceptions can be made. Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden were all excellent left tackles in the NFL and considered the best players at that position in NFL history. Jared Goff seems to be the best bet to be drafted number one meaning Nick Foles is expendable. Bill Barnwell of ESPN alluded to this. Possible trade partners for Foles are the Jets, 49ers, Cowboys, Broncos.
2. Sam Bradford: The Eagles have made several trades during the off-season to move up in the draft (at the expense of several future draft picks). Whomever the Rams select number one the Eagles will take the other quarterback which will most likely be Carson Wentz. That means Sam Bradford becomes expendable. After already investing a multi-year contract on back-up Chase Daniel (three years, twelve million guaranteed) Th Eagles could trade Bradford (and his affordable contract) to any other teams with quarterback needs. Bradford to the Jets makes the most sense for several reasons: The Jets are in a win now mode, and can afford to absorb Bradford’s contract and Chan Gaily installed a spread system in New York that Bradford played in while at the University of Oklahoma. Espn broke a story today concerning Bradford demanding to be traded. The story can be found here
3. Joe Thomas: I alluded to the Browns rebuilding in previous articles here  and here . If Paul Deposta’s baseball history with Moneyball takes shape in the NFL he will have the Browns bottom out, accumulate draft picks and build a winner. Possible destinations for Thomas: Seahawks, Packers, Falcons, Panthers
4. Joe Haden: Rebuilding teams have more pressing needs then holding on to shutdown corners. With the release of Josh Norman, the Panthers seem like a team willing to trade for a veteran corner.
5. Muhammad Wilkerson: After drafting Leonard Williams of USC in last year’s draft. The Jets could trade Wilkerson to a team to put themselves in position to draft a quarterback or trade for one. Wilkerson to the 49ers for the 7^th overall pick makes sense or Wilkerson to the Colts for the 18^th overall selection also makes sense. This may depend on what the 49ers do with the 7^th overall selection. If Deforest Bunker of Oregon is available at seven the 49ers could be out of the Wilkerson rumors.
6. Demarco Murray: Yes the Titans just traded for Murray to help with the disaster of a running game (Titans leading rusher last season was Antonio Andrews at a little over five hundred yards total for the year), but Ezekiel Elliot could be target for the Titans in round one or Derrick Henry at the top of round two. Dallas could trade for Murray using a mid-round draft pick or the Dolphins could be players for the NFL’s leading rusher a two years ago if they do not draft Ezekiel Elliot at number eight. Keep in mind that last season statistically was Murray’s worst season as a professional in a shotgun dominate spread system with the Eagles. Tennessee installed the same system last season with Marcus Mariota.
7. Manny Lawson, Preston Brown, and Nigel Bradham: I included all the Buffalo Bills inside linebackers for the sole reason that production was severely lacking. Buffalo could draft Reggie Ragland of Alabama to help with the underachieving defense. Historically speaking Rex Ryan loves to have a big thumper at Middle Linebacker to play in his version of the 3-4 defense. Ryan had David Harris fill that role during the back to back AFC Championship appearances. If the Bills select Ragland at number nineteen. Lawson, Brown and Bradham could be either released or slated to be a back-up.
8. Vince Wilfork: Wilfork made his living in New England by being a run-stuffing nose tackle eating up blockers and have the athletic ability to shoot gaps allowing the Patriots to be flexible in the defensive front switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 seemingly year to year. Sheldon Rankin of Louisville, A’Shawn Robinson could be available when the Texans select at number No. 22. Many mock drafts have the Texans selecting a wide receiver in the first round, but the Texans drafted Jaelen Strong last year to pair with Deandre Hopkins. In addition, the deep class of receivers in this year’s draft the Texans could select a receiver like Will Fuller in the second round. If released Wilfork could sign back with the Patriots for the league minimum or sign with the Colts.
9. Greg Hardy: depending how the draft plays out the Cowboys could be in the position to draft Joey Bosa of Ohio State with the 4th overall selection. Bosa happens to play the same position as Hardy and Bosa is less of a headache off the field. Coupled with the selection of Randy Gregory in the 2015 Draft Greg Hardy days in Dallas appear to be numbered. Dallas was a last chance for Hardy to extend his career in the NFL.
10. Jamal Charles: Charles is 29 years old coming off ACL surgery. Running backs in approaching thirty have seen their production slip (Chris Johnson, Arian Foster, Michael Turner, etc.…) coupled with the Chiefs re-signing Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware to multi-year deals this off-season could spell the end of Charles run with the Chiefs. Kansas City could look to trade Charles to regain the draft picks that were lost because of tampering. The Cowboys and the Dolphins could be players for Charles.

Colin Kaepernick is another veteran player who is rumored to be traded. Although nothing is out of the question in the NFL a productive quarterback is valuable. Given last year’s lack-luster performance Kaepernick trade value is pretty low. Kaepernick’s best bet is to play quarterback for the 49ers this season. Chip Kelly has done superb job turning serviceable/back-up quarterbacks into productive players in the NFL. Michael Vick performed well under Kelly during his lone season under Kelly until Vick hurt his collarbone; Kelly then turned Nick Foles. Foles’ touchdown/interception ratio of 27-to-2 was the best in NFL history, as he joined New England’s Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks ever to throw for at least 25 touchdowns while throwing fewer than 10 interceptions in a season. When Foles got hurt, Mark Sanchez stepped in and completed over sixty percent of his throws and fourteen touchdowns in spot duty. After Foles was traded to the Rams for Sam Bradford; the Rams thought so much of Foles they traded away numerous draft picks to select a quarterback number one overall. Sam Bradford played his way to a two-year multi-million dollar contract under Kelly. A season under Kelly would boost Kaepernick’s  trade value allow GM Trent Balke to sell high and possibly acquire a future number one pick in the draft with the target being DeShawn Watson of Clemson in next year’s draft.

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