The 1st pick in the draft is payed a ridiculous sum of money despite having no experience in the NFL. With the new collective bargaining agreement expected to be revised, there may be a revision to how rookies are paid. Some have stated that the NFL may adopt a slotting system like the NBA and/or the players may only sign three year deals limiting the amount of guaranteed money that will be doled out. Looking at Sam Bradford‘s contract, the top pick in the 2010 draft, he would have signed a 3 year deal worth 30 million with 25 million guaranteed rather than the 6 year 78 million dollar deal with 50 million in guaranteed money he did sign . Essentially all the “monopoly” money at the back of the deal would simply be eliminated along with the very real guaranteed money.

Either way, the systems appears to be changing for the better. Consequently, teams will not be as reluctant to trade up to the top pick. There will be some talented players in the 2011 draft, but is there a player who can draw enough attention (e.g. Eli Manning) that teams are falling over themselves to trade up?  While some positions are drafted in the top five (left tackle, quarterback, running back, cornerback, etc.), we can eliminate most positions from consideration, other than quarterback, because teams do not mortgage their future for a cornerback or tackle.

As for the Cowboys, why wouldn’t they use the top pick on a player they need?  Following Bill Parcells‘s example, he drafted Jake Long at the top of the first round.  Well, the presumption is that the Cowboys seriously need offensive line help, and as bad luck would have it, there aren’t many high first round grades out there for tackles.  At the very least, not tackles that are graded in the top 5.  So the Cowboys could find value in trading down and taking an offensive lineman in the middle of the round, rather than overpaying a player that is not commensurately talented as his draft position would suggest.  Let’s not relive the Quincy Carter experience.  Carter was projected as a 6th round pick, and he played like a 6th round pick in his first few years.  Simply because he was drafted higher than he should have been, did not make him a better player than he was.

According to Andrew Perloff of Sports Illustrated, Ryan Mallette of Arkansas, Blain Gabbert of Missouri, Jake Locker of Washington, and Christian Ponder of Florida State,  all had first round potential before the start of the 2010 season.  A resource that is frequently updated is CBS Sports prospect tracker suggests that only Locker is a top prospect.  This helps to fan the fire which may lead to a team trading up.  If there is a definitive top QB prospect, anything less than him would be a reach… well, until he finally starts to play.

So we have our golden boy prospect, we have a construct where trading up to the top of the first round isn’t prohibitive, and now all we need are some dance partners.  What we need to find are teams that are competitive that need a final piece to the puzzle and are willing to wait one year for the quarterback to develop or a team where the general manager and coach are one bad season away from being fired and they hope that drafting a quarterback will give them a new lease on life.

The Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, or Washington Redskins.  It is possible the Seattle Seahawks also are looking to solidify their long-term solution at quarterback (though they did trade for Charlie Whitehurst last off-season) and you never know what the Oakland Raiders are planning.

It only takes one team who is willing to trade, but it does take two teams to create a bidding war.  Out of the above teams, only the Cowboys have a legitimate answer at quarterback.  It could be said that the Cowboys should trade Tony Romo, take Locker, and use the picks received on the Romo trade to rebuild the offensive line.  That is probably the smartest situation… IF Locker pans out.  Despite the recent moderate success of Bradford, Stafford, Sanchez, Ryan, and Flacco, the odds of drafting a quarterback who will succeed in the league is still a 33% bet at best.  Let’s not forget the lessons learned from players like (only considering the top 2 rounds) Pat White, Brian Brohm, JaMarcus Russell, Brady Quinn, John Beck, Drew Stanton, Matt Leinert, Jay Cutler (yes, I am throwing him in with this group), Kellen Clemens, Alex Smith, Jason Campbell, JP Losman, Byron Leftwich, Kyle Boller, Rex Grossman, Dave Carr, Joey Harrington, and Patrick Ramsey.

Draft season comes early for the Cowboys this year.  November rather than January.  For those who love the draft, the speculation, and promise that rookies bring, this may be the lone bright spot worth holding onto.

Since the Washington Redskins traded for Donovan McNabb, things have been shaking up around DC.

First, in making this move, the Redskins have created a logjam at quarterback. McNabb is the obvious starter, but there are five quarterbacks on the roster right now. The Redskins are letting Jason Campbell look around for a trade, but Mike Shanahan has made it clear that he’d like to have Campbell return as a backup. Whoever the backup ends up being-either Jason Campbell or Rex Grossman-it doesn’t leave a lot of room on the team for Richard Bartel or Colt Brennan.

(Thank goodness Brennan is looking like he won’t pan out. As some of you may know, I’m a journalist and I got to go to Redskins training camp in the summer of 2008, the same year the Skins took Brennan in the sixth round of the draft. Fans were going nuts for this guy, completely ignoring the pummeling Georgia gave him in the Sugar Bowl that year. He’s a poor man’s Matt Leinart-he had an impressive college career, but his arm strength will keep him from being very successful in the NFL. At best, he’ll be third on the Redskins’ depth chart.)

That didn’t stop them from having Colt McCoy come for a visit yesterday. I guess they’re hoping that he’ll still be around in the draft’s third round so the Skins can bring him in and develop him.

So, the Redskins are facing a tough decision. Do they do Jason Campbell a solid and let him go for a late-round pick? Or do they screw him and bench him behind McNabb?

Either way, I wouldn’t be too surprised. Campbell has been screwed over by the Skins plenty of times before with new offensive coordinators nearly every season he’s been in Washington and a remarkably porous offensive line. Would the Redskins really take a 5th, 6th or 7th round pick for a guy who would be a very competent backup to do him a favor? I doubt it.

Another tough decision comes after news that Albert Haynesworth’s name came up as a possible makeweight in the McNabb trade and with the rumor that the Skins were shopping him around. The Redskins were going to have to face the tough decision of whether or not to trade this guy, their biggest signing and biggest flop last year. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has said that’s no longer the case, as Haynesworth is no longer on the trading block, but ESPN’s John Clayton isn’t buying it.

Check out this interesting paragraph towards the end of Clayton’s column:

“Now, one of the most expensive defenders in NFL history is available for a bargain. He has six years and $68 million remaining on his deal, but there is a $20 million option that will come due between 2012 and 2013. Minus the option bonus, Haynesworth could be had for the next three seasons for $16.2 million.”

Haynesworth is not untradeable. But the Redskins have already dumped $32 million into Haynesworth and, if they trade him after only one season, he’d jump to the top of the list of free agency busts despite being a good player. Move over, Deion Sanders and Adam Archuleta. The Redskins have been willing to move players to suit coaches (see: Lavernaues Coles), but I think the Skins will try to save face here.

(Thank goodness I’m not a Redskins fan. Can you imagine all the money they spend on jerseys with all these big signings? I got to go to a Redskins game this past year (against the Saints-watching that game was the longest, most drawn-out agony I’ve ever seen, and it was beautiful) and I saw so many jerseys of people who weren’t there anymore. And I saw way too many Colt Brennan jerseys. Way, way too many Colt Brennan jerseys.)

But the Skins have one more tough decision involving Haynesworth-do they make the switch to the 3-4 defense?

Haynesworth, when happy last year, was not worth his price tag. In a 3-4 scheme, he’d be taking on two blockers more routinely and he’d be sacrificing himself for the good of the team.

The same team, mind you, that tried to trade him off this year.

If Haynesworth sticks around and the Redskins make the switch to a 3-4, pencil in Haynesworth for the worst free agency signing of all time. If you think you’ve seen Haynesworth be lazy, expect him to hit new lows for lazy this year if the Redskins switch to the 3-4.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Washington Redskins have acquired Donovan McNabb from the Philadelphia Eagles. The compensation from the Eagles will be a second-round pick (37th overall) and a future third-round or fourth-round pick based on McNabb’s performance.

Either way, the Kevin Kolb era is underway in Philadelphia.

In this trade, the Redskins definitely upgrade their quarterback position. Their other quarterbacks-Jason Campbell and Rex Grossman-will likely battle for the backup spot or the Redskins will try to trade Campbell. Colt Brennan should start calling teams in the Arena Football League or in the Canadian Football League.

The Eagles think they’ll be a better team with the relatively untested Kolb at the helm instead of their former No. 2 overall pick and six-time Pro Bowler, with his 2.16/1 TD-to-INT ratio.

By trading McNabb within the NFC East, the Eagles are basically telling McNabb, a Pro Bowler this past season for crying out loud, that not only will the Eagles be a better team without him, but they don’t fear playing him twice a year.

Well, that’s just wrong. McNabb won with the Eagles when he didn’t have much talent all around him. What’s to say he won’t do the same thing with the Redskins?

This is a cold-blooded move from the Eagles. It has left sports commentators like Trey Wingo and athletes like Reggie Bush alike stunned.

You just don’t trade within the same division unless you’re absolutely positive that the player won’t hurt you somewhere down the road.

If I were Jerry Jones, I wouldn’t trade a virus to anyone within the NFC East.

So congratulations, Eagles. You’re going to create McNabb sympathizers with this move, leading even more people to hate your franchise. You’ve tarnished your organization’s image toward players-who else is going to want to play in Philly when the Eagles treat their players like this-even though it was already pretty bad in the first place. And for what? Two draft picks?

Congrats, Eagles. You’ve made me hate you so much, I’m going to be rooting for McNabb to beat you twice a year. I hope Kolb flames out and you have to rely on Michael Vick.