Jake Long will be the first pick this year's NFL draft. We know this thanks to countless mock drafts, expert blogs, and well, because the Dolphins held a press conference yesterday to announce it. Four full days before the draft even begins. It's a great pick for the Fins, and as a fan I couldn't be happier... but a little air just went out of my draft balloon (and no, you may not see my draft balloon).
Remember the days when the NFL commissioner walked up to the podium and announced the first pick in the draft- and despite prognosticators' opinions, leaked information, and anonymous sources no one was absolutely sure who that first pick was going to be. Well enter the age of uber-economics.
It costs so much money to sign these guys nowadays, you be foolish not to come to some sort financial agreement with the first pick in the draft ahead of time. Ask Al Davis how it worked out for him last year. The pre-draft deal is nothing new but it seems to happening earlier and earlier. In the future, might we see teams agree on deals days after the season ends and draft order is determined? Or while attending the combine? Maybe those prognosticators can just figure out how the NFL season will play out, and we can hold the draft in the pre-season? That those player who are thinking about entering the draft early- instead of putting out feelers as where they would go in the draft- can actually wait and see where they are actually drafted before deciding on whether or not to return to college.
Okay, I jest. But who knows, with the Dolphins and Long coming to terms so soon- there could feasibly be a contract done with the number two pick before 3pm on Saturday. Talk about taking the mystery out if it! In all fairness though, we'll still probably always have the gripping anticipation of rounds 6 and 7. All this complaining, and I will still be glued come this weekend, wondering what happens next.
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