The Undefeated

The draft is the most important event on the NFL calendar. Starting Thursday, the decisions your team makes in the seven rounds will have more impact on their Super Bowl prospects than any other decisions. In a salary-capped league, teams can’t remain competitive and go after big free agents, retain their star players or pay the franchise quarterback if the players they draft can’t contribute at a high level under their rookie contract. If the drafted players don’t outplay their rookie contracts for their full four-year duration, the team will fail. So your team can’t afford too many mistakes. Don’t panic. I am here to help. Please feel free to forward this to your team’s front office. This is not my prediction of how the first round will go — this is how it should go.