Which has more value, draft picks or cap space?

[Sgt Schultz]

Seeing that the Rams are playing 'chicken' with Goff. Are they thinking that having a low cost QB and the cap space for the rest of the team is better than overpaying for a mediocre QB? Maybe thinking that they can give up picks to move up for a cheaper QB?

[richpjr]

Not sure they are playing chicken with Goff. He is under contract and there is no reason for them to do anything yet. Are we playing chicken with Bosa by picking up his option?

[Sgt Schultz]

My question is about losing valuable players to the cap by overpaying one player vs using multiple draft picks to trade up for a replacement for the expensive player at a lower cost.

[Boltjolt]

My question is about losing valuable players to the cap by overpaying one player vs using multiple draft picks to trade up for a replacement for the expensive player at a lower cost.

Teams keep doing it. I don't see why they wouldn't keep Goff he is still only 24 and still developing

[Steve]

The other part of the equation is how hard is it to find a new QB?

IN the past few years, the number of QB available in both the draft and NFL FA has decreased each year. It's still not easy to find a QB, but more and more teams are satisfied with their QB choices by the time the draft is over.

Such a huge part of QB salaries being driven up like they were was because of the price of the QB, and the need to have a QB or you couldn't win a championship. Now, if you can find a QB more easily, the demand side of the curve will eventually start to come down.

[~sdc]

Where is the really good players option? Given the limited options. I would take the draft picks every time.

[Sgt Schultz]

As I understand it a good draft yields 2-3 starters from 7 picks and teams with QB on a rookie deal can hold a good team together. So does it make sense to trade up using all 7 picks to get a new QB from a strong class (next couple of years) while being able to keep Bosa, Derwin and other key pieces.

[richpjr]

As I understand it a good draft yields 2-3 starters from 7 picks and teams with QB on a rookie deal can hold a good team together. So does it make sense to trade up using all 7 picks to get a new QB from a strong class (next couple of years) while being able to keep Bosa, Derwin and other key pieces.

The draft is not an exact science and since a lot of QBs never pan out, it would be a huge gamble to spend your entire draft on a single player and hope he succeeds. IMO, it makes much more sense to keep those picks and hope you get starters out of 2 or 3 of them.

[Fleet]

Goff had a fairly solid year. That team put up huge amounts of points. He came close to 5K yards. 32/12 TD/INT with Kupp on IR. Goff is really reliant on that slot. Plus he is incredibly intelligent and is evolving in a tough offense to learn. He played like shit in the post season but that experience alone at such a young age will greatly help him.

I think he will be signed to a fairly large contract. Its simply hard to find guys that can run an offense in this league. And he does it quite well. And efficiently.

I just cant see them moving on from him. They made their push to sign guys to help them win while he is on his rookie contract. But those guys are coming off the books next year i believe. Those 2 corners come to mind. Goff probably forces them to move on from Talib and Peters. At least one of those guys. I doubt they go into that new stadium with a new QB.

[21&500]

QBs taking huge chucks of cap is a real problem
I won't be surprised to see teams standing firm against mega qb contracts, choosing to go the journeyman route or simplifying the offense to what college QBs can run effectively during their rookie contracts.
I know I'm leaning that way because I want to pay Bosa, Henry, Williams, James, and any worthy player.
the only one I'm almost positive I don't want to commit serious money to is Gordon unfortunately, I love the guy but we simply can't pay him Gurley money.

If we can teach Stick to run the offense, his second contract should be very manageable

[Xenos]

It depends on the position. QB. LT, and pass rusher are historically the three premiere positions on a team (unless you're Jon Gruden). Franchise QBs are hard to draft, and you do everything that you can to find one and keep him. If you're lucky like the Seahawks, you get a championship while your team has a QB on his rookie deal. This way you can pay everyone else. When the QB does need to be paid, you essentially have to make sure you draft everything else correctly (like defense for instance).

As 21&500 already mentioned, this will hopefully change in the future. Because I don't know how this is sustainable in the long run either.

[Steve]

As I understand it a good draft yields 2-3 starters from 7 picks and teams with QB on a rookie deal can hold a good team together. So does it make sense to trade up using all 7 picks to get a new QB from a strong class (next couple of years) while being able to keep Bosa, Derwin and other key pieces.

You need about 15 quality players on each side of the ball who can play a substantial role. That is nickel players, situational players and starters. 2-3 players doesn't include a couple of extra guys, but even at 4 per year, if you assume about 28 players (to simplify the math), it would take 7 or so years to rebuild a roster, just for the top players who need to contribute on offense and defense, and that is ignoring ST. Then the average career is going to be about 5 years (it's getting shorter, so it is less than that). ...... well, the math doesn't quite add up. You can't do it by draft alone. Draft and UDFA, but that is pretty tough since those UDFA were not talented enough to get drafted in the first place. You need to find some extra players from other places as well.

I do think the sky rocketing prices of QB may have hit their peak. Again, there are more quality QB coming into the league now, and watching Alex Smith handicap the Redskins may start getting teams to back off of giving huge money to QB. And over the last couple of years, you don't need to trade up into the top 5 to get even the top ranked QB. One of the top couple will slide back some so it doesn't cost to much to trade up.