Oklahoma Sooners & NFL Blog

Here's what's wrong with the NFL.Mario Williams, a perfectly promising defensive end from that Tobacco Road football factory called North Carolina State, stumbled into a gusher of Texas tea a week ago.

The Houston Texans, because of inspired brilliance or epic stupidity or most likely something in between, decided Williams was the best prospect in the NFL draft. In pro football's upside down commerce, Williams is paid monopoly money that spends all too real: $54 million for a six-year contract; $26.5 million of that cash is guaranteed.

Last May, a young quarterback signed a similar contract: six years, $60 million. Good to know that Tom Brady can buy a house in Williams' neighborhood.

That's right. On the open NFL market, a strapping lad whose greatest feat was leading N.C. State to victory in the Meineke Car Care Bowl is worth about the same as a 27-year-old quarterback who has won three Super Bowls and ignited a dynasty worthy of Lombardi's Packers and Noll's Steelers.

The world has gone mad.

Artificial value has engulfed the NFL. Status based on educated guesswork ranks as high as status based on production. That is not good. That is definitely not good.

But there's a ready solution. Drastic, but ready.

Abolish the draft. I repeat, abolish the draft. Scrap it. Lose it. Toss it into the sea of NFL relics along with leather helmets, the single wing and the Providence Steamrollers.

The draft no longer is needed. No longer works, either, economically, and isn't necessary competitively. So abolish it.

Drafts were invented to spread parity. To give the little guy in the league, the small markets and the idiot managements, a chance to compete with the big and the smart.

But the NFL's payroll cap produces parity. The NFL's hard cap means franchises can spend so much and not a dime more.

So why keep the draft? If the Texans need a defensive end, what difference does it make whether they get a Mario Williams from the college ranks or an opponent's roster? Why is Reggie Bush, who conquered the Pac-10, worth $50 million and Edgerrin James, who conquered the AFC, worth $30 million?

Scrap the draft. Put all collegians on the open market. Make them free agents. Make their value real, not artificial. Make their contracts what anyone is willing to pay, not some slotted figure because of draft order.

Quarterback Matt Leinart was the likely No. 1 pick in 2005 but decided to return to USC. He slipped to 10th in this draft and will make at least $10 million less because of it. But is Leinart a worse quarterback this year than he was last? No. Is Leinart less valuable to the Cardinals than he would have been to the 49ers a year ago? No.

Scrap the draft, and all of a sudden salaries and bonuses will fall for the players who have yet to prove themselves, which means more money available for the players who have. Scrap the draft, and Mario Williams won't be signing any $54 million contract.

That kind of cash will be reserved for guys who have sacked Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb, not Charlie Whitehurst and Marcus Vick.

Scrap the draft, and the smart franchises will prosper, which should always be the goal. Anyone can draft Reggie Bush and D'Brickashaw Ferguson and let the system determine their contract. It takes a savvier football mind to determine whether to sign a Bush or a Ferguson and how much to pay them, when they are in the same pool as veterans who already have displayed their pro potential.

The NBA needs the draft, as long as it has a payroll cap that teams can skirt. If the NBA would harden its cap, make teams stay under without all kinds of exceptions, it too could abolish the draft, too. But at least the NBA system is financially sound; Chris Paul, who I dare say will be a better pro, short-term and long-, than Mario Williams, signed a three-year contract with the Hornets worth $8.5 million.

Chris Paul at $8.5 million or Mario Williams at $54 million. And someone thinks the NFL system is solid?

The NFL draft is a great marketing tool. It's one of the big days in sport. The NFL would have to sacrifice such a spotlight but would make it up over the month or so frenzy of collegiate signings.

Look at it this way. All these incredible free agents on the market, with teams anxious to fill needs and pad rosters and sell jerseys. Pro football would sizzle the entire month of May. Drama would not end in one day, as now with the draft.

For you fantasy players, this would be an auction. You've got so much money to spend, and you can spend it on as many, or as few, big names as you please, until your money runs out.

Maybe Mario Williams and Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart still would get ridiculous contracts. Maybe not. The current system now forces franchises to pay crazy money to add young talent. Scrap the draft, and the NFL would start paying real money for real talent.

Isn't that the way a market economy should work?

Berry Tramel:475-3314, btramel@oklahoman.com; Berry Tramel's radio show, the Writer's Block, can be heard Monday-Friday from 4-7 p.m. on KREF-AM 1400, KADA-AM 1230 and KSEO-AM 750.