Can someone choose to avoid the draft and sign where they want?

[patriotsheatyan]

Recognizing that this would be a strange move that would cost someone money and would be ill advised, could they?

Maybe a scenario where a top running back wants to sign on a team with a top OL because he thinks he will get more money in the long run, or an extremely rich guy who wants to play for fun and wants to go to a team that has a history of developing players at his position? Ignoring the wisdom on these decisions, would these be options for them?

[Broncofan]

If a player is draft eligible, they go to the NFL draft.  It's not their choice.   If a player gets late eligibility, they can either apply for the supplemental draft, or wait until the following year.  There is no path to avoid the draft.

A player's only option is to say they'd refuse to sign with Team X - in which case, they'd go back to the next year's draft.   For obvious reasons, this move has very little leverage, if the team in question holds fast.

[Soko]

28 minutes ago, Broncofan said:

A player's only option is to say they'd refuse to sign with Team X - in which case, they'd go back to the next year's draft.   For obvious reasons, this move has very little leverage, if the team in question holds fast.

Wouldn’t - in the event of a player declaring that they will not sign if drafted - they have the ability to be an UDFA? I haven’t heard of them being forced back into next year’s draft. 

[Buc Ball]

I remember Lael Collins saying he wouldn’t play for a team that drafted him if he didn’t go in the first round (this was right after the allegations right before the draft). 

You've got absolutely no leverage in that situation though and have to be prepared to sit it out if you do get drafted. 

It might be a bit different for international players though. Efe Obada signed with Dallas as a UDFA before the 2015 draft, but that doesn’t tie in with what Boehringer and the NFL International guys went through (they were all draft eligible). As an aside, I don’t think Obada had even played a single game at any level until after the 2014 draft, so it’s unlikely he’d have declared for that one.

So there’s possibly a way round it, but not one that’s worth considering.

[Broncofan]

37 minutes ago, Yin-Yang said:

Wouldn’t - in the event of a player declaring that they will not sign if drafted - they have the ability to be an UDFA? I haven’t heard of them being forced back into next year’s draft. 

If a player is undrafted they can be UDFA.   But once a team drafts a guy they own his rights for that year.  They can trade the rights but barring that the player has to sit out the whole year - and has to re-enter the draft as well.  The team holds all the leverage. 

Best link I can find on mobile that covers above - https://www.draftsite.com/nfl/rules/

Collins actually said if he was wasn’t drafted by Day 2 he wasn’t going to sign any Day 3 contract and was willing to sit out the year.  It was to induce teams to not draft him late.   But it was also in recognition of the 1-year ownership of rights teams have once they draft a player.  

[Soko]

29 minutes ago, Broncofan said:

If a player is undrafted they can be UDFA.   But once a team drafts a guy they own his rights for that year.  They can trade the rights but barring that the player has to sit out the whole year - and has to re-enter the draft as well.  The team holds all the leverage. 

Best link I can find on mobile that covers above - https://www.draftsite.com/nfl/rules/

Collins actually said if he was wasn’t drafted by Day 2 he wasn’t going to sign any Day 3 contract and was willing to sit out the year.  It was to induce teams to not draft him late.   But it was also in recognition of the 1-year ownership of rights teams have once they draft a player.  

The team holds the leverage, but they’re running the risk of wasting a draft pick. I think a player saying they won’t sign a contract is a pretty big deterrent, but I also understand a team isn’t going to pass Barkley in the 7th round - they’d just take the chance of wasting the pick.

[Malik]

1 hour ago, Broncofan said:

If a player is draft eligible, they go to the NFL draft.  It's not their choice.   If a player gets late eligibility, they can either apply for the supplemental draft, or wait until the following year.  There is no path to avoid the draft.

A player's only option is to say they'd refuse to sign with Team X - in which case, they'd go back to the next year's draft.   For obvious reasons, this move has very little leverage, if the team in question holds fast.

shout out to Bo Jackson! Yeah, you can't get into the NFL without going through the drafting process. Even if you're like so Doug Flutie and you play in other professional league you still have to go through the process. Which I get because pretty much any top QB would likely attempt to forego the draft in order to be signed by some 8-8 team without a QB but actually has good players around them.

[lancerman]

No. You're best bet is to trash any teams you don't want to draft you in the media as hard as you can and tell them point blank you'll sit out. Maybe declare your junior year so you can go back to college after if they call your bluff. 

[Chargers]

2 hours ago, lancerman said:

No. You're best bet is to trash any teams you don't want to draft you in the media as hard as you can and tell them point blank you'll sit out. Maybe declare your junior year so you can go back to college after if they call your bluff. 

It's the Manning Family way.

[lancerman]

Just now, Classic said:

It's Manning Family way.

I mean honestly, that's what I would do. I'd call the city trash, say I hate the coach and owner and that out of principle not only would I not play for them I'd sit out even if they tried to trade me to a team I wanted to play for. Make sure they don't get anywhere near me and I have no value to them.

[patriotsheatyan]

12 minutes ago, Classic said:

It's the Manning Family way.

What about the Burfict way? Get into trouble repeatedly, act insane at the combine, get suspended your senior year, go from First Round Pick to UDFA?

[areksoo]

12 hours ago, patriotsheatyan said:

What about the Burfict way? Get into trouble repeatedly, act insane at the combine, get suspended your senior year, go from First Round Pick to UDFA?

Don't forget perform badly at the combine and test positive for weed.

The problem with taking the poison pill is your initial salary is going to be terrible compared to a first rounder.  Given that the average career only lasts 4 years, that's a big gamble just so you don't have to play on a certain team.

[tom cody]

Nope, they have to get drafted. Still you see certain situations where a player gets traded after they're drafted (Elway to the Broncos in 1983 and Eli Manning to the Giants in 2004)

[zgrande]

It's not common, but Bernie Kosar and the Browns come to mind...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Kosar#NFL_draft_controversy

 

[ronjon1990]

If I'm reading the original post correctly, yes, someone can avoid the draft and later sign wherever they want. I think.

If a player in college runs out of eligibility, they usually (always) declare for the draft. Some guys get drafted, some don't and sign as UDFA's or go to Canada. 

Now, most of the guys I've known that were fairly solid and went to Canada in recent memory would be Jeff Garcia and Adarius Bowman, both of whom went undrafted in their respective drafts. However, is there a rule that one must declare for a draft for an NFL team to sign them?

Michael Lewis (New Orleans, San Francisco) never went to college but opted for several semi-pro leagues and tryouts before getting signed. I don't believe he ever declared for any draft. 

So, I mean, it seems conceivable that a kid could simply graduate college and not declare for the draft (thus not being draftable?) I believe Jeff Samardzija withdrew his name from the draft to play baseball despite being a likely day 1 or early day 2 pick. As a result, he was never drafted nor went through a draft process as an eligible candidate. But if a team wanted to sign him and he wanted to play, they could sign him as no other team had already reserved his rights (and to my knowledge never had the ability to). 

I would imagine there's something about having to sit out a year or something, but I can't find anywhere stating that the only entry into the NFL is via the draft.