saint5221

Pairing picks for a value deal

04/20/03
Tony Grossi
Plain Dealer Reporter


Four teams have two picks in the first round of Saturday's NFL Draft. Try to calculate which holds the most value.
Is it:
A. Jets with Nos. 13 and 22?
B. Patriots with Nos. 14 and 19?
C. Saints with Nos. 17 and 18?
D. Raiders with Nos. 31 and 32?
Obviously, we can eliminate the Raiders. But what about the others? Which pair of picks is worth the most? If each of the three teams was considering packaging its picks to move up in the first round, which could move up the highest?
Answers are provided below. But first, a primer on trading draft picks.
Every NFL team uses a cheat sheet to calculate the value of its picks. They all work off the same draft pick value chart, which assigns a point total to every pick in the draft.
The values range from 3,000 points for the first pick in the draft to 0.4 for the 256th pick.
The chart is just a guide. Some teams might cherish a targeted player so highly that they would be willing to give up more points in draft picks to make the trade. But straying too far beyond the point value of the picks is not a good idea.
Nobody disregarded the value chart more recklessly in recent times than Mike Ditka.
In 1999, the Saints coach was so enamored with running back Ricky Williams that he offered all his draft picks - plus two high picks the following year - to move up from his position at No. 12. Washington, sitting at No. 5, was the lucky recipient of Ditka's generosity.
Only with the draft value chart in hand can you appreciate the extent to which Ditka and the Saints were fleeced.
The value for Washington's No. 5 pick, according to the chart, was 1,700 points.
Ditka gave the Redskins his six picks in the 1999 draft, which held a combined value of 1,575 points. So far, so good.
The problem was Ditka included the Saints' Nos. 1 and 3 picks in the 2000 draft. And after a 3-13 season, those picks turned out to be No. 2 overall and No. 64, for an added value of 2,870 points.
So the total point value of the picks Ditka gave to Washington was 4,445. According to the chart, he received 1,700 points in return for a net deficit of 2,745 points - a gross overpayment.
Incidentally, Washington used the Saints' first- and third-round picks the next year to select linebacker LaVar Arrington, a two-time Pro Bowl player, and defensive back Lloyd Harrison, who is no longer with the team.
Ditka is no longer coach of the Saints.
Now, on to this year's first round.
The value of the Jets' 13th and 22nd picks is 1,930 points. The value of the Patriots' 14th and 19th picks is 1,975 points. The value of the Saints' 17th and 18th picks is 1,850 points.
If the value chart is followed, each of those teams could move up no higher than the No. 4 pick in the draft (1,800 points). The Chicago Bears own the fourth pick.
More point values:
Total value of all seven Browns draft picks is 1,495 points. That means they could trade all their picks and still come up short of the value of the draft's seventh overall pick (1,500 points) . . . The Bengals' nine draft picks total 4,078 points. . . . The Ravens' 11 draft picks total 2,190 points. . . . The Steelers' seven picks total 1,210 points.

pakowitz

nice article, from now on, when u post an article, would u also provide a link to that article.... thanks....

saint5221

Sure,here it is.
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plai...1308136750.xml