Football
John Clayton, ESPN Senior Writer 21y

Teams shy away from undrafted free-agent market

Calling around to NFL front offices late Sunday night there was an unusual sound -- silence.

Normally, the hours after the NFL draft ends, draft rooms look like NASA control centers. Personnel directors usually hit the phones hard, coordinating the signing of the undrafted. Part-timers and friends used to be dispatched strategically to meet a prospect and get the quick signing.

Sunday was different. Current NFL rosters were so bloated that fewer undrafted rookies were signed. The Broncos signed three, the Rams only four, the Bears only five. More and more teams such as the Panthers (eight), Bills (10), Cowboys (12), Falcons (13), Dolphins (12), Redskins (12), Cardinals (11), Bucs (13), Packers (12) and Vikings (12) became selective instead of their old ways.

Where the average number of undrafted free agents per team might have been 20-30, this year's average will come into the low teens. What gives? Was it the talent pool in this year's draft, considered to be one of the weakest? In part it was. But there is a roster dynamic going on that is somewhat interesting and has been developing over the past couple of years.

Teams are doing a much better job of managing their salary cap, so their rosters were bloated heading into the draft. The Texans had 81 players under contract before the draft. The Raiders had 77. Only three teams -- the Titans, Eagles and Chargers -- had less than 60 players on the roster when the draft began.

"Lots of teams entered the draft with 70 or 80 guys under contract," Titans general manager Floyd Reese said. "Usually, you have maybe five or six teams that may not have 51. I'm not sure if the reason is how people around the league perceived this particular draft. I just think a lot of teams made their draft choices and said that was it."

For many years, it appeared silly to bring 20-30 undrafted rookies to camp. It was crazier a couple of years ago when agreements with the colleges that prevented rookies from working out at team facilities until their class graduated. That changed, and now a rookie has two months to prepare for training camp to have a chance to make the team.

But training camps are changing, limiting the chances for the underdogs to show their stuff. Coaches fear training camp injuries so they are having less two-a-day practices. The Broncos, Redskins, Lions and Saints have moved their training camps to the headquarters. Scrimmages against other teams are become rare. Those entering the roster at the end have a tough time making the final 53.

NFL Europe has also changed the plight of the undrafted. The NFL gives roster exemptions to teams that put players overseas. The collective bargaining agreement mandates that no team can have more than 80 signed players at any time, but NFL Europe roster exemptions allow rosters to grow into the mid 90s.

The worrisome part about the cutback on the signing of undrafted players is that it is shrinking the potential player pool. That is what has to be monitored. Thanks to NFL Europe and the exemptions, teams have the ability to be more aggressive signing street free agents, many of them undrafted players who were camps the past two years.

If this year's trend continues, where are the street free agents of the future going to come from.

General managers and coaches complained last season that they had no good players available when their players suffered season-ending injuries. Free agency has moved so quickly that when camps begin, less than 100 unrestricted free agents are available for replacements and the majority of them are at the ends of their career.

"I don't think this is a trend for the future," Texans general manager Charlie Casserly said. "People had more players under contract this year. I know we did because last year we claimed so many players on waiver. We went into the draft with 81 signed players. I do think part of it has to do with NFL Europe. We were able to get to 92 players."

Only the teams with major salary-cap problems will be big players in the undrafted free-agent market. The Titans didn't want overload future salary caps by re-doing every contract to free up cap room for this year. So they kept their roster at 47 before the draft, and they hit the undrafted market hard.

If teams are indeed following the recycled theory of changing the emphasis of bringing in players who were in camps but didn't make it as opposed to the first-year undrafted players, they have to monitor the balance. If not enough new players are coming into the league, there won't be as much to recycle for future years.

Their timing couldn't be any better. Competition for free agents wasn't too bad.

"We ended up signing 34 and 17 of those players had draftable grades," Reese said. "Some of the guys we signed had better than sixth and seventh round grades."

The Titans had a mid-round grade (third- or fourth-rounder) on Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser. The Titans got him for a mere $6,000 signing bonus.

The Chargers signed 26. The Eagles signed 22. The Steelers signed 20. The Colts signed 21. Those would be normal numbers in past years. This year this was the exception.

"There is a trend to sign more street free agents or players who were on practice squads last year," Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said. "You might sign 15 undrafted free agents and only one or two make it. Often, you sign a bunch of undrafted players and you are letting them go before the start of training camp. Teams just aren't signing as many."

Maybe this was an aberration. It was considered a weak draft and a weaker group of undrafted guys. But if the cycle continues in future years, there might be a concern. Less new players are getting into NFL systemes and getting NFL coaching.

The good news is that the Arena Football League continues to grow. The Canadian Football League may get a few more quality imports. What might need to be done is a coordinated effort of general managers to make sure unsigned players with potential can catch on in NFL Europe.

The trend isn't that much different than the NBA. Pro basketball has a two-round draft and very limited chances for undrafted players to make it. But the CBA, NBDL and leagues overseas are well-coached and can develop players.

Someone needs to pay attention to those good players who fall through the cracks. More than a decade ago, the Seahawks brought in an undersized linebacker named Rufus Porter as the last undrafted player signed late as an afterthought. He became a special teams star and later a starter. The Panthers hit on running back Fred Lane as a late free-agent addition.

Being more choosy on undrafted players is smart, but someone needs to make sure that the league isn't starving itself for future practice squaders and camp bodies.

Undrafted shouldn't mean unwanted.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

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