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National Football League
Draft King Analysis
June 21, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here. Send your thoughts to Draft King at LouPickney@gmail.com.
I had expected there to be more interest in the Marquies Gunn/UFL story, but as of this writing the only other news outlet to pick up on it has been TheBigLead.com. Besides that, it has been ignored by sports blogs and major websites alike.
 | DE Marquies Gunn went unselected in the 2007 NFL Draft. (Icon SMI)
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To be clear, Gunn has not been convicted of anything, and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty is an axiom I believe in strongly. I just anticipated that there would be more media outrage (feigned or otherwise) over someone accused of selling crack cocaine being drafted by the UFL -- particularly given how crime-obsessed many people (and news organizations) in the United States tend to be. Hmmm.
To date there are just two 2009 NFL first-round picks who have been signed: QB Matthew Stafford (#1 overall to Detroit) and QB Mark Sanchez (#5 overall to the Jets). There have been a scattered collection of signings in the league involved day two draft picks, and you can look for that trickle of signings to turn into a deluge as we inch closer and closer to NFL training camps opening next month.
The NFL has a great page on its website that monitors the signing status of first-round draft picks, including the length of the deal, the money involved, and the guaranteed money included with the deal. Check it out here, and I suggest that you consider bookmarking it if such things interest you.
With Sanchez landing $28M guaranteed at #5, it will be interesting to see if/how that impacts the negotiations for the players in the #2-4 spots. Sanchez may end up with more guaranteed money than OLB Aaron Curry at #4 (and probably will given the two men's respective positions), but it certainly gives Curry's camp a strong negotiating point with the Seahawks.
It's interesting to note that there is speculation out of Ohio from Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News (and tipped to people worldwide by ProFootballTalk.com), that Andre Smith might not be signed by the Bengals by the start of training camp. Ludwig wrote, "The Bengals anticipate a long and arguably agonizing holdout from first-round draft pick Andre Smith." I bristle at the notion of a player not under contract being labeled as a holdout, but whatever the case it's interesting to note that Ludwig's sources within the Bengals organization aren't anticipating a quick deal to happen between the team and Smith.
A funny e-mail showed up in my inbox this morning. It was clearly one sent widespread to people with domain names that are set to expire (mine will be renewed by my hosting company as part of the renewal of my hosting package with them), but it amused me:
"I can buy this domain for $60 plus any renewal related expenses. What do you think?
That's the worst offer I've received since a buddy of mine in a Yahoo! fantasy football league proposed trading me Mewelde Moore for Larry Fitzgerald last fall. I suppose in this economy that there are people who are willing to unload valuable domains for a little bit of cash, but I'm not interested in that.
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