Who will manipulate their draft stock this year?

[bruiser]

If you were projected to be a 20-25 pick, would you rather be a 33rd pick? Yes. Follow the money. Linebackers and Runningbacks (specifically) should angle for 2nd round status. The 5th year option is too cheap for them.

All of these young bucks think they are gonna make it to a 2nd contract. They love betting on themselves. In the above scenario, they should.

[bruiser]

Bruiser, take a look at this: http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/contracts/ty ... raft-2016/

Only one thing stands out on this list: NYJets are an "eff you" destination. Look at how they did their 1st rounder. Oh, and they didn't get him snaps. If I'm coming out early (cuz they all do now to start the clock on the rookie contract) I want no part of NYJets. Also, higher state taxes. While we're at it, add the Chargers to that "eff you" list. They did Bosa wrong, and again high taxes.

[OhCruelestRanter]

So, do you still think this is crazy, ranter? Or have you educated yourself on the economics of the NFL CBA rookie wage scale and 5th year team options?

I think stupid is more appropriate than crazy, but sure.

Your idea that a player who's projected to be a late first would "take their foot off the gas" at the combine in order to engineer a slide into the second is dumb.

This requires that:
1. You're sure that you're going to be a late first, and that you have no chance of going in the early first and no chance of sliding into the 2nd round anyways with an optimal combine. You know this before all of the other prospects have participated in the combine.
2. You're sure that tanking the combine is only going to sour the teams at the end of the first round on you, and not cause you to tumble much farther into the draft.
3. You're sure that in 4 years from now you're going to have stayed healthy and you're going to land a big enough contract such that the difference between the first year of your contract and the 5th year option at your position will outweigh all the money you missed out on by going later in the draft.
4. You're sure that going to a team in the early second as opposed to the late first won't hurt your earning potential long term.

The much simpler and smarter idea is that a player will simply refuse a workout/interview with a team, or, if they're especially treacherous, they'll deliberately tank that private workout with that team.

Look, everybody has a dumb thought now and again. The problem is that you have these dumb thoughts and then you think the bleep world of them, and you post them here, completely oblivious to how awkward and forced you sound.

[_yeti]

In a rare moment, I actually agree with OhCruelestRanter on this one, absent the hyperbole.

These guys have been competing at football their entire lives and that drive got them their shot at the league. They have learned to compete at the highest level in college while being completely broke. A lot of these guys are also complete idiots outside of football and financially illiterate. They want to make money but sliding is not in their blood. You don't get to the NFL with that mentality. Too much can go wrong all the time in the sport of football to let off the gas like that. Everyone wants to be great and have a legacy, and even mid to late-round guys often have huge belief in themselves. Can't see this happening as potential rookies, especially because of the poison pill it would be to front offices if a guy not that touted then got labeled as someone who will tank on purpose. Too much risk for something like this.