All quiet on the draft front … almost … For those thinking that it seems awfully quiet around the NFL these days; well, it is awfully quiet. Most personnel departments are still on their post-season break, or have returned to their respective war-rooms and are hunkered down preparing their preliminary big boards in anticipation of the scouting combine which gets underway in less than two weeks. Speaking of the combine, the official list of players invited to Indianapolis later this month is scheduled to be released this week, but as of this hour we are still waiting. And one would hardly know that NFL teams are currently free to release veteran players in order to get down to the 2015 cap which all teams must be under when the new football year starts on March 11. At the same time, there is a very quiet buzz that Tampa Bay, which owns the #1 selection at this year’s draft, just might be inclined to consider offers from teams like Philadelphia and Cleveland to deal the top pick, both of whom have made little secret of the fact that they would like to move up to acquire Oregon QB Marcus Mariota. Needless to say the Buccaneers need a young QB of their own and will obviously have a choice of either Mariota or enigmatic Jameis Winston of Florida State with the top pick. However, the Buccaneers appear to be one of the few – if not the only – team in the NFL which does not seem to have embraced the notion that in order to be an elite team one needs an elite passer and have hinted that they would prefer to build up other units first. Of course, it would be nothing new for the team owning the top pick to let it be known that the #1 selection was available; in fact, in recent years its almost been par for the course. In the recent past, though, teams looking to move out of the top pick have not wanted to drop all that far down, certainly no where near as far down as what Cleveland or Philadelphia will have to offer. Cleveland, for example, currently has the 12th and 19th picks in the opening round, while the Eagles only have the 20th pick, but could really sweeten the pot by adding veteran QB Nick Foles. If nothing else, the potential for maneuvering could make what looks like a possibly mundane draft a little more interesting. Stay tuned.
