Free agency taking place before the NFL Draft is good for veteran stars. With the start of the new league year and the draft separated by nearly a month and a half, those players can maximize their value before more cost-effective options become available.
The process could be considered backward for team decision-makers looking to fill out their rosters more efficiently. At least, that's the opinion held by San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who wishes the draft came first.
"It would be awesome. It would make too much sense," Shanahan said on Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings in Florida. "The draft, you'd love to take the best player. You'd always love to do that. And then what would be the neatest thing, if you could just study the heck out of everybody in the draft, which we all do, and whoever comes to your spot, and just take that. And then you can look at your board when it's all said and done and be like, 'Wow, we don't have this position. Let's go pay for it.'
"So then, if you are going to overpay—which, that's what free agency is, you have to overpay to go get those those [players]—it kind of defeats the purpose of the draft right after it. I feel, if it goes the other way around, you do the draft, you get all those guys, and you go overpay because you have to overpay, because you know where you're at."
There will always be times when you have to shift focus to the draft because you missed an opportunity in free agency. Just last year, Shanahan and the 49ers were looking into the idea of trading for quarterback Matthew Stafford. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Rams beat them to the punch, so San Francisco made its own blockbuster trade, moving into position to grab Trey Lance with the No. 3 overall draft pick.
For Shanahan and the 49ers—and much of the league—the draft has to be used to fill current holes and grab young players who can eventually take over for aging or overpriced veterans.
"I always look at it that way," Shanahan said. "You've got 22 boxes sitting on a board, and you're putting people there. How are you going to fill that? Some say second-round, third-round [draft picks]. Some say free agency. Some say trade.
"And then you have your wish list, and then it usually never works out. And you've got to be able to adjust that and go to whatever is available. And that's why it's so competitive. You don't just get to pick what you want. It's hard to get that stuff, and when you've got the right guys, you've got to hang on to them."
