NY Giants: 3 looming questions if the 2020 NFL season is cancelled
By Matt Clark
3. 2021 NFL draft ramifications
If the 2020 NCAA and NFL seasons were to be cancelled, teams should want to know how the National Football League intends to handle the 2021 NFL Draft. The decision on whether or not the league has a draft in 2021 will likely be dictated by how the NCAA handles the eligibility ruling.
However, whether or not the National Football League has an amateur draft in 2021 is only one part of the overall uncertainty over how the league would handle the status of the 2021 draft. For instance, if the NCAA grants eligibility for 2020 despite not having a season and the NFL moves forward normally with the 2021 draft, how would the league determine the draft order for the 2021 draft?
Is it possible that commissioner Roger Goodell decides to keep the draft order the same as it was in the 2020 NFL Draft? Doing so would help increase the parody in the league by allowing the teams with the worst records in 2019 to have the best draft slots for two straight years. The New York Giants would certainly benefit by having the fourth overall pick in the next two drafts.
As mentioned previously, the NY Giants would be able to look at the players available in the next two drafts to try to determine who their best option is to draft, knowing full well that they are locked into the fourth slot each of the next two years.
While losing an entire season of football would be devastating for fans, the idea of locking teams into the same draft slot for two years would make for two tantalizing drafts that would likely be filled with surprises and trades. However, telling Dave Gettleman that he has the fourth pick at his disposal for two consecutive years and allowing him to think about all the “hog molly” options he has at his disposal could prove detrimental to his health.
Due to the potential implications it could have on how teams develop their draft strategies for the 2020 NFL Draft, it is imperative that teams know how the National Football League would determine the draft order for the 2021 NFL Draft should the 2020 season be cancelled.