Does a virtual draft inhibit trading?

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HardRightEdge

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There was a post on the subject I meant to respond to. I can't locate it at the moment so....

Gutekunst doesn't think so and there isn't much reason to doubt that.
  • Trading is done by phone. That hasn't changed.
  • If you can't get through to the point man, you call the #2 or #3 or #4 to get the message through. Everybody has the numbers like always.
  • All the critical players are on video conferencing. They can talk or wave if the point man is on the phone just as when they are in the same room. I don't think much pinching goes on ordinarily.
  • Whatever slowdown may emerge in the process, keep in mind most trades are executed in advance on contingency, and finalized when the highest pick involved hits the clock. I don't think there are many draft teams that are so slow witted as to start a negotiation for a pick on the clock.
  • If the league was concerned they would have elongated the time on the clock. They haven't.
The biggest risk to executing a trade, which also applies to getting a pick in on time, is if an at-home internet connection or a cable phone+internet services drop. You'd have to be moron not to have backups for these contingencies. Land line + cell is obvious for phone service. Everybody has all those numbers. For internet, if there is dual land line service available, say cable and FIOS, then you go buy both for everybody involved. It would be stupid not to. Otherwise, go with satelite internet as a backup, which kinda sucks but gets the job done.

This might actually work better with less hoopla and fewer distractions.
 
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Poppa San

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I was assuming the team staff met in a largish conference room anyway where distancing is fairly easy to keep. We have meetings of 15-20 at work where everyone sits one or two to a cafeteria style table in the breakroom.
 
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HardRightEdge

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I just read this and I simply don't understand the issues Gutekunst describes:

https://www.espn.com/blog/green-bay...l-brian-gutekunst-still-looking-to-make-moves

"The difference will be obviously we have four or five guys who work the phones during the draft, and they're usually all sitting to my right," Gutekunst said this week on -- what else? -- a conference call with reporters. "As calls come in or we call people to know what's out there, they're communicating with me. Those same four or five guys are going to be communicating with me. Obviously I'll hear their voices, [but] I won't be able to see their facial expressions."

Does he mean to say he's going to run this thing by phone conference and not video conference? That's nuts. For a $1,000+ bucks he can get a large screen video monitor and a good set of speakers and have his 4 or 5 guys right in his face, see their facial expressions, hear their voices, hear their phones ringing. This might actually be better than a room providing the tech performs...he wouldn't even have to turn his head. And nobody has to wear pants! ;)

Sometimes the tech doesn't perform. This begs the question of what else he and his guys don't have--hardware backups, ISP backup, a tech guy on site? Please, please do not tell me he's not running this by conference call on a cell phone and tracking his spreadsheet on a tablet. And we are a world in denial about the far superior call quality of land lines vs. cell connections. The mere fact the call reported here dropped out after 10 minutes screams for quality and backups at every vulnerability point when the cost for three days is so small relative to what is at risk.
 
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HardRightEdge

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Oh, by the way, if you don't get your pick in by the time the clock runs out you drop to the next round. If it's a trade and both parties don't report it by the time the clock runs down, the pick on the clock drops to the next round.

Baltimore got screwed in 2011. They had a deal worked out with Chicago, but two Chicago guys thought the other one was reporting it. The clock ran out and Baltimore dropped a round.
 
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tynimiller

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Oh, by the way, if you don't get your pick in by the time the clock runs out you drop to the next round. If it's a trade and both parties don't report it by the time the clock runs down, the pick on the clock drops to the next round.

Baltimore got screwed in 2011. They had a deal worked out with Chicago, but two Chicago guys thought the other one was reporting it. The clock ran out and Baltimore dropped a round.

The league did say this year this could be less restrictive, they were a little vague to this however my hunch is so long as the league is provided knowledge of a deal, they will not bump the team just if it takes time for them to get details and such for league approval. Heard Golic and Wingo discussing it yesterday I believe it was.
 
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HardRightEdge

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The league did say this year this could be less restrictive, they were a little vague to this however my hunch is so long as the league is provided knowledge of a deal, they will not bump the team just if it takes time for them to get details and such for league approval. Heard Golic and Wingo discussing it yesterday I believe it was.
I do not see how the league could possibly acknowledge a trade without confirmation from both parties of the details. Since they chose not to extend the time on the clock, maybe if one team submits the details in time and the other team doesn't they will extend the clock until the second team can be contacted to confirm. Same if a pick does not come in on time.

Of course if the NFL runs this thing the way they write rules, expect controversy.
 

Poppa San

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I just read this and I simply don't understand the issues Gutekunst describes:

https://www.espn.com/blog/green-bay...l-brian-gutekunst-still-looking-to-make-moves

"The difference will be obviously we have four or five guys who work the phones during the draft, and they're usually all sitting to my right," Gutekunst said this week on -- what else? -- a conference call with reporters. "As calls come in or we call people to know what's out there, they're communicating with me. Those same four or five guys are going to be communicating with me. Obviously I'll hear their voices, [but] I won't be able to see their facial expressions."

Does he mean to say he's going to run this thing by phone conference and not video conference? That's nuts. For a $1,000+ bucks he can get a large screen video monitor and a good set of speakers and have his 4 or 5 guys right in his face, see their facial expressions, hear their voices, hear their phones ringing. This might actually be better than a room providing the tech performs...he wouldn't even have to turn his head. And nobody has to wear pants! ;)

Sometimes the tech doesn't perform. This begs the question of what else he and his guys don't have--hardware backups, ISP backup, a tech guy on site? Please, please do not tell me he's running this by conference call on a cell phone and tracking his spreadsheet on a tablet. And we are a world in denial about the far superior call quality of land lines vs. cell connections. The mere fact the call reported here dropped out after 10 minutes screams for quality and backups at every vulnerability point when the cost for three days is so small relative to what is at risk.
Big write-up in morning's PressGazette
Along with Gutekunst, the Packers will have two other people capable of making each draft pick just in case the general manager is disconnected. Gutekunst did not reveal who those people were, but noted he is allowed to have a club security officer and information technology staffer on site to assist him.
I don't know if it's behind a paywall.
 
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HardRightEdge

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Big write-up in morning's PressGazette
I don't know if it's behind a paywall.
I could read it so it's in front of the paywall for now.

This piece addresses many of my concerns, particularly the technical backups and redundancies, and they plan to do what I surmised, suspending the clock if there is a communication snafu. Having a tech guy on site is another obvious contingency I was looking for.

It is still beyond me, based on Gutekunst's comments reported yesterday, that it sounds like he's not using video conferencing with his guys. You'd figure that would have been set up long ago as part of the draft prep.

As for the quote, "Along with Gutekunst, the Packers will have two other people capable of making each draft pick just in case the general manager is disconnected," what if Gutekunst cannot communicate to his guys what the draft pick should be? I guess you ask for a time out.
 
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