XFL fires a shot across the NFL's bow

[Palmetto]

Because most of these kids dreams are to play in the NFL and win a Super Bowl not just play pro ball at 18

Play in the XFL get hurt  never make it to the NFL

Play in the XFL look bad and never play in the NFL

Play in the XFL make it to the NFL  same as if you stayed in college (but with a smaller free agent contract maybe)

may hurt NCAA but not the NFL

[Raleigh PF]

I believe the biggest impact will be on fringe players. Someone who may not be drafted or is drafted in the lower rounds and ends up being cut. The XFL would provide a platform for them to develop and, perhaps, draw interest in an NFL contract down the road.

The other possibility is kids coming out of high school who may not be eligible or may not want the college experience. It provides a path for them to make a couple of bucks while they see if there is a career to be had - or not. 

This could affect depth in the NFL.

Two questions:

1-Would the Panthers have had access to Kyle Allen in an XFL world? 

2-What happens to draft rights if a player is drafted by the NFL, but decides to go to the XFL instead?

[TN05]

42 minutes ago, Panthers2019 said:

its been said Money is the reason.

Why would someone go to college and play for free when they can join the xfl and gets paid  to play.

$7,500 a game. 10 game season. That's $75,000 a year, which isn't exactly that impressive enough to risk not being drafted.

[TN05]

15 minutes ago, Snake said:

If the XFL can get the money flowing in and not follow a salary cap I can see them laying major damage to the NFL. 

They are following a very strict salary run by the league. $7,500 a week (10-game season) is going to be the standard contract, $300,000 is the maximum. The USFL and AFL both survived by attracting marquee talent with good contracts in a time when pay was low, but now pay is high (the lowest NFL salary is $400,000, and practice squad players make a minimum of $7,600 a week in a 16-game season). The XFL simply won't have the resources to compete, and given they plan on playing in spring they will have to compete with the Alliance of American Football, an equally credible league with a very similar pay structure (as well as an additional education stipend). The difference? The AAF launches a year earlier.

14 minutes ago, Raleigh PF said:

I believe the biggest impact will be on fringe players. Someone who may not be drafted or is drafted in the lower rounds and ends up being cut. The XFL would provide a platform for them to develop and, perhaps, draw interest in an NFL contract down the road.

This is undoubtably the path the XFL will try to take, and it will have at least one competitor in the AAF.  The question is which can survive and which the NFL would rather work with - I think the AAF has an edge here given the amount of respected NFL players and executives in leadership, but either could work.

14 minutes ago, Raleigh PF said:

The other possibility is kids coming out of high school who may not be eligible or may not want the college experience. It provides a path for them to make a couple of bucks while they see if there is a career to be had - or not. 

This could affect depth in the NFL.

Two questions:

1-Would the Panthers have had access to Kyle Allen in an XFL world? 

Yes. The XFL will be a spring league.

14 minutes ago, Raleigh PF said:

2-What happens to draft rights if a player is drafted by the NFL, but decides to go to the XFL instead?

This will not happen. The XFL is a spring league so it's not necessarily impossible to play in both, just like one can play CFL and NFL in the same year. Whether teams allow it is another thing entirely. The question is what impact joining the XFL for a few years instead of staying in college will have - scouts know how to work using NCAA players, XFF/AAF will be a league of mostly has-beens. If the goal is a shot in the NFL, the draft is still probably the better way. What this might be useful for is  FCS/DII/DIII players who don't have a national spotlight.

[KendrickPanther]

They would need to pay guaranteed money on short contracts to get players from the college ranks.... 1st round picks are skipping bowl games because they don't want to lose their guarantees. The XFL wont let them sit if they are getting paid.

[Cdw]

32 minutes ago, Panthers2019 said:

the good players will get drafted

You've been slinging poo at all posts saying just that.  What changed. 

[Moo Daeng]

3 hours ago, nosuchthingasapanther said:

i seriously doubt the nfl is worried.

the xfl won't attract high profile college players. it's the american equivalent of the cfl.

They can go and get paid for a few years prior to the NFL 

[Ship]

Classic college football fan logic being applied here romanticizing players: the guys have big dreams of non-monetary things. so much so that they're willing to forgo money for the honor of playing at the school and of course the incredible education and maybe a national championship or bowl game. Certainly true for some, but plenty of guys are playing the game for the money and the fame for themselves.

If XFL can convince some guys not yet eligible for the NFL that they can get paid good money for a couple years while in the XFL and go against similar college talent to later be picked by the NFL, why not? It'll depend on how many decent players they can grab from college-- think JUCO, guys with disciplinary or grade problems, guys who go to a school but get stuck on the bench behind someone. Tell them they can get paid, and have a spotlight, lesser restrictions on conduct or classes, and make a case to move up to the NFL. Why wouldn't you take that? Go to college part time.

Will be interesting to see (a) whether it forces NFL to change their rules, (b) how NFL views prospects from XFL-- draft eligible or FA? Or do they attempt to freeze the players out?, (c) the XFL contracts and how they prepare for NFL buyouts of top players. It doesn't have to be a negative relationship. XFL will have to start subservient to NFL anyway, why not gain legitimacy by acting as a minor league for a bit, get good players coming through, make the product more exciting and maybe play off the NFL's problems with rule changes and brand identity, you can start to undermine them and start to create an argument for being a more interesting product with quality guys. Maybe eventually the NFL rules are poo and top players don't want to play there anymore, because its no longer "real football." That thought already exists. These things take time, but could be interesting.

[CRA]

4 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Gantt speculated that they could pursue Trevor Lawrence.

If they landed him, that would definitely have the potential to make things interesting.

that is Gantt just making up nonsense though.  Zero percent chance of that happening 

[CRA]

4 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Lousy football is what killed the prior version.

Whatever you might think of him, Vince McMahon is no fool. He's not going to want to make that same mistake again.

That's not to say he'll succeed mind you, but I do believe he's going to do his best. And it is true that conditions now are more favorable then they were before.

only reason McMahon is rethinking the XFL is he knows Trump chooses to use football as a tool to further divide the nation for political reasons. 

McMahon sees a cash opportunity.  I don’t think he is a fool.  I mean when the POTUS is your friend and you have the most powerful man in the world pooping on the NFL and most likely willing to pimp your new league to the masses....I get it.  Vince ain’t dumb.  

[Mr. Scot]

49 minutes ago, CRA said:

that is Gantt just making up nonsense though.  Zero percent chance of that happening 

Don't believe it'll happen, but I'm not so sure I'd put the odds at zero.

[Cdw]

41 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Don't believe it'll happen, but I'm not so sure I'd put the odds at zero.

The odds go up the farther the guys are from being shoo-in top draft picks.  Top 10 type guys, that may not be 0% but I'll guess pretty close. 

That still leaves a lot of talent and it will definitely be interesting to see who they are able to recruit, and how that affects both college and the NFL.  If they can pull significant 2nd - 3rd round type talent that would have a big effect.

[philit99]

6 hours ago, CRA said:

last version of the XFL was such a comical let down....

I don't see this version working either.   I don't really care about watching Armanti Edwards and whatever group of can't make a NFL roster dudes playing bad football in a different "cool" league. 

Wonder if they will follow the cheerleaders into the dressing room and assault a camera guy again?

[Raleigh PF]

12 minutes ago, Cdw said:

The odds go up the farther the guys are from being shoo-in top draft picks.  Top 10 type guys, that may not be 0% but I'll guess pretty close. 

That still leaves a lot of talent and it will definitely be interesting to see who they are able to recruit, and how that affects both college and the NFL.  If they can pull significant 2nd - 3rd round type talent that would have a big effect.

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if the XFL was around when Vontaze Burfict went undrafted in 2012. He eventually signed with the Bengals, but the XFL would have been an option.