Strange draft day ends well for Bears

By Barry Rozner

At about noon Thursday, the NFL officially took a turn for the surreal.

The lockout that had been lifted by a judge earlier in the week but still not lifted by the owners was sort of lifted by the owners Thursday but not completely.

Got it?

All this in the hours leading up to the NFL draft, which used to be a big deal and the type of event around which the NFL could build an entire off-season.

While Giants, Jets and Eagles fans usually overwhelm draft-choice announcements with boos at Radio City Music Hall in New York, they let Commissioner Roger Goodell have it immediately Thursday night with jeers and chants of, “We want football!”

“Me, too,” shouted Goodell.

“Let them play!” went another chorus.

“I hear ya,” promised Goodell.

And such was the beginning of the very bizarre 2011 NFL draft.

Near the end of Thursday's festivities, the Bears addressed undoubtedly their biggest need, selecting Wisconsin's Gabe Carimi, considered for much of 2010 to be the best offensive tackle in college football.

At 6-feet-7, 314 pounds, Carimi is a beast and plays like defensive ends are trying to steal his lunch money. But he slid to the end of the first round and was the fifth tackle selected because some questioned whether he'll be quick enough to handle speed on the edge.

He has been compared to Eagles great Jon Runyan, who was as nasty as they come, and you have to credit GM Jerry Angelo for keeping the pick and getting help for a terrible offensive line — not to mention battered QB Jay Cutler.

Carimi is a terrific selection for the Bears, and he's going to be around these parts for a long time.

It should spark some Bears conversation in Chicago, though there has been little buzz the last couple of weeks with most fans turned off by the labor strife, which included not one but two rulings by a judge this week ending the lockout.

Still, players were turned away and teams were told to continue as though the lockout were in place.

But Thursday the NFL ordered teams to allow players in at 7 a.m. Friday to begin meetings and workouts as they like, particularly important for teams with new head coaches and coordinators needing to distribute playbooks.

However, teams were not to begin any transactions involving free agents or trades, though the rumor was that teams might resume business as unusual beginning Monday.

The “league year” would start then and be conducted under 2010 rules, which means no salary cap or floor, and players wouldn't reach free agency until six years of service time.

All of this directly affects how teams plan for this season, but in the oddest decision of all, the teams weren't allowed to trade players Thursday.

It meant clubs couldn't move QBs like Carson Palmer, Kevin Kolb, Donovan McNabb and Vince Young on Thursday in exchange for draft picks or the chance to move up.

Having the draft before free agency for the first time since 1993 also meant teams didn't know which players would be back, making it impossible to draft for need at those positions.

Goodell probably waited to put the rules back in place because Thursday afternoon because he still was hoping for a stay of the injunction that lifted the lockout, which would put an end to NFL business again.

Meanwhile, the biggest winners — at least for now — were Thursday's draft picks, who were to be happily sacrificed by the players union under a new collective-bargaining agreement and rookie wage scale.

The days of $50 million deals for first-rounders were to end with this draft class, but now with 2010 rules applied, players like Cam Newton picked up tens of millions he wouldn't have been guaranteed in a new CBA.

That's just one strange addition to a very strange day, one that — at least in Chicago — ended well.

brozner@dailyherald.com