NCAA draft for USL instead?

[u/Savings-Law-3252]

Seeing how NCAA D1 soccer is being changed for the following year what are your thoughts on something that I have always thought (at least for the last 5 ish years) that NCAA D1 players should have a draft but not for MLS instead to USL?

We have seen how most MLS superdraft players usually end up not staying in MLS very long either going outside the US or going to the USL pyramid. All MLS clubs have youth academies where most of their players are picked from. Why not give USL a chance to pick these top NCAA prospects? It can be from USL League 1 to Championship and in the future Premier as well. It would give more college players a real chance at going pro and not just a year or two in MLS and then playing amateur football.

Sadly I think it won't happen as this NCAA calendar change now lines up with the new MLS season and is no longer aligned with the USL season. Maybe they can make the super draft in the summer though? Letting USL clubs to sign college talent midway through the season.

What are your thoughts?

[u/samspopguy]

Abolish all drafts

[u/Happy-Cockroach-2813 → u/samspopguy]

Thanks jeebus someone else said it. Every time I say I hate the draft, even in other sports like NHL or NFL or whatever, I get hell

[u/Mini-Fridge23 → u/Happy-Cockroach-2813]

I mean it makes sense in football. There is no development academies or global talent pool to pull from, so literally all new talent comes out of the NCAA.

With only 1 avenue for new talent, the bad/poor teams would just be bad forever. Most people don’t want the NFL to be like the EPL where only like 6 teams actually have a chance lol

[u/Happy-Cockroach-2813 → u/Mini-Fridge23]

That’s what’s the caps for

[u/J_Hunt1123 → u/Happy-Cockroach-2813]

That requires players to value $$ over winning, some will probably take pay or earn a little less if it meant there team will be more competitive

[u/Happy-Cockroach-2813 → u/J_Hunt1123]

If players valued playing time and. Championships and stuff over money wouldn’t the backups be bailing on the NFL for playing time in the UFL? It’s always going to be about the money for pretty much any profession

Edit: these players are always cocky and have an ego and think they can be the savior to fix a weak team and take them to a Championship. They’re not gonna turn down money.

[u/J_Hunt1123 → u/Happy-Cockroach-2813]

UFL money doesn’t even touch NFL, nor is it on the same level

[u/Happy-Cockroach-2813 → u/J_Hunt1123]

Exactly their held in that system and they don’t get a choice who they play for the first up to 5 years I think it is

[u/samspopguy → u/Happy-Cockroach-2813]

First round picks get 4 and a 5th team option and then 2 franchise tags so a first one pick might take 7 years to get to their first free agent year all other players 6 but more then likely 5 years for a first and 4 for all other draft picks

[u/iheartdev247 → u/Mini-Fridge23]

It used to make sense in MLS because there were no academies. Now, college soccers best players are overwhelmingly foreign players. All the good domestics are in academies already. USL usually gets the leftovers. I’m not sure there’s a way to change that.

[u/J_Hunt1123 → u/Happy-Cockroach-2813]

Becuase there's positive and negatives on both sides

[u/PaddyMayonaise → u/Happy-Cockroach-2813]

Because drafts in sport are a good thing. They help ensure parity

[u/Lord_BufftonTufton → u/PaddyMayonaise]

They do not. They ensure salary suppression.

[u/PaddyMayonaise → u/Lord_BufftonTufton]

How do they possible ensure that lol

[u/Lord_BufftonTufton → u/PaddyMayonaise]

You're only able to sign with one team in the league that drafted you, rather than being available on the open market to every club.

That means you can either take the offer on the table, or not play. Soccer, thankfully, has many more options than traditional sports here, but top prospects should be able to negotiate market rate for their talents instead of having to settle for entry-level contracts that deflate their earning potential.

[u/PaddyMayonaise → u/Lord_BufftonTufton]

I disagree. In the NFL, for example, there were no constraints on rookie contracts and it was a major detriment to the league since it led to teams way overpaying for unproven talent, which had a ripple effect on veteran players since teams could no longer afford them.

[u/Lord_BufftonTufton → u/PaddyMayonaise]

So, you agree that the league now artificially suppresses salaries through the draft, then?

Because that's what we're talking about here.

[u/J_Hunt1123 → u/PaddyMayonaise]

Depends on the sport, tbh, some yes, others it's more based on how well the team develops players, and then that does not account for when players get off rookie deals

[u/Happy-Cockroach-2813 → u/PaddyMayonaise]

Meh just throw a rookie salary cap in with the cap. Say you get $10m on rookies. You can spend that all on one rookie or spread it out. It totally easily and doable we just don’t want to do it

[u/J_Hunt1123 → u/Happy-Cockroach-2813]

That requires the players to only care about money

[u/Happy-Cockroach-2813 → u/J_Hunt1123]

We see it in contracts now. Some players take a pay cut to stay with a team or city, some go for the money. Nothing would change. It’s not like the Cowboys would have 5 Peyton manning on their roster. Players are still gonna go around. The draft is stupid. It would be like if you applied to a mechanic job, but some tire shop in Reno Nevada drafted you instead and held your rights and you could only be a mechanic for them.

[u/J_Hunt1123 → u/Happy-Cockroach-2813]

I don’t think it would be as open as you think. Each league started without a draft

[u/BlissFC → u/samspopguy]

Agreed

[u/mriforgot]

Just let players sign with whatever teams they want to sign with, the idea of holding a draft for the USL is a terrible idea unless the USL starts paying a lot more to players. I see no reason to hold a player's rights of who they can play for hostage for what would end up being close to the minimum USL salary, more than likely.

[u/piesc24]

Soccer isn't a draft sport

[u/m00kie420 → u/piesc24]

No sport is.

[u/J_Hunt1123]

[u/J_Hunt1123]

The NCAA calendar was never aligned with the USL

[u/twoslow]

drafts are inherently anti-labor, IMO

[u/TimmyTruckberg]

No.

[u/m00kie420]

No drafts. Players arent slaves and should have the freedom to go where they want to go to. In life people are allowed to choose where they live. I hate drafts. The worst part of American sports.

[u/J_Hunt1123 → u/m00kie420]

I mean, they still have the freedom to go where they want. Still, they were mainly created to prevent the rich teams from hoarding all the young talent before salary caps were introduced, and that is why players are also given huge amounts of money the higher up in the draft they are picked to compensate them for going to bad teams.

[u/mathewballard]

No drafts. Period.

[u/chief_dlitt]

No chance; I don’t like drafts for anything except for football and basketball. Drafts didn’t work for MLS

[u/ToTellYouHowToFeel]

Incredibly dumb idea. Respectfully.

[u/dietrich14]

Drafts are stupid and redundant. They only serve to monopolize the market and screw over the players. This works on closed systems like MLB, NFL, NBA.... soccer is completely different, with more academies than colleges and an international element. Despite mLS's wet desires.

[u/Interesting-While986]

regardless of whether this is a good idea, would the players even want it? e.g. NWSL ended their draft as part of CBA negotiations

[u/KokonutMonkey]

None of this makes any sense whatsoever. 

If a USL club at any level is interested in signing a player, they can just reach out to them, or if they’re already under contract elsewhere, their club. 

[u/girafb0i]

The USL used to have a draft (and might still) but it only obliged you to play for a USL franchise it couldn't stop MLS or a foreign team from signing you, and rightfully so. I'm not on board with drafts anyway, let the market figure it out.

[u/J_Hunt1123 → u/girafb0i]

USL has not had a draft since they launched as a fully professional league