In one of the dumber moves in Roger Goodell’s tenure as NFL commissioner, the draft will now be a three-day event.

The 2010 NFL Draft will now start on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and only the first round will be held on that day. The second and third rounds will resume on Friday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. and Rounds 4-7 will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

“We continue to look for ways to make the draft more accessible to more fans,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “Moving the first round to prime time on Thursday night will make the first round of the draft available to fans on what is typically the most-watched night of television.”

I get what Goodell is trying to do. The first round is what most people care about, so he’s trying to get maximize the number of viewers he can attain for that round by having it on a popular TV night.

That’s fine, but the draft to me is about getting together with a bunch of buddies on the weekend, kicking a few back and gushing (more like ranting on most occasions) over who our favorite teams selected. Two years ago you could kill a Saturday watching the first three rounds and making it into a big event. Now I feel that Goodell is turning the draft into the Emmys with having the first round be on a Thursday night and then kicking the other rounds to the side by having it on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Maybe it’s just me and I’m making a bigger deal out of this than I should be. But I hate the thought of not being able to get up on a Saturday morning all pumped up for the first two rounds of the draft.

According to Yahoo Sports, the NFL has begun an investigation on if the Washington Redskins tampered with defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth prior to the start of the free agent signing period.
The Tennessee Titans filed charges with the league in late March stating they were interfered with their efforts in re-signing Haynesworth after the 2008 season.
The Washington Post reported:

Haynesworth is among the people expected to be interviewed by NFL officials possibly as early as this week regarding allegations that the Washington Redskins violated league tampering rules, according to league sources.
NFL investigators have been reviewing information relating to the Redskins’ pursuit of Haynesworth, who formerly played for the Tennessee Titans, and whether his representative was improperly contacted before free agency officially began at midnight Feb. 27. The Redskins and Haynesworth agreed to terms of a deal by 5:30 a.m. Feb. 27.
League investigators are interested in obtaining all communications between Haynesworth’s agent, Chad Speck, and Redskins officials in the weeks before free agency opened. Part of the difficulty, though, in determining the subject matter of the contact is that Speck also represents Redskins wide receiver Malcolm Kelly.

If convicted, the Redskins could lose a pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Last year, the NFL stripped the San Francisco 49ers of a fifth-round draft pick after they ruled the team violated the league’s tampering rules by having an improper conversation with Drew Rosenhaus, agent for Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, about the player’s upcoming free agent status.

Neither the NFL nor Speck commented on the report or the current investigation.

During one of his recent chats on ESPN.com, Mel Kiper answered a reader’s question about the quarterback class of 2010 and listed Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour as the next best signal caller behind Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford.

Jeff, Mpls: Looking ahead, will next years QB class be a lot better than this years?

Mel Kiper: Next year’s QB class will have Sam Bradford as the No. 1 guy. After that, you’d be looking at Dan LeFevour out of Central Michigan. Bradford should be the No. 1 overall pick. LeFevour in the top 10-15. Colt McCoy. Then Tim Tebow will factor in. And Pike out of Cincinnati.

I love Dan LeFevour. I’m a CMU grad and credit him for making the Chips relevant again in the MAC. He’s fun to watch and I’ll root for him no matter where he winds up. But I want some of whatever Kiper is smoking because there’s no way LeFevour is the second best quarterback behind Bradford in the 2010 draft class.

First and foremost, LeFevour rarely takes a snap from under center and he plays in the spread offense. He’s mobile, tough and he has decent size at 6′3″, 229 pounds. But he doesn’t have great arm strength or accuracy, doesn’t play against top competition in college and one has to believe that he would struggle trying to grasp a pro style offense. Kiper is nuts if he sees LeFevour as a top 15 pick.