Pro Bowl vs. Picks?

Here’s what I don’t get about some NFL teams. June was a restricted free agent. A team that signed him gives up their number one pick.

 

Why wouldn’t a team in the last third of the 1^st round - #21-32 be willing to give up their pick for a pro bowl LB? An unproven college player vs. a guy that is one of the best at his position? Why don’t more teams with low draft picks go after guys like this?

 

 

From ESPN.com:

Three-year veteran Cato June, the former college safety who became a Pro Bowl linebacker in 2005, has signed his one-year qualifying offer with the Indianapolis Colts. The deal is worth $1.573 million.

	June

A restricted free agent, June received the middle-level qualifying offer from the Colts in March. That all but precluded his departure in free agency. Any team signing June to an offer sheet would have owed Indianapolis a first-round draft choice as compensation. The period for teams to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets ended on Friday night.

It will be interesting to see if the Colts now pursue a long-term deal with June, who could be eligible for unrestricted free agency next spring unless he signs an extension.

The Colts have a history of not overpaying at the linebacker position. In recent years, Indianapolis has allowed three starting linebackers -- Mike Peterson (2002), Marcus Washington (2004) and David Thornton (2005) -- to depart as unrestricted free agents. The Colts' personnel department, in each case, was able to locate suitable replacements.

June, 26, is a self-made player. He was a sixth-round choice in 2003 who overcame not only his low-round status but also a change of positions, and turned himself into a Pro Bowl performer. The former University of Michigan standout played primarily on special teams as a rookie in 2003, and then moved into the starting lineup in 2004, after Washington's departure.