Bad Idea

Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has spent pretty much every day since his selection in the 2014 NFL Draft working to learn his new offense. He moved to his new home pretty much as soon as Roger Goodell read his name in Radio City Music Hall. He's been working ever since. Just when he's getting into the meat of the offseason workouts, he's called away to Los Angeles and the NFL Rookie Premiere. It started Thursday and runs through today. This isn't even the Rookie Symposium that is mandatory for all NFL newbies. This is something put on by the NFL Players Association that invites forty of the rookies. I have no idea how the forty are determined. Bridgewater is included but Anthony Barr is not. Barr was the Vikings first pick in the draft and the ninth pick overall. No other Vikings rookie were invited to this Rookie Premiere. Here are the forty that were invited:

• Davonte Adams, WR – Green Bay Packers
• Dri Archer, RB – Pittsburgh Steelers
• Odell Beckham, Jr., WR – New York Giants
• Kelvin Benjamin, WR – Carolina Panthers
• Blake Bortles, QB – Jacksonville, Jaguars
• Tajh Boyd, QB – New York Jets
• Teddy Bridgewater, QB – Minnesota Vikings
• Ka’Deem Carey, RB – Chicago Bears
• Jadeveon Clowney, DE – Houston Texans
• Brandin Cooks, WR – New Orleans Saints
• Eric Ebron, TE – Detroit Lions
• Mike Evans, WR – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Devonta Freeman, RB - Atlanta Falcons
• Jimmy Garoppolo, QB – New England Patriots
• Jeremy Hill, RB – Cincinnati Bengals
• Carlos Hyde, RB – San Francisco 49ers
• Jarvis Landry, WR – Miami Dolphins
• Cody Latimer, WR – Denver Broncos
• Marqise Lee, WR – Jacksonville Jaguars
• Khalil Mack, LB – Oakland Raiders
• Johnny Manziel, QB – Cleveland Browns
• Tre Mason, RB – St. Louis Rams
• Jordan Matthews, WR – Philadelphia Eagles
• A.J. McCarron, QB – Cincinnati Bengals
• Donte Moncrief, WR – Indianapolis Colts
• Aaron Murray, QB – Kansas City Chiefs
• Kevin Pierre-Louis, LB – Seattle Seahawks
• Paul Richardson, WR – Seattle Seahawks
• Allen Robinson, WR – Jacksonville Jaguars
• Bishop Sankey, RB – Tennessee Titans
• Tom Savage, QB – Houston Texans
• Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Connor Shaw, QB – Cleveland Browns
• De’Anthony Thomas, RB – Kansas City Chiefs
• Logan Thomas, QB- Arizona Cardinals
• Khyri Thornton, DL – Green Bay Packers
• Sammy Watkins, WR – Buffalo Bills
• Asa Watson, TE – New England Patriots
• Terrance West, RB – Cleveland Browns
• Avery Williamson, LB – Tennessee Titans

It sure is heavy on offensive players. 10 quarterbacks? Sounds like a marketing thing more than a football thing. We have a quarterback taken with a sixth-round compensatory pick in Tajh Boyd and no room for a linebacker taken with the ninth pick in the draft. Ok.

The 40 rookies will take part in seminars that will cover:

Financial planning

Brand building and awareness

Group player rights

Social media practices

Several former and current NFL players, such as Daunte Culpepper and Jamaal Charles, will be speaking. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and NFLPI President Keith Gordon will also be on hand. I'm sure that some great things will be discussed and the players included will benefit greatly. I just don't understand why this is done separate from the NFL Symposium. Similar topics are discussed there. It doesn't seem right that these 40 get special attention on topics that are crucial to all of the rookies. It's not like these players are representatives from each of the 32 teams. Some teams have no players represented. Most importantly, this event is scheduled at the same exact time that most every team in the league is holding their OTAs. They could have waited until after these practices are completed. There's no reason for these rookies to miss this critical work with their teams. They could have waited until the month break between OTAs and training camp. Or, how about this. They could have not held this event at all. The Rookie Symposium takes care of all this and more. Plus, all of the rookies are included.

And, Bridgewater is missing crucial snaps.