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This conversation has gone off the rails. I think the “magic beans” term is really rather dumb, and a low intelligence way of trying to diminish the value of draft picks by referring to them as “magic” which we know magic isn’t real. I get draft picks aren’t the only way to build a team, and we’ve seen past GMs here make trades using draft picks for solid contributors (Chris Houston at CB was a dang solid one). That can work - Altho it’s a balance with the cap since that rookie contract carries value outside of on the field performance.
With that said the Rams aren’t in the position they are now without using a “magic bean” on Aaron Donald. So the real moral of the story is that shrewd decisions build teams, whether that’s in the draft or through trades or through FA.
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its an interesting idea but that fact they’ve done it for so many years in a row will come back to bite them at some point.
trading a 1st for a proven player like Jalen Ramsey makes a ton of sense when comparing to the risk of a rookie transitioning to the NFL. the problem is, the caliber of the player you are trading a first for will most likely demand a huge salary. how many huge salaries can a team possibly absorb before it backfires? the lions had stafford, calvin, and suh just before rookie contracts changed and it absolutely crippled them to tie up so much money into so few players.
You know who were “magic beans”? Goff, Donald and Gurley, the three foundational pieces of their Super Bowl team.
You know who else was “Magic Beans”? Mahomes, Kelce, Hill, Jones. The foundational pieces of the Chiefs Superbowl team. Brady was a “magic bean” that led the Patriots to all those Super Bowls.
This is not the NBA or MLB when you can buy a championship with free agents. You have to draft and develop in the NFL with these magic beans. There’s a reason why NFL draft picks are more valuable than any other sport.
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The Lions were not able to add good players in the draft consistently in the 2-5 rounds during that run
The Rams do
What this really shows is that the people who correctly evaluate the talent are worth the most.
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I hear Stafford and his wife have made several children with the assistance of his magic beans.
So apparently, you can do all sorts of stuff with 'em.
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If you think that draft picks are undervalued - on this board or in the NFL in general - you’re just plain wrong.
Magic beans is a surprisingly accurate representation of how armchair GMs (and some real ones) view the value of a draft pick, as if it has supernatural power to conjure up a player that is all positive and no negative.
As an example: Jared Goff the prospect - holy crap, it would cost multiple draft picks over multiple years to move up to get him. Jared Goff the player - maybe worth a second round pick?
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Weren’t the Mitch Trubiskys and Teez Tabors of the world also draft picks? I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here. All players in the NFL were either drafted or signed as UDFAs. That really doesn’t justify the overvaluing of draft picks / prospects compared to performing players.
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It’s very clear what I said. You build teams in the NFL through the draft with those magic beans that some people seem to devalue then fill out the roster with free agents once the foundation is built. I never said that every team hits on draft picks so not sure why your list of draft misses is relevant to my overall point. You want to know the main reason why the Lions failed under Quinn outside of hiring a dumbass coach? Just look at his drafting history and in particular the 2nd round misses.
This is why it’s imperative to have competent draft evaluators in your organisation and is why I loved the Dorsey addition.
Also, it’s kind of odd to say that the Rams don’t value magic beans when those magic beans are what led them to the Super Bowl.
The core of the Rams was built via the draft, than supplemented during FA and trades. Their turn around started with the acquisitions of Gurley, Donald and Goff via the draft. This got them to a good position, then they started to mortgage their future.
I get the thought of trading picks for proven players, but the Rams need to stop acting like the draft didn’t make them relevant initially.
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I am not arguing for or against keep IR trading draft picks. These picks are more art than science. If it was science teams would make better choices.
Brad Holmes is good at his art.
Using lottery pieces to get proven players is smart.
Drafting players is smart too. But choose wisely. That is easier said than done.
The problem with this is, what happens if your proven players don’t earn their money? We’ve seen it here for decades, the Lions pay somebody big money and the guy doesn’t earn it. True, the same thing can happen with a high draft pick, guys taken in the 1st couple of rounds will flame out but at least you ain’t paying them huge gobs of your cap space.
I recall a guy named George Allen some years ago, this guy made the Redskins into a perennial winner mostly with FAs rather than draft picks. BUT - he had the mojo, guys wanted to go there for less money to compete for a ring, for some years now guys have done the same thing on other teams like NE, Pittsburgh, etc.; FAs want to play on a winner and we ain’t that yet. These days, guys won’t come here unless we overpay for them, and mostly they ain’t worth what they were paid.
So - it seems to me that is a waste of money. Don’t be spending gobs of money on the next Vaitai or J James, instead keep your own Glasgows and other guys that you know won’t retire on the field before their contract is up. I don’t see another way to get it done, the Lions are going to have to build a consistently winning team from the draft and inexpensive FAs that want a chance to prove themselves. The Lions have to make this franchise more attractive to FAs for reasons other than money, and I mean OUR FAs as much as anyone else’s.
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Great pose Wise! I want to touch on the very last statement. What would it take to make this place more Attractive? A winner sure, but even then there are many other winners that FAs can choose. I think we’re seeing a turn now with the front office. I think that will ultimately be our selling point, or the coaching staff is any indication. We snagged many coaches/execs this year over other teams. With the right front office and leadership, this could be something to build on.
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This is the whole thing in a nutshell. Not sure why there is so much controversy around the phrase.
No one is arguing here that draft picks are worthless, or the good teams don’t build through the draft. This is about psychology, and how valuable something seems when it’s still abstract and hypothetical, versus all the warts you see when you’re talking about a real world player or prospect.
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That’s the theory at this point. With the new group-share concept, we’ll credit/blame Holmes-Dorsey-Agnew.
The Rams have realized if they don’t have a top 10 pick that they can draft the same caliber player in rounds 2-3 that the rest of the NFL has to draft 20-32 in the 1st.
It really interesting to me that the one time they didn’t trade their 1st for a player they immediately traded out of the 1st for a 2 and a 3.
They love the draft they just love day 2
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Are we allowed to discuss all of the magic beans the Rams acquired from the RG3 trade, and what happened to those? Or is that taboo? 
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It is hilarious that the same dude that got the motherload of all magic beans in a trade no longer wants them 
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Well, I’ll just say this: Dan Campbell came in promising to connect with the players, working with them to help them succeed as individuals and as a team. If he does that then we have a selling point for guys that want an opportunity to improve their game and of course make themselves more marketable, i.e., worth a bigger contract. Those are the people I think the Lions should target as FAs, players who will sign for less to earn more rather than the other way around.