Cheese Curds, 3/31: Logistics is the name of the game for the 2020 NFL Draft

When the 2020 NFL Draft does officially kick off on April 23rd — and the NFL has made it clear that it will go on as scheduled amid the coronavirus pandemic — teams will be left in odd setups. Normally, a team’s war room would consist of most of the personnel executives and scouts all together in close proximity, making phone calls about trades and sorting through the draft board as picks come down. Now, the mechanics of each team’s decision-making will be stretched thinner, with gatherings kept to a minimum and team facilities still not guaranteed to be open.

Trades will be particularly interesting to follow this year. Teams on both sides of a draft pick trade must agree first, then call the trade in to the league office before it can be processed, all before the clock runs out on the pick. With execs no longer being in the same room — or at least fewer of them being physically present, that could complicate that process a bit and affect the flow of information between individuals on the same team’s staff.

All told, the draft is really a remote event anyway, at least for the people making the decisions. The public-facing events and the introduction of the draft picks — the events that have been canceled — are all for the fans anyway, who now are best suited to simply watch the draft from home.

There is a bit of a silver lining here, however. Due to the coronavirus situation, teams are now allowed to hold video calls with as many prospects as they’d like. So while top-30 visits, with private workouts and physical exams, are no longer possible, at least teams can get that one-on-one interview time that they do crave.

All told, the draft should take place in April with minimal issues. But that will require additional planning on the part of each team to determine just how they will adjust their draft-day mechanics.

Keeping NFL draft train on schedule creates significant logistical hurdles | Packersnews.com
Pete Dougherty sees a lot of major challenges with holding the draft at the end of April, namely the coordination between GMs and scouts on draft day, but he does acknowledge that all teams face the same issues. Perhaps the biggest news here is that teams are allowed to hold video calls with any draft prospect, as often as three times per week per player, so the current situation could actually lead to a more complete picture of players' off-the-field personalities.

It is logistically feasible to move forward with the NFL Draft – The Athletic (subscription required)
Meanwhile, Amy Trask - a former Raiders executive - looks back at her time in the NFL and believes that there are no logistical reasons to avoid holding the draft on schedule. Whether the league should do so for other reasons is a different discussion, however.

Weather, location helped drive WR Emmanuel Sanders to pick Saints over Packers | Packers Wire
The Packers apparently made a run at veteran receiver Emmanuel Sanders, as he was down to Green Bay and New Orleans as his final two options this spring. The Packers reportedly offered Sanders a three-year contract, but the Houston native wanted to stay closer to home -- but also wanted to avoid the cold and play in a dome as much as possible.

Packers, Bucks donate $37,500 to hunger relief efforts | Packers.com
This is great timing for the two teams to donate the proceeds from recent t-shirt sales to food banks in Green Bay and Milwaukee.

2nd Round Fits: Chase Claypool | Packer Report
Is Claypool the guy at 62? He certainly fits the size/speed mold that the Packers seem to love at reeciver, particularly under Brian Gutekunst.

Finally, take a look at this fun little story that we found on Twitter last night: