Florio mentioned last week that in addition to quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, at least 10 other players have declined invitations to the 2015 NFL Draft in Chicago.
Via Peter King of Sports Illustrated, Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper is among that group, having decided to skip the trip to the Windy City.
Individually, the absences might not mean as much.
But if the first three picks in the draft go by without anyone hopping on stage to hug commissioner Roger Goodell, it’s going to be a bad look for a league that has put so much into this road show.
Whether Cooper would have attended if the event was still in New York’s unclear, but it’s obvious that something’s amiss, as we’ve suddenly had three top players decide en masse to bypass the red carpet.
Of course, if there’s a trade in the top two, and someone makes a move for a quarterback, we probably won’t miss the grip-and-grin shot with Goodell and a player, even one as talented as Cooper.