In today’s salary cap, revenue sharing era, it would be interesting to see if the league could get away with something like this without causing a storm of owners/politicians claiming unfairness.

As discussions progressed around the merger of the NFL and AFL, it was decided that the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers should receive some sort of compensation, as there would be AFL teams in those same markets (the Jets in New York, the Raiders in Oakland/San Francisco).

Dallas President/General Manager Tex Schramm, who was heading up the merger negotiations for the NFL, proposed that the $18 million that the AFL would be paying the NFL for the right to join the league be funneled to the two teams–$10 million to the Giants, and $8 million to the 49ers (can you imagine Jerry Jones suggesting that money be funneled to two arch rivals?).

The Giants weren’t satisfied, though, as the Jets had probably the biggest football star of the era playing for them, quarterback Joe Namath, and they were coming off the worst season in franchise history.

To placate the Giants, the league awarded the Giants the first overall pick in the an upcoming rookie draft, with the stipulation that the pick be used to draft or trade for a quarterback. The Giants traded the pick (along with another first, and two second round picks) to the Vikings in a deal for Pro Bowler Fran Tarkenton. The Vikings selected Hall of Fame Tackle Ron Yary with the first overall pick in the 1968 draft, after picking Clint Jones second overall with the Giants pick in 1967. They also added Guard Ed White and Running Back Bob Grim with the other selections.