While there are some teams more than others that try to get a jumpstart on building their team by signing veterans in free agency, most teams understand that the bedrock of a strong franchise is the draft. And it goes without saying that the most important resources in the draft tend to be the first-round draft picks.
Teams more often than not live or die with the success or failure of their first-round draft picks. They are the most likely to be high-impact players, and the scarcest commodity, so when they don’t pan out it has years-long ramifications that sets back your franchise.