Does the NFL care if Ed Oliver quit on his team

Either you are on the team and contributing or get out of the way

 If you are hurt you can contribute by being supportive and helping. This is just a bad look. 

Getting close to where NBA and NFL are going to have to develop legitimate farm systems like MLB.  One and done is a joke and NBA is coming up with a D League option that pays kids 125k instead of going to college.  With football, couple guys started by skipping bowl game and now kids are beginning to understand the ramifications in draft eligible years.  Bosa is a perfect example. Completely understand from kids perspective, too much risk.   Works for MLB, sign contract coming out of HS and  give it a shot at lower levels to see if you have the talent to make it.  If you go to college, which many top baseball players do, off the draft radar for 3 years. 

The correct question is not "does the NFL care?" but rather "how much does the NFL care?"

Yes, they care, and it likely will be factored into the equation and I'm sure will cause plenty of questions during the interview at the combine, but it might not move him off his overall draft slot.

Not a good look, I’d have concerns about his commitment and attitude if I was a NFL GM.  These type of guys think they’re irreplaceable but they totally are

Eh, seems overblown to me. Applewhite downplayed it and I think its much ado about nothing. I'm sure he'll get asked about it and his response in those interview will determine if its a factor. But Everyone wants to pile on Oliver or Applewhite and I don't think either are real concerned about it. 

Will it be asked about in his combine interviews? Probably. Will it affect his draft stock? Highly unlikely. 

If he proves he can still get to the QB, he's still going in the top-10. Probably top-5. The teams that do care about this sort of thing are probably well off enough already that Oliver won't still be on the board by the time they pick, anyway. 

A team like the Browns, the Bucs, the Giants, anyone who is in desperate need of a spark for their team (especially on the defensive side of the ball) won't care about this if it means they get a guy who can bolster their pass rush. 

I think certain guys in the league will care. You can't tell me Harbaugh would want to draft a guy like that sitting in the 49ers draft room. Now, he might get overruled and they take him any way, but I do think there are guys who will look negatively on a guy who quits on his team. 

I'm interested to see if Gruden, who seems similar to Harbaugh in a lotta ways, takes Bosa #1 for this very reason. 

I'm going to go with ... I dunno. 

You can throw the Lions in that category. After the loss to Seattle at home the players have given up on the season. They're polishing up their golf clubs. A lot of motivation goes back to the coach, who has not been doing a great job.

I could never imagine any current Michigan player doing that.  Different team culture at Michigan.  Guys get fired up over things that happen on field. Don't have a problem with coach getting in ear of player or vice versa if it is heat of moment and over being competitive.  But over a jacket?

This was definitely not a good look for Oliver, but with the example the 'adults' in this enterprise set I'm not surprised.

Can he play? YES! That’s all NFL GM’s care about.

NFL teams won't care, though it does major Oliver seem like a bit of an ass.  I don't have any love for Major Applewhite either, but I get the rule that says you don't get a player jacket if you aren't actually playing in the game.