Free Agency fretting is absurd, and here's why. Every year some mediocre team makes a splash in free agency, and said mediocre team is picked as a playoff favorite, or Super Bowl champion, whatever. But once the season gets rolling, no one ever looks back and says "hmmm...what a waste of money...player X,Y,Z did a terrible job and this team didn't go anywhere. Maybe free agency is NOT an all-world solution. Some highlights: Deadskins- Have spent more money than anyone on free agents in the modern era. While that's not a fact, it might be true. In the last three years, since their spending binge began, they have made the playoffs a total of one time. Dallas- Spent big money to bring in Drew Bledsoe, Jason Ferguson, Marco Rivera, and Anthony Henry, a marginal corner who got over 10 million in guarantees. NO PLAYOFFS Baltimore- Big money to bring in Samari Rolle, the guard from Pittsburgh, Derrick Mason, and Tommy Polley. NO PLAYOFFS. OAKLAND- BIG MONEY to retain Jerry Porter, Big money to Lamont Jordan, capped out from years of free agency spending, NO PLAYOFFS Minnesota- in the last TWO YEARS Travis Taylor, Pat Williams, Darren Sharper, Fred Smoot, NO PLAYOFFS. The best teams are never the teams that binge, and it's rare that it ever works out. We are going to have a high number one, a late number one for Abraham, and a high number two. We're going to get some comp picks, and we are going to build depth. We've got some nice young players in the secondary, a franchise middle linebacker, and a few other solid players. With the right character guys added into the mix and smart spending in free agency, we're going to be ok. Remember, we're rebuilding, we're not expected to be making a Super Bowl run. Wasting money unnecessarily won't do us any good. So PLEASE stop bitching about it already. -X-
Great job laying this out, X Jets. Free agency in the NFL may be the most over hyped creation in sports. PS - You left out Randy Moss' contract with Oakland!
Agreed. Anyone who posts for the next month should have a printed copy of this taped to their monitor.
excellent points, when are people around here going to learn that to be successful in this era of NFL for more then a year or two you have to build through the draft.
Yes, yes. All good points. But it feels so much better to run around screaming about the sky falling. DOOMED! DOOMED, I SAY!
i dont know, you could probably plead a case for why each hasnt worked out also. the free agency, the draft its all a roll of the dice, the trick is minimizing your risks. cause how well a player is going to perform is ultimately decided by team chemistry, the depth of every position, the system a player is in, and his ability to have faith in the coaches or the coaches to be able to put their players in the position to win. free agency is hyped because its the only real football thing a fan can discuss during the offseason besides the draft. FA is hyped now cuz the media bloodsuckers just fed off the combine and will now hit the presses with every rumor possible. but then again this is a game, and the players make it. so why wouldnt the FA be something to be excited about? it determines whos suiting up for what team! i think your point is the media coverage of it now has come to a point of over-analysis and its not just...."oh he plays for them now? thats interesting"
Excellent post. The only team I can think of that seems to be spend in free agency on a consistent basis that have had any kind of success are the Eagles and Panthers. It should also be noted that while they sign a lot of big guys they've also let a lot walk as well (ie: Panthers sign Ken Lucas last year, but lose Muhammed).
If it wasn't free agency it would be something else. People aren't happy unless they're bitching about something. See? I'm bitching about people bitching, and I'm happy as can be.
Getting a quality player through free agency or a trade (they're essentially the same thing in my mind -- acquiring veteran talent) can fix singular problems on a team, and this does happen frequently. A great example right on our front door was Curtis Martin, and while we've been on a good playoff run recently, it's not just because of Martin. Our team was bolstered by Mawae and Testaverde who were both FA signings. That said, the draft is without a doubt the best way to build your team. Acquiring players through FA is, more often than not, a quick fix way of plugging holes in a team. There's no chemistry with these guys that haven't played together, and more often than not they are either good players who get overpaid, or mediocre players looking to stick around somewhere as a back up. I hope we address our QB situation through FA, but other than that, I'm not really all that interested in the players that are available right now. It's not that I don't think that they could help (or could've helped for those that are already signed), it's just that I don't think they'd be worth the price tag. Here's to not overpaying for veteran talent. Cheers.
I don't think anyone is asking us to sign over the hill over priced players. In fact it was out mngmnt team who invited some of these guys to visit us. What alot of us want to know is why are we inviting guys and not signing them? What is going on?? Are we trying to do it via the draft?? Are we wasting the players time coming here or are we a team nobody wants to sign with? I believe alot of us would like some type of answer.
Yes, it was a trade, but Moss has an $8.25 million cap hit this season, which is not small change. All this cash on offense and nobody there to throw the ball....
I think thats my favorite sentence ever. I agree with everything you said, but this sentence in particular, I like a lot. You dont build a successful team by signing players out of free agency, you build a team by drafting well, developing players, and filling holes through free agency when necessary. As Mangini is currently at square one, it makes sense to think that his program doesnt really have any particular holes just yet. Hell bring in a few players that fit his scheme, guys who have experience in the 3-4 and who will be a positive influence in the locker room. Id be shocked if we bring in much beyond that and a backup quarterback. In particular, I would love to see him bring in Chatham and Kimo von oelhoffen. Chatham sounds like the sort of player that always ends up being successful in the Patriots 3-4 type scheme, and the idea of Ellis, Von Oelhoffen and Robertson as a front 3 sounds awesome to me... I dont know if thats what Mangini wants to do, but thatd be a beefy front line with a lot of pass rush ability.
The only players who get signed in the first day or two of free agency are the ones who have a huge overpayment thrown at them by the first team they visit that they know nobody else will match. Everybody else takes the time to make a few visits, get offers and see which teams suit them. Theres your answer.
