This off-season, all we have done is sign backups, and borderline starters with minimal upside. Don't you think that with all the draft picks we have, that we could actually put together a nice team by just signing maybe 2-4 quality players that you know can play at a high level for at least 4 years? Von Olehoffen is really old at 36, and can maybe give us one decent year before becoming a 2 million dollar cap hit. Pope is another Lance Legree-- a backup. Chatham is a 29 year old ST player who can backup, Cassel is maybe a starter, but wouldn't even play for half the NFL teams. Teague may be ok, but he's 31 and is just a 2 year stop gap-- I would have rather just kept Mawae since we need to take a cap hit anyway. I like Dyson-- I wanted him last year. He is young, and has been a starter his whole career, just had injuries last year- but was never affected by them before. And if we sign this guy from Jacksonville, that will be another backup, or questionable starter. IMO it makes no sense to sign a player when you plan to take the same position with a first or second draft pick. All the holes we "filled" with these guys will still need to be addressed this year, or next year. We signed nobody who is a long term solution. I think when you draft a player in the first 2 rounds, they should be able to start, or contribute right away, and be a full time starter by year two. Lineman, Runningbacks and linebackers translate well, and usually can play well early. I think the better way to approach this offseason would have been to sign guys who are in their prime- (younger than 28) who are proven starters. Maybe you pay more for them, but at least you don't have to draft their replacement this year or next and pay that player as well. If we signed a five year deal with a starting Linebacker (Arrington maybe) and a five year deal with a center (Bentley) and then signed Dyson-- maybe get a few depth guys like we did, we would be able fill the other holes with starters in the draft. Example-- Trade down, get a 2nd rounder in return-- go with Justice (O Line filled) Lendale, or maroney at 29 (RB fo rthe future filled) Rod Wright (DE/DL complete with Ellis, Robertson, Thomas and Wright) Then with the early 2nd rounder as compensation we could get another LB with that deep class. All the holes would be filled, and the rest of our 8 picks could be used for projects, like at WR, OL, DL. The team would be young, and on their way up, not in the final seasons of their careers.
I agree. We have all the cap room in the world and haven't really signed one quality starter when we have all kinds of holes.
I know it gets old, but look at the Pats rosters when they won the super bowl...they didn't have many superstars...just alot of hard working smart football players. By the way Andre Dyson, Trey Teague, Kimo Von Oelhoffen and Brad Kassell will all probably be starting.
I would like them to sign Mike Pearson...then we could draft an instant impact player with 4 and then a tackle with 29.
I think they will anyway. I think they will go Eslinger in the later rounds instead of Mangold at 29.
Saying you want to sign quality young starters and doing it is quite a different thing. As much as we would like to sign such players it is pretty rare that they are ever on the market and when they are they are generally overpriced. The secret to success IMO is saving money by not overpaying in FA so you can sign your own players that you want to keep. Sign cheap stop gap transition players to bridge the gap to your next starter. It allows you the chance to be competitive while rebuilding at the same time. When you overspend on FA you descend into a Parcellian type cap hell and you end up where you cannot even sign your own players. Like we have been in for the last 5 years. Thanks again Bill. Thanks to the new cba and the fiscal conservatism of Bradway we are finally out of our Parcells induced cap coma. I am glad to see the new FO is approaching FA with the same philosophy of Bradway and not sending us back to Parcells land again.
guys like kimo and teague are here to set a example.. .. you must stil be upset that there not gonna take mangold at 29.... hell if they sign pearson they wont be taking D brick a 4 ethier.:breakdance:
Thank God. The way things are shakin' out you just might here ... With the 4th selection in the 2006 NFL Draft the New York Jets select AJ MotherFu&*in Hawk Beoach !
No-- you are a prime example of someone who buys into media hype!!! They DID have stars!!! their secondary had the best CB (Law) and Safety (milloy) in the game!! And they got int's and TD's in that game! Probowl players from that team include brady, vinitieri, Law, milloy, mcginist, bruschi, ted washington and I think Buckly. There were others as well- this what I can come up with off the top of my head 5 years after the game. Those are GREAT players- not just some no talent hard working guy who has good character.
We are shoring up our holes and building through the draft. This is going to be a 2-3 year process; signing big name FAs right now won't help. There aren't even that many big FAs on the market this season.
But these guys will need to be replaced in this draft, or next-- they are either backups, or old, and will NOT be part of the foundation. Foundation players will be there for a long time-- like mawae, testeverte, fabini, martin and chrebet were in the past. None of those guys were signed to our team at 36 years old.
But thats where i think you are wrong, and that is what I have a problem with in this offseason. I don;t think that picking up Teague, or Pearson will have a negative effect on us drafting mangold or ferg. They are not brought here as long term solutions, and they will need to be replaced either this year or next.
Buttle, nice post. I would add just two things: 1) This league is about depth. Jets had none last year, and paid for it. When Mawae, Fabini et al. went down, we were SOL. So after sitting and watching the 2005 season waste away, I think it's clear we can't survive without depth. Adding two or three marquee players, while nice, won't happen to cover us should all hell break loose again. 2) We should come away with 2-4 quality players from this draft. The player procurement process for this offseason isn't over. Don't forget! Basically, we have five picks in the top 100. We should come away with at least two starters (the 1st rounders must start) and potentially two others (2nd, and our 1st pick in the 3rd rd.).
Again-- The problem is that the holes are NOT sured up with these signings. Are we now good at LB because we got Chatham? What if we add Cassell? hmm, still no good. We need to add another in the draft! I don;t want to draft the same players that we sign in FA. Also, regarding your comment about the starter we sign now, who will not be able to help us in our 2-3 year plan-- read the part where I said I want 5 year deals.
you dont know if there any good are not.. no one has seen them in the new scheme chatman is suppose to be very atheletic.
If signing all-star young players was as easy as you make it sound, every team would do it. Fact is the all star young players who are on the market have their price driven up by bidding wars. By signing hard-working guys who are under the radar right now, we might find a gem among them. And that Patriots team only looks good in retrospect. Everyone was predicting the Rams to stomp them. Opinions on players do change.
Also, yes those guys will probably start-- but they are far from a long term solution, with the exception of Dyson. they will not even be part of this team in 1-3 years.
