But....but....but.....using FA will cost money and you can't "overpay"!!!
Its way better to cheap out on hidden gems like Markus Wheaton, Eddie Royal, Quentin Demps, and Marcus Cooper. Everyone knows that.
But, lets not forget one thing, all these guys got essentially 1-y contracts
True, but what he didn't get in quality he made up for in quantity and spent the same amount of money. That was the deadly sin. If you are going to be one of the top spenders, get some of the best talent. Spending and getting nothing is a fail. It doesn't matter if you limit the fail to just one year. It was messed up.
I would love to get to the point like the Ravens and Packers where we solely use the draft and get compensatory picks. We have to many holes now though and need to use both tools to get over the hump
Exactly BSB. WHen you finally get your roster set, you switch from using FA 50%-50% with the draft to build your roster to what is the traditional approach of just getting one or two missing pieces and not worrying about overpaying if you think it will win you the SB. You use FA for just one or two positions and bargain hunting while you have the draft for your workhorse.
But you can't keep getting rid of talent already on your roster or you will never get to that position.
I would agree and I'd also note that "building mostly through the draft" is all but impossible if you don't A) draft well consistently and B) re-sign your own drafted players when their rookie contracts are expiring.
It's kinda hard to complain about having to "overpay in free agency" when you don't re-sign your own drafted players. Most people would say that getting 3 starters out of a single draft is pretty good. Maybe 4 if you get lucky. Well, there's 22 starters (23 if you count nickel corners) on a team plus 3 ST specialists. That's about 7 good drafts worth!
See what I mean? If you don't draft well, you never get there. And even if you do draft well, if you don't re-sign your own 3-4 years post-drafting, you still never get there.
This is why I say its very important to draft a pass rusher in the first. Floyd has not shown he can stay healthy for a whole season and the only guy who will be healthy by April will be Sam Acho...
How did you get "won't be ready for next season" from may not be ready for practices in April?
This is why I say its very important to draft a pass rusher in the first. Floyd has not shown he can stay healthy for a whole season and the only guy who will be healthy by April will be Sam Acho...
Agree completely. Starting caliber edge rushers very rarely reach FA so you have to draft them. And they tend to go high in the draft. As bad as the WR situation is, OLB is easily our biggest draft need IMO.
This is the reason I favor making an offer to Lamarr Houston. He's been productive since he came back and for very little money. He was willing to show he could still play and he did. That should at least earn him an offer because he's a guy whose versatile enough to play as a 3-4 OLB or a 4-3 DE.
I gotta believe they are not gonna pay McPhee $8 mil to be a part time guy and we've heard nothing about Willie Young's return so both may be history. We need to draft one but who and where? Pick #8 usually won't get anyone the top guy. I still have my eye on this kid Marcus Davenport in the draft.
yeah JABF. I don't even understand why I get pushback on that it is just simple logic. Ric is not the only one. I think there are one or two more that feel like FA should only be used to fill holes if you are a player or two away from the SB. While I get that is a legitimate to use FA, it is certainly not the only way, nor is it the most productive way. Maybe people equate FA with overpaying, but one does not mean the other. Just because you go into FA, that does not mean you ALWAYS overpay.
I respect everyone on this board and I know people don't say stuff that they don;t believe in, so I'd like to understand any valid reasons why people don't think that FA should be used just as extensively as the draft to build the team. I think anything less is negligent on the GMs part.
I would love to get to the point like the Ravens and Packers where we solely use the draft and get compensatory picks. We have to many holes now though and need to use both tools to get over the hump
We can get there by drafting well and signing both talented UDFA and younger UFAs with upside not aging mid tier ones. But we need to sign the right ones. Guys like Cooper and Wheaton were no help and all and Wright and Sims only marginally better.
I'm sure a better offense will help but that has zero to do with Cooper and Wheaton looked like he never cared whether he played or not. Pace needs to shake up his pro personnel scouts and assistants and kick some major ass in the FA market from now. We've wasted more than enough money to pay Fuller and all kinds of better talent.
This is why I say its very important to draft a pass rusher in the first. Floyd has not shown he can stay healthy for a whole season and the only guy who will be healthy by April will be Sam Acho...
How did you get "won't be ready for next season" from may not be ready for practices in April?
LOL ^^^^ I was thinking the same thing. April and September are about 5 months apart last I checked.
Agree completely. Starting caliber edge rushers very rarely reach FA so you have to draft them. And they tend to go high in the draft. As bad as the WR situation is, OLB is easily our biggest draft need IMO.
This is the reason I favor making an offer to Lamarr Houston. He's been productive since he came back and for very little money. He was willing to show he could still play and he did. That should at least earn him an offer because he's a guy whose versatile enough to play as a 3-4 OLB or a 4-3 DE.
I gotta believe they are not gonna pay McPhee $8 mil to be a part time guy and we've heard nothing about Willie Young's return so both may be history. We need to draft one but who and where? Pick #8 usually won't get anyone the top guy. I still have my eye on this kid Marcus Davenport in the draft.
I agree on offering Houston a contract. He should come cheap and would be good insurance. But....he's a backup/rotational player at this point only, basically Acho+.
I'd be shocked if either McPhee or Young were back next year. Age and injuries have taken their toll. Its time to move on there.
Yeah I just read that again and agree he may miss the first portion of the early off swason but should be ready for pre season at least. If not most of July?