#98QBKiller Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 I'm tired of hearing people say that we should no longer pick up Free Agents in the offseason. We have made some stupid moves in the past, that's for sure. I'm not saying that we should ignore the draft and waste money on unproven big-names, but many of our best players were acquired on the FA market. Some good Free Agency acquisitions still on this Redskins team: Clinton Portis Santana Moss Antwaan Randle-El Randy Thomas Casey Rabach Shaun Suisham Shawn Springs Marcus Washington Andre Carter Cornelius Griffin Some bad FA acquisitions on this team: Adam Archuleta (biggest bust of the offseason) Brandon Lloyd David Patten Warrick Holdman T.J Duckett Mark Brunell Some Free Agents that we should've kept around recently: Antonio Pierce Walt Harris Fred Smoot Ryan Clark (he's overrated but a solid SS that knew the system) Some good recent draft moves on our part: Sean Taylor Chris Cooley Carlos Rogers Jason Campbell (I'm satisfied so far) Our entire offensive line (minus Thomas and Rabach) Rocky McIntosh (looked very promising yesterday, coaches need to put him in) Ladell Betts Kedric Golston What can we learn here? That it's good to get players from a variety of sources. I don't think there's one right way to pick up players. I just think that we need to be smarter about our selection and about how much money we spend. We have a good team here, especially on offense. If we manage to not shoot ourselves in the foot and change schemes and players in the offseason, our O will be a serious force next year. Our D needs work, but we have a good scheme in place. We need to start Rocky McIntosh and address the need for a solid MLB and a replacement for Philip Daniels, and possibly a CB to groom since Springs is getting older and is more injury prone. Springs is still a playmaker, but we need some insurance in case he gets hurt for the season next year. :2cents: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stwasm Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 I'm not saying that we should abandon free agency altogether. My point is we ignore the draft and depend on free agency to win now, and that's not how today's NFL works. We need to find a balance between the two, but with an emphasis on grooming tomorrow's stars. This organization has avoided this process and it's cost us dearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandies Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 I think the argument is that we do not do a major overhaul each year. Continuity is important. This year there is no need to pick up alot of free agents. I would be happy to get a cover corner, a dominant dl and a decent ML. One maybe two of these positions can be covered in the draft. Where we draft we should be able to get a cover corner or better a dominant DL. We could probably trade down and still pick up a dominant DL (the draft is deep here) and a decent ML. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dance04 Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 sign a CB in free agency. thats it thats all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor21_INT_4_TD Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 cb... please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 Maybe a cb and some blue color guys, depth guys, but no superstars. No huge signing bonus guys or prima-donnas. Even the ones that work out tend to take a long time to get on the same page. We've got some nice players, time to build instead of buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psufan8698 Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 You listed Portis and Moss as FA pick ups......We traded for both they never hit the free agent market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted December 25, 2006 Author Share Posted December 25, 2006 I'm not saying that we should abandon free agency altogether. My point is we ignore the draft and depend on free agency to win now, and that's not how today's NFL works. We need to find a balance between the two, but with an emphasis on grooming tomorrow's stars. This organization has avoided this process and it's cost us dearly. I agree with you on how important the draft is. But for instance, this offseason, I wouldn't be upset if we used free-agency to fix some of our defensive holes, especially MLB. I think that position is more difficult to draft and groom and have the player ready to perform at a high level than it is to draft and groom a good CB or D-lineman. I'm just saying that free-agency can be our friend if we play the market right, because we have made some good choices in the recent past, even if the bad choices cloud our memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted December 25, 2006 Author Share Posted December 25, 2006 You listed Portis and Moss as FA pick ups......We traded for both they never hit the free agent market. Maybe I should have listed them as "non-drafted veterans." My point here is that some good players are already in the league and are available for a price. Moss and Portis were both excellent pickups for us that we didn't draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 You know what sucks? Take a good look at the "good" and "bad" free agent lists you created at the top. And think about the contracts all those guys were given. With the exception of Suisham and Holdman... all those guys are given SB's of at least $8M (ok, Casey Rabach's wasn't that large but it was a decent sized contract). We've signed a lot of people to some huge contracts up front. Which is obviously a philosophy of this coaching staff. I'm not sure I like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedskinzOwnU Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 As far as this year is concerned, this team has traded away so many picks that we have no choice but to rely on free agency this offseason. We basically get our pick of one (hopefully amazing) guy in the draft, and all other holes will have to be filled prior to the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deejaydana Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 I have to disagree that Walt Harris was worth keeping. He may have 6 ints playing for a terrible team in SF but he got burned ALL YEAR LONG last season with us. Good riddance. Antonio Pierce breaks my heart because we could have anted up and kept him happy. He's got a dedication & heart like Marcus Washington. We need to come to the realization that you only build a successful organization BY USING THE DRAFT. You can supplement your team through the FA market but look at all the winning franchises in TODAY's NFL (New England, Dallas, Bears, Pitts) and they all work wonders by using the draft. Someone needs to teach this to Snyder, we are LOST until we adopt this approach. Bottom line: We don't win till Snyder sells the team. He's queered everything about the Skins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauss Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 Everything needs to work together--you need a complete plan. There is always the fact that you overpay in free agency. You need to use free agency with the draft ,with re-signing your own--especially before they become free agents and getting a couple of guys who weren't drafted--like Pierce. I would be happy in free agency to come away with a CB and a MLB. Trade down in the draft and get a few more picks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRMADD Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 So tell me, based on your list of free agent and trade acquisitions, how many playoff games the Skins have played since they started this free agent spending spree? Two? Yeah, that's a great track record of success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckus Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 Look at our record over the past 10 years. It is true that not ALL FA have been busts. That of course is true. But at the same time this system of building our team has won us NOTHING. We can't even get winning seasons with this system. Maybe we should try something new?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted December 25, 2006 Author Share Posted December 25, 2006 So tell me, based on your list of free agent and trade acquisitions, how many playoff games the Skins have played since they started this free agent spending spree?Two? Yeah, that's a great track record of success. To blame free-agency spending as the only reason that we've been to two playoff appearances in the last decade is not only inaccurate it's narrow-minded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildbill1952 Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 I note that Smoot and Antonio Pierce were both draft picks of ours that we lost through Free Agency. Pretty good picking. I hated seeing AP go to the Giants and feel he was probably the greatest loss we suffered of all those who have left. The talent and the leadership qualities Ap possessed were not recognized. I note Rod Gardner and Westbrook and Desmond Howard we picked as wide receivers. All pretty bad picks. I agree it's nice to have first, second and third round picks, but I also note it's not an exact science knowing who's going to become an all-Pro. If you had the choice today, would you take Moss (insert any Pro Bowl quality player here) or any of the top three best college draft picks for that position? That's why Free Agency is so tempting. You know, or at least feel strongly, that the player you're seen on the field for the past 3 seasons is someone you'd like to have playing for you. It also has the added plus of reducing weapons that your opponents may field. Basically, the process is still this. Identify your weaknesses. Figure out your budget. With the budget money you have, is the expenditure of your funds for an unknown in the draft as good as getting a known player, albeit older, in Free Agency. Since most players must come in not NFL ready, you spend a large amount of the rookie season learning and not playing. So the 3 million you pay for an unknown first rounder that takes half a season to play is not as cost effective as a 3 year veteran who comes in for 5 million. The latter comes in and plays immediately. Sure, you have the busts in Free Agency. And you have high hopes when new guys come in through the draft. But sometimes they are busts too. The later they come in the draft, the greater the odds they will not be playing two years down the road. When you know you need immediate help, Free Agency is a quick fix. When you have years to develop a player, use the draft. Trying to fill immediate needs through the draft is at best a roll of the dice. We need both weapons - draft picks and free agents. But to trade a second or third round pick for a known starter is not necessarily a bad decision. It's easy to look back at a Free Agent that was a bust and say we should have kept the draft pick. My hindsight's perfect too. So to help the team out, tell me which free agent pick ups from this year's crop we should avoid. Tell me the same for draft picks. Assuming we need help in the secondary and maybe someone else to put pressure on the opposing QB, who do we avoid and who do we go after? If you ask yourself the question, you see the dilemma front offices have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckus Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 To blame free-agency spending as the only reason that we've been to two playoff appearances in the last decade is not only inaccurate it's narrow-minded. In my opinion (just my opinion) the 2 biggest reasons for our lack of success over the past 10 years have been the lack of depth and the lack of consistency on our team. I think both these problems have strong connections to our free agent spending year in and year out. We have lacked depth because so much of our money is locked up in big name, high priced players. Of course every team needs a few superstars who will demand a high price but I think the Redskins have gone overboard with it in recent years and it has greatly affected the quality of our non-star players. Having 4-5 solid young players who all get a decent contract can be more effective than one amazing player with a $30 million dollar contract. I also think that FA spending has hurt our consistency. We don’t brining up players inside our system through the draft or sign them at a young age and have them start as back-ups on our team and learn under a veteran until they take over the starting position 2 or 3 years down the road. Instead we bring in players who are 27 or 28 and make them starters on our team. JC is a great example of what I want to see more of! A QB who was drafted but he sat and watched a veteran ahead of him for a few years and then came into to be the starter. I would love to see us do this with other positions as well, not just the QB position. FA is not all to blame – but it has been a huge problem in a lot of peoples view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurf85 Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 I dont think you can put Lloyd on the bad list yet.Maybe over paid list which would be every player on the Redskins.:doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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