See I think you have it backwards...
I think you get a team that consistently makes the playoffs by drafting well and uncovering "hidden gems" as both undrafted players and lower-priced free agents like Kyle Kosier.
THEN if you want to "swing for the fences" so be it.
I agree, the key is to do that but that means you have to be smarter than every other gm, which is easier to say than to do. But if you haven't drafted well (as in the case of the bucs), then you have a lot of cap space that has to be used. In those cases, I think the best way to manage that cap space is to sign the rare, young, injury free, consistent all-pro free agent. Carl Nicks was one of those. Sure, the best way to do it is to draft well and use your money to resign your own player like the Steelers do, but that won't always happen. Then you have to figure out how to use that extra cap space.
It's not just high-risk, it's also got to be high-reward. If you're taking a high degree of risk on players with a low degree of probably return, you're allocating your resources improperly. That's the reason why you don't overcommit cap resources at positions you can fill through the draft and VFA. It's why you see teams taking OGs and RBs most often after the first rounds of the draft and instead spending more of those picks on positions like QB, DL, OT, CB. There's a reason why that happens, on average. Maybe you mess up and have to reach now and then, but at that point, you're paying a premium on purpose to address an earlier mistake. If you have similar needs at DL or CB, though, you obviously spend the resources there and take your chances filling the lower-priority positions like OG where you can find and develop a Leary or a Bernadeau, if you get lucky.
I think this year's draft and the o-line run are based on a few things:
1. As Bill Polian mentioned before last season, the NFL currently has the worst collective offensive line play he has ever seen. There is more and more demand for offensive linemen.
2. In a draft with few high upside players in high priority areas, teams tried to fill needs
3. Because the franchise tag for all offensive linemen is the same, it is essentially impossible to franchise elite interior lineman. Thus, the free agent price for these linemen is very high, artificially increasing their salaries in relation to other position groups. Therefore, drafting interior linemen that can start immediately at a low price becomes more and more valuable relative to other options in the 1st round.
4. The new cba has a higher salary cap floor and lower salary cap, thus high spending teams have less ability to sign high priced free agents. This makes it paramount to fill low priority positions with cheap players, and with only 4 years on most 1st round rookie contracts, the ability to start immediately becomes more and more important. Interior lineman can pick up the game much faster than receivers, corners, and many other positions.
5. Because teams will all still keep their elite players in elite positions, the best available free agents become elite interior offensive guards and inside linebackers because those players are difficult to franchise (paid like left tackles and 3-4 outside linebackers, respectively).
6. The rookie salary scale decreases salaries for high 1st round picks, thus no longer making it untenable to draft low value positions high (for instance, before a guard drafted in the top 10 could be a top 1 or 2 paid guard in the league).
7. The rookie salary scale decreases rookie contracts, thus increasing the RELATIVE value of veteran contracts. This again means that the value of a draft pick is increasingly in their ability to play while under their rookie deal rather than in finding projects to groom long-term and sign to an expensive veteran contract
