Jerry did it because he couldn't draft and always overestimated the talent he had and thought he was closer to a playoff run than, in fact, the club was. He was playing at being a GM without the skills to do so. Things have improved in recent years but at a very slow pace. The club needs to improve its Defensive side drafting. Maybe bring in aDefensive specialist to advise Mc Clay and associates. The club can fill a spot or two with a decent FA but the road to the SB runs through the Draft.
This is all people are saying. Few, if any, have suggested they just splurge in FA and not try to continue to get better through the draft. What people are saying is that the team has gone to the ridiculous extreme where they think the draft is essentially going to fill every hole they could possibly have and because of that, they just sift through the crap bargain bin hoping they get lucky (and surprisingly, they keep failing).
No, they shouldn't have gone after Gilmore or Bouye to sure up the CB spot. But *******, they should have looked at a guy like Logan or Poe to give them a real 1 tech and not some off the street guy with an injury history that was cheap as hell and Marinelli really wanted. And maybe, spend the $6-7MM per year to bring in a legit, productive, very good SS in Hyde.
How much better does this team look drafting like they did and then having Hyde playing SS and a guy like Logan at the 1 tech? Better than they look now, that's for sure, and the deals they signed easily could have been met by the Cowboys. Logan or Poe aren't even committed to their existing team beyond this year, so there was little downside there.