MossBurner said:
Sure. Canty was a great pickup. But for every Canty, there are 4 nobody's.
Dude, I see what you're saying, but I think it's just incorrect. In theory, that's true, but you keep trading more than 1 pick for 1 player. That will catch up to you eventually.
Just off the top of my head for Dallas since Bill has been here:
Terence Newman
Jason Witten
Bradie James
Patrick Crayton
Julius Jones
Jacques Reeves
Nate Jones
Al Johnson
Demarcus Ware
Marcus Spears
Kevin Burnett
Marion Barber
Chris Canty
Jay Ratliff
Bobby Carpenter
Anthony Fasano
Jason Hatcher
Pat Watkins
Pat McQuistan
That is 19 players we used draft picks on that are now currently on the 53 man roster. That's not even considering what type of cheap contribution other players might have made on special teams that are now off of the team.
Most of those guys have had cheap contracts and have played very well. When you trade for a Lloyd or get a Randal El in FA... you have to pay those guys... and they're second tier talent. Good, but not great. If they were great, SF and Pitt would never have let them get away. You'll almost never get elite talent like that. A team may be wrong about a player like S. Moss and the Jets, but you can't make a living counting on that very often.
What Hos said about Stephen Davis and his contribution to the Commanders, is right on target. Very few free agents or players acquired in a trade have made that kind of contribution to the team. Some have, but it's just a handful.
Why is that? Because teams just don't let true difference makers go very often... and when they do, like Portis, they want a difference maker in return, like Champ Bailey. So the net gain in great players to your squad is zero. Not to mention that you gave a 2nd round pick up to give them Bailey, which was just plain stupid. CB's are harder to come by than RB's... at the least that should've been a straight up trade. Denver should've given up a second and Portis for Champ, IMO. But who cares about a second right? Not when it is what stands between little Danny and Portis.
I still can't believe you kept Arrington and let Champ go. Talk about blunders! In a 4-3, LB's just aren't that important. CB's are always important, and elite one's are almost impossible to come by. To give Lavar the big contract and let Champ go becasue you didn't want to pay him was lunicy. The Commanders knew they couldn't pay both, yet let Champ go.
My point is though, teams just don't let their great players go. In order to get one, you have to draft one or give up one to get one like Champ/Portis.
In the above list, the players who could end up being special are:
Newman
Witten
James
Jones
Ware
Spears
Burnett
Canty
Carpenter
Fasano
Hatcher
Watkins
Of those left off, even a seventh rounder like McQuistan could end up being a pro bowler... we just don't know yet.
the players who were taken 3rd round or later:
Witten
James
Crayton
Reeves
N. Jones
Barber
Canty
Ratliff
Hatcher
Watkins
McQuistan
The Commanders throws these types of picks (3rd and later) around like so much garbage. They don't bat an eyelash at throwing them away. Yet, look at the type of contribution you can get from those guys.
Witten is a multiple pro bowler.
James is a very good starting LB on a 3-4 and very well could end up in multiple pro bowls.
Crayton is a versitile 3rd receiver.
Reeves is very close to being better than Aaron Glenn and will be there very soon if he isn't already.
Nate Jones is a good backup.
Barber may be better than Julius Jones and is a perfect back off of the bench.
Canty should end up a multiple pro bowler and might be the best DL we have.
Ratliff is pushing 1st rounder Marcus Spears to be the starter, per Bill Parcells... and that's no reflection on Spears... it's just that Ratliff is playing that well.
Hatcher probably is the most athletic DL that we have and may already be the best pass rusher out of all the DL. He's going to be a very good player.
Watkins may end up being a special player at FS and already shows special traits back there that every other safety on the team doesn't have. Parcells said that we were darn lucky to get
McQuistan in the 7th round. That he has everything you need to be a very good tackle, but he wasn't able to show it in college for various reasons.
Now, let's say the Commanders end up with McQuistan and that McQuistan does end up as a pro bowler. When you guys get him, he'll cost an arm and a leg, and if you had to trade for him then you would have to trade WAY more than a 7th round pick to get a pro bowler. Those guys, in their prime, usually cost at least a 1st rounder. Now you don't see those trades very often. Why? Because teams don't trade them or let them go through free agency very often. So if he is truly a pro bowler, then either the Commanders will never get him or he'll cost you multiple picks and a big contract.
For dallas though, he cost us a 7th and a small contract for four years. When it's time for him to enter free agency, we'll sign him to a big contract and keep him... but we will always have had him cheap for 4 years, and he'll never cost us more than a 7th.
That is why I think getting experienced players with draft picks is will eventually catch up with you. You'll always get second tier talent like Lloyd and Randal El... or they'll be flawed somehow like T.O. is, because teams don't let players like Ware and Merriman go.
