Verdict
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I think a lot of you are forgetting that there are multiple waves of times to improve a team in the off season. These include the following:
1. Traditional free agency (current wave). In this wave, tons of money is spent, and usually teams will lament overspending in free agency more often than they will benefit from it. The longer you wait, the shallower the pool, but the less you tend to pay. Moreover beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
2. The draft. The draft is the bread and butter of the talent acquisition process. It provides cheap, reliable labor for teams, and if they draft well, and lock up players on new contracts before they hit free agency, other teams don't get a chance to pry them away from you.
3. Post Draft Free Agency: After teams draft they are often forced to cut players that they would rather keep. Cheap labor acquired in the draft forces players off of teams due to the roster limits imposed by the league. The problem with this 3rd wave is that you really don't know who will become available, but players changing teams in this stage are often better quality and also come at a lower cost. For example Brandon Carr is on this team now (even with his bloated contract), but after the draft we might cut him to save cap space. If he were cut prior to the first wave of free agency, he might command a much bigger contract than after the free agent dollars start to dry up. If I remember correctly, we got Leroy Glover in this wave of free agency at a discount, because most of the teams had already spent most of their free agency capital before he hit the market.
4. Trades. If a hole is big enough, it can generally be filled via trade. The exception to that rule is generally teams will not trade a franchise QB. But a marginal starter can generally be acquired to fill a gaping hole at most other positions, if it is that bad.
We aren't even through the first wave of the talent acquisition process folks!!!! Lighten up!!!
1. Traditional free agency (current wave). In this wave, tons of money is spent, and usually teams will lament overspending in free agency more often than they will benefit from it. The longer you wait, the shallower the pool, but the less you tend to pay. Moreover beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
2. The draft. The draft is the bread and butter of the talent acquisition process. It provides cheap, reliable labor for teams, and if they draft well, and lock up players on new contracts before they hit free agency, other teams don't get a chance to pry them away from you.
3. Post Draft Free Agency: After teams draft they are often forced to cut players that they would rather keep. Cheap labor acquired in the draft forces players off of teams due to the roster limits imposed by the league. The problem with this 3rd wave is that you really don't know who will become available, but players changing teams in this stage are often better quality and also come at a lower cost. For example Brandon Carr is on this team now (even with his bloated contract), but after the draft we might cut him to save cap space. If he were cut prior to the first wave of free agency, he might command a much bigger contract than after the free agent dollars start to dry up. If I remember correctly, we got Leroy Glover in this wave of free agency at a discount, because most of the teams had already spent most of their free agency capital before he hit the market.
4. Trades. If a hole is big enough, it can generally be filled via trade. The exception to that rule is generally teams will not trade a franchise QB. But a marginal starter can generally be acquired to fill a gaping hole at most other positions, if it is that bad.
We aren't even through the first wave of the talent acquisition process folks!!!! Lighten up!!!
