Top-100 FA Signings Show Lots of Teams "Like Their Own Guys"

[TheMarathonContinues]

"We like our guys" isn't at the root of playoff shortcomings. The exception being a few occasions where Jerry gets fixated on pet cats.

It's a myth that Dallas is unusually unwilling to let their guys go. Consider recent departures: Connor Williams, Cedrick Wilson, Amari Cooper, Randy Gregory, Blake Jarwin, La'el Collins, Keanu Neal, Cam Erving, Joe Thomas, Chide Awuzie, Xavier Woods, Noah Brown, Connor McGovern, Schultz.

Indeed, Dallas has been a leading comp pick accumulator in part because they've been willing to let guys go.

"We like our guys" has become a lazy, derisive meme around here. Occasionally its a valid criticism - usually not.

Preach. Glad someone said it.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

For me I see a team who has put together 12 wins season back to back, frankly I like our guys as well. No doubt we need to add more talent but this team does not lack a lot of talent. You do not magically win 12 games without it.

I agree. Now is the time to like your guys. And they are retaining guys on good deals. Pleasantly surprised.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

The reason is, never has the quarterback position in the NFL been this bad, and if you don't have a top 5 quarterback, you really don't have a chance anyway, so why spend big in free agency?

What? We literally just saw Nick Foles and Matthew Stafford win rings lol. Hell aside from Mahomes the top 5 quarterbacks aren’t even winning rings lol.

 

[Doomsday101]

I agree. Now is the time to like your guys. And they are retaining guys on good deals. Pleasantly surprised.

As I said that does not mean I don't want to see areas upgraded and more talent added but it does get old hearing people act as if there is no talent and we are some sub 500 team. Of course I will get accused of being satisfied which is far from the truth but again I see the talent and production from this team and I don't think we are far off

 

[jterrell]

 

[jterrell]

Beats Eagles NOT liking the guys that got them to the Super Bowl right?

 

[conner01]

100 Top free agents stood at the top of the most-prized list just 10 ago.
56 are now signed.

Let's break it down
24 could sign anywhere, but landed right back with their original team
32 were signed to new teams

And this doesn't tell the whole story. Many times teams want to keep their own but simply get outbid, or don't have cap space to even make an offer.

The narrative is way over blown. Teams draft players because they like them and when they can or have to, they keep them. We always have a fair number of comp picks so obviously we let guys walk. But us and other teams keep good players or players at positions it’s hard to get better players

 

[conner01]

Beats Eagles NOT liking the guys that got them to the Super Bowl right?

It comes down to having picks that you can replace them with.

 

[gimmesix]

FWIW both the Chiefs and Eagles spent LESS money in FA than Dallas.

Not really a question of how much money overall a team spends, but how it uses FA to supplement the roster.

The Eagles roster last year included 29 players they drafted and 18 they acquired from other teams. Big FA additions that helped put them over the top defensively were Hassan Reddick and Javon Hargrave (a 2020 FA signing). Trading a third and fifth for Darius Slay also improved the defense as well as adding James Bradberry. Trading a first-round pick for A.J. Brown also moved the Eagles forward.

Reddick and Hargrave received far bigger deals than anything Dallas gives to outside FAs. It's doubtful Dallas would have made the deal for Slay, either, because of the contract cost. However, these few deals played a big role in the Eagles making the Super Bowl.

I could do this same thing with the Chiefs roster.

Most of us who are reasonable know that it's mainly about the draft and keeping your own players, but we also believe a few key expensive FA moves can make the difference between winning and losing in the playoffs.

 

[Jake]

"We like our guys" isn't at the root of playoff shortcomings. The exception being a few occasions where Jerry gets fixated on pet cats.

It's a myth that Dallas is unusually unwilling to let their guys go.

Sure, they've let some guys go. That's not my point. They get fixated on keep a core group of players together that have won next to nothing, convincing themselves that next year they'll get over the hump. They did it for years with the Romo bunch, and they're doing it again with the Dak group.

Bottom line, we can argue all day whether "we like our guys" is a totally valid criticism. What's inarguable is the same two guys have been in charge of team building for decades and they've won 4 playoff games this century. Obviously, something about their philosophy is flawed. Making Zeke the highest paid RB ever was a classic example. That's a move you make in 1993, not 2019. There's no evolution in thinking because it's the same two guys calling the shots.

 

[jterrell]

It comes down to having picks that you can replace them with.

this is corny nonsense,
they arent replacing 5 key defenders from a super bowl defense w draftees without taking a major step back.
i do respect the misplaced hero worship of howie however,

 

[T-RO]

I do not follow other teams closely enough to comment but I am far to aware of everything this team does. If you do not think that "We like our guys" is not an applicable comment that can be made about this organization then you need to start paying closer attention. Some of the contracts and the special treatment that happen around here might take place on other teams as well but I can promise you their GMs get fired for it. The love Jerry has for his players is a sickness and is at the root of the problems this team has had.

Over the past five years name the players where it's been a problem. In my view:

-Jerry sure should have loved him some Amari Cooper last offseason, but spurned the dude
-Jerry does fall way too in love with his running backs. Pays them too much. Keeps them too long.

We've let a lot of good or decent players go (see my list above) but aside from Cooper it was understandable.

Please feel free to add some names you think should have been jettisoned earlier. Keep it relevant--within the past five years.

 

[jterrell]

Not really a question of how much money overall a team spends, but how it uses FA to supplement the roster.

The Eagles roster last year included 29 players they drafted and 18 they acquired from other teams. Big FA additions that helped put them over the top defensively were Hassan Reddick and Javon Hargrave (a 2020 FA signing). Trading a third and fifth for Darius Slay also improved the defense as well as adding James Bradberry. Trading a first-round pick for A.J. Brown also moved the Eagles forward.

Reddick and Hargrave received far bigger deals than anything Dallas gives to outside FAs. It's doubtful Dallas would have made the deal for Slay, either, because of the contract cost. However, these few deals played a big role in the Eagles making the Super Bowl.

I could do this same thing with the Chiefs roster.

Most of us who are reasonable know that it's mainly about the draft and keeping your own players, but we also believe a few key expensive FA moves can make the difference between winning and losing in the playoffs.

Hargrave and Slay are already gone. Those were just costly rentals.
Trading a 3rd and a 5th for Slay to end up releasing him now is wild business.

Dallas has Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker starting on that defense.
They added Anthony Barr and Dante Fowler last year as the same rental types.
This year they traded for Gilmore.

Philly shot their shot and missed.
Now they have a mess on their hands before they even extend the QB at 50M+ AAV.

High-Priced free agents are generally a very bad bet.
You get 3 Randy Gregory for every Hassan Reddick.
But FA is a tool you should use and Dallas has done so while maintaining a higher outgoing ratio to keep the comp draft picks flowing in.
--Signing your own key guys is very much a big FA signing however and a key part of that overall strategy.
But end of day draft is still king.
Both Super Bowl teams went specifically because they drafted the right QB after others passed on them.

The Eagles have 4 picks before the 7th round. 4....
The 2 1sts look good but those R1s cost money and lacking a 4th, 5th and 6th round pick means settling for UDFA level talent after those 4.
Dallas has 9 draft picks.

Philly won 4 games 2 years ago. They stripped it all down and then hilariously went right back to full tilt boogie signing guys and trading off picks.
There will one day be an ESPN special about how bad that shoot for the moon roster management was.

 

[Kwyn]

100 Top free agents stood at the top of the most-prized list just 10 ago.
56 are now signed.

Let's break it down
24 could sign anywhere, but landed right back with their original team
32 were signed to new teams

And this doesn't tell the whole story. Many times teams want to keep their own but simply get outbid, or don't have cap space to even make an offer.

Hush

Only the crapfest cowboy front office “likes their own guys”.

Every other team signs multiple all-pro free agents every year while still trading into the top ten of th draft.

 

[T-RO]

Our QB still sucks and the reason the talented team has been dragged down, meaning he is the one guy they should have let go that they didn’t…

Dak doesn't suck! But he's not top-eight. So maybe a few GMs would have moved on from Dak . Realistically most GMs without a replacement QB do exactly the same the Jones boys did: bite the bullet and bring him back.

Moving on from Dak would have constituted a franchise rebuild. Losing season or two. And you risk a period in the wilderness with no decent QB. Maybe that's the right call, but wow...

 

[gimmesix]

Hargrave and Slay are already gone. Those were just costly rentals.
Trading a 3rd and a 5th for Slay to end up releasing him now is wild business.

Dallas has Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker starting on that defense.
They added Anthony Barr and Dante Fowler last year as the same rental types.
This year they traded for Gilmore.

Philly shot their shot and missed.
Now they have a mess on their hands before they even extend the QB at 50M+ AAV.

High-Priced free agents are generally a very bad bet.
You get 3 Randy Gregory for every Hassan Reddick.
But FA is a tool you should use and Dallas has done so while maintaining a higher outgoing ratio to keep the comp draft picks flowing in.
--Signing your own key guys is very much a big FA signing however and a key part of that overall strategy.
But end of day draft is still king.
Both Super Bowl teams went specifically because they drafted the right QB after others passed on them.

The Eagles have 4 picks before the 7th round. 4....
The 2 1sts look good but those R1s cost money and lacking a 4th, 5th and 6th round pick means settling for UDFA level talent after those 4.
Dallas has 9 draft picks.

Philly won 4 games 2 years ago. They stripped it all down and then hilariously went right back to full tilt boogie signing guys and trading off picks.
There will one day be an ESPN special about how bad that shoot for the moon roster management was.

Philly got to the Super Bowl. I don't care what kind of "wild business" you think vet rentals are. I just care about getting to the Super Bowl. The Eagles have been twice recently and won one, so I just don't understand why our fans want to dismiss that strategy.

 

[T-RO]

The Eagles roster last year included 29 players they drafted and 18 they acquired from other teams. Big FA additions that helped put them over the top defensively were Hassan Reddick and Javon Hargrave (a 2020 FA signing). Trading a third and fifth for Darius Slay also improved the defense as well as adding James Bradberry. Trading a first-round pick for A.J. Brown also moved the Eagles forward.

The Eagles were in a good situation to load up last year for two reasons:
-They'd only won 4 games in 2020 and 9 games in 2021...so they had higher picks than us
-They had a QB who was making just 1.6 million!!! Their entire QB room cost only $2.5 mil.

You can massively splurge on single season in that situation and they wisely did.

 

[conner01]

this is corny nonsense,
they arent replacing 5 key defenders from a super bowl defense w draftees without taking a major step back.
i do respect the misplaced hero worship of howie however,

Not about howie
They have 2 first round picks and plenty of ammo to replace what they lost

 

[T-RO]

Not about howie
They have 2 first round picks and plenty of ammo to replace what they lost

He usually does a good job, but let's not over-hype it:

2020-2022 3 season win-loss record:
Eagles, 27-23
Cowboys, 30-20

 

[T-RO]

The problem I have with all this nonsensical arguments about FA Spending or lack therof is Dallas had for years (during the Romo years) went big on Trades, FA signings all the fancy Jazz. and what did we get? Injuries, poor play, and missed playoffs. Fans were irate. Jerry is an idiot, constantly signing anything shiny for big money, trading away picks for big names. He needs to do it the patriot way and draft guys and sign players to cheap deals. Then when we switch to said philosophy now its constant complaining that we don't spend enough, we like our guys, we gotta stop trying to draft players (even though we are more successful then average at it) to win.

The problem Dallas has had over 21 years has not been the players, its not been the GM its been coaching. The only time we had a quality coach was Bill parcells, and unfortunately our roster sucked, and Romo dropped the ball. McCarthy has at the very least shown some ability to be a decent coach. But this year will tell the tell. He's taking over the offense, he's went all in on defense from what it looks like, and so we are gonna find out whether we have an Andy Reid type coach, or just another waste of time, and players career. But the bottom line is, Coaching wins games. Andy Reid, and Bill Belichick, have dominated the the playoffs for a reason, and its not because they have all pro's at all 22 positions. (though having actual HOF QB's does help)

You nailed it bro. Lack of superior head coaching is at the heart of playoff futility. Most years roster is top 8.

Only thing I disagree on: I'm not sold on McCarthy. Moore and Quinn drove the past two 12 win seasons, IMO.