Free agency theme for 2016: Found Money.

Scottemojo

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The bump in cap has teams acting like I would act if I found some forgotten cash in the pockets of some rarely worn pants.

I take solace in one thing.

The last three NFL champs were superior in cover 3 press. Us, the Pats with Browner and Revis, and the Broncos spent in free agency to get good at the same concept.

All three teams spent in free agency the year before the title push. The Broncos will still have a great D, but no QB to speak of. Revis and Browner were a one year shot from the Pats, who will be looking for players to restock the cover 3. So the idea that if you win free agency you don't win titles is not an absolute.

Despite the difficulties in retaining players, I am comforted by a couple of things. We still have our cover 3 intact. And our front office isn't acting like they found money. I get the feeling they are going to do the smart thing and spend that money in house. They already are.

The great unknown with our front office is player development. I mean, we know they are good at it, but we don't know just which player it is that will come out of the system way more polished than we expected in 2016. I for one am excited to see who it is that has been developed as a player and will surprise us all in 2016.

Just my ramblings for the day.
 

pehawk

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Good thread.

I think a symptom of this "found money"(I would've used a non PC term) will be great value late in FA. And finding value in FA is where John and Pete have shown great ability. Day one isn't where or when a GM shows his skill, its the days after that.
 
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Scottemojo

Scottemojo

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pehawk":3pm4e4i1 said:
Good thread.

I think a symptom of this "found money"(I would've used a non PC term) will be great value late in FA. And finding value in FA is where John and Pete have shown great ability. Day one isn't where or when a GM shows his skill, its the days after that.
Which is where we got Bennett and Avril.
I knew this free agency would be a bloodbath, and I expected us to lose Lane too.

The names are not well known, but I get the feeling that our secondary is as solid this year as 2013.
 

pehawk

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Scottemojo":7yb3t5xb said:
pehawk":7yb3t5xb said:
Good thread.

I think a symptom of this "found money"(I would've used a non PC term) will be great value late in FA. And finding value in FA is where John and Pete have shown great ability. Day one isn't where or when a GM shows his skill, its the days after that.
Which is where we got Bennett and Avril.
I knew this free agency would be a bloodbath, and I expected us to lose Lane too.

The names are not well known, but I get the feeling that our secondary is as solid this year as 2013.

I LOVE our stable of DB's. I'm a Simon and Tye truther.

Still need to pick up more DL depth. As much as Cary stunk...the lack of DL depth stunk as well.
 

HawkFan72

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pehawk":fh5pcbw8 said:
Scottemojo":fh5pcbw8 said:
pehawk":fh5pcbw8 said:
Good thread.

I think a symptom of this "found money"(I would've used a non PC term) will be great value late in FA. And finding value in FA is where John and Pete have shown great ability. Day one isn't where or when a GM shows his skill, its the days after that.
Which is where we got Bennett and Avril.
I knew this free agency would be a bloodbath, and I expected us to lose Lane too.

The names are not well known, but I get the feeling that our secondary is as solid this year as 2013.

I LOVE our stable of DB's. I'm a Simon and Tye truther.

Still need to pick up more DL depth. As much as Cary stunk...the lack of DL depth stunk as well.

I agree. Our D-line depth got really thin last year. Can't count on Jordan Hill to last a whole season, either, so you kind of need an extra guy for that backup spot. I expect the Hawks will take another D-lineman within the first 2 rounds this year, like they did last year with Clark.
 

ivotuk

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Tharold Simon is a damn good DB, he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. Byron Maxwell says he's hard on wide receivers and described his play on a WR as "he was killin' the boy! I told him to let up!"
 

kearly

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Good insights on the "found money" vibe this free agency has. Seeing the Lions sign Marvin Jones for $8 million APY is like Scottie Pippen spending a chunk of his wealth on a broken down jet. Yeah it's a dumb purchase, but he can afford it so he doesn't care as much as he should.

That's not the kind of market environment that a bargain shopper wants to step into.

Money aside, this was a pretty weak FA class on paper. The top free agent was an interior DL who had never made the pro-bowl and never notched more than 6 sacks in a season. Most of the guys getting huge deals are third tier players.

There was almost nobody, outside of maybe a couple QBs, that teams truly needed to sign. Just a bunch of vanity signings at sky high prices.
 

bjornanderson21

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Scottemojo":1m544u8x said:
The bump in cap has teams acting like I would act if I found some forgotten cash in the pockets of some rarely worn pants.

I take solace in one thing.

The last three NFL champs were superior in cover 3 press. Us, the Pats with Browner and Revis, and the Broncos spent in free agency to get good at the same concept.

All three teams spent in free agency the year before the title push. The Broncos will still have a great D, but no QB to speak of. Revis and Browner were a one year shot from the Pats, who will be looking for players to restock the cover 3. So the idea that if you win free agency you don't win titles is not an absolute.

Despite the difficulties in retaining players, I am comforted by a couple of things. We still have our cover 3 intact. And our front office isn't acting like they found money. I get the feeling they are going to do the smart thing and spend that money in house. They already are.

The great unknown with our front office is player development. I mean, we know they are good at it, but we don't know just which player it is that will come out of the system way more polished than we expected in 2016. I for one am excited to see who it is that has been developed as a player and will surprise us all in 2016.

Just my ramblings for the day.
The problem with only retaining players is that you don't get better.

We won the super bowl, then we lost the super bowl, then we didn't make the super bowl.

We can't afford to bring in expensive FAs, but letting some of our guys go while retaining others DOES NOT bring us any closer to a Super Bowl. All it does is bring a slow decline.
 

Hasselbeck

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Scottemojo":2p6col5p said:
pehawk":2p6col5p said:
Good thread.

I think a symptom of this "found money"(I would've used a non PC term) will be great value late in FA. And finding value in FA is where John and Pete have shown great ability. Day one isn't where or when a GM shows his skill, its the days after that.
Which is where we got Bennett and Avril.
I knew this free agency would be a bloodbath, and I expected us to lose Lane too.

The names are not well known, but I get the feeling that our secondary is as solid this year as 2013.

Not to nitpick, but Bennett and Avril - while obviously steals in FA - were Day 1 signings.

That said I fully agree with your post.
 

Alexander

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bjornanderson21":14ichwpy said:
Scottemojo":14ichwpy said:
The bump in cap has teams acting like I would act if I found some forgotten cash in the pockets of some rarely worn pants.

I take solace in one thing.

The last three NFL champs were superior in cover 3 press. Us, the Pats with Browner and Revis, and the Broncos spent in free agency to get good at the same concept.

All three teams spent in free agency the year before the title push. The Broncos will still have a great D, but no QB to speak of. Revis and Browner were a one year shot from the Pats, who will be looking for players to restock the cover 3. So the idea that if you win free agency you don't win titles is not an absolute.

Despite the difficulties in retaining players, I am comforted by a couple of things. We still have our cover 3 intact. And our front office isn't acting like they found money. I get the feeling they are going to do the smart thing and spend that money in house. They already are.

The great unknown with our front office is player development. I mean, we know they are good at it, but we don't know just which player it is that will come out of the system way more polished than we expected in 2016. I for one am excited to see who it is that has been developed as a player and will surprise us all in 2016.

Just my ramblings for the day.
The problem with only retaining players is that you don't get better.

We won the super bowl, then we lost the super bowl, then we didn't make the super bowl.

We can't afford to bring in expensive FAs, but letting some of our guys go while retaining others DOES NOT bring us any closer to a Super Bowl. All it does is bring a slow decline.

I guess it's a good thing we have this thing called "the draft" coming up.

Seriously, though, the best teams do most of their "improving" via solid drafting and player development. Free agency is just the occasional cherry on top.
 

Ad Hawk

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Fascinating idea that players on a team don't get better, but only decline from the time of drafting.
 

Jazzhawk

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Hasselbeck":30lizm6z said:
Not to nitpick, but Bennett and Avril - while obviously steals in FA - were Day 1 signings.
Not true. Bennett was signed towards the end of the 2nd week of free agency in 2013 to a 1 year deal by the Seahawks. Similar for Cliff Avril, tho I believe he was frist. Both were confirmed in separate articles on March 14th 2013.
 

Mick063

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This is one of the better posts I have read this off season.

Scottemojo":2pcvekkf said:
The bump in cap has teams acting like I would act if I found some forgotten cash in the pockets of some rarely worn pants.

I take solace in one thing.

The last three NFL champs were superior in cover 3 press. Us, the Pats with Browner and Revis, and the Broncos spent in free agency to get good at the same concept.

All three teams spent in free agency the year before the title push. The Broncos will still have a great D, but no QB to speak of. Revis and Browner were a one year shot from the Pats, who will be looking for players to restock the cover 3. So the idea that if you win free agency you don't win titles is not an absolute.

Despite the difficulties in retaining players, I am comforted by a couple of things. We still have our cover 3 intact. And our front office isn't acting like they found money. I get the feeling they are going to do the smart thing and spend that money in house. They already are.

The great unknown with our front office is player development. I mean, we know they are good at it, but we don't know just which player it is that will come out of the system way more polished than we expected in 2016. I for one am excited to see who it is that has been developed as a player and will surprise us all in 2016.

Just my ramblings for the day.
 

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