Frustrating offseason

Still love my Hawks think they can still extend Earl and Sherm but, Is anyone else as frustrated about this offseason as I am right now. I mean I knew we were gonna lose some of our guys, but I did not think we would lose, what, 12 of our free agents. Plus this is one offseason where guys seem to come visit and leave without a contract. That usually hasn't been the case with this front office. Also, we have yet to really fill any of those spots that were vacated by departing players and yes I know the draft is upcoming, but you can't fill every need in the draft. And yes I know I'll be bashed for being negative, but I was just expecting a lot more from this offseason. I am just starting to get worried. Okay, rant over for now.

Are you forgetting that there is a draft coming up?

Also, teams that make lots of free agent moves in the offseason are generally losing teams who want to make over their squad. We don't fall into that category.

Mindsink":28efv9n9 said:

Are you forgetting that there is a draft coming up?

Also, teams that make lots of free agent moves in the offseason are generally losing teams who want to make over their squad. We don't fall into that category.

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Did you read my post? I talked about the draft. I just don't think we can fill all our needs through it.

So you would be more satisfied if we signed Ware or Allen for big contracts even though they are old? I'm not worried at all. The core of this team was built by the draft, we will have another strong class this year. 2013 class was essentially redshirted. I'm not frustrated at all, our front office knows to not overpay on old players.

No, not frustrated.

Recognized that we wouldn't be re-signing all of our FA's and that the team would be making decisions on who to keep based upon looking forward to the upcoming contracts for Wilson, Sherman, Thomas and Okung.

Not feeling horrible about our depth right now. At some point we need the young guys to step up and fill the depth roles and provide some production.

My biggest concern right now is RT. Outside of that, I think the issues are just depth and younger players stepping up.

js/pc have a plan and it doesn't include overspending for talent. I hoped but did not foresee the SB win. I'm excited to see "whats next". :thirishdrinkers:

Not frustrated, expected really. Just the way it is going to go coming off a Super Bowl with an extremely young team - really have to make allowances in the present to have the future you want.

If the Hawks had a tiny window like the Broncos do we may have seen them go all out like the Broncos did.

The Hawks are aiming for sustainability.

Of the guys the Hawks lost: Tate was invisible in the playoffs, Red barely played in the Super Bowl, Rice/Browner were done, Mcquistan and Breno were worthwhile vets but guys that are by no means irreplaceable, McDonald had a nice year but benefited from the situation and theoretically you should be able to find someone else to do what he did, this team is entirely capable of developing a CB to replace Thurmond, Maragos/Schoefield were nice special teamers but are the quality of players that come and go.

These departures actually represent opportunities to improve at certain positions.

Almost all of the current stars on this team were home grown. That's been the recipe for success with our current GM/coach. Why are we worried about free agency moves (or lack there of)?

blitzer, honest question.... WHAT NEEDS? what does this team need to be filled?


Welcome to being a superbowl champ. Your 3rd and 4th string guys go elsewhere because you have to pay your 1st and 2nd string.

People come in and leave because we dont have cap money to throw at 32 year old pass rushers to be our third best pass rusher.........

Just sit back and enjoy it man, this is the good stuff.

Nope.



John and Pete need to replace one decent-average offensive lineman, a #2-3 receiver, and around 10 sacks on the defensive line...anyone stressing over that needs to take a step back and think about how silly that is.

Seattle will be fine.

2007 New York Giants gained a punter in the offseason before - won SB.
2013 Ravens re-signed Ray Rice, Jacoby Jones, Extended Pollard, Web, McClain, Birk
and signed NO ONE. Basically making no moves in the first 2 weeks. - won SB

I'm sure I could look at tons of other SB winning teams. Winning Free Agency means nothing.

Blitzer88":9f9btvbu said:

Still love my Hawks think they can still extend Earl and Sherm but, Is anyone else as frustrated about this offseason as I am right now. I mean I knew we were gonna lose some of our guys, but I did not think we would lose, what, 12 of our free agents. Plus this is one offseason where guys seem to come visit and leave without a contract. That usually hasn't been the case with this front office. Also, we have yet to really fill any of those spots that were vacated by departing players and yes I know the draft is upcoming, but you can't fill every need in the draft. And yes I know I'll be bashed for being negative, but I was just expecting a lot more from this offseason. I am just starting to get worried. Okay, rant over for now.

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What were you expecting? :|

Seriously. What did you think would happen in the first, what, 3 weeks of free agency that has you so frustrated?

Look a the contracts that Allen/Melton/Hatcher/Tate signed. If the hawks had signed any of them at amounts close to that can you tell me you wouldn't start a different thread where you then worry about the ability to sign/extend Sherman/Thomas/Wilson in the future?

We retained Bennett, which was offseason priority number 1. And his contract appears to be a steal based on the numbers other pass rushers have gotten.

If we can work out a deal for Thomas and have a good draft then the offseason will be a success.

I think it's ok to be a little frustrated, or disappointed.

The front office isn't infallible. They will make mistakes, and it's ok to question some of the moves they make, or don't make.

The early 2000s Pats Dynasty was built on big name free agents coming in, same with the mid 2000s Steelers run of being terrific, oh wait.....

I did think there would be at least 1-2 signings of quality "ring chasers" so that is surprising, especially considering we won the super bowl and according to that player poll, Pete is the coach that the most players would want to play for. I'm pretty shocked that the one and only guy (i think) that they signed from the outside was a guy who has had something like 5 receptions in 4 seasons. I thought it would be a bit easier to bring guys in to replace the considerable depth hits we've taken.

Missing_Clink":5wpkt91l said:

I did think there would be at least 1-2 signings of quality "ring chasers" so that is surprising, especially considering we won the super bowl and according to that player poll, Pete is the coach that the most players would want to play for. I'm pretty shocked that the one and only guy (i think) that they signed from the outside was a guy who has had something like 5 receptions in 4 seasons. I thought it would be a bit easier to bring guys in to replace the considerable depth hits we've taken.

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Not is a salary cap era with big contracts on the horizon for Wilson, Thomas and Sherman.

Frustrated? Hell no. I love it. We all we got we all we need.

I just don't understand what was expected. The two internal signings the team put priority on were Bennett and Tate, but both had caveats on how high the team would offer. You had $2M cap space before the extra $10M was added. You signed your kicker and re-did your best TE. The cuts to Red/Rice/Clemons hurt but were necessary evils (I hated to see Clemons let go, but he was on the last year of a contract that he no longer could justify).

I know the OP usually has hand-wringing issues but the team had a limit for Melton, Allen and Hatcher. None bit. It happens, you cannot force dudes to sign if they feel they can do better somewhere else. Every year, it is the same thing. People getting irked because no big names are signed. Yet other teams have survived this. Superbowl or not, a lot of the moves would have come down the same. So to answer the original question, no, I am not frustrated. Maybe with our fans for being overly critical but that is their prerogative.

Blitzer, I want you to look at something.

This link takes you to the page for Green Bay roster transactions in the offseason after they won the SB. http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/transaction ... ay-packers

Look at March. Look at April.

In fact, use the drop-down and start looking through their transaction history for the March and April time periods for most of the last decade.

And now remember that this is the system in which John Schneider developed his personnel philosophy.