Miami Not Interested In Bidding Wars In Free Agency

It was. It was obvious at the beginning of the season we needed more WR and LB help. We had more pressing needs then drafting a then 3rd string QB. We had concerns about Ronnie Browns health and Jason Ferguson's age and we still have those concerns now.

Pat white was a luxury pick. I understand why they did it but there were much better fits for this team available.

 

I think of all the WR options mentioned, one that's missing is Josh Cribbs. Trade Ginn and a pick for him.

 

I like the general approach but at some time this front office needs to realize that in order to make that next step you have to go out and at least grab one big name in free agency even if it costs just a little bit more than youd like.

 

If we replaced Wilson with Sharper we would have given up 200 yds a game rushing.

 

I didn't notice much quarters coverage at all. Appeared to be mostly man-press to me.

 

Trouble is, is that Josh Cribbs is a sub par receiver. Lets first look at his career receiving stats.



Now lets compare them to Ginns.



Ginn has outperformed Cribbs as a receiver. Cribbs is an outstanding Returner and does a great job in the wildcat. I would like to have him on the team for those reasons alone. But if you're telling me we are going to trade down at the receiver position I would beg you think it over carefully and be more due diligent.

 

The fact is, there are different ways to build a team. There are successful teams that don't sign any FAs, and there are teams that sign high priced free agents. You can have some success doing both. You can fail doing both. The bottom line is how you evaluate and develop players, and for the most part this front office has done an excellent job thus far. I know everyone wants faster results, but sometimes you need to be patient.

 

I want more pics! Lets move around that 12th for an extra pick, there is so many talented players in the draft this year at the positions we really need!

I cant wait!

 

Agreed!

Our previous regime's picks aren't relevant in conversation and especially not relevant in football here or anywhere else!

As for the topic I agree with both sides of this debate.

KB makes great points on how you build your team through the draft and if you trade all your picks for vets you are in essence killing your future. We've gone that route a number of times with little reward in the past.

Jetssuck.... besides having the best name on the boards is also correct in his statement that to rule out spending any top money on the "right" Free Agent is a mistake as well IMO. If you need a playmaker and one you really feel is worth the investment of top $$ is available, it would be silly not to make a move on him. Giving up draft picks is a different debate but $$?
You don't want to fill up the roster with high priced Free Agents but a couple to put your team over the top is a necessity with building through the draft if you want to be one of the big boys.

 

But honestly, how often are there FAs that really are among the best at their position? 99% of the time there is a reason why a team would let someone like that go. You can learn a lot just by what those teams offer the players.

 

Well sometimes it's about the money.
There are cap constraints and beyond that owners that have to foot these bills. If that owner decides they want to lower their costs that's a legit reason. Also, teams may feel they need to make room for a younger player coming up because they feel that player is a talent. By letting a higher priced vet go to replace him with the younger player they can focus that money elsewhere to build the team.

I get you point that there is plenty of "fools gold" when talking about FA players that we should stay away from. Would you agree however that there is legitimately talented players that sometimes get let go simply because of circumstances other than their talent or health?

 

Sure, but those are few and far between. Even someone like Drew Brees, while he turned out to be great, was a huge risk at the time. You can subject yourself to that style of building a team, but you will inevitably miss on more high priced FAs than you will hit on, and long-term you'll be stuck overpaying older players. Look no further than Joey Porter.

And I want to stress that what I'm referring to are the higher priced free agents. Miami has done a good job going after lesser FAs such as Starks, Pennington, Grove, Polite, Jason Taylor, etc.

 

Not to mention that there is a certain value in developing a player in your own system. Someone like Brandon Marshall has spent years in the NFL already. Who is to say the work habits that have been engrained him will translate to our team? When you draft players like Sean Smith and V Davis, they get to learn how to be professionals in the environment we've created.

 

We paid a high price for Grove though, and IMO he was not a middle of he road guy, but an impact center. Past the first 2-3 games of the season he was having a pro bowl possible year ... until ofc he got hurt. We have also whiffed on a number of prospects as well, both in the draft and in FA. It happens.

The point I guess is that its OK if they dont want to get involved in bidding wars for certain players. But if there is a player who can really really help our team, I expect us to be able to land them.

As for why FAs move, quite often it IS about the money, especially with a smaller market team. Just look how many guys have ran from Buffalo because they havent paid them. Other times its because a team has a youngster they want on the field and dont feel like paying a veteran max price. Or they have multiple FAs and cant afford them all. And yeah, more than a few are guys that just arent very good anymore.

I just dislike it when its "draft or nothing" with some people. They point out a team like the Colts. Take Manning off that team and see how well they will do with their "draft only" strategy. If the right player comes along, pay em and make your team better. Especially when you are in the talent hole we are still climbing out of.

 

I disagree about the relevancy of former regimes with the present regime. One of the biggest problems this team has had in the past is that they have bumbled drafts and free agency and left the team void of talent. Thats the biggest reason we were 1-15 two years ago. As bad as we all want success and as disappointed as we are in some of the mistakes this group has made they have still made positive strides in the right direction.

 

If you think Grove was a high priced FA, wait until you see what B Marshall will want.

Would you give Marshall more money than you give Brown? How do you think Brown would react if we end up giving Marshall more money than him? There are a lot of dynamics involved when you are talking about giving players $60M+.

 

I have no clue how the Jets will mamange their cap two years from now. There will have to be some serious blood-letting. Didn't Favre unretiring also force them to eat some cap?

Anyways, I generally agree with the build-through-the-draft policy too.

The key is that it can take three to five years to fill a team with talent AND develop it so it is playing at a top level. The issue is that most GMs and Head Coach's don't have 5 years worth of job secuirty, so they try to take short cuts by overpaying for free agents.

For example, if Sparano starts feeling the heat and worries about his job, he'll start asking for different stuff from the front office... he'll start saying they need an impact WR immediately, none of our guys can do it etc. If Sparano feels safe in his job he is probably content to draft a good WR that'll take three years to develop, but cost us a ton less, and use that money to sign an above average nickel back or something.

Point is, because fans are so impatient, it makes owners impatient, which puts GM and head coaching jobs in jeopardy long before most build-through-the-draft plans can come to full fruition.

We are all to blame.

 

Bpk, there is no longer a cap, and if a cap is ever reinstalled the teams are not going to support punishing themselves with cap purgatory.

Basically whatever moves that have been made in the last year, won't count towards the cap, and never will count towards a future salary cap. A team can pretty much spend as much as they wish with -0- penalties now.

 

As I understand it the NFL and the players association have until march to work out a deal. If a deal is not met then this coming year will be uncapped. However both sides will continue to work out a deal that Im pretty darned sure will contain a salary cap. So lets just say this year is uncapped and next year a deal is in place. It's my understating that teams then would have to manage their rosters and get there cap numbers below that magic cap number.

Its also my belief that there is no way that the owners don't reinstall a salery cap into the collective bargaining agreement. Generally or or as it stands now the Salary cap is a direct result of the current TV contracts. This insures that the owners always make money and that each team stay's competitive.

If the new deal does not have a Cap then god help us.