I posted this quote in another thread and I'll put it back up because hyde nails it with this valuable statement. you MUST develop and play young players
bringing back old players does nothing for the future of the football team

 

Key to maintaining a succesful team is most certainly through the draft the problem is you gotta get there first and if you try to do it solely through the draft it's going to take a long long time :lol:

 

Yep, thats how the Steelers do it.

 

Right what good are veterans anyway? lol

You guys take that too far. Yes it's always best to keep getting younger and replacing declining players but you can't draft everyone's replacement all at once and the team actually can benefit from having a few vets on board.

Some of you need to get over that Dancing with the stars stuff, move on and realize whats best for the team.

 

All good, and I look forward to someday getting to that point, but we're still rebuilding from a 1-15 team that had little talent, VERY little. Thanks for the link, good read.

 

Ya because that's exactly how the Patriots built and maintained their dynasty. You would never see them bring in an aging veteran....

 

Yeah guys, just take a look at this years superbowl champs. All their best players were drafted.......oh wait....

Drew Bress....FA
Darren Sharper...FA

And how about the Vikings:

Brett Favre...FA
Jared Allen...trade

So the 4 best players on the 2 NFC championship teams were not drafted by those teams. And I think we can all agree that if you take those players off of those teams they're not in the NFC championship game.

 

I love the idea of drafting for building the team but we need to actually draft well. Last years class looks promising with Davis, Smith, and Hartline and Henne and Long the year before. We just have had so many misses that I don't blame anyone for wanting to get the sure help in FA. I would rather trade picks for sure things then continue to miss like has been the norm. Here's hoping the Trifecta draft their strongest class yet.

 

We're one of the youngest teams in the league.

If we don't have a few old guys to beat the war drum the rowing will get all ****ed up

 

After Wanny, JJ and (yes, even)Shula's draft debacles from the 90s and early 2000s, we're lucky to hit on at least one player each draft. I wasn't expecting the Trifecta to hit on every pick. We got some cornerstones to work with(Long, Henne, Davis and Smith) and some good roles players(Langford, Merling, Hartline). We're still building towards something better, but give it time. I dont expect to hit on no more than three players in this year's draft.

 

I agree with this article. The best teams build through the draft and pick up a few key free agents along the way. The teams that go hard charging into free agency usually fail, who was the hardest charging this year? Chicago and Detroit?....just sayin...

 

Yep, foundation through the draft, luxery players that finally puit you over the top via FA.
The key is to have 1 or 2 places that a top notch FA helps.

 

maybe, however, NE has had a nice run in the NFL (done well) using the "old guys"
more than one way to skin a cat

 

Gee, I wonder who he might be referring to? :shifty:

Seriously though, I agree with JS, gap and the rest that point to having some vets on the roster that can help mentor the "kids" in their growth and development. I said it before, I'll say it again, it's all about balance. While it's true you build (and rebuild) primarily through the draft, you still have to work FA and trades (when prudent) for proven players to help improve your football team.

JMHO...

 

Ok

In reading what has been posted with Sarcasm.... People seem to think we should bring in vets and give up picks.

While its nice to have the occasional addition to the team. Like the Saints
Brees
Sharper

or the Vikings
Favre
Allen
You need to be just a few pieces away from Challenging. We are not in that position, we are perhaps one to two possibly years away from having a dominant team for at least half of a decade.
Let’s look at what Miami actually needs that we have all mentioned.
Possibly SS
FS
WR
DT

Do we really think that all of those positions can be done with a few trades where personalities and talents based on schemes can be a bad for the team and lack harmony. This year in the draft if we can gleam two good potential starters as well as have another Diamond gem we get lucky on. We can then have a few backup positions filled we will be in good shape.

If you look at it we can build thru the draft and perhaps next year fill in that One or Two Free Agents that put us over the top. This, my humble opinion but I believe this is the way to do it.

None of US here are as smart as the guys in the Front Office

 

People need to stop looking for some sort of golden, magical path to success. It's bull****.

You have teams like the Colts or Steelers who rarely if ever make big FA flashes, draft their own players, and let their own players walk rather than paying them fairly often.

Then you've got the Patriots who will often sign veteran players, and often will go big, like with Rosevelt Colvin, Adalius Thomas, etc.

 

The meaning of that statement is that you always look to upgrade talent and build depth in the draft. You use the draft to build a core of young players, and to hopefully find a few stars. Nowhere does it say you should never have vets on your team. This is just a statement that pretty much every GM in football would concur with that you're distorting on your crusade against players in their 30s, JT in particular. Please, please show me one Super Bowl winning team that did not include an aging vet or two. I'll be anxiously waiting. I think even the Saints would strongly disagree as bringing in an aging vet paid off big time for them with Sharper.

 

You are right on here, you use FAs and vets to compliment or add to what you are building with the draft. You don't want half of your team to be aging veterans but a couple are certainly OK if you have a need that can't be immediately filled. You should be looking at a deep, talented team to win a title rather than one or two big name players. If you have a vet and you end up drafting an improvement, then sure let him walk. Not bringing in a productive player at a position of need solely because 'he's old' is stupid. You bring him in and then address the depth and future with young players.

Where I disagree is how far away we are from challenging. We do have a good core of young players at several positions and this year's draft will only improve that. There is no reason they won't be able to compete this season. They have a much better idea of what areas need to improve and which are good enough then say a year ago.

 

Yeah, and then when the Fins make mistakes, we can use the "they're young" card. I like production rather than potential. I'd take a proven guy in the league who is still young (Marshall) over a prospect in the draft any second of the day.