Redskins Free Agent Contracts vs. League

[BleedBurgundy]

Originally Posted by SKINSnCANES

Do you think the Redskins are to blame for the new high salaries?
Do you think our recent high priced players turned out to be value, instead of over paying?
Do you think its best to fill all needs via free agency, so at the draft you always pick best available and arent handicapped by any needs?

I think it would be somewhat naive to think that DS's early bouts of free spending didn't have at least some effect on the current contracts being paid out. The skins raised the bar when it came to what a FA could expect, not to mention that for a few years every agent used the Skins as leverage to get bigger and better contracts.

I think that some of our high-priced players have turned out well, others obviously not so much. I believe that when you look back with a broader frame of reference that our free agent signings have been less ludicrous than they initially appeared, but only because of the continually sliding scale.

Best way to build is through the draft and fill one or two glaring needs through Free Agency only if a good fit is available. Reaching and overspending is almost always catastrophic.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy

I think it would be somewhat naive to think that DS's early bouts of free spending didn't have at least some effect on the current contracts being paid out. The skins raised the bar when it came to what a FA could expect, not to mention that for a few years every agent used the Skins as leverage to get bigger and better contracts.

I think that some of our high-priced players have turned out well, others obviously not so much. I believe that when you look back with a broader frame of reference that our free agent signings have been less ludicrous than they initially appeared, but only because of the continually sliding scale.

Best way to build is through the draft and fill one or two glaring needs through Free Agency only if a good fit is available. Reaching and overspending is almost always catastrophic.

But at the same time shouldn't teams have learned a thing or two from watching the Redskins swing and miss on several guys? The Skins were trail blazers when it came to aggressively attacking the FA market and giving up picks for RFA's, but it wasn't exactly a huge success but here we are seeing contracts going through the roof while the Skins are sitting back and watching.

[hooskins]

Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy

I think it would be somewhat naive to think that DS's early bouts of free spending didn't have at least some effect on the current contracts being paid out. The skins raised the bar when it came to what a FA could expect, not to mention that for a few years every agent used the Skins as leverage to get bigger and better contracts.

I think that some of our high-priced players have turned out well, others obviously not so much. I believe that when you look back with a broader frame of reference that our free agent signings have been less ludicrous than they initially appeared, but only because of the continually sliding scale.

Best way to build is through the draft and fill one or two glaring needs through Free Agency only if a good fit is available. Reaching and overspending is almost always catastrophic.

Well you could spin that back around, and say DS gave out huge contracts in anticipation of an increase of the cap by owners. he projected it and saw that renegotiations could be done to get big name players in, without killing us cap-wise. The rest of the league did not make such moves in the past, and is now doing.

[BeastsoftheNFCeast]

I think there are some things being overlooked here, the fact that these huge contracts that are being signed today are huge now, but 3 years down the road they won't be due to the rising salary cap, so thinking along those lines, you can't ever overpay players. Also its not just the amount we paid, but it's also the quality of the player that we got, arch? Lloyd? Randle El? None of these guys could get the contracts that we gave them even if they hit the market today. Smoot got a contract about the same size as the others, and nobody has complained about it because he has preformed well so far. Also, some of the contracts being given out are just plain stupid, just because some other teams are being stupid doesn't mean that we're not, I mean seriously, Javon Walker 55 mil? Hes getting more money than Moss, that's not the market, it's just the raiders being dumb