Current 2014 Free Agents

[Alvin Walton]

He can be anything he wants as long as he helps us get to the playoffs.
We're trying to win football games.
Not a nicey nice contest.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by donofriose

Or the Skins can upgrade these positions through the draft and show some patience and not try to go for the immediate fix.

Tampa Bay, Miami, and Buffalo all tried to use free agency for the immediate fix. It did not work.

The only position that you can have immediate improvement through free agency is QB. Is Manning or Brees out there? If not there is no need to sign a player to a 6 year 70 million dollar deal because you want to build your team like Madden, instead of building an NFL team.

i think any elite player could potentially have a huge impact. if AP switched teams, i'd have no doubt it'd be instantly noticeable. same for moss or TO day in their day. of course, you have to have other pieces too, but elite players are elite players. ST is probably the best example we've had recently... i'm sure if he swapped teams you'd see a big difference.

I do get what you're saying and generally agree though. unless you're getting a top 3 player, one FA move in and of itself isn't going to change much or guarantee wins.

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by donofriose

Or the Skins can upgrade these positions through the draft and show some patience and not try to go for the immediate fix.

Tampa Bay, Miami, and Buffalo all tried to use free agency for the immediate fix. It did not work.

The only position that you can have immediate improvement through free agency is QB. Is Manning or Brees out there? If not there is no need to sign a player to a 6 year 70 million dollar deal because you want to build your team like Madden, instead of building an NFL team.

If you're looking to do 90% of the roster work through the draft then you're not looking to be a competitive team for at least 3-4 years and that's not realistic at all.

I got into it with a guy in another thread because he was the complete opposite of you; wanted to get rid of EVERYONE, then start signing people like crazy.

If anything it should be 50/50, 5-6 drafted players providing depth and maybe 1-2 starters out of that, then 5-6 free agent signings.

[donofriose]

Originally Posted by That Guy

i think any elite player could potentially have a huge impact. if AP switched teams, i'd have no doubt it'd be instantly noticeable. same for moss or TO day in their day. of course, you have to have other pieces too, but elite players are elite players. ST is probably the best example we've had recently... i'm sure if he swapped teams you'd see a big difference.

I do get what you're saying and generally agree though. unless you're getting a top 3 player, one FA move in and of itself isn't going to change much or guarantee wins.

Building depth and creating a well rounded team, will always be more important to me than signing an elite player. The only elite position that can drastically change a team is a QB. You have to have other pieces around that player.

Look at Adrian Peterson's current team for an example. Or Calvin Johnson's Team. Or JJ Watt's team. Those are elite players at their positions. But the team failed to build around them. That is why spending a lot of money on one player that you are not sure about how they will transfer to your team, rarely works.

[donofriose]

Originally Posted by DynamiteRave

If you're looking to do 90% of the roster work through the draft then you're not looking to be a competitive team for at least 3-4 years and that's not realistic at all.

I got into it with a guy in another thread because he was the complete opposite of you; wanted to get rid of EVERYONE, then start signing people like crazy.

If anything it should be 50/50, 5-6 drafted players providing depth and maybe 1-2 starters out of that, then 5-6 free agent signings.

I have no problem signing cheap free agents. I have a problem with creating your team by signing big names.

Seattle turned around their team in a few years drafting extremely well, using trades, and signing a few guys to team friendly deals.

Cowboys built their team the same way in the 90's under Jimmy Johnson. Look at Johnson's draft history and it is obvious why that team turned around from being 1-15.

You can use free agency, but especially with how draft money is structured now, the best way to build your team is through the draft.

[Ruhskins]

The Redskins already have a core of young talented players acquired through the draft: RG3, Morris, Reed (if healthy), Rak, Kerrigan, Riley, T. Williams, and Amerson.

After two years of cap penalties, we can't go all cheap in free agency. Good teams develop their team through both the draft and free agency. Vinny Cerrato is not running the team anymore, so it is a bit ridiculous to think that our FA strategy is going to be like Vinny's. That said, without a first round pick in the draft, we can't expect to field a team with just our draft picks from this year.

The team will need to be smart about free agent acquisition and get a couple of starters from this free agency pool.

[Monkeydad]

Here would be the difference between Vinny's big spending and Bruce Allen's big spending that's hopefully coming up...Vinny did not know talent and did not consider fitting into schemes and team chemistry. Bruce does.

[JoLo]

If we cannot get Ward or Byrd at safety I really think we should go after Stevie Brown as a cheaper option. He was the Giants biggest ball hawk last year and they really missed him this past season.

[donofriose]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

The Redskins already have a core of young talented players acquired through the draft: RG3, Morris, Reed (if healthy), Rak, Kerrigan, Riley, T. Williams, and Amerson.

After two years of cap penalties, we can't go all cheap in free agency. Good teams develop their team through both the draft and free agency. Vinny Cerrato is not running the team anymore, so it is a bit ridiculous to think that our FA strategy is going to be like Vinny's. That said, without a first round pick in the draft, we can't expect to field a team with just our draft picks from this year.

The team will need to be smart about free agent acquisition and get a couple of starters from this free agency pool.

That is not a core in my opinion. That is a couple of players that were drafted by the Skins.

A core is what the Patriots have. Obviously Brady is a huge reason for their success but you have a locker room filled with guys that were developed with the Patriot system. The Patriots use free agency for depth (a lot of them are starting now because of injury) and to give guys chances that come there cheap. Just looking at their team you have Soldier, Mankins, Wendell, Vollmer, Edelman, Gronk, Ridley, Brady, Wilfork, Spikes, Mayo, Hightower, Jones, McCourty and Dennard. All those players were either drafted by the Pats or came as an undrafted free agent. That is a core. That is what the locker room is lacking. Solid players that were developed together and with only one team.

The Seahawks were able to build that in a few years as well. 49ers had that they just needed a coach. Packers pretty much only build through the draft.

You don't need to sign a lot of free agents to be starters in order to be competitive. What has worked for a lot of successful teams is drafting and developing players in your system, building a core and solid locker room, and then you can bring in a free agent or two in order to fill a hole and create depth.

[diehardskin2982]

I want us to draft a PR/KR in Dri Archer. I also would like us to draft a Number 2 WR like Kelvin Benjamin

I want us to rebuild our line through free agency because I want a player that has proven he can block in this league.
Michael Oher has played both RT and LT and has never missed a game for injury. We need to make it a priority to steal him.

[donofriose]

Originally Posted by diehardskin2982

I want us to draft a PR/KR in Dri Archer. I also would like us to draft a Number 2 WR like Kelvin Benjamin

I want us to rebuild our line through free agency because I want a player that has proven he can block in this league.
Michael Oher has played both RT and LT and has never missed a game for injury. We need to make it a priority to steal him.

They already tried rebuilding their offensive line through free agency. The only offensive linemen worth keeping was actually drafted by the Skins.

[diehardskin2982]

we have actually tried drafting the past few years under Shanny and the problem is we can't develop talent.

[donofriose]

Originally Posted by diehardskin2982

we have actually tried drafting the past few years under Shanny and the problem is we can't develop talent.

I agree. Shanahan's coaching staff couldn't develop linemen. That is a big reason he is no longer employed.

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by donofriose

That is not a core in my opinion. That is a couple of players that were drafted by the Skins.

A core is what the Patriots have. Obviously Brady is a huge reason for their success but you have a locker room filled with guys that were developed with the Patriot system. The Patriots use free agency for depth (a lot of them are starting now because of injury) and to give guys chances that come there cheap. Just looking at their team you have Soldier, Mankins, Wendell, Vollmer, Edelman, Gronk, Ridley, Brady, Wilfork, Spikes, Mayo, Hightower, Jones, McCourty and Dennard. All those players were either drafted by the Pats or came as an undrafted free agent. That is a core. That is what the locker room is lacking. Solid players that were developed together and with only one team.

The Seahawks were able to build that in a few years as well. 49ers had that they just needed a coach. Packers pretty much only build through the draft.

You don't need to sign a lot of free agents to be starters in order to be competitive. What has worked for a lot of successful teams is drafting and developing players in your system, building a core and solid locker room, and then you can bring in a free agent or two in order to fill a hole and create depth.

How that's not a core of players? That is the Redskins core. They're not only players, several of them are the face of our team. RG3, Morris, Reed (if healthy), Rak, Kerrigan, Riley, T. Williams, and Amerson. IS the core, then you get more guys and build around that. What we're lacking is depth and development.

You make it sound like we have 53 nobodies running around out there.

[diehardskin2982]

The Lineman coach is still here unfortunately.