[irish]

Originally Posted by freddyg12

The blog makes a valid point, one that is certainly not original.
It doesn't state that it's an either/or proposition between the draft & free agency, rather that the Bears chose to build the CORE of their team via the draft. Of course they added some free agents to fill needs but they didn't do so at the expense of their previous players.
It's important to note that we've not only signed big $ free agents, but we also did so while cutting some players, e.g. Ryan Clark.
Anyone who says this team has never been in "cap hell" has a short memory for this past spring when if it weren't for the new cba we would've had to make some mean cuts.
I don't disagree w/anyone that says the draft isn't a guaranteed way to build a winner, it's just the most effective, cheapest & most efficient. Of course teams have drafted poorly for years, but nowadays I just think its not that hard to have a 50% or higher success rate in the draft. By that I call success having players that you'd like to re-sign at the end of their rookie contract. The more picks you have the better chance you have of reaching this success. Either way, the players don't cost much, which gives you more cap room to bring in a FEW needed free agents.
Look at the success we've had in the draft the past few years - Cooley, ST, Rogers (ok, maybe not up to par yet), Campbell, Golston, hopefully Rocky. Of course there were late rnd. picks that didn't pan out, but the later the rnd. the less chance they make it. We trade away all of our most valuable picks from which a team can be built on the cheap - rnds. 2-4.

This is the best post I ahve seen in a long time.