I don't follow contracts much, but top FA players who have worked out for their new teams seem rare. Brees and Manning worked out well. Freeney had some good years elsewhere, but for less money. Randy Moss worked out well for the Cheats. Incognito worked out, too. I can't think of any others. Maybe someone else can.

I am glad he brought up the article. I just think it is a dumb article

The more you pay for any player, the less likely that player is to be a "value". J.J. Watt, for example, is not a "bargain" as one of the highest paid players in the NFL. But he is still productive and worth his contract.

Sadly, for FA mega deals that have worked out, at least recently, the Jaguars are a good example. A good chunk of their defense was either traded for and extended or signed as UFAs (Calais Campbell, Malik Jackson, Marcell Dareus, A.J. Bouye, Tashaun Gipson, Barry Church), and that defense was dominant last year.

That said, I think the best way to approach free agency in a typical year is essentially how Ballard approached it this year. Identify guys that your scouts like that have for one reason or another not worked out with their original team and are potential "buy low" candidates (Ebron) and otherwise plug holes with stopgaps (Slauson, Grant, Autry). As Chaka mentioned, I liked John Brown as a buy low type of player, and since this wasn't a typical year for the Colts in terms of cap space, I thought/hoped they could attract some of the bigger names.

You missed the point of my post – please go back and read it again. I was listing the free agents that I recalled Colts fans hoping we would sign. No doubt there were others that, in retrospect, would have been good for us– but it’s not like I was trying to say the Colts signed the only free agents that could help.

With regard to your statement that it’s easier to find good value in “bargain basement low risk contracts”, I agree with you. Isn’t that basically the conclusion to be drawn from the article (assuming you agree with the author’s analysis)? You get a lot more bang for your buck at the lower end of the spectrum.

While I’m fairly certain you’ll respond by saying something like, “but you can’t get impact players that way”, I don’t really agree and it probably depends on what you mean by “impact players”. The truth is, as last season’s free agency class will readily demonstrate, it’s tough to get All-Pro players in free agency even when you spend through the nose to do so. Very few of the high end free agents have played up to their contracts, and in most cases I’m guessing the teams that signed them aren’t pleased with their investments. However, you certainly can get people who make a positive “impact” on the team via a low or mid-tier signing like Eric Ebron. That’s exactly what I take from the article. Do you agree with it? If not, why not?

Crude but funny nevertheless. Jim Henson is rolling over in his grave.

Call me a homer if it makes you feel better, but I’m not saying anything unrealistic and it all has plenty of factual support. I assume that’s why you respond in this way, rather than addressing the facts and information I’ve presented.

That’s an excellent observation Racehorse, and I think there’s a lot of truth to it. My guess is that there are a variety of reasons high-end free agents so rarely live up to their contracts: (1) they are often changing schemes and football players are not plug-and-play types whose skills translate exactly to a new team, (2) the player was overrated coming into free agency, which is why they weren’t signed by their former team – who was in the best position to gauge their talent level - to begin with, and (3) if they were driven to excel by the hope of financial gain, this drive is now extinguished by their large contract.

I don't disagree that Ballard has made some good signings. I just notice that you like talking at length about them, and Ballard in general, more than most.

Maybe, but it does have the redeeming value of talking nice about the Colts. That alone elevates it above dumb in my opinion

Old people...

You rang? How can I help? :cool: