[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

So you are saying: big name FA's cannot work because we tried it once and it failed, and McCoy is declining and would not contribute? Let me ask you this, do you think we are still in a rebuild? If so, when do you think this rebuild ends?

I like Ballard, I think he is the best GM we have and since Polian. I wouldn't trade him for another GM in the league. And yes, last year we needed more than Simon. Although Simon would have been an upgrade on the strong side over two rookies who may not even make the team this year. I believe everyone was fine with playing the young guys because everyone thought last year was a rebuilding year. Turns out we were a little wrong about that and actually had a shot. Let me give you this scenario. What if they kept Simon though, acquired another pass rusher and brought in Inman earlier? We might be looking at a few more wins, remember we had some really close games. Two more wins and we win the division and we are hosting NE and maybe KC too. We could be looking at a very different outcome.

Also, lets be clear. I am advocating filing potential holes in the roster so we do not have glaring weaknesses that will come back to haunt us during the season. We entered last season with holes at WR and pass rush. More picks, Houston and Funchess, have helped cover those problems this year. I'm ok with Houston, I'm iffy on Funchess. But there is enough redundancy around Funchess that if he doesn't work we should still be ok.

I believe signing FA's can work because I have see it work. The Rams did it effectively last year. The pats do it all the time. There are plenty of examples of FA's working. You can use multiple methods for filling the roster. Just because Grigson signed some slow older guys a couple seasons ago doesn't mean it can't work. Grigson also had horrible drafts, does that mean we shouldn't utilize the draft anymore? Of course not. It's who you acquire, not how you acquire.

Our system could use a big 3-tech. I think they almost want two 3-tech techniques at both DT spots. Remember we are not running a Dungy Tampa-2. It is based on that system yes, but it is more influenced by Dallas' style and then Eberflus puts his own spin on it. So saying that we need a NT over a 3-tech isn't exactly right because we could have resigned Al Woods and we did not. I don't really see a lot evidence that McCoy is declining, he has been pretty consistent for awhile. This is a pretty subjective part of the argument. I think he would have benefitted from a rotation meaning he wouldn't wear down during the season. Guys can play into their 30's and he just turned 31. Signing McCoy would not hurt our cap, it would mean we still have a lot of money carried over for next year. As I said, McCoy fits very well into this scheme and has great character. The fit seems to make a lot of sense.

Last year at this time I believe people thought the oline would be better with the talent influx. They were worried about the pass rush which did not seem fixed by throwing rookies at it. Also people were worried about the wide receivers thinking they lacked talent. I remember reading some worried about the lack of proven talent at CB. But Hairston had a good rookie year and Wilson showed promise. It wasn't just fans worried though, these items were repeated in the press as well.

I am excited too, I just hope we are not trading the present for a future that may never come.

First let me say that this is not black and white. We are essentially arguing about degrees, ie. we both agree we need free agents we just seem to disagree on the amount. I don't think we are in a re-build per say but we are definitely building. By that I mean part of the team is ready to compete and part we are not certain about. I'm not saying that people should have known how good or bad we were going to be, just that most of us don't really know. McCoy was and is a close call. I would just rather see the guys we have at 3 technique get the snaps to see what they can do.

Agreed about the Rams. There is not one way to do things (I'm old enough to remember a guy named George Allen) but I believe to be successful you need a way. Get a philosophy and stick to it. And it helps if you can draft a little better than the next guy.