Quote:
Originally Posted by rm1369
Chaka’s whole post that I replied to is about how Ballard is maintaining flexibility to pay the home grown guys proven in the Colts system. I agree with him that that’s Ballard’s plan. But NE is specifically known for not investing heavily in their home grown talent. They are known for getting a players best years and letting someone else pay them in their decline.
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I really don’t think that’s a completely fair representation of my position. The point is to get the most bang for your buck. First and foremost, you draft well. Second, in the free agent market, you identify undervalued players and sign them. Third, when you have to spend lots of money (which you do under the cap rules), accept that you're probably not going to get good value, so spend the money in a way that’s most efficient and likely to provide a solid return – which ideally means signing your own players who are largely known quantities.
I’ll acknowledge that this might not necessarily be the fastest way to immediate improvement (though last year success might argue against this), but it is probably the most rational way and is a sustainable model for long term success. The alternative - filling holes with expensive free agents – is risky, hasn’t proven to successful in the NFL and is not good for the long term success of the organization. Yes, the Patriots haven’t been great drafters and have signed lots of free agents (but, like the Colts, usually not the top tier ones), but they have a…hmmm, let’s say “unique”… coach and QB, and perhaps that had a little to do with it. I might even limit that to “coach” because the Patriots played well even when Brady was out for a season, and every Patriots coordinator who leave seems to fall flat on his face.
Look, unless you are advocating a balls-out approach every season – spending every penny of cap space to sign free agents and trading every developmental prospect to gain an accomplished asset to win NOW without regard to the future– you are compromising to some degree. Where we draw that line is the difference. I look very long term. I lived through the Manning years, as it appears you did as well, and I enjoyed that period very much even if we didn’t win the SB as much as I though we should. It was just fun. I think we can return to those days, and remain hitting on all cylinders for many years, and hopefully wins lots of SBs. But in a sport where a single bad day during the playoffs will end your season, you have to accept that sometimes you won’t win the SB even though you are the better team and should have.