Free agency success

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by HoosierinFL

Not really trying to defend any specific thing about Ballard, but at no point since Luck's retirement have we had any type of great QB play (Rivers was good not great).

I could criticize Ballard for not fixing the QB position sooner than he did - he probably should not have prolonged the suffering with all the free agent QBs and instead allowed the team to tank so he could draft one high.

Without that, there's really just no sense in trying to bring in big money big name free agents to fill the gaps, it would be a waste, because those guys aren't winning you the superbowl if you don't have the QB.

I think there is a valid criticism of how Ballard handled the QB search. Individually I understand and largely support the chances he took at QB, even though I prefer going the rookie route. But he tried to straddle the two logical options and ended up prolonging the issue. Only to be saved by Irsay’s tank job - intentional or not. Rivers and Ryan indicated win now, while he never treated the rest of the roster the same way.

Originally Posted by HoosierinFL

The question remains - is AR going to be that guy? There's kinda no point in an overly aggressive FA approach until we can see him on the field for a whole season and see what we've got, and in turn, what we don't got.

Main point: you can use FA market to get the right parts to "win now" or "win within a short window in the next few years" but only AFTER you know you have the QB to get you there.

I disagree that you should wait to see on AR. To me we are married to him for at least 2-3 more years. I see almost no scenario where we move on from him before that, short of a career ending injury. If he fails then it’s a reset on this team and a start over anyway. What do you do besides reset? Start going the Rivers / Ryan route again. Screw that. So what do you loose by saying the window is open now? It also provides max support to AR now. I don’t want to throw a shit secondary out there and train AR that he has to score every possession. I want him to learn to pick and choose his spots. And, the teams we talked about in here show that many of the moves were done a year or two before they won the SB.

Basically, if AR is who we hope there is a version of the team to be built before his extension that supports him and takes the load off. That should start now. If he isn’t that guy, then it really doesn’t matter. You are starting over and having a great salary cap position will matter little since you’ll again lean on draft picks and young guys. Guys like Buckner deserve a team trying to win now, not just once they are washed up or retired.