Ballards plan. IndyStar

[Chaka]

Interesting article regarding the Patriots philosophy in going hog wild in free agency this offseason - much different that the Colts:

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...gency-splurge/

Basically, Kraft is saying that the pandemic / cap reduction created an inefficiency in the system - less teams competing for free agents - and because they had lots of cap room they were in a unique position to exploit it.

While it sounds logical to a degree, I don't know if I agree here. First, it doesn't look to me that they got many bargains in free agency, which is kinda what Kraft is suggesting. Nelson Agholor 2 year / $22 million? Jonnu Smith 4 year / $50 million? Hunter Henry 3 year / $37.5 million?

Second, I really don't buy into the idea that this year it is more difficult for teams to sign free agents. Regardless of their available cap space this year, the teams have a toolbox of financial engineering instruments at their disposal, and can still fit a large contract into their cap this year if they really want to - at the expense, of course, of cap impact later down the road.