Arles said:
Pack93z said:
Not to be negative, but what do both of these moves require that free agency doesn't? Draft pick or player compensation in the form of a trade.
If me make this deal as reported for LJ, that mean two young players not added on the team. If we have to give up a pick for Moss in the rumored trade, there is another pick or two gone.
Rarely are great players available in FA. If we wanted an FA RB, our options were Jamal Lewis or Ahman. Neither are in the class of LJ. Heck, look at what teams were giving up to get backs like Thomas Jones and McGahee who are also nowhere near LJ.
If you want an impact player at a skilled position, your options are to draft one or trade for one. And, given the crapshoot that the draft is (and the fact that we are 16th), there was little chance of the former this season.
All of a sudden we are looking more and more like the Redskins which is brought up everytime spending money on free agents comes along.
We've had 23 draft picks in the past 2 seasons and 17 are still part of the team (7-10 in major roles). The Redskins haven't had 17 recent draft picks on their roster since the Reagan administration. Given how GB has drafted in the past two seasons and the depth we now have, this is the year where we could afford to use only 5-6 picks (which would still be more than Washington has) and take a shot at landing some proven impact players.
I am all for the moves, but there is a cost to standing pat and having all this money and holes to fill. Young talent.
I see our options as three-fold:
1. Bring in retred FAs in the mold of "Kneeless" Joe Johnson and Hardly Tackleson to hold the fort and draft guys for the future.
2. Go out and sign some younger high-priced FAs that may or may not produce (there's a reason their teams allowed them to enter FA to begin with). Then draft guys for the future (knowing that you won't have much money left to extend others because of your drunken sailor spending).
3. Try to trade a few picks for known commodities and hope they continue to perform at their level moving forward. Now, you will lose some picks but chances are guys like LJ and Moss will be much better than any group of guys we could grab at 1, 3 and 4. Plus, we will still have 5-6 picks (and the option to trade down in the 2nd) to add more players.
I think 3 is just as solid an option as any of the other two - especially when you have all the picks still on our roster from the past two drafts that we do.
Very solid points you have made, and I can't rebuttle too much with this crop of FA that were available this year. RB were very limited, and the high quality players such as Clements we didn't need. NO DOUBT.
The point I hear again and again on this board is that we need to build through the draft and shy away from free agency. My point, is that you have to have a blend of young players and veterans to compete in this league.
These trades are just like diving into FA but it costs us not only the big money you spend in FA, but costs additional picks or young players. But if we can do it, for sure I want it done, but when Ted was letting RB after RB get signed this offseason, he for sure didn't know that LJ would come available. Yes he might have been waiting for June 1st cut, but if RB at the begining of FA were retreads, most of these guys are tires that were capped and bald.
I was comfortable with the WR situation because we have Driver and Krob will be back some point this year. Plus sooner or later Moss will be available via trade or FA. I think Ted has played that card perfectly, NO DOUBT.
I want us to get the best possible players period. Not the bargin bin players ran into the starting lineup the past couple of years. These rumors give me hope that Ted does have a sense of urgency and wants to field the best team possible each and every year. Not the Taco Wallace's of the world.
That isn't just on Ted, it is on Sherman too.
What some of this board don't seem to understand about people like ME is that I want the Packers to win. Others can understand my frustrations when you see undrafted free agent after undrafted free agent added and substracted from the roster like a video game. You signed him last week and he practiced four days, go run a route and let Brett guess where you are. To me, that either is lack of planning, relying on your superstar to do everything, or you really don't want to win. It is not hatred of Ted and what he is doing, it is frustrated with the lack of players on the field. Ted just happens to be the ones that lines them up.
In closing ...... NO MORE TACOS
Win Baby, Just WIN!
