Originally posted by
The Goat
This team has ALWAYS been good. It has ALWAYS been competetive. In the past thirty three years, there have been exactly two losing seasons. Is that amazing? Yes. Is it something that no other sports franchise can say? Yes.
On the other hand...is it frustrating as hell that teams which were at one time absolutely PATHETIC during the aforementioned streak have been rebuilt and turned into champions?
Yes, it is.
Goat, it is sad to say, but in the recent era of the NFL, including the developments in FA, rules, salary cap, etc... it is hard to maintain consistency AND win the SB. Most teams winning the SB, or participating, have suffered losing seasons before or after the big dance. Teams that attempt to keep their talent for lengthy periods are usually penalized by some form of fate or another.
At some point, in order to make a SB run, you must overhaul your team with young talent (drafts). You need the young talent to offset the few stars you have financially. It seems once a team commits to a SB plan, they are bound to it for 3 - 5 years. If they fail to properly pick talent during the drafts of those years, they slowly pay the price.
Many factors play into it, but it seems to me that the "core" of the team's chemistry fate on the young players' production. We started our SB run when JJ was hired. However, JJ had to contend with Dan. As long as Dan remained, JJ could not rebuild the O the way he wanted to. And, truthfully, we have been paying the price ever since he left.
Sure, we have finally acquired the talent from some of the age groups we missed out on in drafts, but it's too late in some respects. We needed O stars to be drafted with Taylor, Thomas, Surtain and Madison in order for the COMPLETE cohesion of the team to be solidified for years to come.
We have yet to really address Dan's replacement. And, every year, the defense grows a little older while we attempt to put out the fire on the offense.
Sure, we attempted to draft O stars, but for one reason or another, they didn't pan out. And, not having the same cohesion our D has had for the same period of time, the offense has sputtered and fell behind as we try to patch it up every year. Problem is, the pieces we have finally brought in to fill holes on the offense, haven't played together long. Their chemistry isn't their. And it shows.
I have become a believer that, as much as I love the stars we have, we are delaying the inevitable by constantly trying to build around a slowly aging roster. The window for a true SB run is fading fast for the team. There is justified panic in the staff and players to win now, because you can only redo contacts so many times. Eventually, you can't be loaded with stars and expect to have a healthy (age, talent) team.
I suspect we have 2 maybe 3 years left to make a run. If Wanny get's fired and/or we have a major FO shake up before then.... I suspect it's time for another overhaul. And although MANY guys on this board will be inflamed with my thoughts of losing the players on this team, the reality of how things should be done will eventually win over who we love and who we don't want to see leave.
This team's core group of guys has a short window before things become financially, logistically and physically (age) impracticle for this team to remain together.
We will start to feel the crunch after Ogun, CC and RM re-sign. After they do, we will see the resulting pinch affect us in 2 years. Every player cannot make millions and still have a team.
I know we've always been masters of the cap, but eventually, you can't have everything.
