We need more then one free agent to contend
Bears' GM Jerry Angelo has already intimated to Briggs' agent that if he doesn't sign, he'll be franchised. Briggs will not be available, and even if he were available he is absolutely, positively unsuited for the defense we run.
Adalius Thomas is also likely to be franchised. He's 30-years old and wants a 10-12 mil. bonus, and he's not worth it. He is surrounded by Pro Bowlers on defense--Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Trevor Pryce, Ed Reed, Chris McAllister, Samari Rolle, and future Pro Bowlers like Bart Scott, Halota Ngata, and Dawan Landry, in other words, Thomas is merely one cog in what is essentially an All-Pro team on defense and you don't know how much of his success is a product of his surrounding talent.
Thirdly, you don't build a team through free agency and the Dolphins are not near Super Bowl contention at this time. We don't even have a lot of cap space relative to other teams in the league. The Patriots have more cap space, the Chargers will have roughly what we have available, maybe a little less. There are a lot of teams out there, like the Bengals, Jags and Broncos who probably see themselves as only a player away from Super Bowl contention, those are the teams that go out and make a big signing, not teams with multiple needs and relatively little cap space. You build through the draft, re-sign the players you absolutely cannot replace, and sign free agents for depth. That's the Patriots philosophy. It's the Steelers philosophy, it should be ours.
