Question - were Parcells/Ireland aggressive in free agency at Dallas? Did they open the checkbook to boost the roster?
Parcells/Ireland history in free agency
- Thread starter spiketex
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If you look accross the FA transactions throught the league over the years, you notice a few things.
1) Very often the highest priced FA's fail to live up to their salary slot, so they tend to have a high disappointment factor and salary cap risk.
2) The young veteran FA's that are not the big names tend to be relatively low risk and high reward potential players.
3) Certain key positions simply do not hit FA.
So, if/when we fail to sign any of the hottest named FA's, don't be alarmed, because it's rarely as good as it seems on signing day. Ireland & Co. have done an excellent job with the young veteran FA's. Last year it was Smiley (hit), Starks (hit), Wilford (miss), and Torbor (incomplete). None were a big cap hit, and we added stalwarts to both lines. This was a major success. Torbor might have been a success had we not acquired Ayodele via trade, and we can certainly characterize the Fasano/Ayodele trade as a great success. Fasano fits the young veteran mold, and Ayodele is simply a veteran.
This offseason, everyone is again talking about the marquee FA's like Dansby, Brown, Asamougha, etc., but I don't think we'll land any of those guys--and I'm not going to lose any sleep over it because those guys would be an unbelievable cap hit. I am hoping that we find some more nice gems of young veterans upon which to roll the dice. Guys that are hungry to prove themselves yet have enough experience to play solid mistake-free games and help our young drafted players learn their craft. Guys who can be wonderful players if they succeed and who don't wreck our cap if they don't succeed.
Likewise, I'm not looking to add a T, OLB, QB, or shut down CB from FA. If we were to land Leigh Bodden, that would be an unbelievable coup ... and the immediate question would be what is his cap number? So, when we add guys that make most of the board scratch their head, don't dispair. There is a good chance some of these guys will be very pleasant surprises.
1) Very often the highest priced FA's fail to live up to their salary slot, so they tend to have a high disappointment factor and salary cap risk.
2) The young veteran FA's that are not the big names tend to be relatively low risk and high reward potential players.
3) Certain key positions simply do not hit FA.
So, if/when we fail to sign any of the hottest named FA's, don't be alarmed, because it's rarely as good as it seems on signing day. Ireland & Co. have done an excellent job with the young veteran FA's. Last year it was Smiley (hit), Starks (hit), Wilford (miss), and Torbor (incomplete). None were a big cap hit, and we added stalwarts to both lines. This was a major success. Torbor might have been a success had we not acquired Ayodele via trade, and we can certainly characterize the Fasano/Ayodele trade as a great success. Fasano fits the young veteran mold, and Ayodele is simply a veteran.
This offseason, everyone is again talking about the marquee FA's like Dansby, Brown, Asamougha, etc., but I don't think we'll land any of those guys--and I'm not going to lose any sleep over it because those guys would be an unbelievable cap hit. I am hoping that we find some more nice gems of young veterans upon which to roll the dice. Guys that are hungry to prove themselves yet have enough experience to play solid mistake-free games and help our young drafted players learn their craft. Guys who can be wonderful players if they succeed and who don't wreck our cap if they don't succeed.
Likewise, I'm not looking to add a T, OLB, QB, or shut down CB from FA. If we were to land Leigh Bodden, that would be an unbelievable coup ... and the immediate question would be what is his cap number? So, when we add guys that make most of the board scratch their head, don't dispair. There is a good chance some of these guys will be very pleasant surprises.