So in your opinion.. Despite overwhelming evidence that it doesn't work, why do teams still splurge?!

[PanthersUnited]

The dream team Eagles, Bucs of last year, Saints, Bears the list goes on.. Teams that have time and time again spent huge money in FA and came up short of .500 let alone the playoffs, it happens so frequently but teams just don't learn. Look at the absurd contract Suh got, 114 mill for a 28 year old DT, ABSURD doesn't even begin to describe it. The Chiefs with their monster 55 million contract for Maclin.

My question is this, there is overwhelming evidence that making a ton of FA splashes does not work, infact you can even make the argument that teams actually regress and lose more games after being aggressive in FA.. But like clockwork, the Dolphins still broke the bank on Suh, the Eagles are revisiting dream team part 2.

Is it shiny toy syndrome? Is it ego that some of these GMs just care about winning the pissing FA contest instead of games?! Why, when you have such overwhelming evidence that building through FA has been a failure, why do teams still insist of building this way?

[Lemory]

Aren't you the one that was screaming for us to sign a big name FA earlier?

[Carolina Cajun]

Trying to appease their fanbase.  Just like we have guys losing their poo here over us not signing anyone, other fanbases do the same, and don't want to lose free agency, so to make their fans happy they sign joe blow who had over inflated numbers with his former team who had a tailor made offense or defense for them, then they fall woefully short in their new jobs.  As long as GM's and Owners care about what the fans think, teams will continue to blow their load in free agency then suck the next season (See the Redskins almost every single season).

[AceBoogie]

If the Patriots don't get Revis and Browner last year, do they win a Super Bowl? Acquisitions do indeed work, don't buy the hate. It's not a guaranteed science, but look at the teams that have won, they're always very active in the offseason. The ones you never hear from (like us) are the ones who usually get worse by failing to get better.

[Zaximus]

Cool, another one of these threads lol.

[LinvilleGorge]

Overwhelming pressure to win.  In the NFL, if you're not winning you're gonna get fired.  You gotta find a way to win now.  Deal with the cap ramifications down the road. 

 

The teams that win consistently aren't out there spending like drunken sailors on shore leave and part of the reason why is those coaches and front office people have job security.  They've proven they know how to field a consistent winning team in the NFL and a bad season isn't going to send them to the unemployment line.  They make a lot less knee jerk decisions than an organization where those decision makers don't have that type of security.

[PanthersUnited]

Trying to appease their fanbase. Just like we have guys losing their poo here over us not signing anyone, other fanbases do the same, and don't want to lose free agency, so to make their fans happy they sign joe blow who had over inflated numbers with his former team who had a tailor made offense or defense for them, then they fall woefully short in their new jobs. As long as GM's and Owners care about what the fans think, teams will continue to blow their load in free agency then suck the next season (See the Redskins almost every single season).

True but it is the Patriots where almost any player becomes a star, just look at our very own Brandon Lafell

[Carolina Cajun]

If the Patriots don't get Revis and Browner last year, do they win a Super Bowl? Acquisitions do indeed work, don't buy the hate. It's not a guaranteed science, but look at the teams that have won, they're always very active in the offseason. The ones you never hear from (like us) are the ones who usually get worse by failing to get better.

 

I'm not so sure, you never hear about Green Bay going crazy in free agency aside from locking in their own guys.  I think the key is, if you're one or 2 pieces away, make a power play and it can work.  If you're missing a lot of pieces, Free Agency won't fill the holes as you can see with the redskins, jaguars, raiders ect.  First and foremost your core has to be solid then if you need 1 or 2 big pieces then free agency can help you greatly.  

[hepcat]

Because it's not legal to smoke crack yet

[Nick_81]

I'm not so sure, you never hear about Green Bay going crazy in free agency aside from locking in their own guys.  I think the key is, if you're one or 2 pieces away, make a power play and it can work.  If you're missing a lot of pieces, Free Agency won't fill the holes as you can see with the redskins, jaguars, raiders ect.  First and foremost your core has to be solid then if you need 1 or 2 big pieces then free agency can help you greatly.  

Like the Pats...

[Mr. Scot]

Because this time, it's gonna work!!!

[t96]

God man you make the worst threads possible.

[d-dave]

Honestly, it's about being smart in how you handle the money side of things.  Sometimes you sign a FA for no other reason to legitimize your team.  Like the Jets with Revis.  Yeah, he's the best CB in the league by a fair margin, but he's not worth the contract given based on play alone.  But he has name and star power in the league.  He's a piece you can build around, and other guys will want to play with him.  Or the Dolphins with Suh.  They now have a star to legitimize their team.

 

Other times, you find a guy who you really think will push you to the next level.  I think teams tend to convince themselves that they are ONE player away from winning the Super Bowl.  You need folks to tell you you're full of poo.  If the Panthers ever need that, they have a bunch of folks here who are convinced we'll never win another game with our current coaches, GM and players because we don't have their guys.

[PanthersUnited]

Overwhelming pressure to win. In the NFL, if you're not winning you're gonna get fired. You gotta find a way to win now. Deal with the cap ramifications down the road.

The teams that win consistently aren't out there spending like drunken sailors on shore leave and part of the reason why is those coaches and front office people have job security. They've proven they know how to field a consistent winning team in the NFL and a bad season isn't going to send them to the unemployment line. They make a lot less knee jerk decisions than an organization where those decision makers don't have that type of security.

Makes sense I suppose from that perspective. Still hard to believe that despite overwhelming historical evidence, these teams that splurge think they are different and it will actually work out for them