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Top FA signing in 2018 didn't make the Pro Bowl

musicman

By musicman,
in Carolina Panthers

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d-dave Veteran

d-dave

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Khyber53 said:

Free agency is rarely what it is hyped up to be. Brown and Bell might well be the big hits this year, but most teams will see moderate to disappointing results from their free agent pick-ups. It's just the nature of the game.

This is why I love all the "We must sign X FA!" and the "We didn't sign all the FAs and we're doomed!" threads that pop up this time of year.  Sometimes, you are able to land a guy who really helps out your team and makes a splash impact for you.  Those are great, but rare.  How often do guys get paid in FA and struggle to earn the paycheck?

I'm all for using FA to sill some gaps so you have actual NFL players.  But I'd much rather find good players via the Draft and retain them.  Some teams are great at using the FAs to help churn their roster, but that's not the Panthers.  We tend to stick with guys for good and bad.

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Khyber53 Grand Master

Khyber53

Posted
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3 hours ago, d-dave said:

This is why I love all the "We must sign X FA!" and the "We didn't sign all the FAs and we're doomed!" threads that pop up this time of year.  Sometimes, you are able to land a guy who really helps out your team and makes a splash impact for you.  Those are great, but rare.  How often do guys get paid in FA and struggle to earn the paycheck?

I'm all for using FA to sill some gaps so you have actual NFL players.  But I'd much rather find good players via the Draft and retain them.  Some teams are great at using the FAs to help churn their roster, but that's not the Panthers.  We tend to stick with guys for good and bad.

This is exactly right. I really think FA guys are out there for one of three reasons, rather than being kept by their teams:

1) Guys whose injuries are catching up to them. Like a lemon on a used car lot, they are going to talk about the easy miles and garaged time being a benefit.

2) They want way, way too much money for their capabilities ... and the evaluation by the coaches who see them in practice, the weight room and position meetings has formed a sell rather than buy opinion. Age can also show a slip in play ability and if it isn't balanced by growth in leadership it might not be worth the money for a new contract. Matt Kalil anyone?

3) Mid-carders whose vet minimum isn't warranted versus a rookie UDFA whose cap hit is low and has practice squad eligibility.

Oh yeah, the dreaded fourth one: 4) The well-hidden locker room cancer. They haven't talked about it, it hasn't leaked and they can't wait for that guy to get on a bus out of there.

Once in a great while, you catch the right guy at the right time and get a year or two of good out of him. Ol' Tugboat Tolbert was one of these as was Stephen Davis back in the day. Rare is it, though, that you find that last piece of the puzzle on someone's castaway pile.

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