Lets face it. We won't sign anyone before the draft

[rayzor]

what i mean is that some people are saying this is a "philosophy" of how we run our team. i see as just a salary dump. there is no way you can look to dump all your vets every season or every other season.

to say it is just a salary dump is a bit too simplistic to look at this. they kept smith who has one of the largest salaries on the team. they tried to keep pep. they tendered players that are high priced or potentially high priced. there are just too many holes in that POV.

imo, the team is taking a long term view of this team and figured that this was as good of a time as any to get started working on the future. i would say that they were opportunistic in using this year to to get rid of players who were on the downside of their career or were heading there soon. it was also a chance to get the younger guys...the future of the team or who could be the future of the team a chance to get started.

i don't think this was from fox, though. i think he is on board with it but i don't think he would have done this on his own without some push from above.

it had become obvious that this team had gone as far as it was going to with the current cast of characters. fox works in a box. he has a narrow view of who should be on the field and prefers vets. he is reluctant to change. change was forced on him and now the choice is to adjust or go elsewhere.

more than likely, if we get a new coach in 2011/2012, this roster shakeup was going to happen anyway. this year was going to make more sense financially than any other year. if we get a new coach then they will have a nice young core of players to start with with at least a year of starting experience under their belts. they will have either a nice and talented young QB if moore works out or a blank slate at QB to do whatever he wants if moore doesn't work out.

if fox gets a new deal then the stage is set for him to essentially start all over. in either case, they were looking down the road more than they were looking at 2010. that isn't to say that they aren't interested in winning...all the players on the team are interested in it, fox and the current coaching staff depends on it for a job next year, and JR depends on it for ticket sales. after a mediocre season last year with fan frustration at a low point, they need to win.

this isn't an either/or situation where your choices are they want to win tomorrow or today. they want to do both. it is possible to do that. not everything is black or white. imo, this is a much more likely explanation of what they are doing than just saying that it is a salary dump.

is this a philosophy that can be maintained or something they intend to do every year? i don't think so. i don't think they are going to clean house every year but i do think that this is a part of a long term plan that has some legs. getting rid of those players was just one part of that plan (probably the most painful part).

[koolkatluke]

I understand what the OP is saying. Wouldn't it be alot easier if we would try too fill 1 hole before the draft? I don't know but I like Boldin more then any WR we could get in the 2nd or 3rd round. Can we be realistic for a minute. How many holes can you fill without a 1st round pick and Mid-to-late picks in every other round????

And maybe it's just me but how many vet DE that (might be cut )after the draft are better then alex brown. It just seem too me that alot of good to solid player are falling in our laps and we are doing nothing but raiseing ticket prices.

I hate the whole hoping a rookie can step up thing or praying we can pick up a vet before the season. I don't see a problem with trying too fell 1 hole before the draft. Now we need too have a great Draft and some good player cut after that. I hate being in that kind of position.

[carolinanimal]

I understand what the OP is saying. Wouldn't it be alot easier if we would try too fill 1 hole before the draft? I don't know but I like Boldin more then any WR we could get in the 2nd or 3rd round. Can we be realistic for a minute. How many holes can you fill without a 1st round pick and Mid-to-late picks in every other round????

And maybe it's just me but how many vet DE that (might be cut )after the draft are better then alex brown. It just seem too me that alot of good to solid player are falling in our laps and we are doing nothing but raiseing ticket prices.

I hate the whole hoping a rookie can step up thing or praying we can pick up a vet before the season. I don't see a problem with trying too fell 1 hole before the draft. Now we need too have a great Draft and some good player cut after that. I hate being in that kind of position.

This is the point i dont like about this situation. i has backed us into a corner for this season. we either have to hit homeruns on ALL our draft picks and still pick up a bunch of vets that may or may not get cut from other teams. we will have to fight other teams for these players also.

[carolinanimal]

I understand what the OP is saying. Wouldn't it be alot easier if we would try too fill 1 hole before the draft? I don't know but I like Boldin more then any WR we could get in the 2nd or 3rd round. Can we be realistic for a minute. How many holes can you fill without a 1st round pick and Mid-to-late picks in every other round????

And maybe it's just me but how many vet DE that (might be cut )after the draft are better then alex brown. It just seem too me that alot of good to solid player are falling in our laps and we are doing nothing but raiseing ticket prices.

I hate the whole hoping a rookie can step up thing or praying we can pick up a vet before the season. I don't see a problem with trying too fell 1 hole before the draft. Now we need too have a great Draft and some good player cut after that. I hate being in that kind of position.

also how many awesome #2 wr are going to be realeased after the draft that arent ancient? if our hope is for a rookie wr to step up we better do something better than that.

[cookinbrak]

Do you think they just dropped names into a hat and signed them. The FO had to have seen something they liked to sign these guys. I would imagine that they will fill backup spots or have significant rolls to play on Special Teams.

No, of course not. That would be silly. They dropped names of league minimum guys in a hat and drew them.