patience Saint's fans!
 

Free agency is tough. One teams treasure was another teams trash. The way I see it a player becomes a free agent for several reasons. One, he is too expensive. Two, he has baggage. Three he is injury prone. Four, there is no room left on the team. To play free agency right teams have to assess these factors, weigh them against the possibilities available in the draft, as well as team needs, and remember that the best way to build a winner is to do it through the draft. It's a lot cheaper in the long run, and you get younger players. The best way to keep a team competitive is to identify the key players on the team and show them the money( Brees, Bush, Macallister, Colston on offense for example) Dallas had Aikman, Smith and Irvin. The niners had Montana, Rice, and Craig. You get the point. Then build all the role players around them by not wasting draft picks like Ditka did, and keep the talent coming. This also ensures that you will have depth on the team, if you draft well top to bottom

RE: patience Saint
 

I do agree that the draft plays a big role in the FA period prior. Many teams just need to see what plays out in the draft and whether they can shore up depth and a potential starter at a need spot with rookies before they commit the bigger money to unrestricted FA's. If a team cannot target that one big guy they need and must have before anyone else lands him, then it's better to see what the draft affords and work from that point.

The team's lack of attention to the CB position (other than Frank Walker visiting) tells me we will use one of our first 2 picks on that position for sure. We made no contact with Clements, Hood or any other decent name.