GumboBC

Hitting the free agent market is one way for a team to strike it rich in the NFL. More and more players are changing teams-and tax brackets-since free agency began in 1993.

But for NFL teams, free agency has been much less a sure thing than a yearly itch. And the itch is contagous as it spreads to fans of every team in the NFL. And they just can't keep from scratching. You've probably encoutered some fans right here at B&G.net whose posts are filled with typos due to them constantly trying to scratch that itch. It must be tough to type and scratch at the same time.


From the start, free agency has been a seller's market in which teams often overpay for talent because of the win-now, win-at-all-costs philosophy that exsists around the league. But, rarely do any of the teams who sign these over-priced free agents ever make it to a super bowl. (think Washington Redskins.)

I set out to do some research on free-agent pickups that truly helped their team reach the super bowl and I had to go way back to find Reggie White as a free-agent that truly made a team so much better that it helped his team reach a super bowl.

Oh, there have been other free-agents that have made contributions, such as: Bill Romanowski - Ray Buchanan - and Jake Delhomme. But, how much of a contibution they really made is debatable.

One thing is for sure, though: For every Reggie White, Bill Romanowski or Ray Buchanan -- free-agent pickups who helped their teams reach the Super Bowl -- there are dozens of busts. The first real big bust I remember was Alvin Harper who was picked up by Tampa from the Cowboys. Then there was our own Joe Johnson who was left out on the free-agent market and was suppose to be the Packers' savior at DE, but he never contributed and got cut this year. Hey, the list of free-agent busts is as long as the number of zeros on the checks written to these free-agents.

Does the name Herschel Walker ring a bell? That was the one player who was to put the Vikings in the super bowl. All it did was put the Cowboys in the super bowl, though.

This is not to say that singing free-agents is always a bad thing. Free-agents certainly help a team upgrade talent at every position. But, it's about as big of a crap shoot as the draft. You've got so-called proven receivers like Perrless Price and then you've got you're Joe Horns of the world.

Sure, there is a history of NFL performance with every free agent, but there are many questions that can't be answered until later. How will he fit in with a new system? Will his contract create dissension among his new teammates? How much of a character risk is he? What about his production . . . age . . . durability? Or what about those leadership skills that everyone is looking for? Those are the factors that a lot of fans could really care less about. Just sign him coach and let's worry about that later. I need to scratch this itch coach. Can you help me out?

Mike McKenzie, come on down!!!!



[Edited on 25/6/2004 by GumboBC]

saintz08

They solidify the position which allows the team to explore new areas of talent and new schemes which allow talented players to excel at their positions .

You pick up a corner in free agency who can go man to man and not get the defense burned all day long , pin the ears back on the defense and have a sack lunch party . Safety and the End meet at the quarterback for Ribs ......