burningmetal

And they're all as good as him? Wow, everyone should go draft Jerry Rice and Joe Montana because, apparently, all you have to do is draft someone, and the rest is history.

How about a known commodity? Wouldn't you want that? If not, please explain why. The draft is always there, and you do what you can with it. But when you can get established players without breaking the bank or selling the farm, it's a good idea to take advantage of that.

SaintFanInATLHELL

This is of course the quandry. Good established players are going to cost treasure in either dollars, personnel/picks, or both.

Draft picks on 5 year contracts are the only premium talent that doesn't break the bank. If you're not spending a ton of money, of giving up significant draft picks, then it's probably not premium talent.

SFIAH

burningmetal

When you have a guy who doesn't have much left on his contract (franchise tag, in this case), you don't have as much leverage to get much for him. It would be something fairly significant, but it wouldn't likely involve multiple high draft choices. Maybe one first or second round pick, and possibly a third rounder added in.

The whole point of the Dolphins giving him the tag and then looking to deal him, is so that he doesn't just walk out on them for nothing. But given the high cost of the tag, I don't see the Dolphins being able to get a kings ransom in return.

If you're the Saints, or any other team, it's all about how much money you want to spend in a long term deal. And if you aren't willing to spend on a proven commodity, why be willing to draft a player in hopes that he MIGHT work out? And if the draft pick does work out, at some point you have to pay him. Building through the draft is essential to long term success, but you can't count on "hitting" on a high percentage of your draft picks every year. Given that Landry is also still young, he seems like a good gamble.

Also, the consensus among Saints fans seems to be that everything has to be done in Drew Brees' window. So if you have a decent foundation, it's time to expedite the process. Within reason, though. Landry seems like he would be a reasonable fit, to me. IF some team is willing to give the Dolphins a huge return, then that's their problem. My guess is that the market will pass on their initial demands, and that's when a negotiation could make sense for a team like the Saints.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, the NFL would fine and suspend me.