Free-agent scorecard: Breaking down the winners, losers

[Brady#12]

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9349733

good read

 

[Pats726]

Not sure what is so good about it...A bit too early to declare winners and losers...maybe writers have nothing else to do..and for that matter....

 

[shatch62]

not too soon

Not sure what is so good about it...A bit too early to declare winners and losers...maybe writers have nothing else to do..and for that matter....

As of right now, he is right - the Pats are weaker. Once the season starts it will - should be - different. Pats will have picked up players - draft, free aents and trades - that will fill the holes.

 

[Pats726]

As of right now, he is right - the Pats are weaker. Once the season starts it will - should be - different. Pats will have picked up players - draft, free aents and trades - that will fill the holes.

My only comment was the silliness of scoreboarding it all now..Patriots are never the winners here..they do not splash in FA glare..interested more in the understudies

 

[AzPatsFan]

I d give the attempt to grafr anything as an INC.... Incomplete.

 

[DarrylS]

This will be followed by the traditional Pats Scorecard for their draft, there will be comments such as time will tell, low draft grades the Pats draft was unusual...then 3 years from now they will be declared Brilliant..

 

[SaCaCh]

So if I get this right, Pitt and us do about the same thing with free agency this year and we are torn apart and they are praised?

The Steelers lost three starters from a Super Bowl team, but they'll recover. They almost always do. That's the beauty of this organization. There's a philosophy that not only works but endures long after players are gone.

Don't know about you but that sounds like us for the last five years.

 

[Miguel]

So if I get this right, Pitt and us do about the same thing with free agency this year and we are torn apart and they are praised?

http://www.nfl.com/freeagency/afc-signings

The Pats and the Steelers did not do about the same thing in free agency this year. The Steelers have signed more players than the Pats and have lost fewer players than the Pats.

 

[Murphys95]

Dumb article by a short-sighted writer.

Winners are never decided in the offseason. Unless this moron thinks winners are names like Sean Gilbert, Dana Stubblefield, and Big Daddy Wilkinson. Yes, each of them were considered the cream of the free agent crop in their day.

What make his article even more inane is that he insinuates there are no impact players left, that all the best deals are done even though the season is months away. A quick look back at the Patriots' past reveals that impact players like Keith Byars, Otis Smith, and Bryan Cox all arrived in New England on the eve of the season - not in March or April.

This writer needs a lot more perspective.

 

[Miguel]

I do not have any problem with a snaphot at this time review. Is it useful to read how other teams are doing in free agency?? IMO, yes.

BTW, I did not read anywhere in the article his Super Bowl XLI prediction.

 

[kolbitr]

It seems to me that the major difference between the two teams' actions this off-season is that the Steelers have chosen to sign more of their own UFAs than the Patriots did. Brett Keisel, Lee Mays, Verron Hayes, et. al., seem to be role players, not dissimilar to Davis, Dwight, Chatham, etc. But the Patriots chose not to re-sign a few of their own, perhaps hoping to go younger through their numerous draft picks.

It would also be true that the departures of McGinest and Vinatieri are more important, at least historically, than those of Randle-El and von Oelhoffen. So the angst is greater. The Steelers' loss of Chris Hope, a good young DB, is perhaps similar to our own loss of Givens, a good young receiver (although Randle-El would be the obvious point of comparison). It also seems that Pitt is hoping that Quincy Morgan or Lee Mays can step up a bit into the #2 role.

Overall, I feel that the teams' approach is more similar than dissimilar. Adding Mitchell, and perhaps another signing, would make the apparent disparity even less so.

 

[Miguel]

What make his article even more inane is that he insinuates there are no impact players left, that all the best deals are done even though the season is months away. A quick look back at the Patriots' past reveals that impact players like Keith Byars, Otis Smith, and Bryan Cox all arrived in New England on the eve of the season - not in March or April.

This writer needs a lot more perspective.

Otis Smith was signed by the Pats in 2000.
Cox was signed by the Pats in 2001.
Can anyone name a player that was signed or traded for by the Pats after June 1st in more recent years that had an meaningful impact??

How many post 6/1 releases of impact players were there last year??? Corey Simon and ????

I would not count on post 6/1 releases as teams are in much better cap shape than they were in the past.

 

[Miguel]

It seems to me that the major difference between the two teams' actions this off-season is that the Steelers have chosen to sign more of their own UFAs than the Patriots did. Brett Keisel, Lee Mays, Verron Hayes, et. al., seem to be role players, not dissimilar to Davis, Dwight, Chatham, etc. But the Patriots chose not to re-sign a few of their own, perhaps hoping to go younger through their numerous draft picks.

FWIW - The Pats have 11 draft picks. The Steelers have 10 draft picks. So, the Steelers should be considered to have the same hopes.

 

[BelichickFan]

FWIW - The Pats have 11 draft picks. The Steelers have 10 draft picks. So, the Steelers should be considered to have the same hopes.

We're in much better shape for the draft.

Pittsburgh's picks : 32, 64, 96, 129, 131, 133, 164, 167, 201, 241
New England's : 21, 52, 75, 86, 106, 118, 136, 191, 205, 206, 229

By the time Pittsburgh has used it's pick #129, 4th round, they'll have made 4 picks and we will have made 6. Pick a Pittsburgh pick and we'll be in better shape at that point in the draft than they will.

 

[dhamz]

Can anyone name a player that was signed or traded for by the Pats after June 1st in more recent years that had an meaningful impact??

Ted Washington

 

[Miguel]

We're in much better shape for the draft.

Pittsburgh's picks : 32, 64, 96, 129, 131, 133, 164, 167, 201, 241
New England's : 21, 52, 75, 86, 106, 118, 136, 191, 205, 206, 229

By the time Pittsburgh has used it's pick #129, 4th round, they'll have made 4 picks and we will have made 6. Pick a Pittsburgh pick and we'll be in better shape at that point in the draft than they will.

True. But that does not negate my contention that the Steelers could be looking at their draft picks to get younger through the draft.

 

[Miguel]

Ted Washington

Ted Washington was in 2003.
In 2004, there was???
In 2005, there was???

The cap is more than a third higher now ($102 million) that it was in 2003 ($75 million). As the cap has increased over the years, the number of impact players acquired by the Pats post 6/1 has decreased over the years to none in the past 2 years. Why expect a reversal of that trend???

 

[kolbitr]

True. But that does not negate my contention that the Steelers could be looking at their draft picks to get younger through the draft.

Quite right. My own earlier point was merely that despite the Steelers having signed more people in free agency, and lost fewer, they had mostly signed their own players, and few of those could be considered impact performers. It seems that both teams have lost three important players, with Adam being the most painful loss, perhaps. We've let more of our own small fry depart, mostly amicably (e.g., Fauria, Chatham).

In their mutual prudence, both teams could be commended, not chastened. And the draft should be very interesting.

 

[BelichickFan]

True. But that does not negate my contention that the Steelers could be looking at their draft picks to get younger through the draft.

Yep. I don't think any media people should accuse the Patriots or Steelers of making a mistake losing FA and replacing them through draft choices as they've both been succesful doing it.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

The most telling lines for me:

Is there anyone out there who can make a 48-yard kick? Yep, and the Colts just signed him. All I know about Vinatieri is that he nailed every big field goal of his career and was the most important specialist in the game. More than that, he was a security blanket for the Patriots, a club that knew it could win every close game because it had a can't-miss kicker. Well, now he's gone, and, for the life of me, I still can't figure out why.

Well, obviously TPTB saw a reason not to give him a guaranteed contract. . . . we'll just have to wait and see if we can figure out what it was.