Free agent signings - losing our touch?

[SoonerPatriot]

I'm begging: Could we please layoff the resurrecting old threads kick? Some of us are here to keep up on what's going on NOW. Not re-hashing old crap.

We can always come back to this after Moss signs, we trade for Lito Shepherd, get Lance Briggs in a salary cap friendly deal, rob the Cowboys of their 2 first rounders for our 7th, sign Law, get back into the Calvin Pace derby, trade for Michael Huff and Karlos Dansby and clone Michael Haynes in his prime.

Thanks!

 

[Deus Irae]

These old threads are perfect in a time where the Chicken Littles display their usual amnesia. Keep bringing them to people's attention.

Thanks

 

[IcyPatriot]

These old threads are perfect in a time where the Chicken Littles display their usual amnesia. Keep bringing them to people's attention.

Thanks

Well said Deus ... well said. One would think 8 years of Belichickism would have rubbed off on all ... yet some resist.

 

[Wotan_the_Wanderer]

Are BB/SP losing their touch in free agency? Read on, and then let us know what you think...

Why isn't Adalius Thomas on this list?
Seems to me that he has proven himself to be a player and should be on the list of best FA acquisitions unless Reiss chose to cut off his sample pool at the '06 season which would be odd.

[edit] Just read the date of the OP and the recent replies so nevermind.

 

[Handel]

I agree completely, except:
Mays needs to be replaced by someone with talent.
Davis and Izzo's time is already up.

Davis? Don Davis? His time is up. He retired last year.

 

[PromisedLand]

I'm begging: Could we please layoff the resurrecting old threads kick? Some of us are here to keep up on what's going on NOW. Not re-hashing old crap.

We can always come back to this after Moss signs, we trade for Lito Shepherd, get Lance Briggs in a salary cap friendly deal, rob the Cowboys of their 2 first rounders for our 7th, sign Law, get back into the Calvin Pace derby, trade for Michael Huff and Karlos Dansby and clone Michael Haynes in his prime.

Thanks!

As the starter of this thread (almost exactly A YEAR AGO), I sure am surprised to see it pop up again! It's interesting to reread my first post and reconsider what I wrote at that time. Would I write it again today? After a season in which we signed Moss, Welker, Stallworth and AD (granting the first two were trades), I would say no way BB and SP have lost their touch.

So maybe it should serve as a reminder to everyone here to calm down, and remember that the season is not judged on March 1st, but on the day following the Super Bowl.

 

[PittPatriot]

I don't think we're losing our touch....but I am simply in awe of the HIGH sticker prices on these guys! It seems every deal is a multimillion dollar block buster this FA period! Is it temporary inflation or are teams gearning up for '2011 no salary cap' kind of talk?
Maybe BB and Pioli are smart to lay off for a while...

 

[PromisedLand]

Why isn't Adalius Thomas on this list?
Seems to me that he has proven himself to be a player and should be on the list of best FA acquisitions unless Reiss chose to cut off his sample pool at the '06 season which would be odd.

[edit] Just read the date of the OP and the recent replies so nevermind.

Because I wrote that February 27th, 2007. The free agent signing period didn't start until March 1st, so we hadn't even started discussions with Thomas yet.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

welker would have been a free agent signing had it not been for the pressure to work out a trade which they did. that is semantics.

I think AD has been pretty good thus far and we're only judging him on one year.

do you penalize the pats for TRADING for moss? i don't think so.

forget all of the above

 

[PromisedLand]

welker would have been a free agent signing had it not been for the pressure to work out a trade which they did. that is semantics.

I think AD has been pretty good thus far and we're only judging him on one year.

do you penalize the pats for TRADING for moss? i don't think so.

I don't know who you are addressing your remarks to, but if it is me, see this:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showpost.php?p=819495&postcount=46

 

[stcjones]

Are BB/SP losing their touch in free agency? Read on, and then let us know what you think...

Mike Reiss did a great list of our top 10 and bottom 10 free agent signings of the BB era. As I looked them over I couldn't help but be struck by the fact that all of the 10 best pickups occured before the 2003 season or earlier. In fact, all but 2 occured before the 2001 season which led to our first Super Bowl. The list of worst signings, by contrast, has a lot more recent signings.

Here's my breakdown:

Top 10 list, with year of signing

10. David Patten - 2001
9. Otis Smith - 2000
8. Bobby Hamilton - 2000
7. Larry Izzo - 2001
6. Joe Andruzzi - 2000
5. Roman Phifer - 2001
4. Antowain Smith - 2001
3. Rosevelt Colvin - 2003
2. Rodney Harrison - 2003
1. Mike Vrabel - 2001

Summary: 3 in 2000, 5 in 2001, 2 in 2003.
Average year of signing = (2000*3 + 2001*5 + 2003*2)/10 = 2001.1.

It is also worth noting that only two of the ten (Colvin and Harrison) were higher priced, sought after players. If you take them out of the equation you have 8 of the top 10 free agent signings in the BB era which all occured in 2000 or 2001.

Bottom 10 list, with year of signing

10. Eric Warfield - 2006
9. Antonio Langham - 2000
8. Panos/Stai/Tylski - 2001/2/3 IIRC (Reiss didn't say)
7. David Terrell - 2005
6. Steve Martin - 2002
5. Chad Brown - 2005
4. Fred McCrary - 2003
3. Rodney Bailey - 2004
2. Monty Beisel - 2005
1. Donald Hayes - 2002

Summary: (counting Panos/Stai/Tylski as one signing in the median year of 2002) 1 in 2000, 3 in 2002, 1 in 2003, 1 in 2004, 3 in 2005, and 1 in 2006.

Average year of signing = (2000*1 + 2002*3 + 2003*1 + 2004*1 + 2005*3 + 2006*1)/10 = 2003.4.

Comparing the above, the numbers definitely show that the top ten signings occurred early in BB/SP's reign, whereas the bottom ten have been almost uniformly distributed over their tenure.

So what does this mean? The success rate is definitely way down, but for what reason?

Some possibilities:

BB/SP have lost their touch.

There are too many teams now trying to emulate the Patriots success, and so competing for the same kind of player.

The pool of former BB players (Phifer/Hamilton/O-T-I-S has gone dry).

Discuss amongst yourselves...

How could D'Wayne "oh no I tripped over my jock strap again" Starks not have made the hall of SHAME list by Reiss?? He should be right up there........

 

[mgteich]

Did we really do badly getting contributers from other teams over the past couple of years????

Let's start with

Moss
Welker
Gaffney
Stallworth
Washington
Morris
Brady (a needed one year fix at blcoking TE)
Thomas
Seau

I think that this was pretty good work by the Front Office.

 

[Ice Cold Bruschi]

They were also building the team in 2000 & 2001, there are very few spots that need to be filled this year thus they don't need to sign that many guys.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I don't think any of us can rule anything out.

Who's to say that Spygate and the potential that one more scandal would result in a BB suspension isn't keeping top tielr free agents away?

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Otis Smith was signed in 2001. Not in 2000.