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Watching the Jaguars bid big money on good but not great free agents, I found myself contemplating this cycle:
- Draft badly, so you lose a lot of games
- Having drafted badly, your young players aren't worth big money to retain so you have a ton of FA money you're required to spend
- Have trouble attracting top FAs because of losing record
- Overspend for FAs who aren't good enough to make much of a difference
- Pricy, low-talent roster underperforms and locker room turns toxic...making it less likely that future draft picks will flourish
IMO it all starts with missing on high draft picks. As we sit here wondering how the Pats can afford to keep all of McCourty, Solder, Hightower, Jones and Collins, take a look at who Jax picked much higher in those same drafts:
2010: Trade for (Devin McCourty + Aaron Hernandez + Taylor Price) at #22 vs. Tyson Alualu #10
2011: Solder at #17 and trade for (Shane Vereen + most of Chandler Jones) at #28 vs. Blaine Gabbert #10
2012: Jones at #21, Hightower at #25 vs. Justin Blackmon #5
2013: Trade for (Jaime Collins + Logan Ryan + Josh Boyce + most of LaGarrette Blount) at #29 vs. Luke Joeckel at #2
To sum up: the Patriots spent 3,878 draft value points and reaped McCourty, Hernandez, Price, Solder, Vereen, Jones, Hightower, Collins, Ryan, Boyce and Blount.
The Jaguars spent 6,900 draft value points and reaped Alualu, Gabbert, Blackmon and Joeckel.
- Draft badly, so you lose a lot of games
- Having drafted badly, your young players aren't worth big money to retain so you have a ton of FA money you're required to spend
- Have trouble attracting top FAs because of losing record
- Overspend for FAs who aren't good enough to make much of a difference
- Pricy, low-talent roster underperforms and locker room turns toxic...making it less likely that future draft picks will flourish
IMO it all starts with missing on high draft picks. As we sit here wondering how the Pats can afford to keep all of McCourty, Solder, Hightower, Jones and Collins, take a look at who Jax picked much higher in those same drafts:
2010: Trade for (Devin McCourty + Aaron Hernandez + Taylor Price) at #22 vs. Tyson Alualu #10
2011: Solder at #17 and trade for (Shane Vereen + most of Chandler Jones) at #28 vs. Blaine Gabbert #10
2012: Jones at #21, Hightower at #25 vs. Justin Blackmon #5
2013: Trade for (Jaime Collins + Logan Ryan + Josh Boyce + most of LaGarrette Blount) at #29 vs. Luke Joeckel at #2
To sum up: the Patriots spent 3,878 draft value points and reaped McCourty, Hernandez, Price, Solder, Vereen, Jones, Hightower, Collins, Ryan, Boyce and Blount.
The Jaguars spent 6,900 draft value points and reaped Alualu, Gabbert, Blackmon and Joeckel.