It's amazing how people misremember history. Felger was doing the same thing yesterday, saying 2007 was the last year they "loaded up" in free agency. You know who they signed in free agency in 2007? Kyle Brady, Sammy Morris, Kelley Washington, and Donte Stallworth, all of them for minor deals. Welker was their biggest sign, and he was a RFA: we sent 2nd and 7th rounders for him and and gave him $18 million over 5 years. Moss was a flier on a down-and-out veteran; we gave up a 4th rounder and paid him $3 million that year (he had to restructure to come).
So yes, we signed a lot of guys, but none of them were break-the-bank signs. In fact they were very much in the spirit of last year's Ochocinco and Haynesworth deals -- plays for seemingly undervalued talent, made at minimal long-term risk. Moss didn't get his big deal until the next year, after he'd proven himself with the Pats.
Oh, and by the way, the Pats also lost a lot of their own free agents that year, including some big ones. Dan Graham, Corey Dillon, Tebucky Jones, Banta-Cain -- they all left. While a lot of us were pleased about the Welker deal, which came early in free agency, the Moss deal wasn't until the draft.
The Patriots never come out on the first day of free agency hurling money around and peeing on every tree. The closest they ever came to that was when they went after Colvin. But they almost always spend all the money they have and acquire lots of guys, eventually.
It's natural to freak out when free agency starts and your team's big sign is Niko Koutovides. But it's also not rational. We were never going to give Vincent Jackson $13 million a year. But they do have money this year and I'm sure they will spend it on somebody. They also have lots of ammo for a trade, and there are probably guys we're not thinking of who will be part of the team next year. If a 31 year-old receiver like Lloyd signs elsewhere for a lot of money, that will be a drag, but hardly the end of the world.
