fordfixer
03-03-2009, 10:47 PM
Free agency? Holding your own best move of all
March 3, 2009
By Pete Prisco
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11453340/2
The Pittsburgh Steelers won a Super Bowl last month with arguably one of the worst offensive lines in the history of the big game.
At least it appeared that way on paper. They played better than their reputation, and good enough in the three-game postseason run.
It was a five-man group the Steelers brass put together from drafting of players, one free agent, and an injury replacement at left tackle. After playing well in the playoffs, it was a line the Steelers wanted to keep together, a five-man unit they felt is good enough to win a title again.
So when two of the starters from that Super Bowl line were set to become unrestricted free agents, the Steelers did what they do as well as any team in the league.
They kept their own.
That's why they've won two Super Bowls in four years and a considered one of the top teams in the league heading into 2009.
It's really not rocket science to be successful in this league, and the Steelers are proof. The formula: Draft well, make sure you keep your own when you want them, and then have replacements in place when you think it's time to let a player walk.
The Steelers have not signed one player from another team in this year's free-agency market. They've actually lost one in third receiver Nate Washington and might lose corner Bryant McFadden.
But they've kept the guys they want. They re-signed tackle Max Starks and guard Chris Kemoeatu.
"Fortunately, most of our free agents, 90-95 percent of them, they want to stay," Steelers director of player personnel Kevin Colbert said at the scouting combine. "I'm not just talking this year, I'm talking years past. They're going to give us an opportunity. Now, they have to do what they have to do for them from a financial standpoint, we understand that. But if we have a chance to match what they're going to get, that's good. Most of our guys want that opportunity to stay here."
With Washington gone, the Steelers are ready with Limas Sweed and Martin Nance, second-year players ready to step in and play.
At the beginning of free agency in the 1990s, teams sometimes looked past their own players at the chance to land a player from another team. But that wasn't always successful. You had to assimilate players into what you wanted them to do for your team. It was an adjustment. Their families had to move, and that could be a strain on a player.
Not happy at home, not happy at work.
That led to the recent notion that maybe somebody else's trash really wasn't your treasure after all, Maybe your treasure was actually hidden right there on your roster.
"Back then," said one AFC personnel director. "We all thought it was better to sign people just for the sake of signing people. It made us look good. We didn't give our own guys the attention they deserved."
Fast forward to this year. While there has still been an early frenzy of players going from one team to another, the market was thinned greatly due to so many teams using the franchise tag on players. A record 14 players were franchised, limiting their ability to move.
"I think the franchise tags have changed over the course of free agency, and a big part of that of that is, teams are doing a much better job of keeping their own guys so there is a more limited group of free agents that are available," Colbert said.
The Atlanta Falcons were active last year in the first year of general manager Thomas Dimitroff on the job. Coming off a terrible 2007 season, the Falcons had so many holes they had to fill free agency was a strong option. They signed running back Michael Turner and handful of others.
But after an 11-5 season, and a playoff berth, the Falcons have changed their thinking. They haven't signed one free agent, but they have kept defensive end Chauncey Davis, a player they targeted.
"I think free agency in general throws a lot of things off. When you look at it from a business perspective and you look at our cap, ultimately that's not how we want to personally build," Dimitroff said. "We want to stress the draft. To throw double-digit millions in guaranteed money and a high average per year money into a player who is not a part of your system and coming from another situation, that really has me back on my heels a little bit to be honest with you."
I couldn't agree more. So if your team hasn't signed any marquee players, don't fret. In fact, give them props.
Keeping your own now is much more important than bringing in somebody else's castoffs. Teams are finely wising up to that.
March 3, 2009
By Pete Prisco
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11453340/2
The Pittsburgh Steelers won a Super Bowl last month with arguably one of the worst offensive lines in the history of the big game.
At least it appeared that way on paper. They played better than their reputation, and good enough in the three-game postseason run.
It was a five-man group the Steelers brass put together from drafting of players, one free agent, and an injury replacement at left tackle. After playing well in the playoffs, it was a line the Steelers wanted to keep together, a five-man unit they felt is good enough to win a title again.
So when two of the starters from that Super Bowl line were set to become unrestricted free agents, the Steelers did what they do as well as any team in the league.
They kept their own.
That's why they've won two Super Bowls in four years and a considered one of the top teams in the league heading into 2009.
It's really not rocket science to be successful in this league, and the Steelers are proof. The formula: Draft well, make sure you keep your own when you want them, and then have replacements in place when you think it's time to let a player walk.
The Steelers have not signed one player from another team in this year's free-agency market. They've actually lost one in third receiver Nate Washington and might lose corner Bryant McFadden.
But they've kept the guys they want. They re-signed tackle Max Starks and guard Chris Kemoeatu.
"Fortunately, most of our free agents, 90-95 percent of them, they want to stay," Steelers director of player personnel Kevin Colbert said at the scouting combine. "I'm not just talking this year, I'm talking years past. They're going to give us an opportunity. Now, they have to do what they have to do for them from a financial standpoint, we understand that. But if we have a chance to match what they're going to get, that's good. Most of our guys want that opportunity to stay here."
With Washington gone, the Steelers are ready with Limas Sweed and Martin Nance, second-year players ready to step in and play.
At the beginning of free agency in the 1990s, teams sometimes looked past their own players at the chance to land a player from another team. But that wasn't always successful. You had to assimilate players into what you wanted them to do for your team. It was an adjustment. Their families had to move, and that could be a strain on a player.
Not happy at home, not happy at work.
That led to the recent notion that maybe somebody else's trash really wasn't your treasure after all, Maybe your treasure was actually hidden right there on your roster.
"Back then," said one AFC personnel director. "We all thought it was better to sign people just for the sake of signing people. It made us look good. We didn't give our own guys the attention they deserved."
Fast forward to this year. While there has still been an early frenzy of players going from one team to another, the market was thinned greatly due to so many teams using the franchise tag on players. A record 14 players were franchised, limiting their ability to move.
"I think the franchise tags have changed over the course of free agency, and a big part of that of that is, teams are doing a much better job of keeping their own guys so there is a more limited group of free agents that are available," Colbert said.
The Atlanta Falcons were active last year in the first year of general manager Thomas Dimitroff on the job. Coming off a terrible 2007 season, the Falcons had so many holes they had to fill free agency was a strong option. They signed running back Michael Turner and handful of others.
But after an 11-5 season, and a playoff berth, the Falcons have changed their thinking. They haven't signed one free agent, but they have kept defensive end Chauncey Davis, a player they targeted.
"I think free agency in general throws a lot of things off. When you look at it from a business perspective and you look at our cap, ultimately that's not how we want to personally build," Dimitroff said. "We want to stress the draft. To throw double-digit millions in guaranteed money and a high average per year money into a player who is not a part of your system and coming from another situation, that really has me back on my heels a little bit to be honest with you."
I couldn't agree more. So if your team hasn't signed any marquee players, don't fret. In fact, give them props.
Keeping your own now is much more important than bringing in somebody else's castoffs. Teams are finely wising up to that.