NFL teams continue to sort through optional situations
regarding current personnel and incentives towards free agent prospects. Many
teams approach free agency with the win now mindset while others approach free
agency with the conserve and build mindset. The win now approach to free agency
is when a franchise exhaust much of its salary cap to acquire veteran players
at the end of their careers to increase the possibility of immediate success.
The Broncos used this approach last off-season when they signed 32 year old
defensive end Demarcus Ware to a $30 million contract. This year they'll lose
young agile tight end Julius Thomas who plans to sign with the Jacksonville
Jaguars for $46.5 million. The San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears also
impulsive in regards to the win-now approach signing their quarterbacks to $100
million contracts in before the 2014 season. That impulse in return cost them
cap space and showed to be bad investments by the unimpressive production for
both offensive leaders who failed to lead their teams to a playoff berth in
2014. The conserve and build approach is revolved about utilizing the salary
budget in a way that benefits the team not just now but in the long run. Most
Super Bowl winning teams (New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, and Seattle
Seahawks) use this approach in free agency and it has proven to be quite
effective. Let's review some deals that materialized yesterday and evaluate
both the short and long term implications team administrates will be faced
with.
Bring in the old and out with the new. The Detroit Lions
refused to sign Ndamukong Suh for $19 million. Though Suh is still at the prime
of his career, the discretion applied to the negotiable contract was rather
intelligent. The Lions loss a superstar
none the less but they retained a sizable amount of cap space that will be used
to acquire more players. Yesterday the Detroit Lions traded away two 2015 draft
picks (4th & 5th round) for Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata.
The contract expense amounts to half that of what Suh was requesting and the production
will more than likely be identical. On the flip side of the coin the Baltimore
Ravens using the conserve and build approach let Ngata go after 9 years of
proven ability. Baltimore plans to plug youngsters Brandon Williams and Timmy Jernigan
(2nd year player out of Florida State) into their defensive front and develop
them into all-pro essentials. The franchise believes they can build these
players into dominant defenders and utilize the remaining salary to import
players from the upcoming draft and conserve finance for up and coming players
they may need to compensate after following seasons. The Colts went forth and
signed HB Frank Gore (Age 31), OLB Trent Cole (Age 32) and WR Andre Johnson as
well. These acquisitions though blissful, will obliviously exhaust the salary
cap and complicate the finances for the following season. There is much to lose
and gain during the free agency period. Being insensitive to the long and short
term effects of impulsion can lead an organization into consecutive years of
relapse. The experienced of NFL teams understand its significance and follows through
by applying discretion.
