From Louis D,
"As far as free agency, I would concentrate young "up and comer" type players that haven't had the chance to shine. There may not be a lot of them out there, but they're out there.
As far as the draft, pick the best player available in the first round. If the BPA is a low character guy then get the next. The top of the draft has players that would be an upgrade at their respective position. The only exception would be WR.
The only position I would reach for would be for a kick returner. Preferred a CB or RB. It's a position that has been long ignored."
Louis,
There is nothing wrong with your theory. Fewer and fewer teams are letting those "young, up and comer types" go into free agency. You will see teams signing young players a year or two before their contract is up. I think the Eagles started this trend about five years ago. They started giving their good young players 5 year deals and people around the league were scratching their heads. Guys like Shawn Andrews, Lito Sheppard, Trent Cole, and even Mike Patterson were all in their second or third year of their rookie contracts when the Eagles came to them to do a new deal. The player is all for this deal when it happens. They are getting market deals when their contract isn't even up. The team looks silly for giving these players all of this money when they don't have to, but in two or three years when these same players become Pro Bowlers or even very good players, the teams have these guys locked into their contracts at below market salaries. The Bengals did this last year with Domata Peko and Andrew Whitworth.
You will still see good players enter free agency. Either they are veteran players who are salary cap casualties, or the player comes from a team that believes in the draft to build their team and they only pay a handful of people. A team like the Colts.
The bottom line is, NFL teams have to draft well. They can't afford to miss on guys very often. Use free agency to supplement your team.
As to your draft theory, taking the best player available is one thing, but you better be able to use him. And he better be able to play at the next level. There are plenty of players that were picked because they were the best players available and they are not helping their team. I think teams should pick the guy that will help your team the most. That's when teams get into trouble. Prime example, the Bears took Cedric Benson a few years ago when they had a young cheap Thomas Jones in their backfield. How did that work out? They ended up trading Thomas Jones to the Jets, where he made the Pro Bowl this season. Cedric Benson was released and is here in Cincinnati, where he is about to hit free agency after a good 2008 season. And the Bears ended up using second round pick in the 2008 draft on RB Matt Forte, who had a very good rookie season. It ended up working out well for all parties involved but that's not how they drew it up.
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