TD hoarding cap money is good

[mr. pudding]

I was thinking what are the falcons going to do with all that cap money. Then, while looking at other teams cap woes, it clicked. As soon as these teams draft new players, they will have to shed salaries. That's when TD will jump out of the woodwork & get some steals in atlanta. I think it will get spent, but spent wisely. I hope to get some quality steals that way.

[georgiafan34]

you have a good point but i think TD will continue to always rely on the draft more than anything. id say about 25% free agents 75% draft

[Chitown2ATL_Falcon]

you have a good point but i think TD will continue to always rely on the draft more than anything. id say about 25% free agents 75% draft

I agree.

[Bartkowski]

Build thru the draft and fill in the rest with a free agent or two. That seem like a sound philosophy to me.

[st4ngeI2]

you have a good point but i think TD will continue to always rely on the draft more than anything. id say about 25% free agents 75% draft

I would agree there - we want a dynasty, not a one-hit wonder...look at the consistency of the Steelers....

[g-dawg]

I think you will see the Falcons in a "perpetual state" of staying under the salary cap. There really is little correlation between teams that spend the most and those who get to the SuperBowl - The Steelers are always in good cap shape. Arizona has tons of money under the cap. The Titans did as well and still chose not to burn money on Albert Haynesworth.

I am fine with Falcons always being $15 - $25 million under - what that means is Falcons can take advantage every year when there is value in free agency....

[ket222]

sorry, i completely disagree. For the life of me I don't know what is wrong with getting more TALENT (real impact players) if we happen to have the money (I understand about trying not to overpay) Sorry, but we're not going to win the Super Bowl entirely through the draft.

[ToP-oF-tHe-ClAsS]

That seems to be what the Pats do. I mean they did reach out and get Moss. A big splash every so often is what I would expect.

[Brewcrew]

sorry, i completely disagree. For the life of me I don't know what is wrong with getting more TALENT (real impact players) if we happen to have the money (I understand about trying not to overpay) Sorry, but we're not going to win the Super Bowl entirely through the draft.

The best players - physically, mentally, and emotionally - don't make it to free agency. You have to draft the talent, develop them into players that operate the way you want them to, then use your money under the cap to sign them long term. There are few top notch players with no baggage that hit the market. Turner was an exception because he happened to play behind a once in a lifetime running back.

I believe the front office would be signing every free agent available if they believed that the players fit our scheme, are quality locker room guys and are good value for the money they are demanding. Unfortunately that is rarely the case.

[DurtyBirds02]

The best players - physically, mentally, and emotionally - don't make it to free agency. You have to draft the talent, develop them into players that operate the way you want them to, then use your money under the cap to sign them long term. There are few top notch players with no baggage that hit the market. Turner was an exception because he happened to play behind a once in a lifetime running back.

I believe the front office would be signing every free agent available if they believed that the players fit our scheme, are quality locker room guys and are good value for the money they are demanding. Unfortunately that is rarely the case.

I agree. You cant buy a superbowl team. Just ask Jerry Jones.

[Finally]

sorry, i completely disagree. For the life of me I don't know what is wrong with getting more TALENT (real impact players) if we happen to have the money (I understand about trying not to overpay) Sorry, but we're not going to win the Super Bowl entirely through the draft.

Who would you have signed that was a good talent that was not over-priced?

[ltstorm1]

What's with this " look at the patriots, they build through the draft, they don't bring free agents in besides Moss" Ya'll are blind as ****. The patriots bring in more free agents than most teams every year. They just normally arn't the Randy Moss's.

They are the 2nd and 3rd tier agents that most people here want on our boards.

I have no idea where this "the patriots don't bring in players" mess came from.

Just this year alone they got " Chris Baker, Leigh Bodden* who many loved,Shawn Springs,and Fred Taylor"

So like the original poster said, it may be likely that TD will pick up players after the draft.

[B_ELLIS24]

I agree. You cant buy a superbowl team. Just ask Jerry Jones.

or Dan Snyder.

[Jaymadd]

What's with this " look at the patriots, they build through the draft, they don't bring free agents in besides Moss" Ya'll are blind as ****. The patriots bring in more free agents than most teams every year. They just normally arn't the Randy Moss's.

They are the 2nd and 3rd tier agents that most people here want on our boards.

I have no idea where this "the patriots don't bring in players" mess came from.

Just this year alone they got " Chris Baker, Leigh Bodden* who many loved,Shawn Springs,and Fred Taylor"

So like the original poster said, it may be likely that TD will pick up players after the draft.

You dont get it, The Patriots are adding to the core of players that they drafted, not adding a core through FA.

[Trouble]

Then explain abe vs anderson... fa vs 1 round pic.

While we could go back and fourth on examples... Imagine had we cut abe what we would be like on D.

Experience doesn't always mean bad players. Grady did great for us... another FA.

Owww lets not forget morton anderson... FA or terance mathis... another FA

Some of the falcons best players have been free agents while players we draft like Hall, vick, j. williams, anderson have flopped.

Its one thing to rebuild to get younger through the draft. But experience gets you to the super bowl.

and the old golden example is bret favre.. we drafted and another team grabbed and look how that worked out for them.

[Sic'Em Dawgs]

Then explain abe vs anderson... fa vs 1 round pic.

While we could go back and fourth on examples... Imagine had we cut abe what we would be like on D.

Experience doesn't always mean bad players. Grady did great for us... another FA.

Owww lets not forget morton anderson... FA or terance mathis... another FA

Some of the falcons best players have been free agents while players we draft like Hall, vick, j. williams, anderson have flopped.

Its one thing to rebuild to get younger through the draft. But experience gets you to the super bowl.

and the old golden example is bret favre.. we drafted and another team grabbed and look how that worked out for them.

Those are all PRE-TD player...so to compare these player is pointless. Does no good because you dont know who TD would have gotten in their place in the draft. And I am a draft guy now I know its hit or miss. But so far TD is doing pretty good and he is using good logic too. YES you can go out and get a guy like AH. But I can bet you money maybe not right at the begin but in due time he will begin to lose a step. Unlike a young guy who is going to get big and stronger because they are younger. It all comes down to potiental...Would you rather pay out the nose for someone you know is only going to get older and slower or someone who is young and cheap and could get faster and better.

As a side question can anyone remember the last time a team used the "WIN NOW' state of mind and did win? I cant

[Finally]

and the old golden example is bret favre.. we drafted and another team grabbed and look how that worked out for them.

Favre sabotaged himself here. You can't really blame us for trading him.

[skynyrd04]

I agree with the original thought. We might well make a late signing when the cap casualties start to roll out.

[georgiafan34]

Then explain abe vs anderson... fa vs 1 round pic.

While we could go back and fourth on examples... Imagine had we cut abe what we would be like on D.

Experience doesn't always mean bad players. Grady did great for us... another FA.

Owww lets not forget morton anderson... FA or terance mathis... another FA

Some of the falcons best players have been free agents while players we draft like Hall, vick, j. williams, anderson have flopped.

Its one thing to rebuild to get younger through the draft. But experience gets you to the super bowl.

and the old golden example is bret favre.. we drafted and another team grabbed and look how that worked out for them.

abe wasnt a FA. we traded a 1st round pick for him

[Trouble]

Dont get me wrong.. i have nothing but respect for what the FO did last season and enjoyed every week of it. It was a great year for us.

But while a experienced player might lose a step a rookie might be a flat out bust or even worse we train them for another team. Like Favre.

But every year the top 10 draft players are blindly supported by their teams fanbase. Like calvin johnson. So many people said "just signing him will make any team a super bowl team". We saw how that went. Nothing against him or his talent but when you have cards ripping it up through the air you have to wonder how much of a impact CJ had.

Now take CJ and think if the lions cont to suck for the next couple years and wanna rebuild again. They drafted him just as trade bate. They will trade him away for a draft pick like they did the wr that went to dallas mid season who later replaced TO.

The draft is a lottery.. We had a great draft last year, but on the other hand we didnt have a choice and starters left. So those guys who would have normally backed up skilled players got throw into the hot seat fast. We once again look to be doing that. But teams have film on us now. We wont shock any going into a hurry up in the first quarter.

Our D was lackluster last season and our vets had to play it safe to make up for that. Hence why we spent so much time in zone covage. id be willing to bet we become really good at zone coverage again this season unless we FIX that Dline.

No pass rush and we will be forced to defend the pass and forget the run. The experience factor comes in to avoid timing routes and holes used to exploit zone coverages.

Ill eat med rare crow if we can draft enough players to get our D among the 10 ten D teams this season. But a young D vs a vet ravens D is a tough argument.

All im saying is last season teams didnt know what to expect from us, and a few probably didn't expect much. So we caught them off guard. As the season went on snap counts, goto plays started becoming predictable and planned for. So we cant rely on the O to outscore everyone. At some point our D has to be able to stop teams. Rookies have heart and passion and will play their heart out, but also make rookie mistakes and can be picked on or exploited.

At some point we have to stop being a rebuilding team and become a good team. Not signing any of our own free agents except backups, is a odd message in itself. You have to wonder if those draft saviors wont also jump ship because they dont expect to get payed here anymore.

But its still early in the off season and a bigger plan could still unfold.

[Mr Pickle1]

sorry, i completely disagree. For the life of me I don't know what is wrong with getting more TALENT (real impact players) if we happen to have the money (I understand about trying not to overpay) Sorry, but we're not going to win the Super Bowl entirely through the draft.

And TD knows that. See last year, when we grabbed Turner and Coleman.

After looking at the figures, when you factor in releasing vick and signing our Draft picks, and Peterson...we don't have that much money left. Certainly not enough to get one of the big time guys like Bart Scott or Haynesworth.

We weren't active in FA because we flat out couldn't afford to be this year, not because we don't think FA can be very valuable. We'll go after guys next year, once we get Vick out of the way.

[tweek]

I was thinking what are the falcons going to do with all that cap money. Then, while looking at other teams cap woes, it clicked. As soon as these teams draft new players, they will have to shed salaries. That's when TD will jump out of the woodwork & get some steals in atlanta. I think it will get spent, but spent wisely. I hope to get some quality steals that way.

I'll take what TD is doing with the Falcons any day, compared to 'Throw money at over-hyped Free Agents and buy a Trophy (cough: cough: Redskins, ermm: Yankees).

[Trouble]

compared to 'Throw money at over-hyped Free Agents

Yeah i agree thats a slippery slope.. Once you pay 1 player 100 mill then you can bet the player next to him wants that 100 mill deal as well. Its like digging your own grave. It becomes more about the contract with only players performing in their last year of contract than about winning as a team.

But at some point we cant keep losings half of 1 side of the ball. We will have to resign someone and pay them. The conentrate more on holes instead of rebuilding.

[Finally]

Ill eat med rare crow if we can draft enough players to get our D among the 10 ten D teams this season. But a young D vs a vet ravens D is a tough argument.

I don't think a top 10 is in the cards for us this year no matter what. We didn't have the money to make major FA movements and the draft is going to bring us a lot of green. We will probably do good to float back up to the middle with more definitive progress next year. Now I should mention I made very similiar comments about our offense last year and I hope to be proven as wrong but I doubt TD has enough tricks left to pull off a top offense and defense in only 2 years. 3 is more probable.

Unfortunately this means that we may all be on heart medication by the end of next season from all the close finishes. Ryan thought this year was tough...

[neko]

I doubt TD has enough tricks left to pull off a top offense and defense in only 2 years. 3 is more probable.

Unfortunately this means that we may all be on heart medication by the end of next season from all the close finishes. Ryan thought this year was tough...

i totally agree. this project has 2 more years to go before its running on all cylinders. next season will need some patience for barely a winning record (but at least it will break the streak.)