Originally posted by Marvin49:Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:Originally posted by Marvin49:Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:
Clearly I'm not a capologist or as informed as many of the posters on this site, so someone please tell me, what are we saving our money for? All I heard all off season is that we don’t wont to waist money on FA because we want to sign our own guys. However, "our guys" seems to mean V.Davis and P.Willy. Outside of that, the only guys we are willing to pay are role players and FAs on the cheap. Well news flash, that’s not going to get it done. You would think that if we really are holding out to sign "our guys, " we would have a really good idea who "our guys" are. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they didn't go out and give a bunch of money to Goldson and Franklin, but I'm a little annoyed we haven't extended Lawson. Sure he might cost a little more than he is worth, but so is the nature of FA. Besides, you dont get brownie points for being under the cap. Why not sign Lawson to a decent sized contract and then bring in a "real pass rusher?" If need be, let Lawson play the weak side. He's not so bad in the passrush that you can always assume he will play coverage. Bottom-line, I just don’t get why we have so many penny pinchers around here always worried about money spent when we aren't even close to hitting the cap ceiling and we clearly are missing a few pieces (passrush,cbs,saftey, wr, Qb)
Who exactly should they be spending their money on?
Lawson? OLB who doesn't pass rush very well. Yes, he's a good player, but we don't even know what his contract demands are.
Goldson? I'm not impressed.
Free Agents? Who exactly? The issue is not that the team is unwilling to spend, its that they want to spend CORRECTLY. Who was out there that the Niners SHOULD have spent big money on?
The Niners have made it a habit to build with the draft and they have awarded extensions early to the guys who panned out (Gore, Willis, Davis). The Niners have awarded big contracts in the past to Clements and Justin Smith.
You should never spend for the sake of spending. You spend when there is siomeone out there worth spending on.
Additionally, sometimes the best moves are CHEAP ones...like say signing Troy Smith the week before the season starts.
I guess my biggest issue is that it feels like managment and many Zoners on here only want a player if we are "getting a deal." It's like we are so affraid that we wont get what we paid for that we don't do anything. The reality is, that only works if you are the Pats or Colts and through scheme alone you can turn average players into superstars. If anything we are the exact opposite. We need to pay for all the talent we can get because we've shown an inability to develop players. Guys like Gore and Willis would have been great regardless.
Truthfully, you can find issues with any player when they hit the FA market. By nature of the bidding process you will have to over pay, especially if you are a bottom feeder team like we've become. You ask who would I have signed. I'm not sure, but it feels like we are never in the running for marque talent (B.Marshall, Comartie, J.Taylor, Lynch, Merriman, McNabb, Haynesworth, V.Jackson) I'm not saying all those guys should be signed, but it seems like we aren't interested in anyone. Yet WINNING TEAMS like the Jets are on an FA splurge.
I give the Niners no credit for signing Davis and Willis. That can be chalked up to a no brainer PR move.
WOW. Totally disagree.
You're also kinda making my point. The players you just listed...
B.Marshall: Was a trade, not a FA. Character Issues.
Comartie: Also a trade. Character Issues.
J.Taylor: OLD and no better than what they have.Lynch: Trade, and at a position where the Niners are STACKED.
Merriman: Wouldn't be an upgrade this season (hurt) and will be a FA after the season.
McNabb: Trade. Also has only played in the WCO...something we no longer run.
Haynesworth: Are you kidding?
V.Jackson: Again...TRADE.
Almost all of those guys were trades where you have to give up more than money. They weren't worth the picks either.
Its also not about getting a good deal (altho thats nice). Its OK to overpay at positions of great need (see Clements, Nate). That doesn't mean tho that you overpay for every player. You pick and shoose and see if its worth it to overpay.
Building a team on nothing but high priced FAs gets you the Washington Redskins. It doesn't work.
...oh, and as for the "no brainer"...thats funny. The Niners can't even get credit for making the RIGHT choices...lol. They made both moves with time left on those players contracts. They got them cheaper because they got them early. You call it a no-brainer, but MANY teams don't make the no-brainer move.
First off, I'm one of those guys that thinks draft picks over proven players are highly overrated. How has picking at the top the last eight years turned us into champions? You can say the same thing about a lot of bottom dweller teams. Willis, Davis, Gore, Iupati, A.Davis, Goldson, A.Smith, Crabtree, Lawson, Morgan and on and on are all draft picks of the Niners. Yet, we still haven't produced a winning season. Furthermore, with the exception of Willis and Gore, we had to wait years to develop these guys. So excuse me if I dont shed a tear for giving up a draft pick or two for a proven guy like Marshall or V.Jackson. Even if we pick a couple of guys up next year that are very solid, it will probably take a few years to become dominate. How big is our window for taking over the west anyway? Bottom line, I dont think there is one correct way to build a team anymore. Whether you do it through the draft or FA doesn't really matter. The salary cap and FA has changed the game.
I love when guys have nothing majorly negative to say about a players game so they default to "character issues." What are you looking for, a team full of boy scouts? A bunch of Nolan guys? All those guys I listed had produced at a high level at one time. All I'm saying is you can't be afraid to take a flyer or two at a player that may have some question marks. If they are perfect in every aspect your going to pay through the nose anyway (see Nate Clements). Just as you dont win championships trying to buy a Superbowl team, you dont win Superbowls by "bargan shopping" unless you have extrodinary coaching talent (which we dont).
P.S. No one is saying we should flood the team with high priced FAs, but I also think we've been too conservative in the FA/Trade market. We are like the Alex Smith of front offices. We play not to lose.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Signing Willis and VD is a "no-brainer." Just because there are a number of teams too dumb to do it, doesn't mean it's not obvious. It's one thing if you are a constant Superbowl contender and everyone wants to be here, but when your us, you better get those guys signed.
[ Edited by Oakland-Niner on Nov 20, 2010 at 09:56:42 ]
