On . . . freeagency

On . . . free agency

Since the NFL doesn’t have an offseason anymore, the biggest news has been the free agency period which opened several weeks ago.

This is the time when teams go nuts trying to buy the best available players. The only problem is that they are not really the best available players. Sure there are some great players to be had (Asante Samuel is one of the best cornerbacks in the game), but most of the really great players are subjected to Franchise Player tag (where the team they play for can keep them from hitting the market as long as they pay the player the average of the top five players at their position).

Our main rivals, the Cleveland Browns (remember, I’m a Bengals fan) made a huge splash early. They made two trades to get a pair of new defensive tackles (Chris Williams from Green Bay and Shaun Rogers from Detroit). They also signed a couple aging veterans to some big contracts. Of course, they also traded away their first round pick last year when they acquired Dallas’ first round pick to select Brady Quinn (who is stuck on the bench now that Derek Anderson has emerged for the Browns).

When the draft rolls around in less than a month, Cleveland won’t select until the fourth round.

Smart move?

It seems like every NFL expert is not only proclaiming them the team to beat in the AFC North, but they are also already anointment them the next New York Giants.

If you look closely at what the Giants did in free agency last year, you’ll see a drastic different.

Last year the Giants didn’t sign any spectacular free agents. They did, however, get three superb players via the draft: Griffith, a first round cornerback from Texas who started several games for them, Kevin Boss, a sixth round tight end who more than filled in for Jeremy Shockey when he got hurt, and Ahmad Bradshaw, a seventh round gem at running back who led them in rushing in their Super Bowl virctory, and.

The problem with trying to fix your team in free agency is that so few free agents are ever worth the contracts they sign. Last year everyone was ready to see San Francisco win the NFC West after all of their signings (they made Nate Clemens the highest paid cornerback in NFL history), yet they struggled to win five games.

Just look at the Washington Redskins. Each year their owner Daniel Snieder goes nuts. He opens his checkbook and buys the best talent available. Each year they lose.

The draft is the only way to really build a strong franchise.

Sure, the Patriots had a huge free agency haul: Randy Moss, Wes Welker (well, those were really trades – that’s a different story altogether), and Adalius Thomas. Free agency worked well for them.

But there was a difference: two years ago they were a miracle Peyton Manning comeback from going to the ’07 Super Bowl and destroying the Bears. So signing a few key players was just enough to turn an already great roster into an absolutely dominant one.

Plus, the Patriots never, ever trade away their draft picks. In fact, the Patriots always end up with MORE draft picks. For example – they had two first round picks last year, but they didn’t really need two first round players, so they traded their second first round pick to San Francisco. In turn they received Frisco’s first round pick THIS year, leaving them with two first round picks in the ’08 draft.

This was a brilliant move. When the commissioner docked them a first round pick for the spygate scandal, it was no big deal. So what if they forfeit the 31st pick in the draft? They have the 49ers first round pick (and because the 49ers did terribly this year, that means the Patriots have the seventh overall choice). Thanks to some shrewd trades, the first team to go 16-0 in a regular season has a top ten pick. The rich get richer, right?

The Patriots know that the way to build a team is through the draft. You can hit on a few free agents to help a great team become a legendary one, but that’s it.

If memory serves me correctly, things only turned around for the Patriots (and let’s not forget, they were laughing stocks of the league for a lot of the early 90s) when the drafted some kid out of Michigan, Tom Brady.

He only became the greatest QB since Favre and the second coming of Joe Montana (the greatest quarterback ever). That was aided by the drafting of some great defensive linemen and corners. Then they added a great running back (Maroney) and a great tight end (Watson). Now you have a team.

The Browns have had some nice picks recently (Edwards, Winlsow, and some defensive players), but they also made some of the worst picks in the history of the NFL (remember Courtney Brown? Gerald Warren? Tim Couch? William Green?).

The lesson: you live and die through the draft (remember what happened when the Vikings traded several years worth of draft picks to the Cowboys for one Herschell Walker? The Cowboys made some good picks with those draft choices and won three Super Bowls and the Vikings took years to recover). Free agency is a huge gamble. Most of the players will play one or two years and then get cut because they haven’t performed up to the money in their contracts.

But if you draft a player and develop him, you can keep him and build your franchise around him (like the Patriots have done with Tom Brady, the Eagles with Donovan McNabb, and the Chargers with LT).

So let’s not go anointing the Browns Super Bowl champs yet. Just remember when everyone thought the Raiders were going back to the Super Bowl when they traded for Randy Moss. Or when Denver signed the entire Cleveland Browns defensive line. Or when the Redskins signed every player available.

It’s not how much you spend. It’s how well you draft and how wisely you spend. Although that approach doesn’t look very sexy in the offseason.

Don’t believe me? Just see how many players the Packers added in free agency (one – a back up cornerback) – yet they were in the NFC championship game. Look at how many players the Colts added (zero) and they did pretty well. The same is true for the Jaguars and Steelers, another pair of playoff teams.

When the Browns realize that two or three of their big ticket defensive linemen aren’t worth the investment, they’ll have to cut them and take the salary cap hit. But who will replace them when they aren’t picking until the fourth round?

Unless, of course, you consider the Browns to be one player away from winning the Super Bowl. But then again, this is the Browns we’re talking about – not the Patriots.