Quote:Reminds me of the 1990s.
Well, disagree sort of....
In the mid 1990's the Jags routinely signed among the best/ most high profile FA's available....
Searcy in 1996,
Means in 1996
Paup 1998
Brady in 1998
Lake in 1999
Nickerson in 2000
They were all high dollar long term deals too.
The contracts and players we are signing now are pretty much all low profile/ low money.
Quote:Well, disagree sort of....
In the mid 1990's the Jags routinely signed among the best/ most high profile FA's available....
Searcy in 1996,
Means in 1996
Brady in 1998
Lake in 1999
Nickerson in 2000
They were all high dollar long term deals too.
The contracts and players we are signing now are pretty much all low profile/ low money.
And we all saw where that lead.
Besides... hasn't Roger Goodell given order to all NFL players with talent not to sign with the Jags?
Quote:Well, disagree sort of....
In the mid 1990's the Jags routinely signed among the best/ most high profile FA's available....
Searcy in 1996,
Means in 1996
Brady in 1998
Lake in 1999
Nickerson in 2000
They were all high dollar long term deals too.
The contracts and players we are signing now are pretty much all low profile/ low money.
I get your point and agree with the distinction.
Nevertheless, there are some similarities in that in those days, the Jaguars always stuck very quickly in free agency, and signing a bunch of people was common.
Not all of the signings were big name guys either. Lageman, Simmons, Robinson were included with the bigger name guys.
SMH. It will never end until he is banned for good.
Quote:I get your point and agree with the distinction.
Nevertheless, there are some similarities in that in those days, the Jaguars always stuck very quickly in free agency, and signing a bunch of people was common.
Not all of the signings were big name guys either. Lageman, Simmons, Robinson were included with the bigger name guys.
Thats true about Lags & Robinson.....
However, I'd consider Clyde Simmons as a big "name" guy, despite him being near the end of his career. He was still one of the better DE's of the era. It would be like signing Peppers or Allen now.
Quote:And we all saw where that (signing big name free agents) lead.
See, I go back one step to examine the premature decline of the Jaguars.
I submit draft failures, and not the free agency expenditures, resulted in the collapse.
But for the Brian DeMarco miss, it's unlikely the team would have signed Leon Searcy.
Were it not for the Brian Schwartz miss, the team would not have spent on Nickerson.
Had Chris Hudson developed into a good free safety, there would be no need for the Carnell Lake signing.
Bryce Paup would not have been a factor had the team hit on Hamilton in 1997.
Heck, if you look at our team now, we have, what, two projected starters at this point that the Jaguars actually drafted on defense (Cyprien and Gratz).
Had we done better in the draft, we wouldn't be bringing in all of these guys now.
Blame the drafts, not the free agency.
Quote:See, I go back one step to examine the premature decline of the Jaguars.
I submit draft failures, and not the free agency expenditures, resulted in the collapse.
But for the Brian DeMarco miss, it's unlikely the team would have signed Leon Searcy.
Were it not for the Brian Schwartz miss, the team would not have spent on Nickerson.
Had Chris Hudson developed into a good free safety, there would be no need for the Carnell Lake signing.
Bryce Paup would not have been a factor had the team hit on Hamilton in 1997.
Heck, if you look at our team now, we have, what, two projected starters at this point that the Jaguars actually drafted on defense (Cyprien and Gratz).
Had we done better in the draft, we wouldn't be bringing in all of these guys now.
Blame the drafts, not the free agency.
Good points above. Agreed.
Coughlin generally hit with the first round pretty well, (5 of the 8 were pro bowl level, IIRC) after that, its was largely hit or miss.
Quote:See, I go back one step to examine the premature decline of the Jaguars.
I submit draft failures, and not the free agency expenditures, resulted in the collapse.
Draft Failures are why this team is devoid of talent.
Free Agency Expenditures is why we had salary cap trouble for so long.
Quote:Draft Failures are why this team is devoid of talent.
Free Agency Expenditures is why we had salary cap trouble for so long.
Too many large contracts that were back-loaded, rather than front loaded. Then the problem was compounded by later restructuring that pushed more of that money into the future.
Most teams make sure to front load a lot of the contracts now - and avoid restructuring to push money into the future where possible.
Quote:Well, disagree sort of....
In the mid 1990's the Jags routinely signed among the best/ most high profile FA's available....
Searcy in 1996,
Means in 1996
Paup 1998
Brady in 1998
Lake in 1999
Nickerson in 2000
They were all high dollar long term deals too.
The contracts and players we are signing now are pretty much all low profile/ low money.
And only Searcy and Brady (for a short time) proved to be worth it.
We've evolved beyond that lunacy, thank goodness.
Quote:Draft Failures are why this team is devoid of talent.
Free Agency Expenditures is why we had salary cap trouble for so long.
Correct. Only one draft pick left from four entire drafts.
And... very few of those FA splurges actually made a meaningful impact.
Quote:Draft Failures are why this team is devoid of talent.
Free Agency Expenditures is why we had salary cap trouble for so long.
I think we are avoiding the cap trouble by staying away from the high profile players...as a result we are getting to see large volumes of players rather than one or two big ones.. We are taking guys who are either young unproven guys who don't cost a whole lot, or vets who just wanna multi year deal that isn't too outrageous.... Jeans miff went for the guys who were in their prime and destroyed our cap with them, I wouldn't even have had much of a problem if they didn't turnout like Arron Ross, Robinson, and laundry( who wasn't bad)but were all over payed for their production and as a result set us back in the long run.
Quote:And only Searcy and Brady (for a short time) proved to be worth it.
We've evolved beyond that lunacy, thank goodness.
I'd say Means was worth it too. We don't advance in those 1996 playoffs without his high level production in them.
Quote:I'd say Means was worth it too. We don't advance in those 1996 playoffs without his high level production in them.
Thinkin the same thing... Means was a beast while he was here... I was super young at the time but for reason I remember Paup's name always being called when I was at the games with my parents.
Quote:I'd say Means was worth it too. We don't advance in those 1996 playoffs without his high level production in them.
We took Means for two years and a playoff game, when at the same time the Steelers took Bettis for 10 years and a ring.
Quote:We took Means for two years and a playoff game, when at the same time the Steelers took Bettis for 10 years and a ring.
Means was a waived/FA while Bettis was traded from the Rams to the Steelers.
Quote:Nice read, anyone that has been in the same room has said the same thing.
Exactly. I don't see how anyone could dismiss Bradley as a factor in landing players here going forward. If all things are equal, he's the lynchpin that helps close the deal. Players are confirming what my point was with this thread.
No, he's not going to be able to sway every player, but he's certainly going to be a positive for anyone looking at the Jags.
This notion that he hasn't closed any big name free agents that those dismissing this have used as their great defense just doesn't hold water. The team hasn't indicated they were going to pursue the high profile (and higher dollar) free agents. The big ticket guys they've targeted, they've landed for the most part. And when each one comes away saying the coach was a factor, it's hard to dismiss.