Quote:It adds some, but it doesn't fully address the issue of building the best possible team with the best possible players.

 

Taking your hypothetical at face value, a guy at year five of his career may still have another 5 years as a viable player at his position.  Charles Woodson had several good years with Green Bay after an outstanding career in Oakland, and it's quite possible he would have outperformed any CB the Packers would have been able to draft during that time.  Denver traded for Champ Bailey after he spent a few years in Washington, and he wound up being a great player for them.  Gary Walker was outstanding for the Jaguars after spending his first four or five years with the Oilers.

 

Is age/years in the league another factor to consider?  Sure.  But ultimately, the question boils down to whether the player in question improves your team.  If talent acquisition with the eye towards improving the team is the main consideration, to me, the philosophy of BAP vs. Need is also a consideration.

 

I agree with you that the whole BAP vs. Need concept warrants consideration, and I think that if you can add talent to your team then by all means do so. But if the overall goal here is wins, then  teams that are rarely involved in Free Agency that are regular Playoff participants have obviously found a method that works as well. It is possible to get to the Playoffs while letting top tier talent go to another team, just like it's possible to get to the Super Bowl without an elite Quarterback. To me, it goes back to the concept of 'it doesn't matter how you do it, just get it right."

 

Another aspect for Free Agency is the question of "how will this veteran player fit in with the organization?" Once players have accrued time in the League and have been rewarded with a large contract, it stands to reason that ego is now a factor. After all, what 20-something year old male who has just inked a contract for several million dollars does not have an ego? How will that affect them and subsequently the rest of the team? How will the team react to someone getting a premium "Free Agency" contract? We can use the old line of "well, they're all professionals so they just need to suck it up and play" but that's disingenuous. There are hurdles for the organization to overcome when a Free Agent is signed. Is the organization prepared and capable of clearing those hurdles? If not, then they may be hurting themselves despite adding talent to the roster.

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