(03-18-2024, 11:40 PM)Jaguarmeister Wrote:

(03-18-2024, 11:33 PM)Mandeezee Wrote: I believe its time to update team building philosophy.

A coach and GM no longer have 5, 8, 10 years to build a playoff team thru the draft. I'd guess they get 2-3 years now.

No matter what a rookie has done in college, GMs can only pray they transition well to the NFL.

It seems safer to build your core thru free agency, and fill in the rest thru drafting. You don't pass up proven stars like Aiyuk and Higgins...for a 17th pick.

In other words.  "[BLEEP] them picks!"

Your way is illustrated best by the Rams and their recent Super Bowl win.  I don't think a team could ever build a dynasty in such a way, but if you want to go all in for a particular year and then pay for it for a few years after, that's how you'd do it.  I don't hate it if it actually does result in a Super Bowl win, but I'd still prefer the year in year out competitive squad that comes from building through the draft and doing it that way well.  It requires an owner that doesn't cow tow to vocal fan outrage when things don't work out after years 1 and 2.  We seem to have such an owner and we seem to have the coach and QB and some pieces on the roster.  I think we're in a good spot to do it the right way to build a consistent competitor.

Their prior appearance came when they had Goff, Gurley and Donald playing lights out. All darft picks.

Hitting on picks hides a lot of blemishes, too. Kupp and Nacua were both surprises for how well they did that early in their careers. If you can manage to find all stars in mid to late rounds, shifting the balance toward FA isn't as detrimental in the short term. But Stafford is showing signs of age, Donald just retired, and it would be nice to have a young core waiting in the wings. Look at where the Aints have been since Brees and Payton walked. And they're still not out of the woods.

I really like the base-hit approach to FA. We brought in a number of guys, all who can and should contribute, but we aren't going to be sacrificing roster spots due to over-committing cap to them. We're generally hitting on the early picks, and they will be the core upon which everything else builds.

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