[JoeRedskin]

I think we have plenty of options on the roster now to adequately handle the duties w/out having to pay FA money to a specialist - Paul (KR), Robinson (PR/KR), Moss (PR), Crawford (PR).

To me, this represents the difference between this regime and others and demonstrates the shortsightedness of fans. As to this regime, instead of going after a shiny RFA/UFA like Leon Washington, Shanny is growing these emminently replaceable parts from late round picks. Giving them the opportunity to grow in the pro game while contributing.

We have invested a lot of picks in young talent over the last couple years. Give these guys a couple years to take advantage of an opportunity to step up before we go looking for expensive alternatives. Few rookies outside the first three rounds start their first or second year (I actually did the research on that for another thread sometime ago). At the same time, there are a lot of starters in this league who came on in their third or fourth year. You figure a lot of these guys are coming out of college before their physical prime of 25-29 and aren't able to compete with more experienced men in their prime who are roughly their talent equivalent.

It simply takes time to build quality depth, I think Shanny recognizes this and is essentially waiting for his players to matriculate to starting caliber. Another thing this does is keep the young talent here. One of the constant complaints that I remember from the <shudder> Vinny Years is vets saying only the folks who came from other teams got paid - hence, we lose players like Antonio Pierce, Ryan Clark and countless others who might have provided depth over the long run.

We don't need other people's Jacoby Jones's, what we need is to find our own Jacoby Jones while grooming his back up.