Redskins Free Agents Signings Thread

[JoeRedskin]

Again, I am hopeful that this is a sign of

(1) A plan to spend reasonably in FA. Essentially, the FO set values and stuck to them and didn't "panic bid" when a player they would like is leaning another direction. For example, both Graham and Mitchell had non-monetary preferences for the team with whom they signed. To get either, we would have had to pay UFA market value PLUS extra to overcome their desire to play for their personal home teams; and

(2) A desire to develop from within. As I have pointed out in numerous threads, it is likely that 20-23 players from our last four drafts will be on this team come September. If folks like Geddis, LeRib, Compton, Rambo, Thomas, Crawford etc. continue to improve, we will hopefully see an improved product in September with more wins come January. If we have a strong draft this year, it will be b/c we have drafted players who will develop into starters, NOT b/c we drafted immediate impact players (although that would be nice - there is a reason most folks say it takes some amount of time to judge a draft class).

At the same time, because of this franchise's history for the last 2 decades, and when I take off the burgundy glasses, I fear that:

(1) By not signing any of the significant free agents available at positions of real need (i.e. - DB's and OL), and b/c of the bad reputation from past classes, the FO has swung the other way in terms of its offseason approach such that it won't sign ANYONE to a "big contract" regardless of whether doing so would objectively be a good move;

(2) There wasn't a real plan in place to address current needs; or

(3) The FO had a plan but got caught flat footed by the money being thrown about.

Ultimately, it's a question of "Can we trust that this is an actual, comprehensive change from the past approach to team building and FA or is this just a new and different type of dysfunction that will sabotage my favorite team?"

I don't know the answer and suspect that only time, and wins, will tell.