Redskins Free Agency 2016

[Schneed10]

I would definitely say it differently. The crop sucks in comparison to the money doled out in the first day or two. But there are still players that can help teams.

It's rare when you actually get your money's worth on the free agents that go in the first day or two. Olivier Vernon will be a prime example for years to come. No way he's worth more guaranteed money than JJ Watt.

Aging guys and role players can still play a big role on your team. At this point in free agency you're not going to find top-line starters so I get where you're coming from, but you can still find guys to fill roles. Special teams coverage ace, a guy like Pierre Thomas to be a receiving threat on third downs, these are little things that make the difference in winning and losing a lot of games.

The Cerrato move would have been to splurge on the guys available on day 1. But the right approach is to scour the player pool like McCloughan does and find role players who bring their lunch pail. You match the performance to the pay that way much better than you ever could on a day 1 free agent.

There are a lot of useful football players still available. Sometimes it just takes those players some time to come around to the fact that they're not going to land the dream pay day.