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Rampage2K-
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dzrams
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3030
All reasons and excuses aside, deep down, I suspect you're right.
If history is any indication, we sign guys we want to keep before we get to this point (Brockers, Tavon, Foles, Ogletree, Barron) and we let guys who we don't want, but the fans assume we would want, walk: Trujo, Janoris, McLeod, Watkins. That would suggest Joyner is gone as well. (You'd think we would have done a contract with him by now, wouldn't you?)
Let's hope this isn't the case. But then again, I never thought we'd trade Dickerson or cut Bruce.
The guys we have kept haven't been our elite talent. The guys who have walked have been.
I'm wondering if they're struggling with the costs of keeping elite talent?
Maybe their philosophy on player retention is to keep "good" players that don't require exorbitant amounts and let "elite" players that will, walk. QB being the one exception.
That does follow the NE model. Problem is, they don't have Brady or Belichick.
On Joyner, I stated he was gone the minute they franchised him. And with Donald and Cooks needing extensions, and being the higher priority candidates for the franchise tag, I think there is a very small possibility that he is a Ram after this year.
I blame a lot of this on greedy agents...can't blame them for doing their job, but it seems more and more now players are electing to pass up on signing early contracts with their original team and holding out for free agency. Donald could have already been "pay the man" if he would have signed his deal last year...some reports were that it was in the $20m per range according to Andrew S. of NFL Network...
They talked about this on Sirius last month about how a lot of these guys are losing millions and risking more by not signing early to team friendly deals...everyone wants to hit the market as a free agent and play for the highest bidder....winning on the field is secondary to most of these guys these days.
I have a different perspective on much of this.
I don't blame greedy agents because as you pointed out, it's their job to get their clients the best deal.
We shouldn't blame an agent anymore than we blame a team exec for trying to get a player signed at a bargain.
The players hold out for free agency because that's the most lucrative route. That tells me that teams need to make an adjustment. Maybe they should offer more earlier instead of trying to get players to sign for team friendly deals.
Everyone says the players are risking a lot. So are the teams. There's risk on both sides. Teams stand to lose a great player that they developed. The players of course could get injured but how often does a major injury that causes a player to forego a contract really happen?
The elite players often don't have to choose between playing for a high bidder and winning on the field since they typically have multiple teams, including winning ones, bidding for their services.
I think this is mostly just fans have a tendency to side with the team.
