Paper Champions

What an oxymoron the term Free Agent is when it comes to the NFL.  The strange thing is that it is definitely not free to the teams and owners that take the plunge to invest in these so-called Free Agents.  They should call these players Guaranteed Agents, because the only thing the player cares about is the guaranteed money that they will get from the signing bonus. You don't have to look any farther than Julius Peppers in Chicago to know it is about the paycheck more than trying to win a Super Bowl. You know what; there is nothing wrong with that, it happens not only in sports but in life.  How many times have we taken a job knowing that it was not the greatest place to work or commute but the pay was right?  Do I fault someone for not loving their job and taking full advantage of a situation that can be fruitful?  No, but as an owner who is looking to get full productivity when investing such money it is hard to throw around monopoly money to these players and look into the crystal ball and know if they will perform. That being said, big free agent splashes on the first couple days does not guarantee a Super Bowl.  The paper champions of the NFL we like to call them and as a fan jump to immediate optimism and Super Bowl dreams. Up until this year, over the past five years not one big name player made a splash that resulted in a Super Bowl victory.  Here is a list of the main free agent brought in to the last five Super Bowl winners; Saints-Darren Sharper, Steelers-Anthony McFarland, Giants-Kawika Mitchell, Colts-Adam Vinatieri, and the Steelers again with Cedrick Wilson.  This does not take into account the signing of their own players just only players brought in from other teams.  Other than Vinatieri booting field goal after field goal to help the Colts defeat the Ravens on their way to winning the Super Bowl, there was not one signing that said "yes this team is now going to win it all". So don't be fooled by the big headlines, big contracts, and big expectations that comes with these huge signing on the first couple of days of Free Agency, because most of the time it is a big letdown.  When comes to the first couple of days of Free Agency try to remember the great quote that Chris Farley had in Tommy Boy when referring to guarantees; "Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of shit. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time". Let's move on from the old Patriot Way of spending too much time dabbling in the Free Agent pool and learn to swim by building this team through the draft.   It's time for a change.