What’s the takeaway from this?
Let the buyer beware.
Think of the contracts that were awarded. Contracts that tied up significant cap space. What’s the return?
I’m not saying there aren’t good players on that list. God knows Demario has been worth every penny, and then some. What I am saying is that the Demario types of returns aren’t necessarily the norm. We were salivating for Suh and look how that turned out.
Free agency always looks appetizing, and is quick to separate teams from precious cap space. To me it appears to be much like the draft, the return for both is far from guaranteed. Drafted players cost a lot less though. I’m a firm believer in making the draft a priority resource for building/re-stocking a team. The financial impact of a “miss” is much easier to absorb.
You can look at different periods during Sean’s run as head coach, and the success rate is more likely tied to a great draft class, rather than free agency. Drew is a once in a decade (or more) exception.