I think this is the problem in a nutshell. Without prior cap hinderance, we wouldn't have been in the position to have to make that decision. It worked while Brees was here and kept us in "win-now, make the playoffs" mode. Once he retired and Payton stepped down, that should have been the impetus to make a change to cap strategy, but we went with "DA, status-quo, keep kicking" with most fans/sports pundits correctly predicting failure and our current situation. Now we're still top heavy, still have aging players on large contracts, have been ok, but not exceptional in drafting, and started a semi cap transition that still keeps us in a "low flexibility, float bad contract" mode. We need to make tough decisions and completely cut the cord.