Quote:
Originally Posted by RunKC
Veach has done an excellent job with value moves this year. Hardman, Thornhill, Rankin and Saunders are all on rookie deals until at least the end of 2021. Ward has been a nice corner and Fenton (like Saunders) has shown well in a small sample size.
I would argue that Veach getting literally nothing but Nnandi from the 2018 draft is worse than the major FA splashes.
I like what Veach did this offseason aside from his big signings. Trying to get a bunch of cheap value players like Ogbah, D. Wilson and D. Lee along with the draft is what I’d like to see Veach do. Sure all of them won’t work out, but even having 1 or 2 guys working out for a cheap contract is crucial for us.
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It's frustrating, though, to see teams that are winning championships so routinely take that approach. I mean the Patriots are obviously the gold standard for that sort of thing but even the Eagles weren't out there taking wild swings in FA.
The 'value plays' have been clearly the best path to using resources in pursuit of a championship for the better part of a decade. Yet instead of leaning heavily into that, Veach will go out there and take these MASSIVE risks on guys who's contracts make 'upside' impossible. At best they play to their deals but in all likelihood they'll bust. Even Clark, had he played to the previous 3 years of his production, wouldn't have been worth that contract and draft picks. He just wouldn't have been - that's top 5 defender money and a massive pick haul. He was NEVER a top 5 player or anything approaching it.
Veach's problem is that he'll offset these smart, calculated gambles with wild-ass luxury plays (the tunnel vision that I get so frustrated by). And the two sets of decisions seem so irreconcilable that you wonder how - or even IF - the same guy made them.
How can the same guy who traded for Ogbah and Ward have made that Clark trade? How can the guy that spotted an undervalued (though flawed) Wilson on the Cowboys roster have given Hitchens that god-awful contract? Or given Erving his deal when he can see someone like Rankin has value?
There's such a disconnect between the good moves and bad moves that he makes that it almost makes me agree with the folks that think Andy's making the call on these big money signings. Because they simply do not make sense in concert with some of the other deals.
But the bottom line is that Veach has the title and its his burden to bear. And there's something to say for the ol' mixing 1 gallon of ice cream and 1 gallon of shit maxim. He cannot have this many misses on his ledger.