Here is what I remember being told last year regarding FA:
-Matt Flynn was not someone they initially wanted, but that changed when his market dried up.
-Their interest in Manning was mostly for appearances, although if Manning had visited and begged us to sign him, I doubt they would have said no.
That was pretty much it. There was nothing regarding other FA moves/decisions regarding players such as Jason Jones, Red Bryant, Robert Gallery, etc.
Last year our general info on needs was very, very accurate, but the names were not. It's a reminder that draft boards do change and also that front offices can be CIA-like in their ability to feed misinformation.
As far as the hating on the sources, that was pretty lame, but everyone has their haters so it wasn't a big deal to me personally. It helped me appreciate what media members and reporters have to deal with.
As far as Palmer or that mystery QB we were told about during Manning-mania, it shows that many deals are made but few are finalized. Like a bill in congress, there are many steps through the process and many chances for something promising to end up dead on arrival. I help run a business and we've had sure sales that fell apart at the last minute, and sales that appeared quickly out of nowhere. The idea of holding someone to the fire because a trade didn't actually happen is very naive about how the process works.