Will the new off season be like the old off seasons?

[JayhawkMike]

My memory says for years it has gone like this:

1. We will let our top 2-3 unrestricted free agents move on.
2. We will skip the first several days of free agency using the salary cap as an excuse. We will then go after a couple tier 3 or 4 free agents and then comb through the scrap heap to try to find cheap contracts. Some of them will be near the end of their career with a good history but no tread left on their tires.
3. We will all yell that we need upgrades on the O Line and D line and they will echo it until signing and drafting players then they will cast a wide net at the cheapest end of the pool and claim we need other positions more
4. When we make our first draft selection almost everyone will say “who the heck is that?” and the pundits won’t even have the player listed on their lists of best players still available.
5. The team will wait and wait and wait in hopes of trading for a disgruntled player on the cheap.

As to new players on the team in the end we end up with 1-2 overpaid old free agents, 3-4 “diamond in the rough “ free agents on the cheap with no real accomplishments, 1 big name player via trade, 2-3 rookies with potential, a bunch of UDFAs that fans like but the team will end up cutting and for the 6th year in a row we will be worse than the year before.

 

[AROS]

You mister, need to go purchase a lottery ticket. Pronto.

 

[Chapow]

*snip* ...and for the 6th year in a row we will be worse than the year before.

2017 9-7
2018 10-6
2019 11-5
2020 12-4

Hopefully this trend of getting worse every year continues.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

1. We will let our top 2-3 unrestricted free agents move on.

This is pretty common for all teams. Particularly teams up against the cap as we are.

2. We will skip the first several days of free agency using the salary cap as an excuse. We will then go after a couple tier 3 or 4 free agents and then comb through the scrap heap to try to find cheap contracts. Some of them will be near the end of their career with a good history but no tread left on their tires.

I actually think this is wise strategy. Although not exclusively. Some prime UFAs outperform their big contracts anyway. What I have disagreed with, is we have a tendency to dramatically overpay and bid against ourselves for players who REALLY shouldn't garner the contracts we do dole out. It's a symptom that we suffer from annually (both in UFA and draft) where we fall in love with a particular talent and feel we have to have them, cost be damned.

3. We will all yell that we need upgrades on the O Line and D line and they will echo it until signing and drafting players then they will cast a wide net at the cheapest end of the pool and claim we need other positions more

Every team is in this same boat. There are virtually no teams that aren't perpetually starved for LOS talent. And for teams that are tight on cap space, this is an absolute reality.

4. When we make our first draft selection almost everyone will say “who the heck is that?” and the pundits won’t even have the player listed on their lists of best players still available.

Given. Although the end results have strongly supported the the generic pundit view has been correct. But it's worth considering that there is a lot of evidence to suggest that Seattle fell in love with a lot of really good talent but were unable or unwilling to move up aggressively to acquire them. It's difficult to nail your first picks, if you're constantly picking Plan C or later talents.

5. The team will wait and wait and wait in hopes of trading for a disgruntled player on the cheap.

God I hope so. Those players tend to come cheap and angry/hungry. Diggs, Dunlap come immediately to mind. But too, so did Chris Clemons and Marshawn Lynch. In this, I give Pete all the credit. Cultivating a team environment where these kinds of players can thrive is rare. And it's almost free talent acquisition. Probably the single greatest competitive advantage Seattle enjoys relative to the league and also probably the biggest reason for our consistent success over this last decade.