Responsible free-agent spending is a pipeline to the Super Bowl, which is something that sounds obvious but may not always have been. The difference between teams’ merely splurging in free agency versus actually being good at it is the link between the pro scouting department and the coaching staff. I spoke with Bengals folks before the Super Bowl who were wondering why everyone (ahem, myself included) predicted they’d win so few games in 2021. They were thrilled with the idea of pairing Eli Apple and Chidobe Awuzie together. They did not believe Trey Hendrickson was a product of Dennis Allen’s defense.
Why? Because their scouting staff and coaching staff were asked to do a hybrid job of bringing their evaluations together and voicing opinions. We’ll see what this year holds as we gather to instantaneously grade the individual transactions worth noting, but keep in mind that J.C. Jackson might be the cornerback who alters the market, but that does not mean he’ll significantly alter the 2022 season. The same can be said about any of the top players broken down on our best available list.
We should also note the familiar refrain by this point that the contract terms we see bandied about when free agency opens are often not all they appear to be. Years vanish and nonguaranteed dollar figures drop before teams actually have to pay them. So we’ll analyze each move based on talent and fit, and take a look generally at the terms but won’t get hung up on exact dollar amounts before we know more.
