We’ve seen many a quote and heard many a sound bite over the past week regarding the inevitable development of the market for restricted free agents. And with more than 200 players who would have been unrestricted free agents in a capped year now relegated to RFA status, it makes sense that more of them will be pursued than in past years.
But will they?
If the owners have decided, subtly or otherwise, to hold down spending as part of the broader strategy to prepare for a work stoppage (regardless of whether it’s all a bluff), a decision not to pursue free agents becomes the easiest strategy to justify. For most of the restricted free agents, a draft pick must be given up. For good players, the investment is at least a second-round pick.
And even though we think that, given the historical bust rate for draft picks, teams should sprint to give up a first-round pick for a proven player, most teams view those picks as having extremely high value. Maybe it comes from the fact that the only way to hit a home run is to step into the batter’s box — and trading away that pick sacrifices the chance to swing away. (We still hate baseball for everything but the metaphors.)
So with every coach and G.M. thinking that maybe they’ll score a Hall of Famer with the first-round pick, it takes a lot to give up a chance to aim for the fences, especially when doing so will give another team the relatively rare opportunity of securing a legacy by picking up, for example, Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis in the same round of the same draft.
Bottom line? With 32 days to go before the last day to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets, there’s a chance that much won’t be happening, especially as to the guys who carry second-round tenders or higher.
I’m against First Rounder Tenders. The highest tender should be a 2nd round pick. A team can still match any offer if they want to so paying a guy and giving a 1st round pick makes no sense. No wonder teams don’t want to do it. They get a player and lose a young player to the draft.
Teams have to have a way to protect their investment. You can’t develop a player and have him get away for nothing.
@scrapdawg
Why would you be against 1st round tender? These restricted free agents are generally guys who have 4 years or left in the NFL so they are still young. The ones that typically get a first round tender are very good players and a lot of teams wouldn’t give them up even for a first round pick. Maybe they could increase the amount of money paid in a 1st round tender or a 1st and 3rd tender but to eliminate them would seem foolish to me. You don’t want to increase how much these young players move, if anything you want to decrease it. This year is really the first time it has become much of an issue at all and that is only because with no cap you have an extra 200 guys being restricted.
one month and one day? will you be counting down daily in a similar fashion?
and will you advise us when only a fortnight remains?
Makes sense that there is little market for RFA’s. You pay a second round pick far less than you would have to pay a guy tendered at a 2nd rounder.
What happens to RFA after 1 month and one day? What if they dont sign their Tenders?
theyll need to put some banta-cain on their tenders then