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Mar 9, 2003 It is once again the free agency season in the National Football League and players are flipping from team to team with reckless abandon. Some teams are making a move to keep their top-line players; others are not. The National Football League has come up with a scheme to help teams try and retain their most talented players by letting the team put a “franchise” tag on its best producers. There is also a “transition” tag available that can be put on an outstanding member. This year there are not a lot of teams who are tagging their players. A couple of exceptions are the St. Louis Rams, who tagged veteran All-Pro left tackle Orlando Pace, and the Cincinnati Bengals, who put a transition tag on All-Pro linebacker Takeo Spikes. Why aren’t more players given the franchise or transition tags? They simply want to much dinero for the team to be able to afford them. The free agent scenario is no doubt a financial boost to a player, and also allows a guy to get a shot at a championship ring if he has been stuck with a perennial loser for years. However, the free-agency circus causes a lot of problems in many areas. Owners and general managers have a annual headache trying to figure out who to retain and who to let go. They are forced into doing this painful calculation every year. Coaches are losing good players just when they get the team into a cohesive unit that starts to march into the playoffs. And fans are disappointed as well as their favorite players often disappear to some other team – worse yet, an inter-league rival. Is it any wonder that the dynasties in the National Football League have died out? The years of the Steelers, Cowboys, Packers or 49ers returning to the top again and again with basically the same team is gone. The Denver Broncos were the last team to win a couple of Super Bowls in close proximity. The past several Super Bowls have seen a new champion, only to have them drop off the map the following year. The St. Louis Rams did make it to a couple of Super Bowls, but really struggled last year. And this year they are losing team members right and left to free agency – Dre Bly and Dexter McLeon have already departed in the past couple of weeks. Free agency is probably the biggest drawback to any new dynasties emerging in the future. If you lose your top guys every couple of years or so it is impossible to make the necessary progress to attain the league championship. One exception may be this year’s Super Bowl champs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are retaining a good deal of their championship team for another run at the number one slot. Why are Tampa’s players staying? They recognize that sticking with Tampa is probably their best shot at another priceless Super bowl ring, and are showing some savvy by sticking around. One team who has been busy in this free agent season is the Washington Redskins. Both the owner and coach are not afraid to gamble on a new guy – or several new guys – in the starting lineup. Washington started wheeling and dealing from the start of the free agent period and have picked up a variety of players. One interesting move was to let their own free-agent running back, Stephen Davis, move on, then turning around and picking up Marshall Faulk’s back-up at St. Louis, Trung Candidate. Denver made a big move, picking up one of the top free- agent’s available, Arizona’s Jake Plummer. The same Arizona Cardinals have been deeply depleated in this free agency season, losing almost all of their offensive air-game as standout wideout David Boston also flew the coop. Free agency is probably a necessary evil but it should be limited to a further degree to allow teams to build some continuity, to let coaches build on their previous year’s team, to allow owners a little more relaxation, and to allow fans a bit more enjoyment. It is tough when you have to root for new stars every other year or so. The NBA and Major League Baseball have been almost run into the ground with the free- agent merry-go-round and it would be sad to see the National Football League go down the same path. Perhaps it is time for a slight extension to the time period a player has to stay with their current team. About the author: Dwayne Hines currently has 12 books selling in major bookstores and writes for major magazines such as Physical and FitnessRX. Email Dwayne Hines: dhines@3dinet.com ------------ Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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