A little perspective (wide receivers)...

[bleys]

Even if you get the best FA WR in the world, this team is not winning a Superbowl this year, and if that's the case, then why retard the developement of the WR's you just drafted? Is winning 2-3 more games and making the season a hair more respectable worth it? It's not to me. Give these rookies a chance before you make a judgement.

don't exactly agree with that.. but I can agree to disagree...

[Razzy]

Freddie Mitchell - 2001, 1, 25

...

"Oh, I remember him. He sucked."

And I almost forgot about Fred Ex...

[Mr. Scot]

Since you are the football historian, give me a list of wide receivers who were very productive for their teams, became free agents and then became busts for their new team. Other than due to injury or old age, I doubt that there are as many as those that played well for both.

Guys that weren't worth the prices teams paid to get them, whether via trade or free agency (off the top of my head, in no particular order)

Alvin Harper, Bucs (one of the first big free agent busts I can remember)

Peerless Price, Falcons (gave up a first and third to get him if I recall correctly; I'd have to look it up)

T J Houshmandzadeh, Seahawks (another number two who thought he was a number one, and now is back to being a number two)

Deion Branch, Seahawks (to his credit, at least he's still there, but he hasn't been anything close to what they thought they were getting; was on the bubble this year and could still wind up replaced by Golden Tate or Deon Butler at some point)

Muhsin Muhammad, Bears (was better when he came back to the Panthers, but that doesn't happen often)

David Boston, Chargers (one of the bigger busts of the bunch; he was awful)

Terrell Owens, Cowboys, Bills, Bengals ("so far" on the last one; the traveling team cancer)

Roy Williams, Cowboys (fighting to stay ahead of Dez Bryant; people still think he could end up elsewhere at some point; even if he's good this year it's hard to argue he was worth what they gave up)

Donte Stallworth, Eagles, Browns, Ravens (pretty sure he has yet to play up to the level of a contract he's signed)

James Thrash, Eagles (became one of those guys Ricky Manning said "nobody was afraid of")

Javon Walker, Raiders (one of the biggest pay to performance gaps ever)

Plaxico Burress, Giants (good moments? sure; but more trouble than he was worth? yep)

Jabar Gaffney, Broncos (signed a decent sized deal but isn't even starting; in truth, he's never been all that consistent)

Bernard Berrian, Vikings (in fairness, he's been good, but they didn't pay him a blockbuster contract to be "good"; would he even be starting this season if Sidney Rice were healthy?)

Reche Caldwell, Patriots (one of the guys who helped prove that Brady couldn't just "throw to anybody")

Desmond Howard, Raiders (I think this was one of the signings from the Raiders "let's get every Super Bowl MVP" period)

I'm sure there are others I've missed, maybe even some big ones, but these are the names that come to mind.

Gantt also pointed out that some of the big names from this offseason hadn't scored a single TD in the first few weeks (link). Some still haven't, but others had a decent week three. Jury's still out there. Braylon Edwards might wind up being another guy who isn't worth it in the long run. Too early to say though.

And then there's Rayzor's post, which I think was very well thought out: http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2690092&postcount=50

Bottom Line: People are acting like if we just signed a free agent guy that would cure all our ills. The reality is that free agency is no more of a guarantee of success than the draft.

As I said before, free agents bust too.