Free agency success
 

I have no idea how this will play out, but I'm curious. How often has a team that was very active in signing blue chip free agents went on to win the Super Bowl?

I have no idea, but I think a lot of teams have added a key piece in free agency to put them over the top, but as far as "very active", I cannot think of one.

Not that I can think of either… usually it puts a target on the team’s backs

In the salary cap era at least, if you have money to spend, you are usually one of the teams with the worst records the previous year. Cowboys and 49ers used to sign anyone and everyone pre salary cap.

Can't think of too many instances where a top team has been flush with cash to spend on free agents. Most top teams have a highly paid QB, and then have to manipulate younger guys in with 5 or 6 star players and then just average veterans filling out the roster.

If you look around the league, how many teams have 5 or 6 star players on a roster at any one time? I would suggest very few. Teams can't afford to pay them and be under the salary cap.

A star player is going to be earning $15-20m with a top QB being double that. That's half of all of your cap money gone and you still have another 40 guys to pay.

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I remember when Carmen Policy was lauded for his successful (and at the time, legal) manipulation of the salary cap in 1994. He signed free agent Rickey Jackson to a contract that paid him a base salary of $162,000, and a bonus of $838,000 IF the 49ers made it to the Super Bowl ...... if you ever want to see a team player, pay them in THAT fashion !!! ) :eek:


P.S. The 49ers made it to the Super Bowl that year, and Jackson got his $838,000 bonus.




Paid by the Yard: On Super Bowl Sunday, Here’s How Pro Sports Plays the Pay-For-Performance Game

(By Thomas S. Mulligan)

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-...791-story.html

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This wound up being a very prophetic article ...... it was written in November of 2021, 3 months before the Rams won the Super Bowl.




1994 Champion 49ers, Loaded With Free Agents, Explain How Rams Can Win It All

(By Sam Farmer)

https://news.yahoo.com/1994-champion...123016536.html

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From that article: But there’s a big difference between collecting all-stars and getting the most out of them, something the Philadelphia Eagles learned in 2011 when they assembled the so-called Dream Team yet finished 8-8.

I think that is the point of this thread.

The Redskins from the early 2000's tried the buy a team approach seemingly almost every year. How did that work out?

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The OP asked if acquiring numerous big-time free agents ever worked, so I answered his question with the 1994 49ers. Then I came upon that article that professed that the 2021 Rams could duplicate what the 1994 49ers did.

Albany Ed asked if it ever worked, and I didn't see any reason to believe that it was a rhetorical question ...... I took it as he was saying that it's given that it has not worked out much more often than not, and he wanted to know if it ever worked.

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Which blue chip free agents did the Rams sign in that year?