I was looking at the list of free agents this offseason and was thinking just how much a team could have upgraded or filled holes with reasonably priced players. To bring my idea to fruition I thought I would look and see just how competitive of a team I could put together with this year’s free agents. I look what the Dolphins did last year, what the Patriots continue to do and seeing other teams like the Browns picking up a small bulk of productive players. I wanted to see just what kind of team could be put together with just one offseason worth of players. I want to keep in mind price tag as well as productivity. So there will be no Albert Haynesworth or any other brake the bank players in this experiment. I will also exclude players who have been either franchise or transition tagged, as well as any player that resigned with their previous team without hitting the open market for a reasonable amount of time. I have to keep in mind after I put together a starting lineup, in theory there would still be a lot of roster spots to be filled with depth and rookies. So for these reasons I will be looking for bargains in comparison to payroll. First I will look at position individually and then select a cohesive team.

QB: The notable players are Jeff Garcia, Byron Leftwich, Patrick Ramsey, Rex Grossman, and Chris Simms. All are viable options as far as price tag is concerned, but obviously will not be getting a franchise type player out of this group.

RB: Derrick Ward, Cedric Benson, Correll Buckhalter, Lamont Jordan, Dominic Rhodes, and Fred Taylor. There again is no top level player available, but many different tandem option available. Taylor could possibly work well with Ward, or Benson with Buckhalter, mix and match as you wish.

FB: Tony Richardson, Leonard Weaver, Terrelle Smith, Heath Evans, and Lorenzo Neal. Some age concerns, but definitely high quality players in this group.

TE: Many very good TEs resigned with their previous teams, so the pickings are slim. In my opinion we are looking at Chris Baker and L.J. Smith.

WR: There are some higher priced talent in T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Laveranues Coles, and Terrell Owens. The list continues with Torry Holt, Drew Bennett, Ronald Curry, Bobby Engram, Mike Furrey, Joey Galloway, Matt Jones, Brandon Lloyd, Justin McCareins, Dane Looker, David Patten, Nate Washington and Jerry Porter. Left of the list is Marvin Harrison, Amani Toomer, and Plaxico Burress due to uncertain futures in the league. There are definitely star players in this group as well as role players, depending on how much we want to spend.

LT: Tra Thomas, Orlando Pace, and Khalif Barnes.

RT: Stacey Andrews (now guard), Frank Omiyale, Jon Runyan, Kevin Shaffer, John St. Clair, Jeremy bridges (T or G) and Floyd Womack (T or G). Also there is Mark Tauscher if and when he comes back from injury.

G: Stacey Andrews, Floyd Womack, Jeremy Bridges, Mike Goff, and Chris Naeole. I am including Brandon Moore and Chris Kemeato even though they were on the market for only one day. This is because Moore was actually released and Kemeato did receive a contract offer from another team.

C: Matt Birk, Jason Brown, Melvin Fowler, Jake Grove, Geoff Hangartner, Jeremy Newberry, Duke Preston. If the money is right there is some real talent here.

DE: Chris Canty, Ebenezer Ekuban, Kevin Carter, Vonnie Holliday, N.D. Kalu, Igor Olshansky, Antonio Smith, Paul Spicer and Greg Ellis (DE or LB). I won’t include Jason Taylor on DE or LBs due to the fact that it appeared that no other team actually had an opportunity to sign him.

DT: Rocky Bernard, Shaun Cody, Grady Jackson, Tank Johnson, John Thorton, and Darwin Walker. Oh of course a guy named Albert Haynesworth, but his $100 million isn’t included in this conversation.

LB: Eric Barton, Michael Boley, Keith Brooking, Andra Davis, Gregg Ellis, Larry Foote, Napoleon Harris, Cato June, Ryan Nece, Mike Peterson, Bart Scott, Zack Thomas, and Pisa Tinoisamoa. This group has plenty of players to fit any system.

CB: Dre’ Bly, Leigh Bodden, Phillip Buchanon, Chris Carr, Drayton Florence, Domonique Foxworth, Andre’ Goodman, Cory Ivy, Ken Lucas, Bryant McFadden, Samari Rolle, Donald Strickland, and Shaun Springs. Great group if you have the money.

S: Sean Considine, Brian Dawkins, Mike Brown, Renaldo Hill, Sean Jones, Jim Leonhard, Marlon McCree, Darren Sharper, and Gibril Wilson. There are some nice players to be had in this group of free agents.

In my evaluation of players, position by position, I see that one can put together players in many different fashions to upgrade a team greatly. I see in my little experiment I have to decide if I want to pick up some high priced talent at some position while coming up short in other positions. Another idea is to after as many quality players without having to fork over too much in salary cap space, I am going to go with the latter idea for my team this time around. I also feel it makes a stronger point for this experiment.

QB: I am going to go with a little competition and select Jeff Garcia and Chris Simms. This is both necessary and not hard on the pocket book.

RB: I am going to spend a little more money than I planned, but with the lack of big play production out of the quarterback position I feel it is necessary. Derrick Ward and Fred Taylor should make for a nice combo that will take the pressure off of each other. If you feel Cedric Benson’s troubles are behind him a more affordable option would be Benson and Buckhalter, who can give you a treat both inside and out of the backfield.

FB: I feel Terrelle Smith is a very good option, but for this team I feel Leonard Weaver’s versatility will make for a better fit.

TE: Not much to choose from. So I think Chris baker is a better option than L.J. Smith’s injury problems.

WR: There are many ways to build a wide receiver core with the guys that are available. There are certainly bigger names to be had, but for what I am trying to do I will select Matt Jones, Bobby Engram, and Joey Galloway. This gives me a big receiver, a reliable position man, and some deep threat ability. I know there are definitely age concerns but I feel it is the best fit for now. I could have gone with Furrey instead of Engram to make for a younger group, but I feel even at his age Engram will have better production. I also think Galloway is the best deep option without coughing over too much coin.

LT: Orlando Pace, I know he is a bit older but come on it is Orlando Pace with a nice price tag.

LG: Chris Kemeato is worth putting a little money out there and he injects some youth into the group.

C: I can clearly get big time talent and probably can afford to dish out a little money here, but I won’t. I think it is a good spot to take a bit of a chance on a guy that looks to be making his way, I select Geoff Hangartner.

RG: I feel Jeremy Bridges is a good pickup here and I like the attitude he brings to a group that that should be real grinders on the inside. Mike Goff wouldn’t be a bad idea here too and have Bridges at RT possibly.

RT: It would be nice to give a chance to Frank Omiyale here, but I feel Kevin Shaffer’s experience starting is maybe a better option.

This group has a chance of coming together, but this could be a great spot to finally spend some dollars. For not too much more the OL could look like this; Pace, Kemeato , Jason Brown, Brandon Moore, and Stacy Andrews. They bring a higher quality and are younger, but a higher price tag.

DE: Antonio Smith and Greg Ellis make a good mix of age and a not a hit in the wallet.

DT: Grady Jackson and Tank Johnson should be pretty stout up front. I know some people might have a problem with Johnson’s off the field issues, for them John Thornton could be a good option.

LB: In the middle I would like to have Larry Foote, to go along with Pisa Tinoisamoa and Eric Barton (or Cato June could work here too).

CB: Phillip Buchanon’s ball skills should go well with the physical play of Bryant McFadden. Lately with the outrageous money going to cornerbacks, these two come at a reasonable price.

S: If Sean Jones can stay healthy, he and Gibril Wilson could make for a nice tandem.

P: Hunter Smith

K: Mike Nugent

SP Teams: Larry Izzo and Kelly Washington.

I realize it is not a simple as picking the player you want when it comes to free agency, but targeting the right group of guys can go a long way. I feel my team shows the quality of players that can be picked up without breaking the bank. Also cohesiveness is very important. As we have seen in the past with teams that go out and pick up big time free agents that just simply don’t fit in, and that team sees no increase in success. This team may not go down in history without some big play makers, but with a closer look at the budget it would be possible to fill in high priced talent if he fits in. In addition there are possibilities such as Matt Cassel and Jay Cutler or the run in trades of big DTs like last year to trade for to get what you may need, although that is not exactly the norm. Of course drafting well is the best way to get nicely priced talent. This shows that with the right outlook, the dedication to getting what you need and the willingness to put some cash on the table, an experiment like this can put your team in the right direction in a hurry.

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