Marshall tabbed to replace Pierce

[Schneed10]

It makes no sense to overpay for a CB just because everyone else in the league is overpaying for free agent CBs. Ken Lucas gets $13 million, Anthony Henry gets $10 million, so therefore that means we SHOULD pay Smoot $14 million?

While I agree that Smoot is better than Lucas or Henry, that doesn't mean you necessarily pay up to get him. It's true that the market drives prices, and because of Lucas and Henry, I'm sure Smoot will command $14 million. By paying the market price for Smoot we would be acknowledging that we think the market is fairly valued for free agent CBs.

Do you really think that's the case? Every columnist talks about how teams have more cap room this year than ever before, and the free agent talent is so much thinner than ever before. If the supply of cap dollars is up, and the supply of free agent talent is down, then the price if those free agents skyrockets as teams figure "well, we've got all this cap room, might as well use it."

Problem is we don't have tons of cap room. And even if we did, paying the market rate for a free agent CB doesn't make it a smart way to spend cap dollars.

What would you rather have, Walt Harris at $1.5 million against the cap, or Smoot at $4.5 million against the cap? I'd take Harris. I don't think Smoot is 3 times better than Harris.