TT's reluctance to use FA and Trades- A problem?

[SpursNBucks]

There was a pretty good article in the JS recently about how different RW's (Ron Wolf's) style is to Ted Thompson's (TT's). It mentioned how RW was a wheeler dealer wheras TT almost exclusively relies on the Draft. While this may get an occasional mention in some form in different threads, I think it really deserves it's own thread.

I would also like to say questioning TT on his ideology doesn't make you a "hater" or "Tater". This is more about doing some critical analysis (realGM fan forum style) into what is clearly the man's ideology in running a football team.

I think some topics that can be discussed and weighed in on: - 1. Who should he have gone after this year or prior years where they went one and done? 2. Has he done enough through the Draft (hits/misses)? 3. Is it a case of a GM simply not using all the tools in his tool box (as RW did)? 4. Is it enough to just make the playoffs- and go out after one or two games (not reach the NFC title game) when you have what most feel is the best QB in football and in his prime (window keeps getting shorter)? ..............you get the idea

(IMHO)
Personally I like a lot of things Ted has done- What I think he did do that came right out of RW's book was to find a top QB mentor (MM), find a top QB (AR), and get an impact pass rusher (Clay Maker). RW obviously did it with Holmgren, Favre, and White. I also think he continued to maintain or even resurrect a bit of the culture that RW developed. As far as his Drafting he hit a HR when AR fell to him in 2005. He also had his best Draft when he traded up to get Matthews after landing Raji early. Without ANY question he does have a knack for getting value at WR.

My criticisms would be that I don't think he uses all the tools in his tool box- I think when you have a QB like AR you need to dig into that tool box a little more and find some of those missing pieces through avenues other then the Draft. The rumor is he has let other people handle that side in the past- some of the people have moved on which could be at least one explanation as to why he seems to have completely crossed off FA and trades. I think a GM needs to be more then a master of the just the Draft. I also think he has failed to really Draft well at certain positions- OL, LB, RB, etc. maybe he needs to find Scouts that are known for finding players at those positions, or maybe he needs to talk to MM about his position coaches in those areas??

As I posed earlier as a potential question - Is making the playoffs enough? At some point/at what point do fans start to ask for more- should they ask for more? I personally think the bar is set higher then just making the playoffs and maybe winning one wild card game. The QB position is the most important and you have arguably the best. You have Clay, and a deep group of receivers. You have above average Coaching. You have a good sound fundamental organization- that should probably get you to the playoffs, but may not get you past the "elites".

[MickeyDavis]

Wolf was good at filling in the gaps with good vets. Santana Dotson, Sean Jones, etc... I certainly understand the draft and develop philosphy. It has allowed us to be contenders while also being amongst the youngest teams in the league. But I see nothing wrong with dipping your toe into the free agent pool from time to time to shore up a weakness. No one expects a Peppers type signing but it's frustrating watching a team with an elite QB struggie in so many other areas because we have little to no depth there.

[humanrefutation]

I feel like we have a variation of this discussion every year.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

I feel like we have a variation of this discussion every week.

FIFY

[MickeyDavis]

Yes we do, especially after a loss. SF gets Boldin for a #6, before Crabtree went down. TT loves to trade picks on draft day but not on a vet. And again, I understand that philosphy. He's certainly never going to change. But I disagree with it on occassion.

[Ron Swanson]

Yeah, McGinn seems to be overreacting a bit in his article today. He pretty much called the team "mediocre" and implied that nothing has changed since "we opened the season with the same thing as last year, a loss to SF".

And of course, now that Boldin had a career day against us, it's going to be used as an indictment against TT because they got him for "just a 6th round pick". But seriously, anyone thinking that this game is somehow an indictment against TT's team building philosophy is just looking for an excuse to say "the sky is falling". Ted has put an incredibly talented roster on the field, so to me the blame falls on the personnel and coaching staff. Not to mention the numerous and inevitable amount of season-ending injuries to key players...

[FAH1223]

For those that haven't read it, here is where McGinn takes a shot at TT:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/ ... 11691.html

"It was one transaction, one of thousands that take place in the course of every National Football League off-season.

But if the San Francisco 49ers don't trade that sixth-round draft choice March 12 to the Baltimore Ravens for wide receiver Anquan Boldin, they don't outlast the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in their final home opener at dilapidated Candlestick Park.

Boldin was that good, a one-man wrecking crew if you will, in the 49ers' hard-fought 34-28 victory over the mediocre Packers.

Unlike the Packers, whose only veteran newcomer to their roster is Seneca Wallace, the 49ers and general manager Trent Baalke use every personnel avenue in building a team."

[paulpressey25]

I'm not sure why the concept of TT being a great GM and TT missing the boat by not acquiring "cheap" vets via trade are mutually exclusive.

I think our effectiveness as a team the past three years would have been better had he parted with that mid round pick for Marshawn Lynch back in October of 2010.

[HurricaneKid]

I'm not sure why the concept of TT being a great GM and TT missing the boat by not acquiring "cheap" vets via trade are mutually exclusive.

I think our effectiveness as a team the past three years would have been better had he parted with that mid round pick for Marshawn Lynch back in October of 2010.

This is exactly the way I explain it too. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. TT does a great job of drafting and a poor job of bringing in FAs. Perhaps he doesn't want to give up on the guys he wants to develop. Perhaps he doesn't want to lose out on the chance to grab a guy. Whatever the reason, he is not comfortable bringing in vets. And the day after Boldin clubbed us, its fair to point that out.

FTR, I think its a sound strategy. Vets cost a lot more and when you bring one in for a pick you lose out on young cost controlled talent in lieu of paying a guy on the downside of his career too much money. The overall track record of bringing in vets is not a great one. But when you can't develop certain positions sometimes its a cost you simply have to take.

[FAH1223]

I'm not sure why the concept of TT being a great GM and TT missing the boat by not acquiring "cheap" vets via trade are mutually exclusive.

I think our effectiveness as a team the past three years would have been better had he parted with that mid round pick for Marshawn Lynch back in October of 2010.

This is exactly the way I explain it too. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. TT does a great job of drafting and a poor job of bringing in FAs. Perhaps he doesn't want to give up on the guys he wants to develop. Perhaps he doesn't want to lose out on the chance to grab a guy. Whatever the reason, he is not comfortable bringing in vets. And the day after Boldin clubbed us, its fair to point that out.

FTR, I think its a sound strategy. Vets cost a lot more and when you bring one in for a pick you lose out on young cost controlled talent in lieu of paying a guy on the downside of his career too much money. The overall track record of bringing in vets is not a great one. But when you can't develop certain positions sometimes its a cost you simply have to take.

Eh, he had 10 picks in 2011 and only like 4 of those guys are on the roster now. Cobb being the only one worth anthying special.

TT is average IMO but he is starting to fail with replenishing the talent of departed vets and shoring up the glaring weaknesses we have talked about for years.

[shish]

It's not like 49rs had a first round bust at wide receiver that forced them to look for a vet help.

[crkone]

So who should not be on the roster to sign these FAs? Boldin is at 6 million this year. Maybe push Rodgers' extension until the last moment? Jettison all the WRs and let Rodgers throw to Bill Schroeder?

[Newz]

TT is average IMO but he is starting to fail with replenishing the talent of departed vets and shoring up the glaring weaknesses we have talked about for years.

Wins Super Bowl using draft and develop strategy.

Then is called 'average' at drafting.

[eagle13]

I mostly support TT's approach except that he's a prisoner of it. Except for the famously successful FA signings of Woodson & Picket, He just can no longer bring himself to do other things outside his comfort zone. Lynch or Jax for a 4th is a no-brainer.

Now that players are getting expensive we're entering a new stage of roster/payroll mgmt. TT already has broke with his past cap MO by pulling so little of Clay & Aaron's salary from current money (which was one of his wisdoms) and instead now spreading it into the future like most. We already can see he'll not be able to keep all our own FAs next year. That problem tends to compound.


To his defense TT has had terrible luck with injuries to his 1st & 2nd rd picks
Collins - S -2nd
Murphy - WR - 2nd
Harrell - DT – 1st
Bulaga - OT – 1st
Sherrod – OT – 1st
Worthy – DE – 2nd

Of course Harrell was a glaring mistake (Worthy too imo) but Collins is an AllPro, Bulaga a Pro Bowl RT, Sherrod at least a better LT than Newhouse, and Murphy at least a decent #3. That’s 3-4 guys who should still be playing.

All the more reason to INTELIGENTLY use all avenues available to plug holes.

[James1980]

Bulaga a pro bowl RT? Didn't he give up 4 sacks in the first half in the Seahawks game?

[Ron Swanson]

So who should not be on the roster to sign these FAs? Boldin is at 6 million this year. Maybe push Rodgers' extension until the last moment? Jettison all the WRs and let Rodgers throw to Bill Schroeder?

Exactly, this is what I never understood about the "we should have traded for Marshawn Lynch" crowd also. We would have had him for what? A season and a half before we'd have to give him a lucrative extension like Seattle had to do? Meanwhile, we're down a 4th round pick that we would have otherwise used to help us trade up and draft Casey Hayward...as well as being in a tougher position to re-sign our own guys (bye bye Morgan Burnett extension).

It's a hell of a lot easier to say "TT needs to get off his ass and work the trade lines" when a guy, that just got acquired for a 6th rounder, makes the kind of immediate impact that Boldin did in his first game as a Niner. Meanwhile, I think the only reason they got Boldin in the first place, was because they completely whiffed on a 1st round WR just a year ago. I get it, the 49ers are the hot topic right now, but Boldin is the exception rather than the norm, and unless I'm mistaken, San Fran hasn't proven that they can win a championship with their team building philosophy, yet GB has.

[raysbookclub]

It would be awesome to have Lynch and a healthy Sherrod, Collins, Harrell, Bulaga.

At the same time, we're still a top-5 team. (Yesterday's game confirms that I think. Played the NFC champ at their home, a team who is constructed to play against our team probably better than any other team in the NFL, their QB and WR have record days, they make numerous big plays including a big 4th down conversion, we're minus 2 in turnovers, they get a TD off of a botched penalty enforcement, our KR plays like a bonehead, and we were right there in the game.) And we've been a top-5 team for the last 4 years.

That's pretty good, to have a legit top-5 team that many years in a row. You always wish you were better, but it's hard to criticize that.

[LUKE23]

This is going to be a copout answer, but I feel that TT has adequately addressed nearly the entire roster, but has been unlucky with injuries. If we had his team right now, we're starting Collins with Burnett and our #3/4/5 tackles are Bakhtiari/Barclay/Newhouse. Tretter might be starting at C. Bishop is at ILB. Some may see it as a copout, but we've been murdered by injuries. Sure, there are some spots where we don't have great depth, but we can't keep everyone. Letting Jennings go was the right move.

I'm all about the draft and develop strategy, and always will be.

[James1980]

We could still have Bishop at ILB, TT cut him.

[humanrefutation]

We could still have Bishop at ILB, TT cut him.

What? Bishop hasn't played a snap for the Vikings, either. Time to let that go.