I have been watching the recent Free Agency actions in the NFL with interest. It is amazing how much player swapping goes on. I would have expected that the Pats would be somewhat immune to it given their recent success, but as you can see they have lost Damien Woody and Ted Washington. I guess in the end it comes down to money, but it just seems like there is more to playing in the NFL than pure dollars and cents. Is there any value to a team like the Pats which has been to the big game twice in three years and has one of the league’s best coaches?
Unfortunately, I think that the NFL is about economics and it goes both ways. Clearly Woody and Washington were made large offers by the Patriots declined to match them, which brings up an interesting question, who is right? Are the Pats making a mistake in letting these two players go or are the other teams screwed because they are over paying? Clearly Scott Pioli and Bill Bellichek feel like it is latter, but only time will tell. However, given the Pats track record, it is hard to bet against Bellichek.
That said, as the old Chinese proverb said , “We are doomed to live in interesting times.” This certainly holds true with the NFL.