I think the Ravens (Dumerville) and Broncos (Talib, Ware, and Welker) got them where they wanted to go also. I think you need a solid blend of FA and draft...stronger draft than FA moves though.
patience is what you have when you dont want Revis, Maxwell, or Kareem jackson...those same people preaching patience want those guys, they just dont know better than to say "be patient." Most of them are old...just ask them. They likely still punch time clocks, wonder where phone booths are, and prefer fruit cups over tapioca pudding in the nursing home lunch line. You know who you are.
Big difference though in the teams you cite, and the Jets. Both Patriots and Denver had established foundations and only needed a couple of key pieces. What I was referring to was how other lower tier teams have done recently to break their respective losing trends. Teams like the Dolphins, Redskins, Eagles and last year's Giants team all spent big and got very little to show for their money.That defense the Pats built through free agency looked pretty good last year.
I think he's more talented than Fitz, Hoyer or Mallet, but he has major durability issues, a lot like Sam Bradford, though he's not at Bradford's level. On the plus side he's still a young player (26), so its not out of the question that he can start having better luck with injuries. I'm not saying he's a franchise QB, but IMO he's good enough to challenge Geno if he stays healthy, and at worse we have a real quality backup. He also won't cost too much, so it doesn't preclude us from drafting Mariota if he falls to 6 and we want him. As for his accuracy, he hasn't played a lot of pro football and he was still a developing player. I think that would have naturally improved with reps and games if the injuries didn't rob him of so much of that. Was he a reach at #8 overall in 2011, absolutely, but was he a late 1/early 2 value, IMO he was. At this point he's a no brainer for the Jets in my view. I don't see anyone else out there who has his ceiling.
Agree on Locker 100%.