RaiderSilly also didn't mention Jason Campbell 
as a signed free agent. The fact that crappy coaching couldn't take advantage of the free agent talent shouldn't fall totally on the free agents.
Some were bust and shouldn't have been signed but that is in every organization.
Moss was productive for the Pats
Dominic Rhodes helped out the colts
DeAngelo Hall is still ballin
Ashley Lelie sucked with the hos and should have never been in the league
Aaron Brooks had zero offensive line play
Frye, Losman and Boller were signed as backups.
Al has always taken a chance with the unwanted, outcast and castoffs
So you are saying there is a correlation between good coaching and good players. I agree. And now we are once again getting an unproven coach to try and attract potential free agents. I doesn't fall completely on the shoulders of the free agents. It falls on Al shoulders as he is the one making the decision. Which was my point in the first place. His decisions for free agents are limited to the type of players I listed when this team is doing what it has done for the last seven seasons. Instability of this organization limits who will come here.
Moss was productive for the Pats because they were winning and he was featured. Two things he was not getting here in Oakland which is why he quit on the team.
Rhodes we got knowing he was facing a four game suspension at the start of the season. Before rejoining the Colts this year he was playing in Canada. So good was he that he was out of the NFL.
Hall is an above average DB. Picking off Cuntler is not the sign of greatness. It just proves that you played the Bears this year.
I agree with you totally on Ashley. But that did not stop Al from picking him up did it? Further proving Al's recognition of talent is not what it once was and that when pickings are slim he takes some of the worse.
Brooks had no line this is true. But he was horrible long before he came to Oakland.
Frye, Losman and Boller were signed as backups. But none are of any quality. Again we get table scraps because that is all this team attracts at this time.
The difference is though that the "outcasts" of the 60's and 70's were guys who could play. They were considered outcasts because they were a little eccentric (Hendrix), plain nuts(Matuszak), or just wanted to dress and look how they wanted. The NFL has changed and now they could care less about any of that. If you can play they will figure out how to keep you. Whether you once abused dogs or raped a woman in a bathroom. If you are good, teams find room.
Because of the situation and instability in Oakland our potential free agent list is slim. Yes Al is always willing to shell out the money(one of the great things about Al). But if they are unwilling to come none of that matters. So I say again. You thinking that we simply "replace the players we may lose with free agents" is just not that simple. Losing quality player always hurts. It hurts more when you replace them with sub par free agents like we have in the past.
