RG Joe Andruzzi: He was picked up on waivers from Green Bay in 2000. He signed with the Patrtiots. He started every game at right guard in 2001.

LG Mike Compton: He left the Lions and signed with the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent in 2001. He started all 16 games and in the playoffs. So, yes, the Patriots starting offensive line had a couple of free agent starting guards.

Linebacker Bryan Cox: Yes, that Bryan Cox. After leaving the Dolphins and the Bears, Cox spent three years with the Jets. Then the Patriots picked him up in 2001 and he started seven games and played in 11. He had three fumble recovers and two forced fumbles and he scored a TD. The guy was in decline but he always had been a playmaker.

Running back Antowain Smith: He was originally drafted by the Bills. He was added as an unrestricted free agent and led the team by rushing for 1,157 yards. He'd been considered something of an enigma in Buffalo. He was a locker room leader in New England.

Linebacker Mike Vrabel: The Pittburgh Steelers drafted him but let him go to New England as an unrestricted free agent. So much for that theory that the Steelers don't let good players go in free agency. Vrabel started 12 games and had three sacks with two interceptions in 2001. He got better later and had three Super Bowl rings with New England before he went to Kansas City in 2010.

Linebacker Roman Phifer: Originally the 31st overall pick in St. Louis in 1991, Phifer went to the Jets as a UFA and signed a three-year deal through the 2001 season. He was, however, cut after the 2000 season and the Patriots signed him to a one-year minimum salary deal. Phifer started all 16 games. He was re-signed after the season for three more years. He was a Pro Bowl alternate two of those three years.

Cornerback Terrell Buckley: The former Packer and former Dolphins joined the Broncos for one season in 2000 and then went to New England when he was cut. He played with the Patriots in 2001 and 2002. He was the team's nickel cornerback and had an interception in the AFC title game against Pittsburgh that helped New England go to the Super Bowl.

Tight end Jermaine Wiggins: Another Jets castoff, Wiggins signed as a free agent in 2000 and lasted through the 2002 season. He also had a big game in the Tuck Rule game.
Cornerback Otis Smith: He played for the Patriots in 1996 but left to join the Jets for three years. Then he returned as an unrestricted free agent in 2000. He started 15 of 16 regular season games and throughout the playoffs.

Linebacker Larry Izzo: He was an undrafted free agent who made the Dolphins in 1996 and stayed through 2000. The Patriots signed him in 2001 as an unrestricted free agent. There he became the special teams captain and won three Super Bowl rings. He recovered two fumbles in the Tuck Rule game. Two.

Wide receiver David Patten: The Cleveland Browns cut him after 2000. The Patriots picked him up in 2001 and he started 14 games. He was the club's leading receiver in the Tuck Rule game.

And that cheating thing!

But that's not how the very large majority of championship teams do it.

The large majority draft and develop a franchise QB. The Dolphins are walking that path. We'll see if they get there.

Once you have that franchise QB, whether you bring other players through free agency or the draft, as long as you bring in good players, your team will contend or at least be competitive every year.

Ryan Tannehill is the most important pick the Dolphins have made with Ireland as GM.

That reminds me...The Saints went and got a franchise qb through free agency.

The large majority draft and develop a franchise QB. The Dolphins are walking that path. We'll see if they get there.

Once you have that franchise QB, whether you bring other players through free agency or the draft, as long as you bring in good players, your team will contend or at least be competitive every year.

Ryan Tannehill is the most important pick the Dolphins have made with Ireland as GM.

Yeah but Brees is one in a billion.

He's 6'0 tall in high heels, never had the strongest arm, and probably even less so after shredding it up, not overly athletic etc.

Like I said though, I don't think we're building this team through Free Agency. Haven't crossed that line yet.

The title of thread and the topic itself is very misleading. Miami has not built this team through free agency.

The title of the thread is not misleading because it is not about the Miami Dolphins. It's about an example of a team, the 2001 New England Patriots, who had a core mostly made up of free agents and won a championship.

I don't know about that Rich.

Defensively the core pieces of that team were McGinnest, Bruschi, Milloy, Roman Phifer, Vrabel, Tebucky Jones, Ty Law, Richard Seymour. Vrabel and Phifer were Free Agent pick ups, the rest were drafted.

On offense the core was Brady, Kevin Faulk, Antowain Smith, Troy Brown, David Patton, Terry Glenn. Patton and Smith were Free Agents.

Most of that team's core players were drafted and developed. They supplemented it with free agency, I think similar to how Miami is doing. But I wouldn't say they were built through Free Agency. Their true franchise players were drafted, (Brady, Seymour, McGinnest, Ty Law, Terry Glenn, Milloy, Bruschi).

The title of the thread is not misleading because it is not about the Miami Dolphins. It's about an example of a team, the 2001 New England Patriots, who had a core mostly made up of free agents and won a championship.

It is misleading because the implication is that you start by buying core pieces and compliment them with draft picks.

Where does the article or the title state that?

That is your interpretation.

Again, nothing misleading about it. That 2001 team got a lot of good play by a lot of no-names and cast offs that were acquired in free agency.

As I pointed out, the majority of the starters were free agents.

The title of the thread is A Champion Can Be Built Through Free Agency. That is not what the article talks about. Having half of your starters (not majority)be free agents and getting good play from them is not building a champion through free agency. As PR pointed out, they had a good core for the team built and developed already.

I just find that team as a bad example

A) They were using sideline video
B)They took video of the Rams pre game walk through
C) The tuck rule was more bullsnit
D)Goodall covered the entire scheme up with destruction of all the evidence.
E) They had microphones in the defense.

THEY CHEATED


I'm sure there is a better example.

The Jets went to back to back championships with alot of free agent starters or the Bucs a few years back