So we should continue building up a 4-13 team? All of the free agents noted, with maybe one or two exceptions, would be plugging holes rather than making a huge difference to the team's overall expected performance. I'm all for building through the draft, but do think that retaining our younger pending free agents (Murphy/Allen this year) is also key in the future.
Does leaving holes open also have a huge difference in the team's overall performance? There aren't a lot of examples of being very bad for a long time helping a team get better.
The question is whether you're going to plug holes with high-value free agents, low-value free agents, or rookie gambles.
It seems like there isn't a lot of logic to the idea that you actually get better in the long run by opening up more holes in your roster by letting your top internal FAs leave.
Everyone who's advocating for a teardown/rebuild have this plan:
Step 1: Get rid of everyone
Step 2: ????
Step 3: Win Super Bowl
That is not a plan for any team except the Houston Texans. How is that working out for them so far?