Looking back at the past 3 years, it looks to me like the Redskins have been most active on the defensive side of the ball, signing Fletcher, Smoot, Haynesworth. They've been a top 10 defense for the past 3 years. They were terrible in '06 as a defense, ranking 31st. So it makes sense to me that they went after defensive targets. I'm sure the FA signings weren't the only factor, but it seems to have contributed to improving the defense. They haven't been good offensively in forever, and other than signing Randle El (who I would argue isn't all that big a signing), they haven't really targeted big offensive FA's -- at least, not at the skill positions. Here's a site that lists their recent aquisitions: http://www.redskins.com/gen/articles/Free_Agency__Redskins_Usually_Aggressive_5464.jsp There's defnitely danger in going the FA route. It's obvious the current Bears regime is desperate for quick improvements to be made. I'm not all that comfortable saddling the next coach/GM with expensive, underperforming players either. But I also think that just dismissing it as something that could never, ever help is wrong.