“Best teams don’t need to make flashy moves” - Colin Cowherd gives reality check to franchises spending big in free agency

Making a big splash in free agency isn’t necessarily the best recipe for success. On Sunday, NFL podcast host Colin Cowherd talked about how some teams today continue to be successful despite not making big moves in the off-season.

"The best teams don’t need to make flashy moves because they’ve already done the hard work," Cowherd said. "They’ve drafted well, they develop talent, and they keep their best players." (1:38).

Cowherd noted the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs as two teams that have made intelligent decisions rather than a big splash.

"Philadelphia they get it," Cowherd added. "They regularly shed older, expensive players and restock in the draft. They also immediately re-signed the heart of their team, Saquon Barkley."

Barkley, who led the league with 2,005 yards rushing in the regular season, signed a two-year, $41.2 million extension with the reigning Super Bowl champions earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Eagles have drafted numerous players who made huge impacts last season like Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith

"The best front offices operate the same way. Like the Chiefs retaining Nick Bolton, a very good player," Cowherd said (1:03).

The Eagles and Chiefs have met in the Super Bowl twice in the last three seasons, with Philly making the playoffs four times and the Chiefs 10 times in a row.

Last season, 10 of the 14 teams that made the playoffs in the previous campaign returned to the post-season, with the newcomers in 2024 being the Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings.

At the same time, in the eight NFL divisions, six teams repeated as champions this past season, with the Eagles unseeding the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East and the Rams taking the NFC West crown away from the San Francisco 49ers.

Teams at the bottom making the same mistakes, Colin Cowherd said

If there isn’t much change at the top, then it would be logical to believe that some of the worst teams are continuing to suffer.

"The more the NFL changes, the more it stays exactly the same," Cowherd said. "The Bears are in yet another rebuild. The Jets signing another well-traveled quarterback. You feeling Déja Vu?"

Earlier this month, the Jets signed Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears and Tyrod Taylor, with the latter joining the seventh team in his NFL career. The Jets haven’t made the playoffs since 2010 and haven’t had a winning season since 2015 (10-6).

The Bears, meanwhile, have missed the playoffs each of the past four seasons. Earlier this offseason, Ben Johnson became their third head coach since the 2022 season.