Another thing you should spend a little time on to help improve your game is FA analysis. How much was spent on the FA1, 2, & 3 players and how did they perform? You cant go by just one season, but you can look at a roster and see the high dollar contracts and then check the stats. So, here's the list of the "big buck" contracts for this season, if I missed any, was looking for the $4 million and up contracts per year, so post em if I did. Also post if you had a boom or bust FA player, it would take me way too long to go through all the early FA transactions to find who got the best and worst values.

QB George Flower Signed contract with Arizona Cardinals ($109,931,171, 6 yrs) (from JAX, the biggest FA contract of the season, next largest amount was $90 mill, both deals were by Ariz Cards.
Finished ranked 11th in QBR with a 75.1, 11 TD passes - 13 ints. I understand the reasoning, Ive bid huge amounts when it was a key position and need, Ive got Flower rated 91, the only problem with an expensive high rater QB is that they dont perform up to their rating and atts in 4.5, but that could change soon.

LT Scott Cash Arizona Cardinals ($90,341,432, 6 yrs) (from TEN)
673 pass blocks/5 sacks allowed, 577 run blocks/25 tack allwd. 3 pen - 15 yds. 1 fum recvry. 2nd best bid, Dallas - $95.6 million/6 yrs. Those were only two bids over 90 mill, the next best bid was $28 mill - Skins. The question here is whether or not any OL is worth more than $10 mill/yr? Compare ratings & stats for the answer. 5 sacks allowed on 673 pass blocks is not great, especially in 4.5 where sacks have been cut in half.

CB Michael Brookes Dallas Cowboys ($38,728,827, 5 yrs) (from WAS)
Is listed at CB6, thats a lot of salary for a sub! 50% CA, 0 ints.

C Taylor Warren Jacksonville Jaguars ($38,102,143, 6 yrs) (from DAL)
82 default, 77 my weights- 72... same as Brookes above, thats a lot of salary for a sub!

MLB Terry Fleming San Diego Chargers ($8,000,000, 1 yrs) (from NOS)
(see post in this thread by jccruz, great review/explanation of the "why" on this transaction)

LG John Hannah Miami Dolphins ($10,775,826, 1 yrs) (from NE.)
12 yr vet, 1 yr deal, LG1, 749 Pass Blocks/0 sacks, 425 RBs-24 TA, 4 pen-25 yds, based on Dolphins season, would say this was a good move by Androwski

CB Richard Lawson San Francisco 49ers ($18,884,913, 3 yrs) (from CIN)
9 yr vet, 70 default R, CB2, overall average stats, 55% CA, 3 ints, 20 kds. not bad.

WR Joseph Neri Dallas Cowboys ($14,541,861, 3 yrs) (from SEA)
WR3, 9yr vet, 73 speed. 15 catches, 13.6 apc, 1 TD ... can get same performance from no-bid min sal FA.

LDE Harvey Robinette New England Patriots ($31,325,775, 6 yrs) (from MIN
5 yr vet, LDE1, my rating is 78, has good key atts, overall a good value and add by vcr.

WLB Sean Wetter Oakland Raiders ($25,042,324, 6 yrs) (from MIA)
6 yr vet, my rating is 55, WLB2, there are 8 WLBs in FA pool that I have rated 56-62.

CB Derrick Burke New England Patriots ($4,916,380, 1 yrs) (from SEA)
1 yr deal, not a bad idea, my rating had him at 81, but stats were not great (58% CA).

WR Scott Bruner New England Patriots ($42,***,415, 6 yrs) (from MIN)
5 yr vet, WR2, led 3 win team in rec (516 yds & 3 tds), contract was pricey for a 77 rated WR.

DT Timothy Savory New England Patriots ($25,042,324, 6 yrs) (from WAS)
9 yr vet, DT3, 7 tackles, no sacks, 1 hurry on 282 plays. Not much performance for over 4 mill/yr., the same kind of stats can be had from a $200k/yr FA.

RDE Peter Roof Jacksonville Jaguars ($27,919,343, 4 yrs) (from NOS
11 yr vet, RDE2, my rating 74, 0 tackles, 1 sack, 4 hurries. Like several other FA's on this list, that is a pretty high salary for a sub and mid 70 rater.

DT Steven Newman Jacksonville Jaguars ($37,064,898, 6 yrs) (from WAS
Def rating 70, very high $'s for a DT that you can get most any time in FA pool for $200k/yr.

MLB Ted Hendricks Miami Dolphins ($13,473,192, 1 yrs) (from SEA)
10 yr vet, my rating is 69, MLB3, got paid 13 mill to make 1 tackle, lol. Expensive sub but only a 1 yr deal, prob to ensure the position was covered in case of injury

LDE Ted Forward Washington Redskins ($30,631,998, 5 yrs) (from TEN)
RDE2 & DT3, 7 yr vet, 72 DR - MW 75, another pretty expensive sub but that was mostly due to competitive bidding that upped the contract $'s for mid 70 raters by FA2 or 3 sim. 8 tackles, 2 sacks, 7 hurries - 286 plays, thats a pretty good ratio in 4.5

R Scott Boyer Tennessee Titans ($13,027,956, 2 yrs) (from NYJ)
9 yr vet, 81 rated, WR2, 59 speed/43 accel. 98 catch, 100 route, 91 BA, 87 courage .... great skill attributes. 49 recs - 7.4 ypc (low) - 1 TD. not much from the WR2 spot. in prev year with the Jets, he only averaged 5.9 per catch.

MLB Terry Fleming San Diego Chargers ($8,000,000, 1 yrs) (from NOS)

The Chargers were forced into the FA market to replace its retiring starting MLB Antonio Willis (9 yrs. experience/overall rating 83/10% chance of retiring). Fleming was chosen in the 2nd round by New Orleans, has been starter for his entire MFN career and still sports a 79 overall default rating.

Fleming filled in admirably (4 ints) the season, although he missed 5 games early due to injury and will enter the '78 playoffs with an ailing ankle. Clearly a one year rental while 3rd year LB Jared McClain learns the position, Fleming will very likely retire at the end of this season and is overjoyed to compete in his 4th playoffs.

I have one more year of dead cap to overcome before I'm a player in the FA market

After doing all of the evaluation/reviews of the big buck FA's listed above, I'm not impressed with the stats and performance by them. What surprised me most is more than half of them are overpaid subs that could have been gotten out of the FA pool, or late FA, for minimum salaries. $175k + bonus based on contract length instead of $4-8 million/yr. Several of them were acquired specifically for back up purposes, so that would account for the lack of stats/performance for $4 million or more per year deals, and by the time an FA rated in the 70s or better makes it to FA3 and has 1 or more bids on them, it sets the price that you need to bid to acquire them. Key attribute and an owner's custom weights may also have a lot to do with the high values of the contracts, but I still go by the final stat performance to determine the value and worth of the player & contract. At this point am wondering if the better value and performance was found in the FA's that were picked up in early FA for less than $4 mill/yr. So, for me, this has been a worthwhile review, kind of "eye opening". cheers