The most aggressive teams early in free agency a year ago were Cleveland, Minnesota and Washington. Arizona also drew accolades for adding Edgerrin James, cementing the Cardinals' status as a team on the rise. Drew Brees raised eyebrows when he took more money from New Orleans, a team heading nowhere, when he could have landed with a playoff contender in Miami. The Colts, meanwhile, treaded water by re-signing a few of their own guys without adding reinforcements from other teams. Losing James to Arizona also meant the Colts might have a hard time duplicating previous successes.
So much for that. Their 2006 records:
Cleveland 4-12
Minnesota 6-10
Washington 5-11
Arizona 5-11
Miami 6-10
New Orleans 10-6
Indianapolis 12-4
Basically, as intriguing as some of the moves are, keep in mind that the offseason winners rarely turn out to be the winners come fall.
