Rick Smith was hired as GM on 6/5/2006. Since then, these have been our pickups:
6/13/2006: FB Nick Luchey -- He was ok and served his purpose as a camp body
7/30/2006: CB Dexter McCleon -- He was decent vet depth in 2006
8/4/2006: CB Earthwind Moreland -- Haha what a name. Can't say I remember him
8/14/2006: DE Darrell Wright -- Never heard of him
8/16/2006: LB Trent Bray -- Rookie who had some promise but never played
8/24/2006: LB Courtney Watson -- Decent LB. I don't think he made the team
9/5/2006: RB Ron Dayne -- Serviceable, though he was hated by many
9/7/2006: DT Thomas Johnson -- I remember thinking he looked better than Travis Johnson
10/9/2006: FB Vonta Leach -- Orgazmic signing
11/1/2006: CB Dexter Wynn -- Decent PR who played a little CB
11/14/2006: CB Von Hutchins -- Decent CB who we lost in FA to the Falcons
11/14/2006: DT Cedric Killings -- Looked good until his unfortunate injury
11/14/2006: OT Mike Pearson -- Never played
11/21/2006: S Michael Stone -- I don't think he played much
1/2/2007: TE Joel Dreessen -- Good signing. I'm higher on him than most
1/9/2007: CB Jason Horton -- Placed on IR during the preseason
3/5/2007: RB Ahman Green -- FAIL
3/7/2007: LB Danny Clark -- Decent SLB for us when healthy
3/9/2007: OT Jordan Black -- FAIL
3/15/2007: DT Jeff Zgonina -- Decent rotation guy
3/21/2007: LB Shawn Barber -- Injured all season
3/22/2007: Traded for QB Matt Schaub -- WIN
3/23/2007: Released Carr and DD/W -- WIN
4/5/2007: CB Jamar Fletcher -- He was ok, I guess
4/12/2007: WR Andre Davis -- Pretty good 2007, slipped in 2008
5/10/2007: Signed Deljuan Robinson, Darius Walker and others as UDFAs -- Deljuan rocks!
7/9/2007: WR Bethel Johnson -- Didn't make the team
7/9/2007: LB Zac Woodfin -- Didn't make the team
7/10/2007: DT Thomas Smith -- Don't remember him
7/27/2007: WR Keenan McCardell -- Didn't make the team
7/28/2007: OT Kevin Barry -- One of Sherman's guys. Didn't play much if at all
7/30/2007: RB Patrick Pass -- I don't think he made the team
8/14/2007: CB Tyrone Poole -- I don't think he made the team
9/1/2007: Traded Babin for Boulware -- I still don't like the trade. At least Babin is still in the league
9/3/2007: OT Rashad Butler -- By all accounts is developing nicely
9/11/2007: S Will Demps -- Pro Bowl alternate. Good low risk signing
10/10/2007: RB Adimchinobe Echemandu -- He looked decent in limited duty
10/24/2007: QB Shane Boyd -- He looked good in preseason
10/30/2007: QB Craig Nall -- Never took a snap
11/13/2007: S Curome Cox -- Decent ST player
12/4/2007: OG Mike Brisiel to active roster -- Solid starter
1/10/2008: WR LeRon McCoy -- Looked good before getting released. I wouldn't mind having his brother
1/15/2008: OC Chukky Okobi -- Never played
3/1/2008: CB Jacques Reeves -- He played ok at times. Hopefully Gibbs can improve him
3/3/2008: LB Kevin Bentley -- Looked good when forced to start
3/13/2008: RB Chris Brown -- FAIL
3/14/2008: LB Chaun Thompson -- Wasn't the pass rusher we thought he'd be
3/17/2008: Traded for Chris Myers -- Pretty good move. He needs to get stronger
3/24/2008: QB Quinn Gray -- Insurance that we didn't need since we didn't trade Sage
6/16/2008: DE/LB Rosevelt Colvin -- FAIL
7/31/2008: RB Mike Bell -- Wasn't in shape and got cut
8/18/2008: RB Marcel Shipp -- Didn't make the team
9/3/2008: S Eugene Wilson -- Good signing
11/19/2008: DE Jesse Nading signed to active roster -- He looked decent on ST
11/26/2008: CB Matterral Richardson signed from Redskins PS -- WHO?!?
12/3/2008: LS Clark Harris signed to active roster -- Didn't look bad replacing Pittman
12/17/2008: CB David Pittman signed to active roster -- Don't recall seeing him play
Conclusion: To say they've made a "bunch" of mistakes in free agency is fair, since they've made more than three mistakes. However, they have had far more successes than failures in the free agent market. Rick Smith has shown an ability to add good talent from other team once the rosters are trimmed to 53, and that's an invaluable asset. A few of our under the radar signing have panned out, but our attempts at making a big splash haven't. Perhaps the front office should follow their instincts more often on players that they feel have a quality to thrive in our system as opposed to chasing the "big name", because it failed with Green, Brown, and Colvin. Heading into this offseason, we should expect more of the same. We're likely going to target role players who can start in a pinch then try to get our starters through the draft while hoping guys like Moulden, Reeves, Bennett, Okoye, Okam, Adibi, Diles, Barber, Bulman, and Robinson continue to develop and become either good starters or quality depth.