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COPYRIGHT 2002 Sporting News Publishing Co.
Key newcomers, they are called. In Wisconsin, they'll pop open another can of Schlitz to toast the arrival of Terry Glenn. Hardened Jets fans turn to mush at the thought of Sam Cowart joining Gang Green. As far as New Orleans is concerned, the only difference between Grady Jackson and Superman is the absence of an "S" on Jackson's chest.
That enthusiasm sells jerseys but misses the point. Splashy acquisitions almost always have less impact than major player losses. Losing players leads to losing games in the NFL as surely as losing cabin pressure leads to losing altitude in aviation.
Replacing known commodities often is more difficult than it appears. All teams justify their losses. They hope for improvement from new players or the development of prospects. But hope leaves gamblers with empty pockets every day.
Teams rarely know exactly what they are getting with a new player. Sometimes the acquisitions don't fit the schemes quite right, or they don't blend in with their teammates.
Players who change teams are like garage-sale items that change houses; they weren't wanted badly enough where they were. And usually there is good reason. One team's problem usually doesn't become another team's solution.
We devised a system to measure offseason player losses, asking an NFL personnel department for its color-code rankings of players who switched teams and assigning a number value to each color. Blue players, who are considered dominators, received three points;...
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