Goaldeje
The Legend
The cap penalties didn't prevent Jarvis Jenkins from being an impact player at DE. They didn't consign another high pick in LeRibeus to being a 16 game spectator for the second year in a row.
The cap penalty also didn't make us trade for McNabb or sign Josh Morgan or Brandon Meriweather.
Every team makes mistakes. The Almighty Patriots traded for Haynesworth. Heck, they just let Wes Welker walk. You can pull example after example from EVERY team in the league for where they've screwed up. No one is perfect. Reed and AlMo sure are great though, aren't they? We've essentially been constructing a team with one arm tied behind our backs for the past two years because of that Son of a Mara. You're gonna win some and lose some, some of the losses might have been mitigated by some potential wins we would have had in FA had Mara not bent us over.
It is what it is. Shanny has done very well in some regards, and horribly in others. Just like most other front offices out there.
EDIT: Hell, go look at Belichick's attempts to draft a secondary. It gives me warm fuzzies all over.