Oddly, you are right and wrong.Salary cap space is the greatest commodity in the game so I don’t agree. That pick 10 and Simpson may do nothing whereas Shoota is going to give us 120-150 matches on a contract that matches his list standing.
Ultimately you won’t be able to have your cake and eat it to in the form of Perryman’s signature leading to 5-10 list ranked players demanding increases and then going to market on the likes of LDU or King. Those veteran savings will get chewed up very quickly.
If we agree that salary cap space is king, then surely in a year where we have no picks and don’t want to stand still (or go backwards), then the prudent thing to do is spend some dollars to gain someone who will be a very good player within our team.
I posted earlier that Perryman kept Lachie Neale to 1 possession in the last quarter of the semi final that was on the line. If he can play as a mid, a shut down mid or a half back flanker that releases Jaicos onto a wing, then that is the sort of player position flexibility that McRae loves and demands in our squad.
I believe in this instance we got it right to pay what the market demanded to get Perryman in. The fact that other clubs were chasing him shows how high he is rated.