Early Free Agency Report

Free agency began on March 9^th and there have been a number of impressive moves.

Let's go shopping - The Raiders took steps to protect their star quarterback Derek Carr and have now assembled what could be the best offensive line in football. They signed tackle Kelechi Osemele to a five-year contract and T Donald Penn on a two-year contract. Those two will help to keep the Raider’s Carr to Cooper connection alive and well.

With a large amount of cap space available the Raiders were also able to make some key signings on defence, adding cornerback Sean Smith and priced rush linebacker Bruce Irvin. A former Seahawk, Irvin brings a proven ability to get to the quarterback (with 22.5 sacks in his first 4 years). Meanwhile Sean Smith was one of the reasons why the Chiefs made the playoffs

Taking the next step - The Jaguars took some steps towards the playoffs in 2015 and look to continue to improve. To that end they T Kelvin Beachum, G Mackenzy Bernadeau, injury prone first round pick,  CB Prince Amukamara, DL Malik Jackson, RB Chris Ivory and S Tashaun Gipson. Ivory will provide a solid ground game to compliment last year’s rookie TJ Yeldon whilst former first round pick Amukamara, if he can stay healthy, could be a steal. Add the impending return of last year’s first round pick Dante Fowler and Jacksonville are a team on the rise.

Addition by subtraction – The Philadelphia Eagles fired Chip Kelly after a disastrous 2015 season. New head coach Doug Pederson and executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman began free agency not by making big splash signings, but by undoing some of last year’s mistakes. Under Chip the Eagles signed DeMarco Murray and Byron Maxwell to huge deals and traded away star running back LeSean McCoy for linebacker Kiko Alonso. All three players were disappointing to say the least. Now, all three are gone. Maxwell and Alonso were traded to the Dolphins along with the Eagles first round pick, in return for the Dolphins first round pick, the eighth overall. Murray was traded to the Titans in exchange for a swap of fourth round picks. The Eagles will now pick second in the fourth round.

Whilst these moves bring nothing to the team they did release the Eagles from significant cap numbers an allowed the Eagles to resign Brent Celek, Zach Ertz, Lane Johnson, Pro Bowl safety Malcom Jenkins and Vinnie Curry and sign exciting safety Rodney McCleod, guard Brandon Brooks, veteran cornerback Leodis McKelvin backup quarterback Chase Daniel and linebacker Nigel Bradham. The team also added CB Ron Brooks, T Donald Stephenson and wide receivers Chris Givens and Reuben Randall.

Whilst there have been some great moves and some solid resigning there have also been some teams that have had off seasons that are questionable at best, and disastrous at worst.

Same old Browns - The Cleveland Browns were a team in disarray last year. With free agency coming they had the ideal opportunity to spend big and sign several free agents right? Wrong. Like rats leaving a drowning ship centre Alex Mack, tackle Mitchell Schwartz, receiver Travis Benjamin, linebacker Karlos Dansby and safety Tashaun Gipson have all moved to pastures new. The Browns one addition of note to date has been quarterback Robert Griffin III. Griffin was the poster child for success a few years ago with Washington but has seen his stock fall as a result of injury, poor play and an inability to slide! Still, the move makes sense for both parties. The Browns get a quarterback that has the ability to play at a Pro Bowl level whilst Griffin gets a shot to repair his legacy as quarterback of the Browns.

 Dynasties are hard to come by - The Broncos may have won the Super Bowl but since that day they have seen the sheriff, Peyton Manning, ride off into the sunset of retirement and then several of their key players leave in free agency, including Peyton’s presumed successor Brock Osweiler. Linebacker Danny Trevathan, rising defence lineman Malik Jackson, S David Brutonand Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis have all left. All were key players in the Super Bowl run.

Personally the loss of Osweiler may turn out to be a long term blessing. He was the starting quarterback for only 7 games last year, playing in eight. During that time he passed for only 10 touchdowns and threw 6 interceptions. He was also sacked 23 times, or an average of 2.875 times a game. Not exactly star player material, and certainly not worth the $18 million the Texans gave him. However the signings of Mark Sanchez and former Seahawks tackle Russell Okung are not going to see the Broncos return to the Super Bowl.

Send help! - The San Francisco 49ers haven't lost a huge haul of players to free agency like the Broncos, but then again they didn't have the players to lose in the first place. Now under the control of Chip Kelly they are in a state where the cupboard is bare and appear to be rebuilding as they look to get whatever they can for Colin Kaepernick, a player who has endured a fall from grace similar to RG III’s in Washington.

Championship Game Conclusions and some big college hitters

The Playoffs are done and we know that the Broncos and the Panthers will be playing in Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara for Super Bowl 50. Their final matches before the greatest show on earth couldn't have been more different.

 

The Broncos were generally considered as everyone's underdog and were expected to roll over as they faced the Patriots. It didn't happen like that. The Broncos were ruthless in their attack of Tom Brady, it seemed like every other play he was getting knocked down. If he wasn't getting hit he was being forced into releasing the ball a second earlier than he wanted. This resulted in several errant throws by Brady. 27 of 56 for 310 yards with 2 interceptions and a touchdown. The complete lack of a running game was staggeringly evident. Brady’s 13 yards rushing was good enough to lead the team! The Broncos were able to tee-off on the pass blocking Patriots and collected four sacks as Von Miller and co. took control.

 

Although Brady and Gronkowski came within a failed two point conversion of taking the game to overtime, losing 20-18, the real question was “have the Patriots finally realised that they do need some offensive weapons aside from Brady and Gronk?”. Belichick’s offensive scheme has made stars of players like Julian Edelman and before him Wes Welker but they can't do so against a top flight defence. Threats on the life of Stephen Gostkowski for a missed extra point show a shocking side of what is actually a game. No-one was threatening Brady over his two interceptions!

 

Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers offence did little wrong, but it wouldn't have mattered if they had. The Panthers defence looked in complete control against the vaunted Arizona Cardinals, and they made play after play.  

 

Newton passed for two touchdowns and ran for two others. Greg Olsen and Corey Brown combined for over 220 yards as the Panthers scored six touchdowns, including a nail-in-the-coffin interception return by star linebacker Luke Kuechly. The result never looked in doubt and seems a lifetime away from the pre-season predictions of a disaster season following the pre-season injury to Kelvin Benjamin.

 

Super Bowl 50 will feature two strong defences that will limit the offences and present matchup issues across the field.  Each team also has its own superstar quarterback. The style of the two players, however, couldn't be more different. The old guard, Peyton Manning, is a classic pocket passer with an unparalleled understanding of the game and fading arm strength. For Carolina the latest mobile quarterback to make the leap from offensive weapon to team superstar, Cam Newton aka Superman, will line up under centre. Newton has a cannon for an arm and is always a threat on the ground. Based on their Conference game performances the Panthers look to be favourites but I'd never bet against Peyton.

 

The 2016 Pro Bowl saw the annual farce of a game post its lowest ever TV ratings but there was some real football action. College football’s Senior Bowl highlighted a selection of draft hopefuls being coached by Gus Bradley and the Jaguars coaching staff. Most of the hype from the week long practices was around North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, who certainly passes the eyeball test at 6’5, 233 lbs. Wentz took the next step in his move from small school quarterback to first round pick in the NFL draft last night, although his time under centre was nothing spectacular (6 of 10 for 50 yards). Although many draftniks are already cementing Wentz to the Cowboys with their first pick I personally think he looked a bit raw to be a top 5 pick!

 

On the other side of the ball a couple of pass rushers really stood out. The first, Eastern Kentucky Colonels star defensive end Noah Spence, was a disruptive force all week in practice, he continued to be nigh on blockable in the game and picked up two tackles and a sack. The other, Baylor Bears defensive end Shawn Oakman, also had a good showing as he picked up 2 sacks and improved his draft stock.

 

Wild Card Weekend special

The Texans might finally be thinking that it's time to pick a quarterback in the draft. Brian Hoyer showed once and for all that he isn't a franchise QB as he imploded, completing only 15/34 passes and tossing 4 interceptions. Credit to a very good Texans defence, they kept the game close throughout the first half even after Knile Davis returned the opening kick-off for a 106 yard touchdown.

 

Alex Smith repeatedly made plays both in the passing game and with his legs. The Chiefs took control in the second half on their way to a 30-0 shutout of the Texans and their first playoff win since when a certain Joe Montana was at quarterback. Travis Kelce showed why he’s one of Smith’s favourite weapons. The tight end exploded for 128 yards on just 8 catches.

 

Think special teams aren't important? Ask the Vikings. After keeping his team in the game, Blair Walsh gets labelled as the goat for missing the 27 yard field goal that could have won the game for the Minnesota Vikings. But it was the whole threesome of long snapper, holder and kicker that failed to produce in the tightest of moments. Walsh didn't hide for the miss, "You're confident, but you never think that you have it or take it for granted," he said, subdued with glassy eyes in the locker room afterward. "I just didn't put a swing on it that would be acceptable by anybody's standards." But for my money it was holder Jeff Locke leaving the laces facing the kicker that led to the miss

 

 It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Viking faithful as they had kept the Seahawks offence struggling for the majority of the game and only a broken play kept the Seahawks in the game. On a wild snap that Russell Wilson wasn't ready for, the athletic quarterback managed to avoid getting tackled for a huge loss and hit Tyler Lockett for a 35 yard catch and run that led to the go ahead score. Whilst the kick took centre stage little was made of the fact that the Vikings repeatedly failed to get touchdowns and settled for field goals, despite all their pressure.

 

Resilience is a key trait in the truly great quarterbacks and on Sunday Aaron Rodgers showed it in spades when he bounced back from four drives that had less than impressive results; punt, safety, punt, punt. Rodgers and the Packers offence started to warm up in the second quarter and several times Rodgers caught the opposition with too many players on the field as he moved to a hurry up offence that proved too much for the Redskins.

 

All the talk prior to the match had been of up and coming Redskin’s quarterback Kirk Cousins and the poor play of the Packers, the lack of a Packers running game and the number of times Aaron Rogers had been hit. Throughout the game though it was Cousins who was getting hit. He finished the game being sacked six times for 59 yards. And that much maligned Packers run game? Against the Redskins they showed signs of life as Eddie Lacy and James Starks combined for over 100 yards (63 for Lacy and 53 for Starks).

 

The one Redskin the Packers had no answer for was Jordan Reed, who at times seemed unstoppable, as he accounted for 120 yards of the Redskins 329 passing yards. With a few more pieces the Redskins will again be in the hunt for that most elusive of things back-to-back NFC East crowns. They'll do so without RGIII as the player cleared out his locker following the loss and completed a Darth Vader-esq fall from grace.

 

In one of the weirdest games in recent playoff history the Steelers were completely in control for the first three quarters of the game, as they took a commanding 15 point lead.

The Bengals fought back hard and scored 16 unanswered points and had the ball and the lead with 1:30 to go. But these are the same Cincinnati Bungles we expect and they continue their 25 year search for a playoff victory.

 

First, Jeremy Hill fumbled the ball.  Then the defence gave away two 15-yard penalties, the first on Vontaze Burfict after a hit on defenceless Steeler’s wide receiver Antonio Brown and another on Adam Jones. Chris Boswell promptly kicked a field goal to give the Steelers their first playoff win since the 2010 AFC championship game. In a game in which both Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown played through significant injuries the Steelers were just thankful to finish with the win.

 

Finally, many of the available head coach vacancies have been filled. Tampa Bay and the New York Giants kept things in house as Dirk Koetter was promoted by the Buccaneers from offensive coordinator to head coach and the Giants did likewise with Ben McAdoo.

 

The Philadelphia Eagles go back to the Andy Reid coaching tree, hiring Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson.  Pederson is no stranger to the Eagles; he was their quarterback for one season, before Donovan McNabb took over, and was also their quarterbacks coach under Andy Reid.

 

The Dolphins turn to their ninth successive first year coach as they attempt to recapture the winning culture that has been missing since the Don Shula era. They tagged Adam Gase, the Bears offensive coordinator and the man behind Jay Cutler’s resurgence. Gase will tellingly also have control over the Dolphins roster. Expect plenty of changes here.

 

Will Hue Jackson will become the next casualty of the Browns ownership after the 2016 season? He’s just been hired by Jimmy Haslam to be next year’s head coach – the fifth in only eight seasons! Jackson has already said that Johnny Football’s time with the team is over. The Browns also made changes in the front office, promoting Sashi Brown to Vice President of Football Operations. They also win the Outside the Box thinking award for hiring Paul DePodesta, former executive of baseball’s New York Mets, as their Chief Strategy Officer.

 

Perhaps the most intriguing hiring, and certainly the one that gained the most media attention, is the San Francisco 49ers hiring of former Eagle’s head coach Chip Kelly. Kelly inherits a team that was decimated by retirements last off season but may have a quarterback that can run his offensive in Colin Kaepernick. He just has very little else. Maybe he’ll trade for DeMarco Murray!