Free agency began
on March 9th 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.