Key Takeaways From NFL Free Agency
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images via draftkings.com)
The greatest NFL offseason of all time continues with a crazy week in free agency. So far we’ve seen some surprising big spenders and other teams making head scratching moves. Here are some of my key takeaways from the first week of free agency.
The Giants spending spree shows they are committed to Danny Dimes
New York has given Daniel Jones his first legit threat in his career by signing ex-Lions WR Kenny Golladay to a massive 4-year, $72 million deal. The Giants may have overpaid for the often-injured receiver, but the team has been desperate for pass catchers ever since Odell Beckham Jr. was traded.
The Giants other notable deals include TE Kyle Rudolph, former first round pick John Ross, franchise tagging Leonard Williams, and signing CB Adoree Jackson to a massive 3-year, $39 million contract.
This tells me that GM Dave Gettleman believes the Giants are ready to get back to their winning ways now with the help of these free agents, and Daniel Jones is the QB they’re going to ride with. If the Giants make the playoffs this year, expect a big contract for Jones.
The Raiders have no idea what they’re doing
Let’s start with the worst signing this free agency in Kenyan Drake. Las Vegas gave Drake a 2 year, $11 million deal, which just doesn’t make any sense for two reasons. One, no team should pay a running back that kind of money. Two, they already have a stud in Josh Jacobs. Kenyan Drake is a fine player, but to give $11 million to a backup RB when they could have used a 4th round pick to get the same kind of production? Just insanely stupid.
Well, maybe the Raiders are going to use a great offensive line with those two good running backs? Nope, the Raiders can’t do that because they have seriously downgraded their o-line by cutting or trading key starters Trent Brown and Rodney Hudson. So not only did they overpay a backup, they took away an RB’s best friend in an experienced o-lineman.
The Bucs are doing everything they can to run it back
Tom Brady wasn’t lying when he said the Bucs will be back after their Super Bowl win. Tampa has already re-signed key contributors WR Chris Godwin, TE Gronk, DT Ndamukong Suh, DE Shaquil Barrett, and K Ryan Succop. Oh, and it looks like they’ll bring back both Antonio Brown and Leonard Fournette.
The Bucs must have really believed in what they had going last year because every single one of their offseason moves has only been re-signings. No free agents have signed with Tampa at this point, and it looks like the only significant new faces in the bay will be rookies.
Ryan Pace is bad at his job
Ooh boy, I feel bad for Bears fans; I really do. The franchise has been blessed with great defenses throughout the years and has yet to compliment them with a competent offense. This year will be no different.
Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace have parted ways with QB Mitch Trubisky only to replace him with Andy Dalton by signing him to a 1yr $10 million deal. Maserati Mitch signed with Buffalo to hold the clipboard behind Josh Allen for a measly $2.5 million. As much as I love Dalton (lifelong TCU fan here) I think most people can agree that Mitch on 2.5 is better than Dalton for 10.
Pace also failed to land any of the big name QBs they were in talks to sign, most notably getting a fat no from the Seahawks concerning a deal for Russell Wilson. To show just how much of a joke Pace is the two starters he offered to Seattle were Kyle Fuller and Akeem Hicks. Fuller would later go on to be cut for cap reasons, which was dumb move because Fuller is a damn good ball player.
The Chiefs took the O-lines super bowl performance to heart
So maybe the Chiefs o-line that we saw in the Super Bowl is something that the organization is really worried about. They have parted ways with three offensive linemen, including former 1st overall pick Eric Fisher. Fisher has been a stalwart at left tackle for the past decade, but is coming off of a torn achilles that was suffered late in the year.
They took no time in finding their replacements by signing former Chicago Bear great Kyle Long, Tackle Mike Remmers, and signed Joe Thuney to a massive 5-year, $80 million contract. Proving once again that the cap is fake for the Chiefs.
This is less of a rebuild for the o-line and more of a re-tooling. We could see more improvements if Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Lucas Niang both return from 2020 opt-outs and possibly some draft picks. Either way, it’s evident through these moves that the Chiefs were alarmed by the o-lines abysmal Super Bowl performance.
The Texans are going to move on from Deshaun Watson?
Will they or won’t they? We don’t know. What we do know is that the organization has remained firm in their decision to not trade the pro bowl QB, and Watson has been just as stubborn in his decision to never put on a Texans uniform again.
However, the Texans signed QB Tyrod Taylor to a 1-year, $12 million deal. That’s Andy Dalton money right there. This could be a contingency plan in case Watson does sit out some games or gets hurt, but it could be a sign that the Texans are going to budge and give in to Watson’s demands. Like I said -- who knows.
Urban Meyer isn’t here to tank
Nothing sums up Urban Meyer better than the fact that the man really, really hates losing. He ended up leaving both Florida and Ohio State because of health conditions that were exacerbated by the stress he put on himself after losses.
He seems like he’s going to do his best to avoid that stress from the start by being active in free agency. Most notably signing CB Saqill Griffin, RB Carlos Hyde, and three WR’s (Marvin Lewis, Phillip Dorsett, and Jamal Agnew) for assumed 1st-overall pick Trevor Lawrence to throw to.
Urban Myer has never been a loser anywhere he’s coached at and doesn’t plan to start anytime soon. Let’s hope these free agent signings work out for him and his health.
The Pats want to be relevant again
Last season was ugly for the Patriots compared to their standard. Some would say it's about damn time the Pats get a taste of what the rest of the league has had for the last two decades, but it must have been a tough pill to swallow for Belichick to watch from home as Tommy boy hoisted another Lombardi trophy.
Darth Sidious and the evil empire responded by going on a shopping spree we have never seen them engage in before. They needed a tight end? They got the two best free agent TE’s on the market. They needed an edge rusher? They got arguably the best pass rusher on the market in Matt Judon, and brought back Kyle Van Noy. Cam Newton needed receivers? They got two in Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor.
Pois BB felt his team had a lot of holes and decided to plug them all though free agency. Usually building a team this way typically doesn’t work out but the Pats have all made signings that won’t bury them in the cap. None of these deals go past four years, and most of them are two or three, which means that New England will have an abundance of cap space again when the cap explodes in a few years. Well done Bill Belichick.