The NFL’s official new year began last Tuesday, with teams ringing in the start of another season by throwing as much money as they possibly could at players who totally didn’t deserve it. After one week of free agency, it’s become pretty clear who the Winners and Losers are:
Losers:
Dallas Cowboys:
Key Acquisitions/ Re-signings: RB Darren McFadden, OT Doug Free
Key Departures: RB DeMarco Murray, LB Justin Durant, OT Jeremy Parnell
Well, when you lose the league’s leading rusher to your divisional rival, it can’t exactly be considered a good week.
By the end of last season, the Dallas Cowboys offense was a force to be reckoned with. Tony Romo was playing at an MVP level, and for once was not getting scrutinized 24/7. DeMarco Murray was running circles around opposing defenses and Dez Bryant was making incredulous catches that NFL officials couldn’t even believe.
Murray, the guy who carried Dallas on his back for the first half of the season by rushing for over 100 yards in 8 straight games, left for more money with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys believe that Murray’s success came out of the incredible play of their Offensive Line. While that is partially true, it’s completely unrealistic to believe that the oft-injured Darren McFadden could easily replace him.
Although the Cowboys were able to franchise tag Bryant, he wasn’t exactly overjoyed with it. While this does buy Dallas some time to work out a contract extension with Dez, it doesn’t guarantee he’ll want to return next year.
But don’t worry Cowboys fans, we all know Tony Romo can get the job done anyway!
New England Patriots:
Key Acquisitions/ Re-signings: S Devin McCourty DT Jabaal Sheard, WR Brandon Gibson
Key Departures: CB Darrelle Revis, DT Vince Wilfork, RB Shane Vereen, CB Brandon Browner
I’m not going to lie, seeing Darrelle Revis choose to leave for his former team and New England’s arch-enemy, the New York Jets; it stung quite a bit. Not even a Super Bowl Championship could keep Revis. He is and always will be about the money.
Revis Island was enormous for the Pats this year. He was New England’s best defensive player, he consistently erased #1 receivers on a weekly basis, and ultimately, proved to be the final piece in the puzzle for New England’s Championship season. New England is now suddenly left with Logan Ryan and Malcolm Butler at Cornerback with the departure of the over-rated, flag magnet, Brandon Browner. As incredible as Butler’s play was, which I know you want to watch again, that is not the cornerback tandem you want to roll with to start the season.
The other big concern for New England; every team in their division got significantly better. The Bills got LeSean McCoy, one of the best rushers in the game. The Jets did a complete overhaul of their secondary, which will greatly compliment the Pass Rush led by Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson. It was already scary facing the Dolphins with Cam Wake alone, but now they have Ndamukong Suh alongside him. I’ve always been the first Pats fan to tell the critics to “Shut Up” when they’ve claimed this would be the year the Patriots lose their AFC East crown. But next year they have resaons to back it up, and the AFC East is going to be more competitive than it has ever been in the Brady-Belichick era.
New Orleans Saints (Specifically, Drew Brees):
Key Acquisitions/Re-signings: RB C.J. Spiller, C Max Unger, CB Brandon Browner, LB Dannell Ellerbe
Key Departures: TE Jimmy Graham, WR Kenny Stills, G Ben Grubbs, LB Curtis Lofton
New Orleans’ days as the high-flying, pass-happy offense that revolved around Drew Brees look to be finished.
Dealing their biggest offensive weapon in Jimmy Graham, to the Seattle Seahawks for Max Unger and 1st proved that.
So did inking Mark Ingram and C.J. Spiller to 4 year contracts.
So did trading Brees’ top wide receiver, Kenny Stills, for Linebacker Dannell Ellerbe.
The Saints are completely transforming into a hard-nosed, ground-n-pound team, something I don’t think their 36 year old QB will be too thrilled about. Brees is now looking at throwing to Brandin Cooks and Marques Colston, who doesn’t seem to have much left in the tank.
A transition like this takes time, something that does not seem to be on Drew Brees’ side.
Oakland Raiders:
Key Acquisitions: C Rodney Hudson, DB Nate Allen, MLB Curtis Lofton, RB Roy Helu Jr.,
Key Departures: C Stefan Wisniewski, RB Maurice Jones-Drew, LB LaMarr Woodley
The Oakland Raiders had almost $70 million in cap space going into the off-season. They were expected to be right in the thick of things for top free agents Ndamukong Suh, Randall Cobb, DeMarco Murray, and Julius Thomas. They signed none of them. Suh decided to take his talents to South Beach, Cobb chose to re-sign with Green Bay for less money, Murray used the raiders as a tool to get a heftier contract from the Eagles, and the Jacksonville Jaguars just completely outbid Oakland for Julius Thomas’ services.
GM Reggie McKenzie seemed to be pretty satisfied with the players he acquired, which should be very alarming to Raiders fans. The fact that your GM is happy the biggest playmaker he signed this off-season is Roy Helu, Jr., demonstrates that this organization is OK muddling around as a mediocre team for several more years. “Just Win Baby” has become “Try Your Hardest, Have fun, and maybe we’ll be 6-10”. The Oakland Raiders are atrocious.
San Francisco 49ers:
Key Acquisitions: WR Torrey Smith, RB Reggie Bush, DL Darnell Dockett
Key Departures: LB Patrick Willis, RB Frank Gore, G Mike Iupati, CB Perrish Cox
Oh how the 49ers have fallen. You could realistically make the case that San Francisco is the 4th best team in the very competitive NFC West. After an abysmal 2014 season that saw the Niners finish 8-8 and miss the playoffs, most of the core pieces of their 2012 NFC Championship team have decided to leave for greener pastures.
Corners Perrish Cox and Chris Culliver both had career years, but decided to leave for more money. Frank Gore saw the writing on the wall when the Niners began to utilize Carlos Hyde, and he left for Indianapolis, a place where he could be of more value. 3x pro bowl Guard Mike Iupati moved onto Arizona, a move I’m sure Carson Palmer was ecstatic about. However, the biggest hole of all was left by Linebacker Patrick Willis, who sadly announced his retirement. Willis was more or less, the leader of the 49ers, and one of the best players in the NFL at his position for half-a-decade. It’ll be interesting to see whether he makes the Hall of Fame or not.
What’s worse is that the Niners are trying to replace these guys with players who are somewhat overrated. Dockett is known more for his Twitter account than his actual on-field play. Reggie Bush lost his starting job and became an afterthought in Detroit, and Torrey Smith is definitely not going to save the day. (Side Note: Who in their right mind gives Torrey freaking Smith a 5 year, $40 million contract? $8 million annually for a guy who averages 50 receptions a season? Insane. )
Jim Tomsula has got his work cut out for him, and somewhere in Ann Arbor, Jim Harbaugh has a grin on his face the size of Michigan.
Winners:
Atlanta Falcons:
Key Acquisitions/ Re-signings: LB Justin Durant, DE Adrian Clayborn, LB Brooks Reed, LB O’Brien Schofield
Key Departures: LB Sean Weatherspoon, RB Steven Jackson, WR Harry Douglas
Dan Quinn’s quest to turn the Falcons into a Defensive powerhouse is certainly off to a good start.
The Falcons pass rush last season was disgustingly bad and were key contributors into Atlanta’s dead last ranking in total defense. The Dirty Birds totalled 22 sacks in 2014, which was tied with the Raiders and only better than the Cincinnati Bengals (?!?). Atlanta made the smart move of taking a flyer on Adrian Clayborn, who had accumulated 13 sacks in his two full seasons with the Buccaneers. If Clayborn recaptures his form, they’ve got a talented end, if not, he’s only a Falcon for one season.
The signing of Justin Durant was also low-risk/high-reward. Last year, Durant was leading the Cowboys in tackles and was on pace to have his best season as a pro until he was lost for the season with a bicep injury. Reed and Schofield are also serviceable linebackers that can be used as pass rushers or stand-up linebackers and CB Phillip Adams can help boost a very weak secondary.
It may take some time but Dan Quinn does seem to have this team moving in the right direction.
Green Bay Packers:
Key Acquisitions/Re-signings: WR Randall Cobb, OT Bryan Bulaga
Key Departures: LB A.J. Hawk, LB Brad Jones, CB Davon House
It’s odd to call the Green Bay Packers a winner, since they’re the only NFL franchise who didn’t sign a player away from another team, but by retaining two key components of their offense, the Pack can be pleased with the past week.
I was one of the many who believed that Randall Cobb had played his final game as a Packer after Green Bay lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship game. Cobb was insane last year, compiling 91 receptions, 1287 yards and 12 Touchdowns in a breakout season. It seemed like he would get a contract that would have him living like Scrooge McDuck, and the Raiders were willing to do so. But Cobb, like any logical person would, concluded that signing with Oakland would be a terrible idea, and returned to Green Bay.
Bulaga also took less money in order to come back to Green Bay and his return to the Packers O-Line was similar to his stature, gigantic. The Packers Offensive Line was dominant last season, allowing its fewest sacks since the 2007 season while protecting Aaron Rodgers, and helping Eddie Lacy have another 1,000 yard season.
Don’t expect the Pack to fall back next year.
Indianapolis Colts:
Key Acquisitions: WR Andre Johnson, RB Frank Gore, DE Trent Cole
Key Departures: WR Reggie Wayne, RB Trent Richardson, DT Ricky Jean-Francois
Despite having one of the league’s top passers under centre and appearing in the AFC Championship game, the Colts were not looking too hot to end the season (as demonstrated by the 45-7 shellacking they received from the Patriots in said game). GM Ryan Grigson saw this and decided to sign several aging veterans in Andre Johnson, Frank Gore and Trent Cole.
Johnson is perfect for the Colts; a reliable #2 receiver who can challenge opposing secondaries and take some of the pressure away from T.Y. Hilton. Something tells me that next year Andre is going to prove to the league, and most certainly his old team, the Houston Texans, that he is NOT washed up.
Gore turns 32 in May, which is ancient for Running Backs in today’s NFL, but his hard-nosed style of running is perfect for the Offense which the Colts run. Hopefully Gore can do what Trent Richardson couldn’t, who is slowly turning into one of the biggest draft busts of all-time.
Cole can help a struggling Pass Rush that looked lost in the post-season and a defense that was only able to amass 992 tackles during the regular season, ranking them 26th.
The Colts certainly got older, but they can afford to get older when they’ve got Andrew Luck at Quarterback.
New York Jets:
Key Acquisitions: CB Darrelle Revis, WR Brandon Marshall, CB Antonio Cromartie, CB Buster Skrine
Key Departures: WR Percy Harvin, RB Chris Johnson
Mike Macaggnan had money to blow, and he used that money wisely, easily making the Jets the most improved team from this free-agent frenzy.
The New York Jets decided to totally revamp their secondary, starting with bringing back former Defensive Player of the Year Darrelle Revis, who some would argue is the best Corner in the game. Along with the return of Revis came his old partner, Antonio Cromartie, with head coach Todd Bowles from Arizona.
Those two alone would be a solid improvement to the Jets secondary, but just in case that didn’t work out, they also signed Buster Skrine away from the Cleveland Browns to play as the slot corner and acquired Safety Marcus Gilchrist from the Chargers. Those 4, combined with rookie Dee Milliner, is one frightening secondary. Good luck throwing the ball on the New York Jets. Their secondary nickname needs to be “The Danger Zone”.
The Defensive Back position isn’t the only place the Jets upgraded either, deciding to release troubled Wide Receiver Percy Harvin and then trading for Brandon Marshall. Marshall had a disastrous 2014 season (the entire Chicago Bears organization had a disastrous 2014 season), so a fresh start in the Big Apple is perfect for the 5x pro-bowler. He’ll now be lining up next to Eric Decker, something I’m sure opposing defenses aren’t looking forward to.
The only thing the Jets need now is a pilot (a competent QB) and look out, they could shock some teams in 2015.
Philadelphia Eagles:
Key Acquisitions: RB DeMarco Murray, CB Byron Maxwell, LB Kiko Alonso, QB Sam Bradford, RB Ryan Mathews
Key Departures: RB LeSean McCoy, WR Jeremy Maclin QB Nick Foles, DE Trent Cole,
To most people, it’s still undecided where the Eagles land in terms of Winners and Losers. A lot of people are still skeptical about some of the decisions Chip Kelly made this past week, wondering whether the Eagles actually got better with all these transactions.
Philadelphia started by making two humongous trades, dealing their franchise RB in LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for Kiko Alonso and then swapping starting Quarterbacks with the St. Louis Rams.
Some say the Eagles gave up too much for Sam Bradford, but he’s a definite improvement over Nick Foles. Foles has shown he’s not going to be one of the top passers in the league, he’s a game-manager, he does what he has to do to win games but that’s all you’re going to get. Bradford inherited a mess with the Rams, and barely had any Offensive weapons around him. Now he’s got players to work with, and as long as he stays healthy, I could definitely see him rekindling the Heisman Trophy winning Sam Bradford from Oklahoma.
The McCoy trade looked shady at first (See what I did there?) But then Philadelphia went out and got DeMarco Murray. So, in the end, The Eagles basically traded away LeSean McCoy for the NFL’s leading rusher last season in DeMarco Murray and one of the best up and coming Linebackers in the league with Kiko Alonso, while also saving an extra $1 million and slightly upgrading at QB.
They signed Ryan Mathews to a 3 year deal as insurance, giving them another valuable option in their backfield to go with Murray and Darren Sproles, subsequently forming the “Legion of Zoom”.
They cut Cary Williams, who was terrible, and upgraded by bringing in Byron Maxwell. OK, they certainly overpaid for the guy, but at the time, he was the best corner on the market (until Darrelle Revis showed up) and although he may be a by-product of the talented Seattle Secondary, his play this season showed the rest of the league that he is no slouch.
In my opinion, the winner of free agency is always the team that makes the biggest splash. The team that forces you to double take when you see the headline flash on the screen. The team that makes a move which causes you to stop what you’re doing and say “Holy S%*#”. That team was undoubtedly, the Philadelphia Eagles.
nolancattell 