We are one week since the commencement of the negotiating period for free agency and boy, were we ever taken on a roller coaster ride of emotions! A few blockbuster trades were thrown in, giving further merit to the potential new norm of the NFL. We have had top notch players hit the market before, however the majority of the big names have come from players who have finished rookie deals, with the former teams lacking the interest of an extension, for good reason. Think of guys like wide receiver David Boston (7 yr/$47 mill), nose tackle Albert Haynesworth (7yr/$100 mill), or cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha (5yr/60 mill). These guys all hit free agency as promising players and reset the market as the highest paid at their respective positions, signing lucrative contracts. Not one of these guys served more than two years of those deals. Fast forward to 2019 and we find ourselves witnessing the best safety (Earl Thomas) and running back (Le’Veon Bell when last played) hitting the open market and two of the top four wide receivers (Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr.) getting dealt to other franchises. The chaos could very well be far from over, as football can be the most unpredictable sport in the country. There are still quality players out there, but the majority of damage has already been done across the league. As we wait to see what other moves will be made, here are takeaways from what has transpired so far.
From toilet bowl contenders to Super Bowl contenders?
Up until Baker Mayfield started feeling dangerous when he took over in week three last year, the Cleveland Browns have had an 88-227-1 record since 1999 when the franchise was rebooted. That is averaging 4.6 wins a season for 19 years. Kids of fans in Cleveland came out of the womb with a paper bag covering their head, without the ability to remove those said bags until Mom and Dad sent them off to college. How sick is that? If that is not some form of child abuse, I am not sure what is. Nevertheless, the former Sooner, paired with a promising young roster, was able to bring the team out of the abyss that somehow, someway the Browns found the bottom of. Were it not for a couple of Zane Gonzales shanks in the beginning of the season, the Browns very well could have obtained their first winning record since 2007 and actually flirted with a playoff spot, a year removed from only the second 0-16 season in NFL history. Cleveland rode the momentum into March, where they have been in the spotlight with all the moves they have made. After trading solid offensive guard Kevin Zeitler for Olivier Vernon to give themselves a top notch pass rushing duo, the Browns shocked the world by acquiring Jarvis Landry’s bestie in the name of Odell Beckham Jr., albeit at a stiff price (1st, 3rd, and starting safety Jabrill Peppers). Keep in mind, stud running back Kareem Hunt, who signed with his home state team after being cut by the Chiefs amid the domestic violence investigation, will return from football jail for the second half of the 2019 season, giving the Browns one of the most dynamic offenses on paper in the NFL. Vegas reacted in a big way to these moves, giving the Browns the 6th-best Super Bowl odds. Woah. Woah. Woah. Let’s pump the breaks here. Of course these are fantastic moves, those that will bode well for the organization’s future, but that future is not going to have much of a happy ending this upcoming year. People are just handing division to a team that has not won it in 28 years, and act like it is easy to happen overnight. The Steelers and Ravens are not going anywhere, even with the losses each have suffered this off-season. The Steelers have drafted and developed skill players better than anybody in recent memory, and pairing that with a hall of fame caliber quarterback, a very solid defense, while run by a top tier coaching staff will keep them firmly in the mix. Baltimore may have lost four starters on the defensive end, however they added the best ball hawk in the game in former Seahawk Earl Thomas. Not to mention, I would love to see newly released Justin Houston sign with the team and fill a desperate need off the edge. Sure, the Browns will continue to grow this year and be a tough out every week, but I am not going to but my faith in a guy like new HC Freddie Kitchens, who has never been a head coach on any level in his career.
Gruden and Mayock continue complicated rebuild plan
All that can be said is Al Davis having a party up in Heaven looking down on all the maneuvering the Raiders have done in the last seven months. His team has been stealing all kinds of headlines, good and bad, but nevertheless are being talked about in terms of relevancy like the franchise should be. The silver and black have sent truckloads of money throughout the league so far, and have signed four players to huge contracts, including the sign and trade of Antonio Brown from their longtime rival. If you have the money to spend, might as well get some quality talent to improve the roster, but be careful of the dollar signs thrown out. AB’s money is well deserved, even if he does lose a step while with the Raiders over the next three years, however the same cannot be said for a few of their other signings. They paid a receiver that has failed to average more than 700 yards the last few seasons an average of $11 million over the next four years, while making a guy who graded out as the 32nd best tackle in football in 2018, to the biggest contract by an offensive lineman in NFL history. Of course these players are quality guys, who can contribute to the team, but at a much lesser value of what their respective contracts entail. Signing Lamarcus Joyner is solid as well, but one has to wonder why they would throw all this money out to these guys, instead of paying the likes of Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper, who were two fantastic players, that dominated on the corresponding teams they were traded to. Yeah they were able to snag three first rounders combined for those players, but being a team that has struggled to hit in the draft, it still makes me wonder if this rebuild will end up successful in the end.
The Giants have officially entered the pit of misery, without the “dilly dilly”I will continue to say this: the Giants are going to forever regret passing up on Sam Darnold and taking Saquon Barkley in the 2018 draft. Before you get on me, let me explain. When you have as high a selection as the 2nd pick in the draft, it is for good reason. It means your team is bad, there is no way around it. Saquon is a generational-type talent, there is no doubt about it, already posing as a top five running back in the NFL. But for what? Yay, you are going to get all kinds of jersey sales. Shoot, your colors may even be represented on the cover of Madden in the future. Maybe 15 years down the road, the former Nittany Lion may very well thank you in an acceptance speech for giving him a chance in his Hall of Fame speech. But that is all the accomplishments that will happen for the organization itself for the immediate future. I do not care who you are. When your best players are at running back and wide receiver, you have a problem. Those two positions, especially the former, are two of the most expendable positions in the sport. Ask the Jaguars how they are doing after taking Fournette with a top five pick two years ago, when in reality, eight running backs have shown more flashes than he, including four that have already made the Pro Bowl (McCaffery, Hunt, Cohen, and Kamara). It is a different situation than that of when Dallas took Zeke in 2016, because they were a playoff caliber team that lost their quarterback to a broken collarbone in the second game of the year prior. But even then, should they have taken either Jalen Ramsey or had Joey Bosa fall in their laps, they could have had just as much success, if not arguably more, due to the scarcity of All-Pro caliber pass rushers and corners around the league. The Giants needed a quarterback last year, and there were two extremely solid choices available (Darnold or Rosen), yet they did not take the opportunity due to GM David Gettleman being delusional, thinking that they could still be competitive with Eli at the helm. Sure, the guy won two Super Bowls seven and 11 years ago, but it would be generous to consider Eli Manning a top 30 quarterback last year. Meanwhile, the team that shares the stadium with Big Blue took a no-risk chance on the former USC Trojan one pick later and 11 months later have one of the brighter outlooks in the NFL. What have the Giants done this off-season? Traded away their generational talent wide out and Pro Bowl defensive end they signed just two off-seasons ago, accumulating over $33 million in dead money in the process. Saquon could be the top pick in most 2019 fantasy drafts, but the New York Giants could very well be the top pick for the 2020 NFL Draft at the same time. See how that works? Because apparently the Giants do not.
Gang Green Takes Over New York
Let’s stay in the same town, but switch colors. The New York Jets finally look like a positively built team for the first time since the days of Rex Ryan and Darrelle Revis. Although they appeared in back to back AFC championship games back in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, the Jets have not made the playoffs since, with only one winning record in that time span. Gang green smartly drafted Sam Darnold in last year’s draft, yet threw him into the fire early on, making him the youngest quarterback to start a game since the 1970 NFL merger. While the team as a whole was scrappy, and the young signal caller was able to show flashes in the latter part of the season, they did not have enough talent to stay afloat in the AFC, finishing with the worst record in the conference. Although I would have liked to see them keep HC Todd Bowles, they did replace him well with Adam Gase. Most recently the Miami Dolphins coach, he is known for his time as an offensive coordinator with Denver when they were putting up record setting numbers back in the Peyton Manning era, including a Super Bowl XLVIII appearance. This will do wonders for a young guy like Darnold, who struggled to move the ball mostly because of scheming and lack of talent overall among his skill players. Enter Le’Veon Bell. The 27 year-old running back sat out last season and signed a deal last week, easily making him the most talented back to put on a green and white jersey since Hall of Famer Curtis Martin was wreaking havoc on defenses in the early 2000’s. It may take El Bell a few weeks to get back into game shape, he will be able to take a huge burden off of the 21 year-old quarterback in year two. Not to mention the re-signing of breakout wide out Robby Anderson and the addition of Jamison Crowder as a slot receiver can give Darnold a consistent presence over the middle. Oh, and the ability to snag a Pro Bowl guard in Kelechi Osemele for merely trading a 5th round pick for a 6th rounder is a monumental steal. From the defensive perspective, they were able to snag top tier LB C.J. Mosley to man the middle and add significant help to young stars Jamal Adams and Leonard Williams. I would not be surprised if these moves propel this team from worst to fighting for a playoff spot come week 17.
The Chiefs get worse amid a strong week from other AFC teams
You would like to think that a point of emphasis for a team many thought would represent the AFC in the Super Bowl would be to improve the defense, especially in the secondary. They did just that signing the Honey Badger who is a solid playmaker in the back end, only to then cut mult-time Pro Bowler Eric Berry, saving a mere one million in cap space and essentially nullifying the impact of the move. Kansas City then let their highest rated cornerback in Steven Nelson sign elsewhere in free agency. It’s okay though, they still have their league leading pass rush, right? Well……. That was altered as well. Dee Ford was franchise tagged, only to be dealt to the 49ers for a 2020 second rounder, while longtime Chief Justin Houston was released this week. That is 42% of their sack count gone and replaced by Alex Okafor, a pass rusher that had a total of four sacks himself last season. I understand the cap situation was not the greatest heading into the off-season, but this is the look of a team that has gotten relatively worse over the last month. Not to mention the controversy surrounding WR Tyreke Hill with his child abuse investigation. If he is lost for a substantial amount of time, or outright released (Kansas City cut running back Kareem Hunt one day after the domestic violence video was released), the Chiefs will have to do some serious maneuvering in order to stay atop the AFC West.
New England quietly sits on top of the mountain as AFC contenders scramble
The Patriots have spent many seasons during their truly magical era of excellence by keeping a low key profile as the off-season calls for adjustments among many teams. The now six-time champs let their two big name free agents walk in OT Trent Brown and DE Trey Flowers, both of which signed deals that would even make Scrooge McDuck’s jaw drop. Although it may seem like those may become necessary areas to address, New England did just that, trading for former Seahawk and most recently Eagle Michael Bennett for just a fifth round pick (NE also received a seventh rounder in the deal). The 33 year-old pass rusher may not be the dominant Pro Bowler he once was, but he can still provide pressure and add a veteran presence that has played in several big games over the years. As for who will protect the blindside, 2018 first round pick Isaiah Wynn did not even take the field last season, as he spent the year on the sidelines with a torn ACL. He was making strides in the preseason however, and the organization is really high on him to step in and keep Mr. Brady upright for the 2019 season. The Patriots’ only other moves have been to bring back depth in wide out Phillip Dorsett and re-signing CB Jason McCourty to keep the twin an integral part of a secondary that at times was dominant down the stretch. They did not need to do much, but did just enough to stay on top of a conference that is desperate in finding a team that will knock them off the pedestal. I am not sure those said teams realize how far they have to climb to do just that.
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