“I Won, Gimmie My $$$!!! ...You What???...I Lost”
(NFL Free Agency edition)
by Taurean Filmore (S.O.T.R contributor)
The NFL has been back to regular business operations for a week now, and I gotta admit, it has been one fast & furious week. Due to this year's NFL lockout, all off-season activity (free agency, trades, re-signings) have all been on freeze. Once the owners & players agreed to a new CBA, the flood gates opened, causing an unprecedented off season period. The normal free agency period is about five months, the NFL managed to stuff all that activity into a one week period, and boy have I been tuned in. Mostly to check and see the progress of my beloved Birds (AKA #Teamgreen) but as any football fan does, I was checking out what everybody else was doing (or NOT doing) as well. So without further ado, lets get into it. I'm gonna hand out three reviews on the free agency/off-season moves per conference (AFC,NFC). First, I'll give you my winner, followed by the loser, and the last team will be the one that I think made some nice moves, but is still a year or two away. Let's get to it.......
American Football Conference
Winner: New York Jets. The Jets, while not making any real big splashes, have done what was most important to them; making sure they return to a 3rd consecutive AFC championship. That meant bringing back arguably the biggest free agent of all, Santonio Holmes. Holmes agreed to a new contract to come back and build on the solid season he had last year despite missing the first 4 games last year due to suspension. They also did good by re-signing their “Other” cornerback, Antonio Cromartie. Cromartie was a nice piece to the Jets top-rated defense last year. Of course they lost the “Nnamdi (Asomugha) sweepstakes” but Cromartie is as solid as Nnamdi, and is better (ball skills, return-ability) than Nnamdi is. Overall, it was a great off season for the Jets.
Loser: Buffalo Bills. This was the hardest pick. I struggled to choose who was more inept between the Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, and the Oakland Raiders. At the end of the day, the Bills had to take the cake. First, let's start by mentioning who they DIDN'T sign. The team failed to bring back two key pieces to their already less than average defense. There will be big holes to fill in the form of losing two young talented players, Paul Posluszny and Donte Whitner (who signed with Jacksonville and San Francisco respectively). The defense will be under a lot of stress and pressure this year, especially if newly acquired quarterback?????? Brad Smith isn't getting off to a fast start. Yes I said Brad Smith. The Bills (who already have a solid starter in Ryan Fitzpatrick) signed Brad Smith (formerly of the Jets) to come in and return kicks and play wide receiver and (wait for it...) play quarterback. That's right quarterback. Apparently head coach Chan Gailey believes Smith can be effective running the “Pistol” offense, in addition to the regular offense, Which will still be managed by Fitzpatrick. I know, I'm confused too. Let's wait and see how that works out for the Bills.
Almost There: Kansas City Cheifs. The chiefs, who won the west last year, were fairly quiet, but I like the moves they made, really improving/upgrading some key areas. The best thing they did was sign back “their guy” keeping linebacker Tamba Hali, who had 14.5 sacks last year. Also, in a quieter move, the club also signed fullback LeRon McClain, formerly of Baltimore Ravens fame. McClain is an immediate “Pro Bowl” upgrade to a position that figures to be very important to the team, seeing how they want to establish Jamal Charles and Thomas Jones on the ground early and often in games. I like the direction the Chiefs are heading, definitely not a one year wonder.
National Football Conference
Winner: Carolina Panthers. I know, I know, Everybody is singing the praise/excitement of the Eagles (I'm a beam of pure sunshine on the inside) and while they made some nice moves, I really believe the panthers made themselves much better than they were in last year's 2-14 debacle. First and foremost, the Panthers signed their guys back, which is an added value in itself. Charles Johnson, Deangelo Williams, and Steve Smith (who was adamant about being traded) all remain in Carolina, which is great for No.1 draft pick Cam Newton. Newton will no doubtedly love to have the services of Smith and Williams. Charles Johnson had 10.5 sacks last year, which is a very solid number. He will be welcomed back with open arms. The other move I really like is Trading for former Bears Tight end Greg Olsen. Olsen is a game breaker at the tight end position. Olsen, Teamed up with free agent jeremy Shockey, will provide two nice, big, tough, speedy targets for Newton, who needs all the weapons around him he can get. I like the direction the Panthers went. While it may not translate into immediate wins, they have definitely set a foundation to be successful. Honorable mention: Philadelphia Eagles (Ya'll knew I was't gonna go without mentioning my squad right???)
Loser: Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks were very busy this off season, but business, does not always tarnslate to quality work. The Seahawks have signed several free agents, Tarvarris Jackson and Sidney Rice headline the group. I'm all for getting players in, just to get some more talent on the team, but they let a pretty solid quaterback (Matt Hasslebeck) go. Hasslebeck was the best QB in the didvision, which is why the Seahawks were able to make it to the playoffs last year. Jackson is a considerable downgrade. He will be comfartbale because the offensive coordinator from Minnesota is now in Seattle and he has a familiar weapon at his disposal. Sidney Rice is now 2 years removed from hip surgery and looks to make a big impact with the Seahawks. Im not so sure though. Rice's best seaon came two years ago with Brett Favre throwing it up to him numerous times. Jackson is nobody'd Favre, so I think Sidney will struggle. I hope Seattle will take the momentum of making the playoffs and even beating the defending champs (Saints) and try to improve this year. But as for now, their off-season has not shown me that.
Almost There: Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Under the new CBA, had the most money to spend, boasting a whopping 56 million dollars to throw at any one they wanted. And what did they do? Sign a punter. Ok, you can get up off the ground and stop laughing now, the Bucs did good this year. Sure they could have gon out and threw wads of money at a Nnamdi Asomugha or a Reggie Bush. But they were smart, they signed their guys (Quincy Black, Adam Heyward) and they still have a lot of money to blow (the new CBA calls for teams to have to spend 89-95% of the total salary cap by 2013) The bucs played it right, they got the players that they originally targeted, and they still will have mad money to throw at the next year's crop of hungry, underpaid free agents. I think the Bucs are headed in the right direction.
@tfilmore
