NFL Free Agency Week 1 Wrap-Up:
What a wild week it was: Since last Saturday at 12:01 AM, NFL teams have gone wild signing players to help out their teams going into the 2006 season. The Redskins had their usual spending spree, the Browns decided to mirror the Redskins, two upper-tier QBs switched conferences and teams, and the Cowboys lost their fucking minds by signing the Anthrax of team chemistry, Terrell Owens, to a contract yesterday.
It made for one of the more interesting off-seasons in recent memory that started with a potential labor breakdown, and rumors Paul Tagliabue taking a hike. Let’s analyze some of the big moves this past week and list some of the winners and losers:
-Drew Brees signs 6 year deal with the New Orleans Saints: Brees couldn’t resist the Saints color scheme…it reminded him too much of Purdue. New Saints’ coach Sean Payton has already upgraded the QB position, thanks to adding Brees and subtracting big dummy Aaron Brooks from the equation. Don’t get me started on Brooks…he’s one of my least favorite players in the league and the Saints just got better by dumping him. Now comes the health issue. The Saints threw $60 million at him over 6 years with $10 million of that guaranteed up front. Brees is set to begin throwing in April so we’ll see if he can put the arm injury behind him or if he’ll become the next Chad Pennington. That’s a risky move for the Saints despite the fact that Brees is 10x better than their old starter. Grade: B-
-Daunte Culpepper traded to Dolphins for 2nd round pick: Culpepper has been unfairly criticized up until he wanted out of Minnesota. At that point I thought he was a dick. Nevertheless, Culpepper is a much QB than most people give him credit for, and the Dolphins only gave up a 2nd rounder for him which is less risky I guess than throwing the kind of money the Saints’ threw at Brees. Plus, the Dolphins haven’t has a QB of this caliber since the great Dan Marino in the mid-90s. Culpepper brings his own injury risk to the Dolphins though as he tore up his right knee last year and is rehabbing it going into spring. Grade: B
-Edgerrin James signs 4 year deal with Cardinals: As a suffering Browns’ fan, who suffers with his own problems, I still pause to reflect on how sorry the Cardinals are. They have two of the very best WRs in the game, but are known for nothing else except for continuous sub-par teams, having a goofball owner, and maintaining a minimal fan base. Now they have acquired Edge, who is one of the very best all-around RBs in the NFL. With Edge running the ball, and Larry Fitzgerald/Anquan Boldin catching passes, they HAVE to be better next year right? Arizona is surely banking on a big year with Edge in tow and a new stadium. Grade: A-
-Terrell Owens signs with the Cowboys: “Oh no they didn’t!” Note to self, when the shit hits the fan, and Cowboys’ fans are feeling sorry for themselves, remember that they aren’t the ones who signed this bastard and try not to be a dick about it. All Cowboys’ fans should have the honor of lining up and take turns punching Jerry Jones in the balls once this blows up in the Cowboys’ face. Now we have to go through another saga of T.O. being a lowlife son of a bitch on SportsCenter. I hate that piece of shit. Grade: F-
-Darren Howard signs with Eagles: The former Saints’ stud got big money from the Eagles to line-up opposite of DE Jevon Kearse for the Eagles which could be one of the best Defensive End combos in the entire NFL. Howard turned down a nice signing bonus with the Saints to get out make better money, which he did with Philadelphia. Grade: A
-LeCharles Bentley signs with Browns: Another former Saint jumped ship: this time to his home town team. Bentley is now the highest paid Center in NFL history and he’ll help the Browns continue to build a decent OL unit. He’s already one of the best interior lineman in the league and he’s only 26. This could work out big for the Browns. Grade: A
I could go on and on here, but you can find the rest of the list of signings here: http://proxy.espn.go.com/nfl/fa?null.
Let me quickly list out my winners and losers so far in Free Agency. Let me note that this only paper as the Patriots haven proven to be just fine despite not doing much in Free Agency. Free Agency doesn’t work that often in the NFL, so that’s why you can’t always guarantee success based off of these moves.
Winners:
Eagles: Darren Howard’s signing could boost this defense tremendously.
Browns: The team has too many holes and not enough veteran leadership. They got more veteran leadership at least.
Cardinals: This team is trying to finally get good before they open their new stadium thanks to signing Edgerrin James.
Losers:
Cowboys: Signing T.O. is about as dumb as having unprotected sex with someone you know has Herpes
Patriots: On paper, they suffer a little bit losing another veteran leader in Willie McGinest, and talented WR David Givens. They’ve settled on WR Reche Caldwell so far. As we know, this doesn’t mean squat with these guys though.
Falcons: The Falcons spent their off-season so far trying to address their weak Safety position by acquiring a selfish, aging player in Lawyer Milloy, and giving away a 4th round pick for average Safety Chris Crocker.
BROWNS' UPDATE:
From a Browns’ perspective, the Browns rounded down the first week of Free Agency with 8 new players on the roster after agreeing with Ravens’ TE Darnell Dinkins to a 3 year deal. Dinkins doubles as an excellent run blocking TE and a solid Special Teams’ player. The Browns don’t really have a run blocking TE on the roster that can help the run game or stay in to pass block, so this addition could be very helpful. He could mix in well with pass catching TEs Kellen Winslow and Steve Heiden.
In a surprising trade that netted good results, the Browns dealt their secondary depth a bit of a hit by dealing sub-par Safety Chris Crocker to the Atlanta Falcons for a 4th round draft pick. I love this move for the Browns. Any time you can move an average football player for a 4th round draft pick, you have to be happy with that move. Crocker was one of those ‘athletes’ that Butch Davis decided to draft over more proven college players. Crocker turned out to be better than I thought, but he still wasn’t anything to shake a stick at.
Brodney Pool will now be counted on to step into the starting Safety spot that Crocker will be vacating. If Pool can stay healthy approve his shortened 2005 rookie season was enough time to learn the league, he’ll be an instant upgrade over Crocker. However, you can’t guarantee that is going to happen. My only concern with this move is depth at the Safety position. We’re going to need another guy to take over as a backup. Perhaps this will be addressed in the draft…maybe even with our extra 4th rounder.
As it stands, the crazy first week of Free Agency for the Browns will transfer into dead season until the draft. A few other moves were made to trim the roster, as project players Lewis Dawson (OL), Amon Gordon (DL), and backup Long-snapper Jody Littleton were dumped as dead weight, but this is about the extent of the moves you will see over the next weeks.
If anything else comes up, I’ll be sure to throw my two cents in.
It made for one of the more interesting off-seasons in recent memory that started with a potential labor breakdown, and rumors Paul Tagliabue taking a hike. Let’s analyze some of the big moves this past week and list some of the winners and losers:
-Drew Brees signs 6 year deal with the New Orleans Saints: Brees couldn’t resist the Saints color scheme…it reminded him too much of Purdue. New Saints’ coach Sean Payton has already upgraded the QB position, thanks to adding Brees and subtracting big dummy Aaron Brooks from the equation. Don’t get me started on Brooks…he’s one of my least favorite players in the league and the Saints just got better by dumping him. Now comes the health issue. The Saints threw $60 million at him over 6 years with $10 million of that guaranteed up front. Brees is set to begin throwing in April so we’ll see if he can put the arm injury behind him or if he’ll become the next Chad Pennington. That’s a risky move for the Saints despite the fact that Brees is 10x better than their old starter. Grade: B-
-Daunte Culpepper traded to Dolphins for 2nd round pick: Culpepper has been unfairly criticized up until he wanted out of Minnesota. At that point I thought he was a dick. Nevertheless, Culpepper is a much QB than most people give him credit for, and the Dolphins only gave up a 2nd rounder for him which is less risky I guess than throwing the kind of money the Saints’ threw at Brees. Plus, the Dolphins haven’t has a QB of this caliber since the great Dan Marino in the mid-90s. Culpepper brings his own injury risk to the Dolphins though as he tore up his right knee last year and is rehabbing it going into spring. Grade: B
-Edgerrin James signs 4 year deal with Cardinals: As a suffering Browns’ fan, who suffers with his own problems, I still pause to reflect on how sorry the Cardinals are. They have two of the very best WRs in the game, but are known for nothing else except for continuous sub-par teams, having a goofball owner, and maintaining a minimal fan base. Now they have acquired Edge, who is one of the very best all-around RBs in the NFL. With Edge running the ball, and Larry Fitzgerald/Anquan Boldin catching passes, they HAVE to be better next year right? Arizona is surely banking on a big year with Edge in tow and a new stadium. Grade: A-
-Terrell Owens signs with the Cowboys: “Oh no they didn’t!” Note to self, when the shit hits the fan, and Cowboys’ fans are feeling sorry for themselves, remember that they aren’t the ones who signed this bastard and try not to be a dick about it. All Cowboys’ fans should have the honor of lining up and take turns punching Jerry Jones in the balls once this blows up in the Cowboys’ face. Now we have to go through another saga of T.O. being a lowlife son of a bitch on SportsCenter. I hate that piece of shit. Grade: F-
-Darren Howard signs with Eagles: The former Saints’ stud got big money from the Eagles to line-up opposite of DE Jevon Kearse for the Eagles which could be one of the best Defensive End combos in the entire NFL. Howard turned down a nice signing bonus with the Saints to get out make better money, which he did with Philadelphia. Grade: A
-LeCharles Bentley signs with Browns: Another former Saint jumped ship: this time to his home town team. Bentley is now the highest paid Center in NFL history and he’ll help the Browns continue to build a decent OL unit. He’s already one of the best interior lineman in the league and he’s only 26. This could work out big for the Browns. Grade: A
I could go on and on here, but you can find the rest of the list of signings here: http://proxy.espn.go.com/nfl/fa?null.
Let me quickly list out my winners and losers so far in Free Agency. Let me note that this only paper as the Patriots haven proven to be just fine despite not doing much in Free Agency. Free Agency doesn’t work that often in the NFL, so that’s why you can’t always guarantee success based off of these moves.
Winners:
Eagles: Darren Howard’s signing could boost this defense tremendously.
Browns: The team has too many holes and not enough veteran leadership. They got more veteran leadership at least.
Cardinals: This team is trying to finally get good before they open their new stadium thanks to signing Edgerrin James.
Losers:
Cowboys: Signing T.O. is about as dumb as having unprotected sex with someone you know has Herpes
Patriots: On paper, they suffer a little bit losing another veteran leader in Willie McGinest, and talented WR David Givens. They’ve settled on WR Reche Caldwell so far. As we know, this doesn’t mean squat with these guys though.
Falcons: The Falcons spent their off-season so far trying to address their weak Safety position by acquiring a selfish, aging player in Lawyer Milloy, and giving away a 4th round pick for average Safety Chris Crocker.
BROWNS' UPDATE:
From a Browns’ perspective, the Browns rounded down the first week of Free Agency with 8 new players on the roster after agreeing with Ravens’ TE Darnell Dinkins to a 3 year deal. Dinkins doubles as an excellent run blocking TE and a solid Special Teams’ player. The Browns don’t really have a run blocking TE on the roster that can help the run game or stay in to pass block, so this addition could be very helpful. He could mix in well with pass catching TEs Kellen Winslow and Steve Heiden.
In a surprising trade that netted good results, the Browns dealt their secondary depth a bit of a hit by dealing sub-par Safety Chris Crocker to the Atlanta Falcons for a 4th round draft pick. I love this move for the Browns. Any time you can move an average football player for a 4th round draft pick, you have to be happy with that move. Crocker was one of those ‘athletes’ that Butch Davis decided to draft over more proven college players. Crocker turned out to be better than I thought, but he still wasn’t anything to shake a stick at.
Brodney Pool will now be counted on to step into the starting Safety spot that Crocker will be vacating. If Pool can stay healthy approve his shortened 2005 rookie season was enough time to learn the league, he’ll be an instant upgrade over Crocker. However, you can’t guarantee that is going to happen. My only concern with this move is depth at the Safety position. We’re going to need another guy to take over as a backup. Perhaps this will be addressed in the draft…maybe even with our extra 4th rounder.
As it stands, the crazy first week of Free Agency for the Browns will transfer into dead season until the draft. A few other moves were made to trim the roster, as project players Lewis Dawson (OL), Amon Gordon (DL), and backup Long-snapper Jody Littleton were dumped as dead weight, but this is about the extent of the moves you will see over the next weeks.
If anything else comes up, I’ll be sure to throw my two cents in.
posted by Chris @ 8:55 AM
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