Pederson's QB Antics
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| Alex Smith's former backup will look to take over the starting job in Philly |
After re-upping perennial underachiever Sam Bradford on a 2-year $36 million contract, new head coach Doug Pederson questionably signed athletic, undersized backup QB Chase Daniel for $21 million across 3 years. This signing was puzzling at best and downright ridiculous at worst. Even if Daniels pans out, why re-sign Bradford only to sign his eventual successor days later [sounds a lot like what they did with Ryan Matthews and DeMarco Murray, but more on that later]. The one positive to this deal is that Daniels only has a cap hit of $5 million, meaning that could easily cut him before the 2017 season if he turns out to be a mistake.
Grade: C-
Jacksonville Fills Massive Hole at Safety
Capitalizing on Cleveland's firesale, the Jaguars brought in Pro-Bowl safety Tashaun Gipson for $35 million over the course of 5 seasons. While Gipson was fantastic in 2014 when he made the Pro-Bowl, he was massively slowed down by hamstring problems this past season, and Pro Football Focus gave him a bottom-10 pass coverage rating among qualified players. However, with plenty of cap-room to spare, this was a necessary risk for Jacksonville to take, as it now gives them more flexibility in the draft.
Grade: B
Pittsburgh Takes a Flyer on Antonio Gates's Backup
Following Antonio Gates's 2-year extension with San Diego, there was no longer an immediate need for athletic freak Ladarius Green. Pittsburgh wisely scooped him up on a 4-year deal which could be worth up to $20 million with incentives. There, he will serve as a replacement for the retired Heath Miller. While the production has never been there, Big Ben loves throwing to his tight ends and Green should serve as a welcome change-of-pace to the slower albeit more refined Miller.
Grade: B+
Jaguars Add Punishing Runner to Backfield
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| Ivory will look to bring his punishing running style to Florida |
Coming off of a heavily-worked season which saw Chris Ivory carry the ball over 200 times for the first time in his career, the Jaguars signed him to a 5-year $32 million contract. In my opinion, Ivory's production will be sorely missed by the Jets. however I don't see him thriving in Jacksonville. His carries are sure to decrease due to the presence of sophomore TJ Yeldon who has a similar running style, and third-down back Denard Robinson. This committee could get ugly fast, and I don't see him replicating his New York success.
Grade: C
Atlanta Addresses O-Line Woes
Continuing the mass exodus from Cleveland, Alex Mack has signed with the Atlanta Falcons for $45 million across 5 years. I highly rate this signing, as Atlanta's offensive line was their achilles-heel for much of this past season, Mack was ranked the 13th best center by Pro Football Focus despite being hampered by injury for much of the year. If he manages to replicate his pre-injury success, $9 million per season will be an absolute bargain.
Grade: A-
Giants Steal "Snacks" from New York Rivals
My favorite of any of the Giants' free agency additions, Damon "Snacks" Harrison was rated the best run-stopper in the NFL last season by Pro Football Focus and might very well prove to become the G-Men's best acquisition of this eventful offseason.The Giants snatched Harrison up for $24 million guaranteed over the next 5 years, with the deal potentially topping out at $46 million with incentives. $6-9 million for the NFL's best run defender seems like a steal to me, and pairing him with Jason Pierre Paul and Olivier Vernon [more on him later too] gives the Giants one of the best run-stopping defensive lines in the NFL.
Grade: A
Osweiler's Internship Under Peyton Results in Massive Payday
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| Osweiler celebrating after seeing Houston's contract offer |
After a roller-coaster season which saw him success Peyton Manning, and get benched for him, Brock Osweiler is headed to Houston, where he will be paid $18 million per year for the next 4 years, despite very little quarterback experience. As tempting as it might be to lament about how the Texans taking a huge gamble on an unproven commodity who was benched for a quarterback who suffered arguably the worst quarterbacking regular season of all-time, I would like to congratulate Houston on finally making an effort to find a long-term starter in the most important position in all of sports. No offense to Tom Savage or Ryan Mallett, but I'm not counting them. I hope this gamble pays off for Houston, because it's about time they reward JJ Watt by giving him a quarterback [and a running back who will be mentioned very soon] who can help shoulder some of the load.
Grade: B
Out with Foster, in with Miller
Lamar Miller was one of the most sorely underused skill-position players in the NFL this past season, and congratulations to him for getting away from the most dysfunctional organization in the NFL not in Cleveland. Following a breakout season which saw him run for over 1000 yards for the first time in his NFL career, Miller was only given 20 carries per game once, and in that game he ran for 113 yards. Houston stole him for just over $6 million per year for the next 4. At age 24, and with hardly any miles on him, he should be a welcome replacement for the oft-injured Arian Foster.
Grade: A-
New York Finds its Ivory Replacement at a Fraction of the Cost
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| Matt Forte will look to continue his successful career in the Big Apple |
Following 8 successful years in Chicago, Matt Forte is headed to New York on a 3-year deal worth up to $12 million. While he hasn't shown any signs of aging yet, Forte has had over 200 carries in all 8 of his seasons, which is very worrying. If Frank Gore showed us anything, it's that the only running back who can beat Father Time is Adrian Peterson. I think the Jets will manage to get at least one very good year out of Forte though, and his cheap contract makes it easy for him to be cut when he does fall off.
Grade: B+
Giants Boost Secondary with St. Louis Standout
Janoris Jenkins has steadily improved throughout each of his seasons in the NFL and is quietly emerging as one of the league's best cornerbacks. With Darrelle Revis regressing and aging, and Joe Haden struggling to cope with nagging injuries, Jenkins has a chance to establish himself as a top corner in the NFL. He sure is being paid like one [5 years, $62 million]. The one thing that worries me about this contract, is that in Jenkins's opening presser, he cited "being lazy at the end of games, or whatever" as one of his major weaknesses. That concerns me, but other than that, great deal for the Giants.
Grade: B+
Seattle Castoff heads to Oakland
Irvin had something of a falling out with Seattle's front office this past season, which led to his departure. Nonetheless, Oakland will be receiving an athletic, versatile linebacker who excels in pass-rush and can also drop back in coverage effectively. $37 million across 4 years is a fair price for someone of Irvin's caliber, and he fills a huge hole in the Raiders' front-seven. Nfl.com has him ranked the 5th best free-agent in the entire class.
Grade: A-
Giants Make Olivier Vernon the Highest Paid DE Ever
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| Olivier Vernon: Highest Paid DE of all time |
In a shocking turn of events, the New York Giants splashed out an enormous sum of cash on Olivier Vernon to make him the highest paid defensive end of all time. While there's no denying that Vernon's second half of last season was the best of any defensive player's. He's something of a one-year-wonder. He was never the All-Pro or even Pro-Bowl caliber player for the first 3.5 years in the league that he was in the last 8 weeks of last season. Also, it's worth noting that Vernon's massive breakout came at a time where the Dolphins no longer had playoff aspirations, and were merely playing for pride under an interim head coach. However, this doesn't take away from the fact that Vernon was the best defensive player in the NFL for the second half of last season and, at age 25, still has plenty of room to grow. Additionally, the Giants had money to spend, and they used it to make sure they would bring in their guy, albeit for a little more than they should've.
Grade: B+
Wow. This is really a horrible article. You should look up your stuff before you write. You don't know anything.
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