The NFL’s free agent market doesn’t even officially open until Wednesday. But there already has been plenty of activity during the so-called legal tampering period during which players and their agents can line up deals with the teams. Here’s an early look and who’s doing well and who’s doing not so well.
Oakland Raiders: The Raiders have a long, long way to go to reach respectability in Year 2 of Jon Gruden’s return to coaching. Last year’s trades of pass rusher Khalil Mack and wide receiver Amari Cooper left the roster depleted. But the Raiders are beginning to replenish their talent level. The trade for Antonio Brown gives them perhaps the league’s top wideout. He’s just shy of his 31st birthday, but the Raiders only gave up third- and fifth-round picks to get him. The free agent deals for offensive tackle Trent Brown and safety Lamarcus Joyner also help. It’s usually a mistake in the NFL to equate free agent activity with having a sound rebuilding plan. But the Raiders need all the help they can get, and they’ve gotten some.
Nick Foles: He is a former Super Bowl MVP. He has a statue (depicting the sideline deliberation with coach Doug Pederson leading to the famed “Philly Special” trick-play touchdown in the Super Bowl) at Lincoln Financial Field. But is he a legitimate franchise quarterback? It’s difficult to assert that, given the ups and downs of his career. But now he has a contract worthy of a franchise quarterback, getting $88 million over four seasons from the Jaguars, including $50 million guaranteed.
Landon Collins: The safety somehow avoided being franchise tagged by the Giants, which would have meant a one-year deal worth $11.15 million. Instead, he gets a six-year, $84 million megadeal from the Redskins that includes $45 million in guaranteed money. That’s some serious good fortune.
New York Jets: Winning free agency in March rarely translates into winning games between September and December. But the Jets, like the Raiders, were in desperate need of upgrading the roster, and they took some positive steps by adding wide receiver Jamison Crowder and linebacker C.J. Mosley. The Jets won a bidding war for Mosley, a four-time Pro Bowl selection while with the Ravens, with a five-year deal worth about $85 million. They also had a deal lined up with fellow linebacker Anthony Barr before he changed his mind and decided to remain with the Vikings. Still, the defense unquestionably has been upgraded. On offense, it’s all about aiding the development of second-year quarterback Sam Darnold. And the arrival of Crowder helps in that regard.
New England Patriots free agents: Trent Brown gets $66 million over four years from the Raiders. Pass rusher Trey Flowers gets an estimated $85 million or so over five years from the Lions. It was very good to be a Patriots player hitting the free agent market.
New England Patriots: The Patriots lost some very good players with the exits of Brown and Flowers. Somehow, they probably will find a way to overcome it, don’t you think?
Cleveland Browns: General manager John Dorsey continues to press the right buttons. The trade for pass rusher Olivier Vernon and the free agent deal for defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson fortifies the defensive front even further.
Green Bay Packers: Yes, the Packers actually are making moves in free agency, with the deals for pass rushers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith and safety Adrian Amos. These are different times in Green Bay with Brian Gutekunst in charge as general manager.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Antonio Brown is gone. Running back Le’Veon Bell is about to pick a new team in free agency after sitting out all of this past season in a contract stare-down with the Steelers in which he did not blink. That’s a problem. It’s also a problem that the Steelers have so little to show for it after failing to get any of the Raiders’ three first-round draft picks in the Brown trade. The Steelers might hope this is addition by subtraction. But those are two awfully productive players no longer in the offense.
New York Giants: It remains inexplicable why they didn’t use their franchise player tag to keep Collins.
Washington Redskins: Collins is an excellent player who will help the defense. But $84 million to a safety? Some in and around the league were baffled about that.
Baltimore Ravens: They chose not to franchise-tag Mosley and he got huge money from the Jets. The loss of Terrell Suggs to the Arizona Cardinals takes a mainstay out of the defensive lineup. Factor in the release of safety Eric Weddle and the free agent exit of Smith to Green Bay and that’s a lot to lose for a team that leans so heavily on its defense.
Houston Texans: The secondary absorbed some significant losses with the free agent exits of safety Tyrann Mathieu and cornerback and safety Kareem Jackson. That’s not insurmountable, but the Texans do have some work to do to reconstruct their defensive backfield. That process began with the deal for free agent safety Tashaun Gipson.
Detroit Lions: Coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn are former Patriots employees and seem to be doing their best to reassemble the Patriots in Detroit, with the deals for Flowers and wide receiver Danny Amendola. Perhaps someone should tell them that as long as Bill Belichick and Tom Brady remain in Foxborough, Mass., it’s probably not going to work. Giving big money to a player the Patriots allow to leave, as the Lions did with Flowers, is risky. Do you really think that you know more than they do?