The first night of free agency is in the book and it did not disappoint. At the 4:00 p.m. bell free agents came and went with the offensive tackle market being completely wiped out followed by most of the safety market. Some of the moves were easy to predict and made a lot of sense, some were questionable at best. Looking at notable free agents to sign who were the winners and losers?
NFL Free Agency Rankings: Offensive Tackles
Winners:
Colts: The Colts are early winners of free agency for a combination of new talent and re-signing their old talent. Vontae Davis’s contract is nearly identical to the one Sam Shields got from the Packers and rightfully so. Davis is one of the better corners in the league and will earn his pay against Peyton Manning and Tom Brady every year. Arthur Jones is an overpay, but Jones was my top free agent DT. He is familiar with the scheme from being in Chuck Pagano’s system in Baltimore and will work nice with Davis and newly acquired D’Qwell Jackson.
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Broncos: T.J. Ward was by far the best signing of the first day of free agency. Ward was a coveted free agent that was expected to sign for far more than $6 million a year. Ward will use his superior run stopping abilities and average coverage abilities to be the cornerstone of the new look Broncos secondary. The Broncos got a bargain and filled a huge need at safety for years to come. Not to mention they have Demarcus Ware coming to town and reports are he won’t be leaving. Peyton Manning and John Elway have to have magical persuasive powers.
NFL Free Agency Rankings: Secondary
Offensive Tackles: The tackle market was wiped out almost immediately after the bell sounded. The Cardinals, Dolphins, Ravens and Raiders all swapped tackles and paid the price. Some were good and some were bad, but the players won no matter the fit.
Losers:
Oakland Raiders: The Raiders came into free agency with the most cap space to play with at about $60 million and blew it on the first day. They let, debatably, their best two players go without even an offer in the form of Lamarr Houston and Jared Veldheer. Then they “replaced” Veldheer with unproven yet versatile Rodger Saffold, but they aren't going to use him as a tackle. Saffold at guard is fine, but for the price of 5 years, $42.5M with $21M guaranteed? I am a fan of the Austin Howard signing however.
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Defensive Ends: All ended well for the likes of Lamarr Houston, Michael Bennett and Michael Johnson, but for the rest the jury is out. Julius Peppers and Demarcus Ware were released by there teams, Greg Hardy and Brian Orakpo were franchise tagged and veterans Justin Tuck, Jason Babin are looking at much less money then they are accustomed to.
Neutral:
Cleveland Browns: The Browns are neutral for the a mix of reasons. They went out and replaced T.J. Ward with Donte Whitner and replaced D’Qwell Jackson with Karlos Dansby. Mike Pettine’s defense is taking shape, but at what price? Dansby was a large overpay and Whitner cost them more than Denver paid for Ward. Cleveland might have to overpay to get players to commit, but it always catches up with teams.
Who are your early winners and losers? Tell us @SportsWN
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