All I can say is this. Thank god for NFL Free Agency. This quarantine we are all involved in has really taken a toll on sports and our sports news we bring to you. However, NFL Free Agency said “Hold my Beer” and shattered the glass of boredom. So many incredible deals went down and yet so many went down that made me a little sour inside.
What I’m going to do is very simple. I’m going to put ten free agent signings into two categories of five; Fortunes and Flops. Then I will give my reasonings for each signing. Alright are we ready? Let’s get it.
Honorable Mentions;
Fortunes –
Philip Rivers – Indianapolis Colts (One-Year Worth $25 Million)
Robert Quinn – Chicago Bears (Five-Years Worth $70 Million)
Teddy Bridgewater – Carolina Panthers (Three-Years Worth $63 Million)
Flops –
Randall Cobb – Houston Texans (Three-Years Worth $27 Million)
Jimmy Graham – Chicago Bears (Two-Years Worth $16 Million)
Trae Waynes – Cincinnati Bengals (Three-Years Worth 42 Million)
Fortune;
Tom Brady signs with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Deal: Two-Years Worth $50 Million (Fully Guaranteed) with $9 Million in Incentives
Figured I would just get this out of the way. I’ll admit it. I was wrong. Tom Brady did not sign with the Chargers like I had hoped for, but he did sign for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers which was my second home for him to hit. He has an incredible receiving core in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, two very good tight ends to work with in O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate, and finally some nice running backs and an elite defense to work with. This now takes the Bucs into the category of a potential Super Bowl contender in the eyes of many. I need to see more though before I make this assumption given he has to face Drew Brees and the Saints twice a year.
Flop;
Melvin Gordon signs with the Denver Broncos
Deal: Two-Years Worth $16 Million ($13.5 Fully Guaranteed)
Now when you think of all the possible teams that need a running back, the Denver Broncos are really not what comes to my mind here which makes this deal sound odd to me. You have a good running back duo in Philip Lindsay and Royce Freeman, and now you sign Melvin Gordon. The only reason I can think of why they would sign him is because they didn’t reach the endzone with running backs a lot which is what Gordon excelled at. Plus, you give Drew Lock another pass-catch running back to work with. Still it remains to be seen how the time share between Gordon and Lindsay will work with Freeman now the lone man out in my opinion.
Fortune;
Kyle Van Noy and Byron Jones sign with the Miami Dolphins
Deals:
(KVN): Four-Years Worth $51 Million ($30 Million Guaranteed)
(BJ): Five-Years Worth 82.5 Million ($57 Million Guaranteed)
A two-for-one package here as Miami finally gets the boost on defense it desperately needed. Flores was criticized by basically shopping every valuable player in his arsenal away, but now he gains two top defenders for his Miami squadron. Van Noy and Flores were in the same crowd with the New England Patriots so there is trust and respect there, and Jones was hands-down the top corner in this free agency class. Signing these two to these deals was a big power move that should see Miami on the rise this upcoming season.
Flop;
Desmond Trufant signs with the Detroit Lions
Deal: Two-Years Worth $21 Million ($14 Million Guaranteed)
I guess I shouldn’t be too hard here, but the Lions are making some questionable moves. Signing Trufant itself isn’t the worst thing, but his injury history scares me a little here, and it can never make up for losing a huge piece like Darius Slay no matter how hard they try here.
Fortune;
Jack Conklin signs with the Cleveland Browns
Deal: Three-Years Worth $42 Million ($30 Million Guaranteed)
Conklin was the major move that the Browns have made though. You finally get a really good offensive tackle to protect Baker to make sure he doesn’t get pressured. He did wonders in Tennessee to the point where many thought the franchise tag was coming his way. However, he hit free agency once Tannehill was given a massive contract giving the franchise tag to running back Derrick Henry.
Flop;
Jason Witten signs with the Las Vegas Raiders
Deal: One-Year Worth 4.75 Million
Look I get it okay. It’s a really cheap deal for a reliable veteran tight end. It just doesn’t make sense to me here. You have a wonderful tight end in Darren Waller who was essentially your number one receiving option last year. I believe that changes will come when they draft either Jeudy or Lamb, but overall I get why they did it so Waller could get a break, but I just don’t understand it.
Fortune;
Emmanuel Sanders signs with the New Orleans Saints
Deal: Two-Years Worth $16 Million (Could be up to $19 Million)
Whether or not it is $16 million or $19 million, this is a fantastic deal for the New Orleans Saints as they finally gain a receiver to help out the workload of Michael Thomas. Sanders being a veteran receiver helps out the offense immensely with an aging Drew Brees still at quarterback. This might take some receptions away from Thomas, but boy this is a great day for New Orleans.
Flop;
Halapoulivaati Vaitai signs with the Detroit Lions
Deal: Five-Years Worth $50 Million
It boggles my mind how Detroit ends up here twice on this list, but here we are. Their second flop comes in the form of Halapoulivaati Vaitai being signed. The team was reportedly in the works to sign Graham Glasglow, but I guess it just fell through and made a very odd decision to pay Vaitai a huge amount of money. It comes with a huge risk with his very big injury history, but they more or less did to protect both the run game and Matt Stafford, but it’s not one I would have made.
Fortune;
Todd Gurley signs with the Atlanta Falcons
Deal: One-Year Worth $6 Million ($7.5 Million Bonus from the Rams and $2.5 Million offset)
While the injury concern in his knee is there, you can’t argue the value that Atlanta got Todd Gurley. The guy was a former MVP candidate gets a much better offensive line to work with to give him more run room and a much better quarterback in my eyes to work with in Matt Ryan. Plus, the Falcons fill the hole in their run game when they let go of Devonta Freeman. Plus if the year deal doesn’t work out, they let him go. Very low risk move here for Atlanta.
Flop;
Austin Hooper signs with the Cleveland Browns
Deal: Four-Years Worth $44 Million ($23 Million Guaranteed)
Though I love seeing Austin Hooper getting his money, he was overpaid, and I’m not quite sure why Cleveland? I get it. I really do. Their tight end David Njoku got injured last season and couldn’t go for much of the season, but he is still a really good tight end. Signing Hooper doesn’t give Njoku the production he deserves and while it does give Baker another option in the passing game it does have a double edge sword to it. Look how unproductive their team was with the weapons they had last season.
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