Summarizing FA so far - The Orange Mane

Atlas · 03-19-2007, 06:15 AM

This is really great.

What NFL Free Agency Is Telling Us

By The Sports Curmudgeon

SoCals link: http://www.sportsfanmagazine.com/sfm...y.html?id=1966

The NFL free agent season has been surprising in terms of the lavish contracts bestowed on free agents in this year of a steep increase of the salary cap. However, just as surprising is the running back merry-go-round that seems to have finally come to a halt. Running backs are switching teams almost at random; I’m not sure what to make out of all of it. But I have figured out that Corey Dillon made a mistake "demanding" his release from the Patriots. Despite all the moves that follow here, Dillon hasn’t had more than a sniff from other teams.

The Denver Broncos sent Tatum Bell to the Lions as part of a trade and then signed Travis Henry. The Lions also signed TJ Duckett so their "intentions" for next year are still not clear – as if "clarity of purpose" has been a hallmark of the Matt Millen Era in Detroit.

Tiki Barber retired and so the Giants needed a replacement; they signed Rueben Droughns. Look, I’m not saying anything negative about Droughns here but that signing was very strange to me; Rueben Droughns looks like a slightly older version of Brandon Jacobs and I really wonder why the Giants want to have two backs that do the same thing.

The Ravens let Jamal Lewis go into free agency and the Browns scooped him up. I guess that is what made Rueben Droughns "available" to the Giants, or not? When the Ravens sought to replace Jamal Lewis, they acquired Willis McGahee from Buffalo. McGahee is a different style running back than Lewis so it remains to be seen how he will fit in Baltimore; the fit had better be pretty good because McGahee cost the Ravens three draft picks. One thing seems certain; after McGahee’s negative comments about Buffalo as a city worthy of an NFL franchise, he will have to be happier in Baltimore. Unless he’s going to demonstrate that he’s really a serial malcontent…

Ahman Green went to Houston and the Packers didn’t seem to put up all that much fuss when he did even though the Packers have not been active in this running back grab-bag game. More interesting in Houston is a more subtle change at running back. Domanick Davis was supposed to be their stud running back last year but he got hurt. Domanick Davis will not be back this year either because Domanick Davis has changed his name to Domanick Williams – assuming his mother’s maiden name. According to one report, he also wants to change his number. So in Houston they have a new running back acquired from the "meat-market" and a running back coming back from injury with a new nom de guerre; so, will any of this make the Houston offense into anything bordering on competent? Now, there’s the real change that’s needed.

Dominic Rhodes left the Super Bowl champion Colts to sign up with the bottom-feeding Oakland Raiders. He and LaMont Jordan look to be sharing the load at RB next year. The Colts’ let Edgerrin James leave Indy and shrugged it off; so I can’t be surprised that they’d take a similar stance when Rhodes left town. You might – I said might – think that Rhodes would have "gone to school" on James’ experience. Both of them have left the Colts with their good OL to go and play for really bad teams with bad OLs. Didn’t work out all that well for James…

And of course, the Jets acquired Thomas Jones from the Bears for a second round pick. I didn’t understand that move when it happened and I still don’t understand why the Bears did it.

The Patriots seem to have done very well in the free-agency season signing a herd of wide receivers – which they needed – and a very good OLB in Adalius Thomas. The Broncos’ acquisition of Dré Bly gives them the best pair of starting cornerbacks in the league and signing Daniel Graham shouldn’t hurt them either. The Niners went on a spending spree and helped themselves with several signings the most prominent of which was CB, Nate Clements. But I think the Niners may be doing an experiment in algebra here.

They added by subtracting when they ditched chronic annoyance, Antonio Bryant.

They subtracted by adding when they replaced Bryant with annoying underachiever, Ashlie Lelie.

More interesting here in Curmudgeon Central are the teams that seem to have gone backwards during free agency – or at the very best took the Great Leap Sideways.

In Oakland, maybe Dominc Rhodes is the answer to the problems – or maybe he isn’t. Maybe the Raiders OL will take a huge step up the competency ladder next year – maybe they won’t. Maybe the Raiders will find a real QB to play there next year – maybe they won’t. Here’s the only "certainty" at the moment; Jerry Porter said he wants to change his number from "84" to "81". Why is that interesting? Well, now Randy Moss can have his old "84" back and maybe that’s what was keeping him from being the Randy Moss of old. Or maybe not…

The Giants released LaVar Arrington, Carlos Emmons and Luke Pettigout after losing Tiki Barber to NBC. Arrington and Pettigout are rehabbing injuries and Emmons is now only a back-up player, but all they seem to have done is sign Rueben Droughns. I don’t know how that made them better.

The Titans lost Travis Henry and a pair of wide receivers. They still have Pacman Jones on the roster, which has to provide the team with a steady source of those dreaded "distractions", and the Titans actually took the time and effort to make a formal announcement that they had signed Kerry Collins. Only a dedicated fantasy geek would know that Collins was still in the football profession; think of it this way, he was found to expendable at the QB position in Oakland. Got that?

The Bills traded Willis McGahee, lost Nate Clements and London Fletcher-Baker to free agency and they signed some young – but not necessarily outstanding – offensive linemen to top dollar deals. Marv Levy is not stupid by any means, but I have to admit that I don’t see the elements of his plan coming together in Buffalo just yet.

The jury is still out on whether the Ravens got better or worse. They lost a bunch of solid players including two on the OL and much of the Ravens’ success last year came from an upright Steve McNair on the field.

If Buffalo and Baltimore are confusing, then the moves by the Tampa Bay Bucs are downright enigmatic. When you are a kid collecting trading cards, it’s neat to collect all the starting QBs in the league. I’m not sure why an actual franchise would head down that path though…

Finally, Greg Cote had an interesting slant on the entirety of the free-agency processes in a recent column in the Miami Herald:

"The Dolphins signed Joey Porter and released Joey Harrington in the same week, setting an NFL record in the category, Greatest Joey Upgrade."

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

Atlas · 03-19-2007, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Finally, Greg Cote had an interesting slant on the entirety of the free-agency processes in a recent column in the Miami Herald:

"The Dolphins signed Joey Porter and released Joey Harrington in the same week, setting an NFL record in the category, Greatest Joey Upgrade."

That is great

-Slap- · 03-19-2007, 10:59 AM

Quote:

"The Dolphins signed Joey Porter and released Joey Harrington in the same week, setting an NFL record in the category, Greatest Joey Upgrade."

Porter and Levi Brown had a run-in at a casino in town last night. It started out with trash talk, but resulted in Brown with a cut over his eye and Porter being charged by Metro.

-Slap- · 03-19-2007, 11:02 AM

Quote:

They subtracted by adding when they replaced Bryant with annoying underachiever, Ashlie Lelie.

All the threads about Ashley Lelie on this board, but the words "annoying underachiever" probably sum him up the best.

Odysseus · 03-19-2007, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Slap-

All the threads about Ashley Lelie on this board, but the words "annoying underachiever" probably sum him up the best.

True.

Natedogg · 03-19-2007, 05:04 PM

Really great article

Quote:

If Buffalo and Baltimore are confusing, then the moves by the Tampa Bay Bucs are downright enigmatic. When you are a kid collecting trading cards, it’s neat to collect all the starting QBs in the league. I’m not sure why an actual franchise would head down that path though…

Lol. I have so many qb cards.

Kaylore · 03-19-2007, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Slap-

All the threads about Ashley Lelie on this board, but the words "annoying underachiever" probably sum him up the best.

Beat me to it. I've never read a more complete description of Lelie.

Kaylore · 03-19-2007, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Slap-

Porter and Levi Brown had a run-in at a casino in town last night. It started out with trash talk, but resulted in Brown with a cut over his eye and Porter being charged by Metro.

That's Levi Jones.

Garcia Bronco · 03-19-2007, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaylore

Beat me to it. I've never read a more complete description of Lelie.

I could try.

Kaylore · 03-19-2007, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

I could try.

You'd probably sound like Alec.

03-19-2007, 06:15 AM	#1
Atlas Draft Defense Early&Often Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 18,526	Summarizing FA so far This is really great. What NFL Free Agency Is Telling Us By The Sports Curmudgeon SoCals link: http://www.sportsfanmagazine.com/sfm...y.html?id=1966 The NFL free agent season has been surprising in terms of the lavish contracts bestowed on free agents in this year of a steep increase of the salary cap. However, just as surprising is the running back merry-go-round that seems to have finally come to a halt. Running backs are switching teams almost at random; I’m not sure what to make out of all of it. But I have figured out that Corey Dillon made a mistake "demanding" his release from the Patriots. Despite all the moves that follow here, Dillon hasn’t had more than a sniff from other teams. The Denver Broncos sent Tatum Bell to the Lions as part of a trade and then signed Travis Henry. The Lions also signed TJ Duckett so their "intentions" for next year are still not clear – as if "clarity of purpose" has been a hallmark of the Matt Millen Era in Detroit. Tiki Barber retired and so the Giants needed a replacement; they signed Rueben Droughns. Look, I’m not saying anything negative about Droughns here but that signing was very strange to me; Rueben Droughns looks like a slightly older version of Brandon Jacobs and I really wonder why the Giants want to have two backs that do the same thing. The Ravens let Jamal Lewis go into free agency and the Browns scooped him up. I guess that is what made Rueben Droughns "available" to the Giants, or not? When the Ravens sought to replace Jamal Lewis, they acquired Willis McGahee from Buffalo. McGahee is a different style running back than Lewis so it remains to be seen how he will fit in Baltimore; the fit had better be pretty good because McGahee cost the Ravens three draft picks. One thing seems certain; after McGahee’s negative comments about Buffalo as a city worthy of an NFL franchise, he will have to be happier in Baltimore. Unless he’s going to demonstrate that he’s really a serial malcontent… Ahman Green went to Houston and the Packers didn’t seem to put up all that much fuss when he did even though the Packers have not been active in this running back grab-bag game. More interesting in Houston is a more subtle change at running back. Domanick Davis was supposed to be their stud running back last year but he got hurt. Domanick Davis will not be back this year either because Domanick Davis has changed his name to Domanick Williams – assuming his mother’s maiden name. According to one report, he also wants to change his number. So in Houston they have a new running back acquired from the "meat-market" and a running back coming back from injury with a new nom de guerre; so, will any of this make the Houston offense into anything bordering on competent? Now, there’s the real change that’s needed. Dominic Rhodes left the Super Bowl champion Colts to sign up with the bottom-feeding Oakland Raiders. He and LaMont Jordan look to be sharing the load at RB next year. The Colts’ let Edgerrin James leave Indy and shrugged it off; so I can’t be surprised that they’d take a similar stance when Rhodes left town. You might – I said might – think that Rhodes would have "gone to school" on James’ experience. Both of them have left the Colts with their good OL to go and play for really bad teams with bad OLs. Didn’t work out all that well for James… And of course, the Jets acquired Thomas Jones from the Bears for a second round pick. I didn’t understand that move when it happened and I still don’t understand why the Bears did it. The Patriots seem to have done very well in the free-agency season signing a herd of wide receivers – which they needed – and a very good OLB in Adalius Thomas. The Broncos’ acquisition of Dré Bly gives them the best pair of starting cornerbacks in the league and signing Daniel Graham shouldn’t hurt them either. The Niners went on a spending spree and helped themselves with several signings the most prominent of which was CB, Nate Clements. But I think the Niners may be doing an experiment in algebra here. They added by subtracting when they ditched chronic annoyance, Antonio Bryant. They subtracted by adding when they replaced Bryant with annoying underachiever, Ashlie Lelie. More interesting here in Curmudgeon Central are the teams that seem to have gone backwards during free agency – or at the very best took the Great Leap Sideways. In Oakland, maybe Dominc Rhodes is the answer to the problems – or maybe he isn’t. Maybe the Raiders OL will take a huge step up the competency ladder next year – maybe they won’t. Maybe the Raiders will find a real QB to play there next year – maybe they won’t. Here’s the only "certainty" at the moment; Jerry Porter said he wants to change his number from "84" to "81". Why is that interesting? Well, now Randy Moss can have his old "84" back and maybe that’s what was keeping him from being the Randy Moss of old. Or maybe not… The Giants released LaVar Arrington, Carlos Emmons and Luke Pettigout after losing Tiki Barber to NBC. Arrington and Pettigout are rehabbing injuries and Emmons is now only a back-up player, but all they seem to have done is sign Rueben Droughns. I don’t know how that made them better. The Titans lost Travis Henry and a pair of wide receivers. They still have Pacman Jones on the roster, which has to provide the team with a steady source of those dreaded "distractions", and the Titans actually took the time and effort to make a formal announcement that they had signed Kerry Collins. Only a dedicated fantasy geek would know that Collins was still in the football profession; think of it this way, he was found to expendable at the QB position in Oakland. Got that? The Bills traded Willis McGahee, lost Nate Clements and London Fletcher-Baker to free agency and they signed some young – but not necessarily outstanding – offensive linemen to top dollar deals. Marv Levy is not stupid by any means, but I have to admit that I don’t see the elements of his plan coming together in Buffalo just yet. The jury is still out on whether the Ravens got better or worse. They lost a bunch of solid players including two on the OL and much of the Ravens’ success last year came from an upright Steve McNair on the field. If Buffalo and Baltimore are confusing, then the moves by the Tampa Bay Bucs are downright enigmatic. When you are a kid collecting trading cards, it’s neat to collect all the starting QBs in the league. I’m not sure why an actual franchise would head down that path though… Finally, Greg Cote had an interesting slant on the entirety of the free-agency processes in a recent column in the Miami Herald: "The Dolphins signed Joey Porter and released Joey Harrington in the same week, setting an NFL record in the category, Greatest Joey Upgrade." But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

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