Welcome to Sports From the Basement’s first annual free agency tracker. As the moves come flying in, we at SFTB will update this page with immediate analysis. Free Agency doesn’t officially even start until tomorrow, but there are moves to get to already. This page will be updated with terms when they are official.
SIGNINGS
Ndamukong Suh leaves Detroit for South Beach- The Dolphins made Suh their top priority and had him locked up as early as Saturday night. Suh will now anchor Miami’s already impressive defensive line. As usual with free agency, you have to overpay to get the player you want, and six years 114 million (60 million guaranteed) is a lot of coin, but Suh is the marquee player in this season’s free agent class. Grade: A-
Jeremy Maclin reunites with Andy Reid in Kansas City- The Eagles (who we will get to in a moment) let Maclin test the market and then let him walk when Andy Reid came calling. Maclin had a monster season last year as the number one weapon in Philadelphia’s passing game and has cashed in handsomely. Kansas City needs all the receiving help they can get as they managed to go the entire 2014 without having a Wide Receiver catch a touchdown pass. The contract will be a bear in three years, but for today, it’s an upgrade. Grade: B+
Pernell McPhee has a lot to live up to- Despite only starting six games in his career (and none since 2012), McPhee landed a five year 40 million dollar contract from the Bears. Chicago plans on using him as a 3-4 defensive end under DC Vig Fangio. Fangio had terrific success as the DC in San Francisco, so we will give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. There are two types of free agents getting cash. The ones you are paying because they are great (and hope they can sustain it), and the ones you are paying because you think they will be great. McPhee is in that latter camp. With sixteen million guaranteed it’s not a huge risk, and the reward could be plentiful. Grade: B
What the heck are the Eagles doing? Chip Kelly is doing things his way. Not learning from the mistakes of his division rival in Washington, the Eagles are tossing money around like a high school girl with daddy’s AMEX card. Byron Maxwell is going to Philadelphia with a six year 63 million dollar contract. 25 million of that is guaranteed. This is what they cleared LeSean McCoy’s salary for? Maxwell defended 13 passes in 2014, and had two interceptions. Solid, but not numbers worth this salary. That kind of coin means Maxwell is the number one corner, so he can cover the number 1 receivers in the NFC East. Dez Bryant, DeSean Jackson, Odell Beckam Jr. This one could very well backfire. Grade: C-
We’re not done with the Eagles yet- Obviously Chip Kelly didn’t read the article on this very site last week, about RB being a young man’s position. McCoy has been replaced with an older, slower player in Frank Gore. This signing makes even less sense than the Maxwell one. For starters, the entire Chip Kelly experience is based on speed. Speed after speed after speed. Gore is slow. Gore’s career average per carry is 4.5, and last year it was 4.3 His reception numbers the past four years? 17, 28, 16, and 11. So he’s no threat to catch the ball out of the backfield. To go from a 2 way weapon like McCoy to an average over the hill running back like Gore is terrible. Oh, they also signed him for three years at 5 million per. Add in the seven million in guarantees, and his salary cap hit for this season is almost 7.5 million dollars. Let’s hear it Eagles fans. Is this running back swap worth the 4 million in cap savings? I don’t think so. Grade: F (This grade has been eliminated due to Frank Gore changing his mind. Update below)
UPDATE
These aren’t your father’s Redskins- That quote only works if your father is 25 years old. Washington has always been known as the place to cash in, especially if you were a veteran. The list of has-beens and busts is a mile long. Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith, Albert Haynesworth, Adam Archuletta. The list goes on and on. This year, under new GM Scot McLaughlin, the Skins are trying a different route. McLaughlin was the architect behind the 49ers of the late 00’s and more recently the mastermind behind the Seattle Seahawks. Redskins fans can finally be excited about a front office that can find a gem in the 5th round. That is especially helpful because their last 5 regimes barely found gems in the first round. Today’s signing of Stephen Paea is what the new Redskins are about. Don’t be splashy, just use FA to get solid pieces to build your team. I expect more moves like this in the coming days. Grade- B-
Jaguars throwing money around- Terms should be available shortly (and will be updated here) but the Jaguars are doing their best to start the road back to relevancy. Their first signing of former Dolphins DT Jared Odrick should bolster their defensive line. Odrick fell out of favor with Dolphin’s coach Joe Philbin. That, plus the signing of Suh made the former first round pick expendable. Their second signing is the big one. Stud Tight End Julius Thomas has left the Denver Broncos to join Jacksonville. I assume this will be a large deal, as he was being courted by both the Jags and the Raiders, two teams flush with cap room. Thomas will soon find out life as a receiver is less fun when Blake Bortles is throwing you passes instead of Peyton Manning, but he can sleep better at night on his pile of money. While I don’t like this move personally for Thomas, it’s an excellent move by Jacksonville, who is trying to get back on the map. GRADE- A-
Colts put screws to the Eagles- News broke early afternoon that the Colts had signed former Eagles defender Trent Cole. This is a great singing for Indy, as it will help shore up their defense. But it’s there second move that I want to talk about, cause ripping on Frank Gore is fun. Frank Gore has spurned the Eagles, and accepted a similar offer from the Colts to be their running back. The Colts, who have not had a quality running back since Joseph Addai, are desperate for any production out of that position. Trent Richardson is obviously a bust, and Ahmad Bradshaw can’t stay healthy. But Gore is not the answer. As mentioned above, he’s a slow plodding runner. The Colts will be just fine, but this is hardly an improvement. GRADE- C (A- for Cole, D for Gore)
Giants make a splash- The Giants won the Shane Vereen sweepstakes, leaving Eli Manning with another weapon out of the backfield. This Vereen signing is necessary because Andre Williams has terrible hands, and is useless in the passing game. Vereen will give Eli a security blanket as a checkdown, but he can also dominate in the open field. If Victor Cruz can recover from his knee injury, this offense will be explosive. Grade- B
TRADES
Will Brandon Marshall be the latest WR casualty in NY? Brandon Marshall was traded where receivers go to die, the New York Jets. Kudos to the Jets, though. The continue to go out and try to get the high quality wideout. First Santonio Holmes, then Percy Harvin, now Brandon Marshall. With Marshall and Decker, that’s a solid receiving core. Hopefully Geno Smith can take another step forward this season. They Jets had the cap room, and the price was right (only a 5th round pick) so it’s definitely a worthwhile gamble. Grade- A-
At least he got paid first- Because Rex Ryan is going to run LeSean McCoy into the ground. CJ Spiller is leaving. The quarterback position a disaster. Buffalo is turning into a Rex Ryan team quicker than anyone imagined. That being said, McCoy is a game changer, and the deal Buffalo made for him was very solid. Grade- B+
Seahawks pull off blockbuster- I had to write a whole different post about that. The rich get richer in Seattle. Grade- A+
Lions get Suh’s replacement- And he’s awesome. The Lions acquired Hiloti Ngata from Baltimore on Tuesday to replace Suh on the defensive line. Detroit could never pay Suh what he wanted with their financial commitments already in place to Megatron and Matt Stafford. This is a solid move that will keep the foundation of their defense intact. Grade- B+
Keep it right here for more updates as signings become official.