Free agency began with a bang as several players were signed to big amounts. The devil is in the details though and each contract should be thoroughly examined to see how team or player friendly the new contract will be. Let’s take a look at some of the signings from day one of free agency.
You Get Millions and You Millions and You Get Millions- Oprah/New GMs
QBs
Brock Osweiler cashed in on his 6 starts with Denver. The Texans stole Osweiler on a 4 year 72 million dollar deal with 37 million guaranteed. The Texans finally got their franchise QB which has left the Broncos scrambling a bit. Osweiler got a 12 million dollar signing bonus and has two roster bonuses of 5 million in 2016 and 4 million in 2019. Osweiler’s cap hits will be 12 million, 19 million, 21 million and 20 million.18 million per season average is the going rate if you think someone is a franchise QB. The Texans think Osweiler is their future. The Broncos are looking to trade for Colin Kapernick. Yikes.
Speaking of QBs getting paid, lifetime back-up Chase Daniels earned a 3 year and 21 million dollar deal with the Eagles. Sam Bradford got a two year deal for starter money with the Eagles but Daniels will compete for the job now. Daniels has cap hits of 5 million, 8 million and 8 million on this deal with some incentives. Daniels knows Doug Pederson’s offense from his days with the Chiefs. The QB battle should be interesting in Philadelphia.
RBs
The RB market heated up to a boil on the first day of free agency. Lamar Miller joined Osweiler in Houston. Miller got a 4 year 26 million dollar deal with 14 million guaranteed. Miller can be a workhorse for the Texans. Speaking of workhorses, Doug Martin re-signed with the Bucs on a 5 year 35.7 million dollar deal with 15 million guaranteed. This was a good re-sign for the Bucs despite the 7 per price tag.
Older backs were paid too yesterday. Matt Forte officially left the Bears for the Jets. Chris Ivory got a nice sized deal with the Jaguars to complement TJ Yeldon. Ivory got a 5 year 32 million dollar deal with 10 million guaranteed. He’s a good power back but is 28.
CJ Anderson is a restricted free agent but at the lowest tender. The Dolphins, Bears and Patriots are trying to get him to visit.
North Teams
The Lions signed WR Marvin Jones to a 5 year 40 million dollar contract. Jones received a low 8 million signing bonus and will have cap hits of 6.6 million, 8.6 million, 8.6 million, 8.1 million and 8.1 million over the five years. It could be a two or three year deal if the Lions need to cut bait later. Jones was the best WR on the market and the Lions added a good number 2 WR with this deal.
Haloti Ngata signed a 2 year deal with the Lions to complete their starters at DT. It is really a one year deal with a team option for 2017. The cap hits will be 4.22 million and 7.75 million in 2017. Ngata received a 4 million signing bonus only. This is a good deal for Detroit given how Ngata played when healthy. Ngata will be 32 years old this season but is still a good player. The Lions also signed backup safety Tavon Wilson for special team purposes. Wilson only played his rookie year at safety in 2012 mainly but was a 2nd round pick from the Patriots. The Lions lost Isa Abdul Quddus to the Dolphins for 4 per a season. Maybe that Quddus guy is good. The Lions also lost Travis Lewis to the rival Vikings on a cheap deal. Lewis is a special teams player.
The Bears signed Danny Trevathan for 6 million per season. A four year deal worth 24.5 million is good signing for the Bears who had a hole at ILB. The Bears also added right tackle Bobbie Massie on a starter deal. Massie got a 3 year 18 million dollar deal with 6.5 guaranteed. The Bears can move Kyle Long back to right guard and kill two birds with one stone.
The Vikings added 31 year old Michael Griffen at safety as George Illoka resigned with the Bengals. Tashaun Gibson got a big deal with the Jaguars and Rodney McLeod got paid by the Eagles. Both got paid 7 million per season. Griffen received a one year 2.5 million dollar deal. Griffen was a former first round pick and had some good years with the Titans. The Vikings also signed Alex Boone to help at guard and re-signed Mike Harris for depth at guard. Emmanuel Lemur was added as a special teams coverage LB too from the Bengals.
Crazy Ass Giants
Olivier Vernon got a five year 85 million dollar deal with the Giants. This is 17 million per season. Vernon has some really good and underrated years for the Dolphins. Vernon got 52.5 million guaranteed including a 20 million signing bonus.
Janoris Jenkins is also a new Giant CB. Jenkins got 12 million per year. Jenkins got a 5 year, 62.5 million dollar deal with 28.8 million guaranteed including a 10 million signing bonus. Jenkins will replace Prince Amukamara who was oft injured.
The Giants weren’t done. Run stuffing DT Damon Harrison switched colors in New York from green to blue. Harrison got a 5 million 46.5 million dollar contract with 24 million guaranteed.
I would just like to say. The Giants put Martin Mayhew in charge of their salary cap this season. They are spending like crazy.
Raiders. Are they Good?
The Raiders have added Kelechi Osemele, Bruce Irvin and Sean Smith (10 per). The Raiders had money to spend and they added three really good players.
Green Bay Packers
Thompson is sleeping or at pro days. It’s more interesting watching Thompson Water Seal work on a deck than Ted Thompson at this time of year. They have re-signed Guion, Mason Crosby and Lane Taylor. We will see what happens to Nick Perry, BJ Raji and Casey Hayward on the market.
Summary
It was a crazy day of free agency. There are several other signings and will be more in the days to come.