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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Mark Schofield

11 best deals and biggest steals in free agency so far

A fascinating aspect to watching free agency unfold is seeing what teams do in terms of acquiring value on the open market. Whether forgoing the big names for second-tier players, using one-year “prove it” deals or carefully constructing contracts, teams have a few different paths to find steals on the market. Here are eleven players that for one reason or another were quite the steal for their new teams.

Bryan Bulaga, RT, Los Angeles Chargers

A season ago, quarterback Philip Rivers struggled against pressure. His Adjusted Completion Percentage of 65.3 percent was good for tenth in the league, a far cry from the 2018 campaign when Rivers ranked fifth in the league in that statistic, posting an ACP of 71.6 percent.

Part of the decline might very well be on Rivers’ shoulders himself, and the Indianapolis Colts are left to sort out the answer to that riddle. But the Chargers did need to improve their offensive line, which was in the bottom-half of ESPN’s team pass block win rate statistic.

As such, the Chargers made two big moves to bolster their OL unit this off-season. They traded for guard Trai Turner, and then they added veteran right tackle Bryan Bulaga via free-agency. Bulaga, who has been an extremely solid starter for the Green Bay Packers since being drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, gives the Chargers a rock at the right tackle spot. Last season he allowed just four sacks and only 18 hurries, and playing in a division filled with talented pass rushers off the right edge, he’ll be able to protect whomever is taking the snaps for Los Angeles, whether it is Tyrod Taylor, Cam Newton or a rookie quarterback.

Furthermore, Bulaga came in on a three-year, $30 million contract, under some of the deals paid out to Jack Conklin and Anthony Castonzo, and just a notch more than George Fant. Not bad value for a cornerstone-type tackle.

Emmanuel Sanders, WR, New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints look to make one last run at a title with quarterback Drew Brees in the fold, and as such needed to find a running mate for wide receiver Michael Thomas. They could have done so in the draft, but picking near the end of the first round might have made such a proposition difficult, especially with needs at other positions.

Instead, they found a sidekick for Thomas on the open market, signing Sanders to a two-year deal for $16 million. This is a steal for the Saints, especially when you consider what other receivers made on the open market, and his projected market value. According to Sportrac, Sanders is worth about $10 million per season. Instead, he comes in under that number to catch passes from Drew Brees. Then when you look at Robby Anderson, for example, signing a two-year, $20 million deal, you can see the value that Sanders affords the Saints.

There might be some overlap between what Sanders brings to the table and what Thomas does, as both players operate well out of the slot, but over his career Sanders has been able to function on the boundary, as has Thomas. However Sean Payton decides to use them, he and Brees both have an exciting new weapon at their disposal.

HaHa Clinton-Dix, S, Dallas Cowboys

It is rare to find an immediate starter on either side of the football on such a low-cost deal, but the Dallas Cowboys accomplished just that, signing HaHa Clinton-Dix to a one-year deal worth just $4 million with $2.5 guaranteed.

There was a massive need at the safety position for the Dallas Cowboys, having lost safety Jeff Heath to the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency. In Clinton-Dix they get a versatile safety who has shown over the past two seasons tremendous growth as a coverage defender. During his time with the Green Bay Packers, Clinton-Dix surrendered an average of ten yards or more per each reception in each of his four seasons. However, the past two years that average dropped to 9.1 and 9.2 yards per reception each season. Furthermore, while his coverage grade from Pro Football Focus remained below 70.0 in each of his first four seasons, that number jumped to 82.0 in 2018 and 75.5 in 2019. The Cowboys are getting a much-improved safety that seems to be coming into his own as a coverage defender, for a very team-friendly deal. Tremendous value.

Eric Ebron, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers faced a brutal cap situation this off-season, which forced them to make just a few moves on the open market while seeing talented players like Javon Hargrave leave town. But they were still able to acquire an important piece at the tight end position, adding Eric Ebron on a low cost two-year, $12 million contract.

Ebron gives Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers a matchup weapon at the tight end spot that they did not have with Vance McDonald. Ebron struggled to live up to his draft position during his time with the Detroit Lions, but turned his career around the past two years with the Indianapolis Colts under Frank Reich. Back in 2018, Ebron posted his career-best season, seeing 110 targets with 66 receptions for 750 yards and 13 touchdowns, all career highs.

Those numbers slid back last year, as Ebron’s season ended early with an ankle injury. In just 11 games Ebron still managed to grab 31 passes for 375 yards and three touchdowns.

Putting him in an offense with JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington on the outside and either Ryan Switzer in the slot or in a 12 personnel package with McDonald as well, gives the Steelers a ton of options from a personnal, formation and matchup perspective.

Plus, when you look around the league and see Jimmy Graham get a bigger deal given his struggles at the position, the Ebron deal looks even better by comparison.

Vernon Butler, DT, Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills lost interior defensive lineman Jordan Phillips in free agency when he signed a deal on the open market with the Arizona Cardinals. That left the Bills needing to replace what Phillips did last season, when he posted a career-high 9.5 sacks along with a career-high 31 combined tackles.

So what do they do? They add Vernon Butler in free agency. It took a while for Butler to live up to his status as a first-round selection by the Carolina Panthers, and 2019 was truly his break-out season, when he finally cracked the starting lineup. Butler started nine games and posted 32 total tackles and six sacks, numbers on par with what Phillips did a season ago.

Furthermore, Butler is still two years younger that Phillips and comes in with a smaller price tag. Butler signed a two-year, $15 million dollar deal, a big contrast to the three-year, $30 million dollar deal signed by Phillips. So in essence, the Bills got a player who produced similar numbers a season ago on a cheaper deal, who also is two years younger than the player that left town.

Cory Littleton, LB, Las Vegas Raiders

Cory Littleton is a massive acquisition for the Las Vegas Raiders. Their defense had issues at the second level a season ago, and Littleton can mask some of those deficiencies immediately upon stepping onto the field. He has built himself into a three-down linebacker in the NFL, and in the Los Angeles Rams’ sub-packages he can stay on the field and be a force against the run while still having the ability to run with tight ends and running backs when tasked with coverage responsibilities.

Here is how Pro Football Focus described what Littleton can do defensively:

During his four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams (including the postseason), Cory Littleton has logged 1,368 coverage snaps and earned a PFF coverage grade of 90.0, second to only Atlanta’s Deion Jones among linebackers from the 2016 NFL Draft class. As an off-ball defender in the Rams’ sub-package defense, Littleton was often the only linebacker on the field featured with six defensive backs. With 4.73 speed, he moves well in space and matches up with underneath pass routes well enough to have earned a 7th ranked coverage grade in both 2018 (83.1) and 2019 (82.3).

Littleton inked a three-year, $35.25 million deal with the Raiders. For what he brings to their defense on all three downs, that is a steal.

Linval Joseph, DT, Los Angeles Chargers

You can make the argument that Linval Joseph’s best years are behind him, and statistics might support that case. Joseph totaled just 18 pressures over the past two season, despite having 347 pass rushing opportunities in 2019 and 363 chances in 2018. However, he did produce 44 total tackles along with three sacks and one forced fumble.

In Los Angeles, he will benefit from scheme and opportunity. He’ll get a chance to align inside of Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram on the edges, and with those two players getting a ton of attention he’ll have opportunities to produce on the interior. He will also help shore up a run defense that struggled at times, as the Chargers allowed over 112.8 yards per game last year (obviously influenced by game script and situation) and were ranked 25th in run defense DVOA over at Football Outsiders. Joseph can clog interior rushing lanes and force plays to the outside, where Ingram and Bosa are lurking. On a two-year, $17 million deal, that has value.

Nelson Agholor, WR, Las Vegas Raiders

Here me out for a second.

It is easy to point to Nelson Agholor’s struggles with ball security and numerous drops – which made him by association quite the internet meme a season ago – and argue that even if he were paying the Raiders to play, it was still a bad deal for the franchise.

But the Raiders signed him to a one-year, $1.0475 million deal, which includes just $910,000 in base salary. That is actually the minimum wage for players with five years of experience under the new CBA. They signed him for basically the cheapest deal possible.

Now yes, Agholor had struggles last year. But if you go back to the year the Philadelphia Eagles made their run to the Super Bowl, Agholor was a critical part of that offense. In 2017 saw 95 targets with 62 receptions for 768 yards (averaging 12.4 yards per reception) for eight touchdowns and 35 first downs. He actually topped some of those numbers in 2018, catching 64 passes on 97 targets for fourth touchdowns.

This example of Agholor on a slant route highlights what he can bring to the Raiders:

Nelson Agholor at his best. Good route running, gets open and uses his speed to get in the end zone. #Eagles pic.twitter.com/ZrWzQJTch4

— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) October 16, 2017

His struggles a season ago made him expendable in Philadelphia, even with their own WR foibles. But in Las Vegas he will be a great schematic fit, as his issues have never been with route-running, and he can serve as a solid slot receiver along with Hunter Renfrow. Given the minimal cost, even if he produces just on par with what he put on the field last year, it will be a steal for the Raiders.

Nate Ebner, S, New York Giants

“We’re talking about special teams?”

Yes, we are talking about special teams.

It is fascinating to watch branches of the Bill Belichick coaching tree strike out on their own. Two branches off that solid oak, the Matt Patricia and the Bill O’Brien branches, made some…questionable moves this free agency period. Two others seem to be going in a different direction, building their rosters out in a mold of their creation. One is Brian Flores down in South Beach, who is assembling a pressure style defense with acquisitions like Kyle Van Noy, Shaq Lawson and Byron Jones.

Then there is Joe Judge. The former special teams coach with the New England Patriots certainly understands the value of all three phases of the game, something Belichick himself likes to stress anytime he gets a microphone in front of him. That is way it should not have been a surprise when Judge added Nate Ebner, the safety and core special teams player, via free agency.

For the past few seasons, Ebner has been one of two mainstays in the third phase of the game in New England, along with wide receiver Matthew Slater. While Slater is known for his work as a gunner, Ebner has been a rock on the interior, as the personal protector on the punt team, as a core member of the kickoff coverage team, as an interior player on the punt block team, and on the kickoff return team as well. Ebner can be to New York what Slater has been to the Patriots for years: That special teams’ captain who serves as a coach on the field for those units.

In a league based upon parity, where special teams plays often mean the difference between winning and losing, there is no price you can put on that kind of player.

Chris Harris Jr., CB, Los Angeles Chargers

We can close out this list with two deals that struck a nice balance between value and creative contract construction. The Los Angeles Chargers made a big move to help shore up their secondary when they added Chris Harris Jr. from the Denver Broncos. Harris struggled a bit with a switch to playing on the outside, but remains a very solid option as a slot cornerback. The Chargers can either keep him on the boundary across from Casey Hayward, or slide him into the slot and use Desmond King, who has been a slot corner for them, on the outside.

What makes this deal a value for the Chargers is how they constructed the contract. They signed Harris to a two-year deal reportedly worth $20.25 million dollars. However, when you dive into the terms you can see how the Chargers truly manufactured this deal to make it very team-friendly. The only guarantee on the deal is a $7.5 million signing bonus. Harris plays for a salary of just $2 million this season – very low dollars for a starting cornerback – and next year his salary is $7.5 million, none of which is guaranteed. What they pay for in terms of cash up front, they get on the back end with a very team-friendly deal for a top corner.

Javon Hargrave, DT, Philadelphia Eagles

Given their cap difficulties, the Pittsburgh Steelers had no choice but to see defensive tackle Javon Hargrave move across the state to the Philadelphia Eagles. Hargrave has been a rock in the interior of Pittsburgh’s defensive line the past few seasons and is coming off a career-best season, where he notched 60 combined tackles along with four sacks.

Just 26, he can be a focal point on the inside of the Eagles’ offense for seasons to come. Now some might wonder about the transition from a 3-4 to a 4-3 base front, but pairing him on the interior with Fletcher Cox should quell most concerns.

What makes this deal a good value is how Howie Roseman constructed the contract. It is technically a five-year, $65 million deal, but the 2023 and 2024 seasons automatically void before the start of the 2023 league year. So it is in essence a three-year, $39 million deal. By using these void years, Roseman is able to spread out Hargrave’s signing bonus ($11.75 million) to reduce the impact on the Eagles’ cap.

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