With free agency starting to slow down a bit, we here at Touchdown Wire are starting to take stock of the moves made so far. Some of those have us excited, as outlined recently with some players set to benefit from new situations in the year ahead.
Other moves have us puzzled.
Here are some of the head-scratchers.
George Fant, OT, New York Jets
The New York Jets needed to address their offensive line this off-season. Many writers assume the Jets are a lock to select one of the “Big Four” offensive tackles in the upcoming draft, whether Tristian Wirfs, Mekhi Becton, Andrew Thomas or Jedrick Wills, Jr. However, if they added an offensive tackle via free agency, they would be able to address another need with that 11th overall selection.
Perhaps they could address wide receiver. After all, the Jets are poised to lose Robby Anderson in free agency. In a year with several top-flight talents at that position, a player like CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy or Henry Ruggs could give Sam Darnold the type of threat in the passing game the Jets’ offense desperately needs.
There were some tackles available. Bryan Bulaga and Jack Conklin for example.
The Jets went in a different direction: George Fant from the Seattle Seahawks.
Now Fant has done some nice things for the Seahawks the past few seasons. He has played in a few different spots, for example last year he saw 264 snaps at left tackle and 215 at tight end, when Seattle used a jumbo formation. Over his career he has seen snaps at left tackle and right tackle as well.
He even does some good things on film. Take, for example, this snap against Derek Barnett in pass protection:
He can even catch passes if asked:
The main issue here is the cost, in two different terms. The Jets gave Fant a three-year, $27.3 million dollar contract.
The Los Angeles Chargers gave Bulaga a three-year, $30 million dollar contract.
Noted offensive line guru Brandon Thorn had this to say about the move:
The point is this: The Jets could have acquired a better offensive tackle than Fant for roughly the same money. Bulaga, for example, might have allowed them to address a different position with that 11th overall selection. Fant, however, likely means they still have to address offensive line with that pick. Of course, in this deep wide receiver class the Jets could get a wide receiver on Day Two that can contribute as a rookie, but will that player have an impact like one of the top WRs could with that 11th pick?
A true head-scratcher.
Bill O’Brien Does Bill O’Brien Things
Yes. We here at Touchdown Wire are going to keep using this photo until Bill O’Brien gives us reason to stop doing so.
And yes, we have written about this before, but the fact remains that O’Brien traded one of the game’s premier wide receivers in exchange for basically a second-round pick and a big contract running back in David Johnson. Yes, in the year 2020, with everything we know about big contract RBs and how the passing game is king. It flies in the face of everything we have begun to understand about the positional value – or lack thereof – of running backs as opposed to WRs.
You could literally hear minds exploding at Pro Football Focus and on Twitter.
The Houston Texans tried to address the wide receiver position in the wake of the move, acquiring Randall Cobb in free agency. Cobb is a nice piece, a slot receiver (he saw 90.4 percent of his snaps in the slot last season) who can complement a wide receiver group well. But he cannot be asked to replace Hopkins, who was used primarily on the outside a season ago.
Also, while the Houston Texans used 11 offensive personnel most of the time a year ago (60 percent of their snaps) 12 offensive personnel was their second-most utilized package. The Texans used that two-tight end package 34 percent of the time, behind just the Philadelphia Eagles, the Minnesota Vikings and the Tennessee Titans. How Cobb fits into that grouping will be interesting to watch, given his experience playing out of the slot.
Coach O’Brien, we want to stop using this photo. Please give us reasons to do so.
Ereck Flowers, OG, Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins have been one of the winners of free agency so far. Head coach Brian Flores and general manager Chris Grier deserve a lot of credit for the position the Dolphins are in right now. They added some great defensive pieces such as Byron Jones, Shaq Lawson and Kyle Van Noy. Miami also added some pieces on the offensive side, including running back Jordan Howard and interior offensive lineman Ted Karras.
The Dolphins also have a ton of draft capital in the upcoming NFL Draft. They have three first-round selections (they have the 5th, the 18th and the 26th selections) and they have six picks in the top 60 of the draft. That gives them a ton of flexibility when the draft takes place.
However, one signing does leave us puzzled, and that is offensive guard Ereck Flowers.
Now to be fair to Flowers, who was a bit of a punching back dating back to his combine performance throughout his time with the New York Giants. But he moved inside this past season with the Washington Redskins, and fared well with the switch to left guard. Flowers had a career-low in sacks allowed with two (impressive given he spent a lot of time protecting a rookie quarterback) a career low in hits allowed with two, and a career low in hurries allowed with 20.
But similar to the Fant discussion, there were probably better options available for the Dolphins at the guard spot than Flowers, especially for the money. Graham Glasgow, for example, signed a four-year $44 million dollar contract with the Denver Broncos, which is a bit more per season than what Flowers was given (three years, $30 million dollars) but Glasgow has been a very solid player at both center and guard.
The move also looks interested given that the Dolphins then acquired Ted Karras on the open market, a player with experience at both center and guard.
Miami deserves credit for most of what they have done this far in the off-season, but the Flowers move is a bit questionable.
Jimmy Graham, TE, Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears seemed to make two panic moves this free agency period. Now one of those, the trade for quarterback Nick Foles, might end up working out for Chicago. They badly needed a quarterback who can run Matt Nagy’s offense and just make the right reads and throws on time, and in rhythm. They get that in Foles, a QB with experience in Nagy’s system and the ability to be a point guard type of quarterback.
But they traded a fourth-round pick to acquire him, and took on his contract. Although the Bears and Foles have agreed to a new deal to ease some of the cap implications of the trade, for a team that was already in a difficult cap position, there is not much room to maneuver.
That makes the Graham acquisition even more puzzling.
At one time Graham was a dynamic threat at the tight end position. A true matchup weapon, who could be flexed out to the boundary and operate against defensive backs on the outside with his size and frame, or left inside to run away from linebackers and safeties. But those days are well in the rear-view mirror. Graham saw just 622 snaps last season, his lowest over a 16-game stretch of his career, and he only started in ten contests. Last year’s 60 offensive targets were his lowest since his rookie season, back in 2010. He is not the player he once was.
Despite this, even with their cap situation the Bears gave Graham a two-year, $16 million dollar deal, with $9 million of that guaranteed. That is nearly the same average annual money that the Green Bay Packers gave him in 2018.
You know, the team that just released him.
Now to be fair to Ryan Pace, the tight end market is limited this off-season, and the incoming draft class is not exactly moving the needle a ton. Given the need for something more out of Chicago’s group of tight ends, they had to do something. As it stands now, either Trey Burton gets healthy or Graham returns to form.
Are you betting on either of those occurrences?
Patrick Finley from the Chicago Sun-Times probably put it best, when he wrote this about the move: “The Bears will regret ….Paying Jimmy Graham a higher 2020 average salary than all but five NFL tight ends. Graham will make $8 million next year — as will Trey Burton, the reason the Bears felt obligated to overpay Graham in the first place.”
Matt Patricia Being Matt Patricia
We have a late challenger for the “Worst Bill Belichick Disciple Award.”
It looked like Bill O’Brien might have locked that up, with his trade of DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals. But Matt Patricia is making a late charge down the stretch to steal that title at the wire.
First the Detroit Lions went out and acquired offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai, giving him a five-year, $45 million dollar contract. Vaitai has shown flashes and is very stout in the run game, but they might need to give him some help, whether by alignment or formation or with running back/tight end chips, in the passing game should he line up at tackle next season.
Then they signed a handful of ex-Patriots, including Jamie Collins, the linebacker who has been at his best when in New England, but not so solid outside of Foxborough. Sure, Patricia probably knows how to use him, but another sign of concern is that most of Collins’s production last season came early in the year. Something to watch for, especially given the three-year, $30 million dollar contract. You can add to that list of ex-Patriots Danny Shelton and Duron Harmon, acquired via a trade.
They also signed cornerback Desmond Trufant, giving him a two-year, $21 million dollar contact. Trufant allowed a passer rating of 106.3 last season when targeted, giving up 17 yards per reception. 23 of the 34 targets thrown in his direction were receptions.
Detroit also traded away Darius Slay, sending him to the Philadelphia Eagles. Now it is true, Slay struggled a bit last season and Patricia’s more press-man philosophy might not have been the best situation for him, but Slay made no qualms about his desire to get out of town.
Finally, Patricia himself has come under fire, given Slay’s desire to leave Detroit and other commentary from former players. Slay himself said that his relationship with Patricia was “rough” and that the coach told him he was not a leader, and that he had no business working out with players like Aqib Talib and Richard Sherman because those players are elite, and Slay is just “good.”
Again, that gap between O’Brien and Patricia is closing fast.
The Los Angeles Rams
This is more of a “Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Over the past few seasons, one of the common ideas about wise roster construction in the modern NFL was this: Find a rookie quarterback you can build around, load up at other positions while he is cost-controlled under his rookie contract, and make a run.
Les Snead and the Los Angeles Rams did that. They drafted Jared Goff and new offensive-minded head coach Sean McVay was able to get Goff to a reasonable level of production.
They they built around him. They handed running back Todd Gurley a four-year, $57.5 million dollar deal. They acquired wide receiver Brandin Cooks, and signed him to a five-year, $80 million dollar extension. They signed Aaron Donald to a contract extension, they traded for Dante Fowler, Jr., they signed Ndamukong Suh, they traded for Aqib Talib, and they traded for Marcus Peters.
They loaded up around Goff and made a run to the Super Bowl, but they lost to the New England Patriots.
Then, they compounded their list of problems. They gave Goff a massive contract extension, and then they traded for Jalen Ramsey, sending the Jacksonville Jaguars a 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 first-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick.
They missed the playoffs last season.
Now they enter free agency hamstrung by the cap. They were forced to release Gurley rather than face $10.5 million of his contract becoming guaranteed on Thursday afternoon, eating the dead money on the deal. Snead designated Gurley as a post-June 1 release, allowing them to spread the dead cap money over two seasons:
Making matters worse? The Goff extension and how that is constructed:
Snead and the Rams swung for the fences on Goff’s rookie deal. They made a run to a Super Bowl. But they lost, and now they are reaping the whirlwind from those efforts.
