Patriots get desperate in free agency, Washington is smart and more
The New England Patriots spent two decades being financially sound. Last week, that all changed as Bill Belichick showcased his expensive desperation.
$259 million. Ten players. Two Pro Bowl appearances. No All-Pro seasons.
This sums up the New England Patriots’ most expensive week in franchise history. A franchise long known for smart, value signings abandoned that ethos for a spending spree that would make a drunk college kid blush.
The Patriots signed two tight ends to $12.5 million annual hits each, the third-highest at the position behind George Kittle and Travis Kelce. in Hunter Henry, they get a five-year veteran who hasn’t played 16 games or notched 700 receiving yards in a season. Jonnu Smith, the other tight end, has never eclipsed 450 receiving yards in a campaign.
New England also brought on a pair of receivers in Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne. Agholor, inked for two years and $26 million, enjoyed a renaissance in 2020 with the Las Vegas Raiders after five bad seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, catching 48 targets for 896 yards and eight touchdowns. However, he’s overpaid considering what fellow free-agent receivers Corey Davis, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marvin Jones signed for.
Bourne, who somehow got $22.5 million over three years, has 1,769 yards and 11 career touchdowns after four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
Defensively, the Patriots added edge rusher Matthew Judon, linebacker Kyle Van Noy, linemen Davon Godchaux and Henry Anderson, and defensive back Jalen Mills.
Judon, who accounts for both of the aforementioned Pro Bowls, is a good signing. Although he’s never produced double-digit sacks in a year despite being in a blitz-heavy scheme, he’s a quality player who can defend the run and get after the quarterback. No qualms there.
Van Noy, making his return to New England after a one-year hiatus with the Miami Dolphins, is also reasonably signed at two years and $12 million.
The other three defensive signings, though, range between inconsequential and downright poor.
Of the 10 players the Patriots signed from outside the organization last week, only Judon requires extra time for opposing coordinators. While Smith and Henry are talented, the former is long on potential and short on actual production, while the latter is oft-injured and hasn’t put up big numbers even in an offense with Philip Rivers or Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.
New England also traded away former All-Pro right tackle Marcus Cannon to the Houston Texans while replacing him with Trent Brown, giving Bill Belichick another reunion. In his two years with the Raiders, Brown missed half of their games and struggled at times when healthy. The Patriots also watched star guard Joe Thuney leave for the Kansas City Chiefs, creating a major hole on the interior.
To sum up, it’s arguable that New England spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars last week and is marginally better than the 7-9 team it was in 2020. It’s also arguable the Patriots are still the third-best team in the AFC East.
All told, what New England did is the equivalent of going to Tiffany’s with millions and going broke buying cubic zirconia. The sparkle is there, the substance isn’t, and the return on investment stinks.
$259 million. The Patriots spent a lot of money. They brought back minimal proven talent.
Power rankings
Top 10 under-the-radar signings of free agency so far
1. Mike Hilton, CB, Cincinnati Bengals (four years, $24M)
2. John Johnson, S, Cleveland Browns (three years, $34M)
3. Kevin Zeitler, OG, Baltimore Ravens (three years, $22M)
4. Denico Autry, DL, Tennessee Titans
5. Dalvin Tomlinson, DT, Minnesota Vikings (two years, $22M)
6. Alex Mack, C, San Francisco 49ers (one year $5M)
7. Emmanuel Sanders, WR, Buffalo Bills (one year, $7M)
8. Jarrod Davis, LB, New York Jets (one year, $7M)
9. Gerald Everett, TE, Seattle Seahawks (one year, $6M)
10. Roy Robertston-Harris, EDGE, Jacksonville Jaguars (three years, $24.4M)
Quotable
"“[Jones] reached out. He just said how good of a player that he thought I was and I pretty much said the same thing about him. He also just said, you know, ‘We’re trying to do something great here,’ and that’s what I’m all about.”"
– New York Giants receiver Kenny Golladay on his exchange with quarterback Daniel Jones
Golladay became the latest big-name signing in free agency — and maybe the last of the winter — with a four-year pact worth $76 million and $40M guaranteed. It’s a big bet on Golladay, who only played five games last year with a hip injury. However, he also had a pair of 1,000-yard seasons with the Detroit Lions.
Podcast
Random stat
From 1971-79, every starting quarterback to win the Super Bowl wore the No. 12.
Nobody won it wearing that number again until … Tom Brady.
Info learned this week
1. Washington is back, being run by smart football minds
For years, Washington football was undermined by owner Daniel Snyder. Times have changed.
While Snyder remains the owner, his influence has waned with head coach Ron Rivera, general manager Martin Mayhew and team president Jason Wright leading the charge. This was evident last week, with the team landing a pair of intelligent, good-value free agents in cornerback William Jackson III and receiver Curtis Samuel on three-year deals.
Jackson and Samuel are both in their mid-20s coming off rookie deals, already having had real NFL success. The former is one of the better man corners in the league while Samuel, despite playing with underwhelming quarterbacks, notched almost 1,500 receiving yards and nine touchdowns over the past two years.
The Football Team remains in need of multiple high-end starters on both sides of the ball, including a quarterback.
But unlike previous years where the franchise went pending wildly in hopes of a quick fix, Washington is building through young in-house talent and wise signings with upside, paying for future performance and not only the past.
2. Bears are clearly in need of a full-scale rebuild
An undervalued trait in life is understanding your current reality. The Chicago Bears are lacking in this department.
Last week, the Bears signed Andy Dalton to a one-year, $10 million deal to be their presumptive starting quarterback in 2021. They were also rumored to be involved with the high-stakes negotiations for left tackle Trent Williams and receiver Kenny Golladay. This despite having to release star cornerback Kyle Fuller and likely trade defensive tackle Akiem Hicks.
If you can explain how any of those decisions work in concert with one another, please email me.
The Bears have a general manager in Ryan Pace who understands if things don’t go well this year, he’s probably on the outs. Therefore, it’s a race to make something, anything work. While Dalton’s one-year pact isn’t hurting anything long-term, it speaks to a complete lack of vision and foresight.
Chicago reportedly tried to trade for Russell Wilson, but that’s not a plan. It’s a pipe dream. The Bears should be targeting a rookie quarterback, some affordable offensive line upgrades and a long-term agreement with Allen Robinson.
Instead, they’re flailing, hoping a random group of moves work out. It reeks of desperation.
3. Raiders’ decisions leave much to decipher, including Gruden’s worth
The Las Vegas Raiders were supposed to be ascending. Not anymore.
In the past few weeks, the team has shipped out right tackle Trent Brown, center Rodney Hudson and guard Gabe Jackson for mid-to-late-round draft picks. They also allowed Nelson Agholor to leave in free agency after a breakout campaign for the Patriots, while replacing him with an older, more injury-prone player in John Brown.
Defensively, Las Vegas had a litany of holes and filled one nicely with edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue on a two-year, $26 million pact. However, the rest of the unit is marred by issues, specifically the secondary.
Yet instead of addressing any of their myriad needs, the Raiders signed running back Kenyan Drake to a two-year, $14 million deal to back up Josh Jacobs. Non-sensical.
The Raiders cleared more than $30 million in cap space, and yet the combination of general manager Mike Mayock and head coach Jon Gruden have somehow worsened the roster. The defense is either negligibly better or the same, while the offense is inarguably worse around quarterback Derek Carr.
Gruden, who has seven years and $70 million left on his deal, wields ultimate power. This falls at his feet. The Raiders have been chasing a playoff win since 2002, and that climb now appears much longer after a disastrous start to 2021.
4. Buccaneers do great job keeping champions together
Long live the champs.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be the biggest winner of free agency, and they did nothing but re-sign their own stars. In the past few weeks, general manager Jason Licht brought back linebacker Lavonte David, edge rusher Shaq Barrett, tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Chris Godwin, the latter on the franchise tag. Also, an extension for Tom Brady.
For Licht, the job ahead becomes much easier. With the core intact, the Bucs can truly approach the draft with a genuine best-player-available mindset. Additionally, Tampa Bay has seen the division weaken as the New Orleans Saints are now officially without Drew Brees after he retired last week.
Trying to repeat with almost an identical roster doesn’t always work — just ask the team Tampa Bay demolished in February — but it does make the Bucs favorites to emerge from the NFC once more.
5. Chargers building up protection for Justin Herbert
Annually, the Los Angeles Chargers are hyped up only to crash come September. This winter, though, they’re making the moves necessary to reach expectations.
In 2020, Los Angeles watched rookie quarterback Justin Herbert become a rookie sensation in 2020 with 4,336 yards and 30 touchdown passes. They also watched him take a beating behind a horrid offensive line.
General manager Tom Telesco has quickly moved to fix those issues, releasing veteran guard Trai Turner before signing guard Matt Feiler and All-Pro center Corey Lindsley in free agency. The Chargers were also in on guard Joe Thuney, per source, but spent instead on Lindsley to fortify the pivot.
While neither signing will sell many jerseys, they’re tremendous. Herbert must be protected if the Chargers want to see an outcome more on the Patrick Mahomes side of the spectrum, and not the Andrew Luck end. Herbert should be thrilled about the plan thus far, which would could also include a left tackle in the loaded upcoming draft class.
The Chargers still have a bevy of moves to make before challenging as a true contender, but signing Feiler and Lindsley is a terrific start.
Two cents
The Pittsburgh Steelers are essentially in their rebuild. If they like a quarterback early, draft him.
With Ben Roethlisberger almost certainly in the final year with Pittsburgh, the Steelers are losing a litany of core pieces around him. This past week saw defensive tackle Tyson Alualu, cornerback Mike Hilton, guard Matt Feiler, edge rusher Bud Dupree and others leave. Center Maurkice Pouncey has already retired. In short, the contending window has closed.
Instead of chasing a ring in Roethlisberger’s last season, it’s time for Pittsburgh and general manager Kevin Colbert to look forward. If there’s a quarterback they believe can be a long-term answer in this draft, he should the Steelers’ top priority.
Pittsburgh needs to backfill its losses in free agency, but without a signal-caller, the Steelers become irrelevant. Find the quarterback on a rookie deal, and everything else becomes both less important and easier to find with an abundance of cap space. It’s about the future.
Roethlisberger may be back in 2021, but the Steelers won’t be.
Inside the league
At last year’s NFL Scouting Combine, two agents told me they expected the 2021 salary cap to be as much as $240 million. Then the pandemic happened only days later.
The result is what we’ve seen, with teams operating at a $182.5M threshold. However, expected news broke on Thursday which altered the future financial picture for the league. Massive TV and streaming deals were announced, almost doubling the revenue coming from the NFL’s media partners including Disney, FOX, NBC, CBS and Amazon.
Talking with agents, many believe the deal was purposefully announced after the start of the new league year, therefore keeping free agency tamped down this year while owners adjust from a season of limited revenues.
For viewers, the new deal changes the experience a bit. You’ll be able to stream live games in many cases, and the Thursday night package is now exclusively on Amazon Prime. However, from a team and league perspective, the big news is the mass infusion of cash.
By the end of the decade, it’s reasonable to expect a $350M+ salary cap. Next year will be the start of that steep ascent.
History lesson
No all-time great has ever had a tougher exit than Dan Marino.
In the 1999 AFC Divisional round, the Marino and his Miami Dolphins visited the 14-2 Jacksonville Jaguars. While most stars end their careers on either a playoff loss or a meaningless regular-season affair, Marino was blown out in a 62-7 laugher.
The future first-ballot Hall of Famer was benched for Damon Huard after going 11-of-25 for 95 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Parting shot
The Kansas City Chiefs are having a rough two months.
After being humiliated in the Super Bowl by Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, Kansas City cleared serious cap space by releasing tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz along with simple restructures. The idea was being very aggressive in free agency, filling a variety of needs.
Unfortunately for general manager Brett Veach, things have gone awry.
While the signing of All-Pro guard Joe Thuney was a coup, the Chiefs were deep into negotiations with Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams and receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster but lost out to the 49ers and Steelers, respectively. Now, Kansas City is in the precarious position of potentially having two starting rookie tackles and a rookie receiver getting real snaps on a team with title hopes.
This is to say nothing of desperately needing an edge rusher to play opposite Frank Clark. Kansas City also has key free agents to considering re-signing in cornerback Bashaud Breeland and safety Daniel Sorensen.
For sure, the Chiefs have time. They can still find a quality pass-rusher in someone like Melvin Ingram or Carlos Dunlap, and for receivers, men like Josh Reynolds and T.Y. Hilton remain available.
Still, though, Kansas City had a notion of how free agency would go. It hasn’t materialized.