NFL insiders on best free agents, Micah Parsons’ on Cowboys and more
NFL insiders play free-agent matchmaker as signings no longer count towards compensatory picks. Plus, Micah Parsons’ impact on the Dallas Cowboys and more.
The NFL Draft has concluded. Another milepost in the league’s offseason has arrived.
As of Monday at 4 p.m. ET, any remaining free agents signed to new teams will not count against their new team’s compensatory pick formula for the 2022 NFL Draft.
Several marquee players remain unsigned, and that means it could be far more likely they agree to terms with new teams in coming weeks because their contracts won’t factor into whether or not their new teams gain any additional picks.
One player who could see an increased market, especially after Denver Broncos right tackle Ja’Wuan James was lost for the season after rupturing his Achilles Tuesday, is former Kansas City Chiefs stalwart tackle, Mitchell Schwartz.
“Mitchell is a very, very good right tackle,” an offensive line coach tells FanSided. “I feel like if he’s healthy, a team with a right offensive tackle need and cap space will sign him.
“A team like the Bengals really makes sense to keep Joe Burrow upright, and look out for the Broncos after what just happened.”
Schwartz, who started all 16 games through the first eight seasons of his career, underwent disk surgery in February after suffering a season-ending back injury back in Week 6 last season.
With a Super Bowl ring on his finger, Schwartz would certainly provide a team a veteran boost. The last time he was healthy, in 2019, he didn’t allow a sack and surrendered just 20 pressures.
If Schwartz is healthy and fully recovered from his surgery there should be a market, according to sources. So, too, will several other free agents potentially finding homes in the coming days and weeks.
FanSided spoke to coaches, executives, and scouts about some of the top remaining veterans and where they expect them to sign. In order to speak freely, the sources were granted anonymity:
CB Richard Sherman
Sherman, 33, has a Super Bowl ringand nearly won a second as a member of the San Francisco 49ers two years ago. However, coming off an injury-plagued 2020 campaign in which he was placed on IR due to a calf strain, his market has been limited.
In 2019, his most recent fully-healthy season, Sherman’s 90 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus was the highest in the league.
NFL head coach’s best fit: “He’s most likely to wind up in either Dallas or Seattle, both because of scheme fit and the mutual familiarity between him and the coaches there.”
EDGE Justin Houston
Houston, 32, remains a productive pass rusher, which should create demand because it is a premium position that is vital to a defense’s success. Coming off two seasons in Indianapolis, where he produced 19 sacks, Houston generated 32 pressures last season.
NFL head coach’s best fit: “I think we all saw that his market never really developed. I think he winds up back with the Colts.”
RB Le’Veon Bell
Bell, 29, averaged just 3.9 yards per carry last season and 3.2 In 2019, with just five rushing touchdowns the past two years. After going two seasons since even scaring 1,000 rushing yards, don’t be surprised if Bell has played his final NFL snap.
AFC personnel executives prediction: “I’m not sure if there is one, at this point. Le’Veon looked dead average the last two seasons. Running backs these days are a dime a dozen, also he might be at the end of the line.”
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What Dallas Cowboys are getting in Micah Parsons
The Dallas Cowboys were plenty willing to take a third-round pick from the Philadelphia Eagles, to move back two spots to No. 12 overall, especially with the knowledge that the player they had targeted all along would be on the board when they actually went on the clock.
Micah Parsons, the All-American and ultra-versatile linebacker from Penn State had long been sitting near the top of the Cowboys’ NFL Draft board. And after trading back two spots, gaining an asset for their troubles, Parsons paired a Dallas draft hat with his midnight blue suit Thursday night in Cleveland.
Parsons, 6-foot-3 and 244 pounds, has drawn comparisons from NFL executives to Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ All-Pro Devin White. But, Parsons might have an even loftier ceiling, because of his ability to dominate in coverage from sideline to sideline, as well as how disruptive he is in the backfield, after producing 6.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss, two years after arriving in Happy Valley as a five-star recruit and the highest-rated defensive end in the nation.
“Micah Parsons is an incredible, incredible athlete,” former Penn State edge rusher, and 2020 Carolina Panthers second-round pick Yetur Gross-Matos told me recently during an appearance on The Matt Lombardo Show podcast. “To this day, the most impressive athlete I’ve ever seen.”
Another of Parsons’ former teammates, edge rusher Shaka Toney, will now square off with Parsons twice a season after being drafted by the NFC East rival Washington Football team in the seventh round on Saturday.
Toney says he believes Parsons has the talent to be one of the best linebackers in the league.
“You’re getting the best linebacker in the draft,” Toney said of Parsons recently on The Matt Lombardo Show. “He’s going sideline to sideline. He’ll clean up other guy’s mistakes. The thing about Micah is, he’s relentless. He’s one of those once in a generation players.”
Parsons slipped a bit on draft night, as he fell out of the top-10 and was the third defensive player chosen, after South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn and Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain.
Some teams were clearly scared off by the fact that Parsons was named in a lawsuit brought by former Nittany Lions defensive back Isaiah Humphries, alleging Parsons pulled a knife during a fight and was part of “aggressive” hazing. But, Penn State says investigations by the university and Penn State police did not substantiate Humphries’ claims.
Gross-Matos vouched for Parsons’ character and believes the Cowboys are getting a real winner.
“Off the field a great person,” Gross-Matos says. With exactly the traits that you want.”
Now a Cowboy, officially, Parsons is the centerpiece of a defensive rebuild.
Prior to opting out in 2020, Parsons was one of the nation’s most dominant defenders as a sophomore in 2019, producing a 91.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, 115 total tackles, and while he’ll likely play middle linebacker, edge rusher is his natural position and should boost a Dallas pass rush that generated only 31 sacks last season.
“I tell people all the time,” Gross-Matos explains. “I’m going to tell my kids that I played with Micah Parsons. He’s easily the most competitive dude I’ve been around, and he brings that energy every day. It affects the guys around him. The Cowboys are getting a great athlete.”
Final thought
It’s difficult to fathom what the Houston Texans were trying to accomplish during last weekend’s NFL Draft.
It is certainly understandable, given Deshaun Watson’s uncertainty that Houston might be looking to turn the page at quarterback, but to wait until Round 3 and taking Davis Mills was among the more puzzling selections of the entire weekend.
With Watson behind center, Houston won four games in 2020. If he isn’t available, and especially after wide receiver Will Fuller signed with the Miami Dolphins, this is one of the least-talented rosters in the NFL and one that might struggle to win half as many games in 2021.
If that’s the case, the Texans would be near the top of the board to select one of the top passers in next year’s NFL Draft class, such as North Carolina’s Sam Howell, Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler, Georgia’s JT Daniels, or whomever emerges at the top of next year’s class.
With holes along the offensive line, front-seven, and wide receiver, the Texans chose a project quarterback over a player who might have been able to contribute immediately, such as Texas defensive end Joseph Ossai, UCF cornerback Aaron Robinson, or Minnesota quarterback Benjamin St.-Juste.
The Texans have operated as one of the more dysfunctional organizations in professional sports recent months, and this draft might have ben the bottom of the oil barrel.
Matt Lombardo is the site expert for GMenHQ, and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday for FanSided. Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattLombardoNFL