Wellness

[teganslaw]

Some more news: The Colts signed former Raven DE Arthur Jones. So he'll be reunited with Pagano again.

RB Donald Brown is now with the Chargers. He was the starter this past season. The Colts plan on using Trent Richardson, giivng him another chance. Richardson has go to have a better season; he has the potential.

[gardenman]

Well, that was an exciting first day of free agency. The Broncos seem to be buying every player on the market in a "we must win now" mindset. I hope it works better for them than it did the Eagles a few years back.

The Eagles made the expected moves in cutting Patrick Chung who was a disappointment last year, and signing a new safety in Malcolm Jenkins. They also resigned Donnie Jones our punter. It was a pretty quiet day one for the Eagles.

The Saints who had very little cap space signed Jairus Byrd from the Bills to take Malcom Jenkins' place. They solved their cap issue by giving him a huge signing bonus and relatively smallish salaries. That's great for him since he has foot issues that could be an issue playing more than half of his games in a dome on artificial turf. It's a bit of a gamble on the part of the Saints.

The Cowboys letting DeMarcus Ware go will now really have to find some defensive linemen someplace. That was a weakness of the team last year and that part of their team is now weaker.

The Chiefs have lost a lot of players this offseason and it's going to be interesting to see how they regroup. That team seemed to have a lot of momentum, but they've got some pretty big holes to fill now. They've gone from getting a player or two to complement what they had, to needing lots of pieces just to field a competitive team. I'm a little suspicious that Andy Reid's time in KC may not be too long. A whole lot of players wanted out of KC this year. Generally when you're winning with a rabid fanbase, players want to stay there. KC players seem to be looking for the first bus out of town instead. It'll be interesting to see what happens there.

[gardenman]

The Broncos signed DeMarcus Ware to a three year $30 million contract today. They're really spending a lot of money on free agents this offseason.

The Eagles picked up a Texans linebacker/special teamer in Bryan Braman. That's now six former Texans on the Eagles roster. One of the things the Eagles do when they sign a player from another team is ask that guy who the hidden gems are on the team they just left. When we got DeMeco Ryans he vouched for Connor Barwin who we got the next year. We also picked up Donnie Jones, Jeff Maehl, Roc Carmichael, and now Bryan Braman from the Texans. All of those guys have been pretty good additions to the team.

[teganslaw]

It's just been announced that Darren Sproles signed with the Eagles. In return, the Saints get a fifth-round draft pick. This is good news for Philadelphia. Analysts are saying that Sproles should fit in well with Chip Kelly's offense. It seems that the Eagles are adding a lot of weapons to their roster. It's going to be interesting when the Colts and Eagles play each other this coming season.

[Spurt]

On 3/13/2014 teganslaw said:

It's just been announced that Darren Sproles signed with the Eagles. In return, the Saints get a fifth-round draft pick. This is good news for Philadelphia. Analysts are saying that Sproles should fit in well with Chip Kelly's offense. It seems that the Eagles are adding a lot of weapons to their roster. It's going to be interesting when the Colts and Eagles play each other this coming season.

What's wrong with that Tom Benson....he lost Sproles and is only getting a 5th round pick!!!

As far as Rak...they franchised tagged him but they still planning to try to work out a long term deal.

WOW!!! The Eagles and Broncos have been stockpiling those free agents....Like I said before--- GARDENMAN's Eagles are going to rule the NFC Least for several years....But don't ya just love love love GM Jerry Jones....he's made his defense that was in last place even worse...and we know how "good" he is in drafting players...

We are hosting Hawks CB Walter Thurmond ....good luck with that...and lost out on CB Graham who was talking to Redkins watching film and getting ready for dinner when he got a call from his agent and opportunity to play for his home town Bills....so he chose the Bills of course...

[gardenman]

I love the Sproles trade. The Eagles can now come out and line up with DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin at wide receiver, Zach Ertz at tight end, and Darren Sproles and LeSean McCoy split in the backfield. If teams stay in a base defense to stop the run you can split out Sproles and McCoy and basically have five receivers going against four defensive backs. If they go to a nickel or dime defense and bring in more defensive backs they weaken their ability to stop the run. Take Sproles and run him out wide pre-snap and a defender or two will go with him weakening the center of the defense and opening up running lanes for McCoy. With Sproles and McCoy both in the backfield you can screen to either side of the field and defenses won't know what the heck to do. It's going to drive defensive coordinators absolutely insane.

The other signings the Eagles have made are more for depth and special teams. Malcolm Jenkins is likely a starter, but everyone else is more of a depth/special teams player.

I think the Redskins have potential this year depending on whether the Redskin players buy into what Jay Gruden is selling. Getting that buy-in in the first year is critical. He can't lose the team in his first year. He's got a challenge ahead of him.

The Giants are likely to have a hard time adjusting to the West Coast offense that their new coordinator is installing. Their offensive line is a mess and they're losing Hakeem Nicks. Their running game is a mess. The Giants have issues.

The Cowboys have a lot of talented players, but they're not really a team. They need to get really lucky and find a lot of talented defensive linemen at a bargain price. They'll win a few games simply on talent, but they've got some issues. The Eagles look to be the best positioned for a run this year of the NFC East teams.

[gardenman]

And the Cowboys just got weaker as the Redskins signed Jason Hatcher the former Cowboy defensive tackle to a contract. I'm not sure who the Cowboys will be using for their defensive line this year, but they've got some issues there.

The Cowboys and Chiefs have both taken some pretty big losses this year in free agency and both teams are going to have to scramble to fill the holes. Do they devote the draft to filling holes? Do they pray they get lucky with some undrafted free agents? Do they trade future draft picks for proven talent? Those teams are going to be scrambling for a bit to find enough capable players to field a contending team this year.

[Spurt]

On 3/13/2014 gardenman said:

And the Cowboys just got weaker as the Redskins signed Jason Hatcher the former Cowboy defensive tackle to a contract. I'm not sure who the Cowboys will be using for their defensive line this year, but they've got some issues there.

The Cowboys and Chiefs have both taken some pretty big losses this year in free agency and both teams are going to have to scramble to fill the holes. Do they devote the draft to filling holes? Do they pray they get lucky with some undrafted free agents? Do they trade future draft picks for proven talent? Those teams are going to be scrambling for a bit to find enough capable players to field a contending team this year.

Hey GARDENMAN

What the heck is GM Jerry doing.....????? Very happy with the move with the Redskins picking up Hatcher....he led all NFL defense tackles with 11 sacks last season and was a Pro Bowler....Thank you very much Jerry Jones...

We also picked up some additional players....ILB Darryl Sharpton formerly of Texans and CB Tracy Porter former Raider. We also got Special Teams Ace Adam Hayward and God only knows how we need some decent special teamers....

Chris Cooley was high on WR Andre Roberts....not so much on guard Shawn Luvao.

[gardenman]

And the Eagles signed Darren Sproles to a two year extension so we've got him for three years now. I was a little worried about his attitude in coming here as he wanted to be released, but he seems very happy here now that he's been traded to Philly, so that's good.

The situation in Dallas is interesting. They've kind of backed themselves into a corner where they have to draft for need, and that's a recipe for disaster. You want to draft the best guy on the board when you make a pick, but unless that guy is a defensive lineman, the Cowboys won't be able to do that. They're going to have to reach for a player in every round and that's not smart. They're likely to end up signing a guy a round or two early most of the way through the draft just to fill their holes.

The Chiefs have kind of slipped into that same type of situation with the guys who have left KC. The Giants aren't far behind them. There's some weird decision making going on in the NFL these days. Kudos to the Eagles for filling holes while locking up the guys we already had and adding more depth all without breaking the bank. There's no glaring hole now on the Eagles that we absolutely have to fill in the draft. Whoever the best guy is when our pick comes along is the guy we can grab.

The Broncos are spending themselves into a "win now or else" corner. That team is likely to be a mess in three or four years, but they're hoping to win a couple of Super Bowls in the meantime. The Ravens have finally replaced Anquan Boldin with Steve Smith which is a smart move. Smith is old, but feisty. Carolina (another team that's weaker now than they were before free agency) is likely to regret letting him go.

[teganslaw]

The Colts signed Hakeem Nicks to a one year 3.5 million dollar contract. I like the signing and am surprised that it didn't cost them more. How did they manage to get him for that price? Nicks is coming off an injury-ridden season, but he has the potential to make some big plays. Along with Reggie Wayne (who will be back this year) and T.Y. Hilton, this adds depth to our offense.

They also signed center Phil Costa, formerly of Dallas. He would most likely be back up. I can't find much information on him, though. SPURT, Gardenman, your teams are more familiar with the Cowboys, having played them so often. Is Costa a good acquisition? Or is he more of a risk?

I think the Cowboys and Giants are going to regret some of the moves they've made in free agency. BTW, I need a special notebook just to keep track of all the changes and free agents.