Wellness

[gardenman]

And this will be a busy month in the NFL. Teams will continue to cut players to free up cap space. Franchise tags will be applied on/by March second. Teams will start negotiating with free agents on March seventh. Free agents will start to be signed on March tenth. Potential draft picks will be crisscrossing the country for interviews with teams. Coaches and personnel staffs will be heading to pro days all over the country. Expect lots of potential free agents to come off the market before 4:00 PM Monday, March second. Lots of big name guys will either finalize their deals, or be tagged and the rest will then be the pool of free agents available to the highest bidder.

High profile free agents are likely to be snatched up pretty quickly while other guys will be sitting by their phone waiting desperately for someone, anyone to call them. Teams will swing for the big guys first though and if they can't land one of them, then the lesser guys will find some takers. Some teams will sign a guy there doesn't appear to be a need for, then cut/trade a vet to make room for the new guy. There will be some head-scratching moves made that no one can explain and some pretty obvious moves made.

Team building goes into high gear in March. Guys who don't fit will be tossed aside and replaced with guys who do. Lots of roster moves will take place and by the end of the month most teams will have assembled the basis of players for the next season. Then draft prep goes into high gear as they try to target players to fill any gap not filled in free agency. Most teams won't want to go into the draft with a totally empty spot on the roster, so even guys who don't fit into the long-term plans of a team will find a roster spot waiting for them for a year or so until a draft pick is ready to take it away from them.

It's going to be a busy month.

[Great Hair in Dallas]

Good morning! Loved finding your post for March. What is you take on Josh McGowan going to the Browns. I was surprised by it and just can't follow the thinking on that one. And I knew without a doubt Adrian Peterson was headed back to the Vikings but not any more.

Have a good day!

[gardenman]

Josh McCown to the Browns is a bit weird. I would have thought they'd stick to Brian Hoyer instead. Giving McCown a three year deal for decent money is also a bit odd. It's good for McCown who went 1-11 last year as a starter, but I would think the Browns could have done better. McCown is talking about tutoring Manziel, but a Michael Vick could have taken on that role and they could have created an offense suited for a mobile quarterback like Vick and Manziel. We'll have to see what happens there, but I'm guessing Browns fans aren't doing cartwheels down the street over the signing. Vick has been to heck and back and could be a good guy to partner with Manziel, but they opted for McCown instead probably for more money and more years than they could have gotten Vick for.

I'm thinking Adrian Peterson won't be playing for the Vikings next year. They've got to talk to one another and sort out a lot of issues for him to stay and I'm not sure either party really wants to do that. Running backs are pretty replaceable and there are lots of young guys coming out this year who have potential. I think Peterson wants to leave and I think the Vikings want him gone. It's just a question of how it all gets sorted out. I'm pretty sure the Vikings would prefer to trade him and get something of value in return. I'm not sure who their partner would be right now though.

[Spurt]

And GARDENMAN---we will probably hear more of a buzz from the Eagles regarding your QB situation and whether they will get rid of Foles and bring Mariota in...

And it looks like Murray is unhappy with the Cowboys offer and will test the market....very interesting.....does this open the door for Peterson....the Cowboys better be careful and not let their main cog for their offense get away....what am I saying...that's good news for Washington along with the Cowboys making Dez unhappy with the franchise tag....

And once Johnny Manziel comes out of rehab, I just have that strange feeling that somehow, someway, he comes to Dallas as a backup for Romo....JMHO! Weedon is in the last year of his 2 year contract......

And Washington fans had to fill in Francois via Twitter what HTTR meant---

And staying in the NFC (L)east....it looks like the Giants are going to use their #9th draft pick as a negotiating tool for Jason Pierre-Paul.

[sunshine45]

kind of sad that the ravens are losing jacoby jones, although he was not much of a producer last year. it is tough to lose players when you like them and know that at one time they contributed so much to the team. it will free up some space in regard to the salary cap.

[gardenman]

SPURT. Yeah, I think we'll all be very tired of hearing about Marcus Mariota by the end of the month. The local football writers are so focused on him that it's getting a bit tedious. It's very courageous of the Cowboys to let DeMarco Murray test the market. I suspect a few teams (Colts?) will make him a very attractive offer and he may not end up giving the Cowboys a chance to match another offer. Dez Bryant won't be happy with the franchise tag and the Cowboys won't be happy if they have to tag him again next year for 20% more than they'll pay him this year. I'm still not sure how healthy Tony Romo really is. The Cowboys seem convinced they'll get five more years out of him, but that's a long time in the NFL.

Jason Pierre-Paul is a guy who probably shouldn't reach free agency if the Giants want to retain him. While there are pass rushers in the draft, you never know how one of those college guys will do when they're playing against men on the offensive line. It's a heck of a wake-up call the first time they meet up with a Jason Peters type guy. Those college edge rushers get used to running past guys in college and it's not that easy in the pros.

sunshine45. It's always tough to lose a good guy who's been a contributor. When the Eagles let Brian Dawkins go the Philly fans all nearly died. It's not fun.

[teganslaw]

I haven't heard about the Colts' interest in DeMarco Murray.That is interesting.The rumor so far has been that Frank Gore might be headed to Indy; Adrian Peterson's name was even mentioned, but not sure about him. The Colts have enough cap space to make an attractive offer to some free agents, and they will be very busy during the draft.

Safety Mike Adams is a FA and one of the Colts' priorities is to re-sign him. There will be contract talks going on between Adams and the team.

LOL about Francois not knowing "HTTR." Doesn't Washington teach players that when they signed with the team?

It is sad to lose certain players. Fans were upset when Jeff Saturday left the Colts. He is now an analyst on ESPN; does a good job, too.

[gardenman]

And it's franchise tag day. By 4:00 today teams have to use the franchise tag if they're using the franchise tag, so expect lots of news coming out around the league today. Some teams seem close to signing their top guys (the Eagles and Jeremy Maclin) and likely will announce a deal later today, while other teams (Cowboys and Dez Bryant) seem far apart and will likely tag their guy. Some teams (Giants with Jason Pierre-Paul) still seem confused as to what they'll do.

ESPN's "NFL Live" at four PM (ET) this afternoon should be a pretty busy show with lots of news breaking all around the league.

[gardenman]

Dez Bryant, Jason Pierre-Paul, Demaryius Thomas, and Justin Houston all got tagged. I wouldn't be shocked to see a really good team take a shot at one of those guys (Dez or Justin in particular) and give up the two first round picks. (I believe all were tagged using the non-exclusive franchise tag giving teams a chance to take a shot at them.) If you're a Tampa that's likely to be picking high in the first round the next couple of years I wouldn't do it, but if you're a Seattle that's expecting to finish high and have a very late first round pick then grabbing a Dez Bryant for two late first round picks might not be such a bad idea.

[teganslaw]

I'm surprised that Ndamukong Suh wasn't franchised. But I read that the reason the Lions didn't tag him is because of the 27 million they would owe him. They still might be able to work out a deal, but I kind of expect that he will walk. Where he ends up is anybody's guess.

The Patriots tagged their kicker, Goskowski. There were thoughts that it was going to be Devin McCourty instead. Speculation is that the Patriots might be close to a contract negotiation with McCourty, which is why they didn't do it.

Gardenman, what do you think about the Eagles signing of Brad Jones? I don't know much about him; is that a good move?

The next ten days are going to be interesting.