The first day of free agency nearly broke the Internet.
All right, so that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but the new league year kicked off with more frenzied activity than we've ever seen before. From blockbuster trades to free-agent megadeals to massive re-signings, Tuesday's action had it all.
Now that we've had a little bit of time to allow that head-spinning movement to marinate, we can begin to assess what effect the day's biggest deals will ultimately have on both the players and teams in question.
So, which signings qualify as the biggest? For argument's sake, let's let the money do the talking and focus on the most lucrative. Also, before we begin, keep in mind that defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh's gargantuan contract with the Miami Dolphins is still in the works, so that one will be left out for now.
Darrelle Revis to New York Jets
Jim McIsaac/Getty Images Holy guaranteed money, Batman.
After the New England Patriots decided to decline Darrelle Revis' $20 million option for 2015, speculation surrounding a potential return to the Jets began to run rampant across the Web. New York was expected to make a huge push for the cornerback, and it sure did.
Bleacher Report's Jason Cole tweeted the details of the ginormous contract:
The entirety of the contract was broken down by Spotrac.com, and Revis will earn a base salary of $16 million in 2015, followed by a raise to $17 million in 2016 in a front-loaded deal. Not too shabby for a veteran who will turn 30 before the season begins.
Although, don't start cracking age jokes too quickly—Revis is still one heck of a player. Last season, he accumulated 47 tackles, one forced fumble, two interceptions and 14 passes defensed during the regular season and added three tackles, one sack and another pick in the playoffs. Pro Football Focus ranked Revis fourth out of 108 cornerbacks with a plus-17.7 efficiency rating.
The Jets need to find a way to compete with Tom Brady and the Patriots, and acquiring one of the league's best corners is the way to get that done. After all, Dee Milliner has yet to live up to expectations, and the depth behind him isn't good.
Sure, New York gave up a ton of money to get this deal done, and the team does have plenty of other holes to fill; however, even with Revis in the fold, the Jets still have a healthy amount of cap space to work with, according to OverTheCap.com.
The Jets get their coveted player, and they still have enough financial flexibility to add more pieces to the puzzle.
Byron Maxwell to Philadelphia Eagles
Christian Petersen/Getty Images This is a move we all saw coming.
The Eagles have been absolutely dreadful in the secondary over the last two seasons, ranking dead last in 2013 and 31st in 2014. This team needed a tremendous amount of help at the cornerback position, and it decided to remedy its woes by bringing in Byron Maxwell.
Maxwell had a breakout season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2014, and he was handsomely rewarded. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport tweeted the details of his contract with Philadelphia:
Yikes. That's quite a lucrative deal for a corner who has little experience as a starter and is coming from a tremendous Seattle defense playing opposite Richard Sherman.
Still, Maxwell was very productive in Seattle over the past two seasons, totaling 67 tackles, one forced fumble, six interceptions and 24 passes defensed over that span. Although, here's the kicker: Maxwell was ranked 45th at his position with a negative-0.2 efficiency rating by Pro Football Focus.
While Maxwell is certainly a huge upgrade for the Eagles, he'll be chewing up quite a bit of cap space for some time. The annual breakdown of the corner's contract has not yet been revealed, but expect the Eagles to lose plenty of financial flexibility once his salary is factored in.
This signing may cause Philadelphia to miss out on other coveted free agents, so the pressure for Maxwell to perform is already mounting.
Julius Thomas to Jacksonville Jaguars
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Again, due to the NFL's legal "tampering period," this is another deal that was already expected before free agency began.
Over the past two seasons, Julius Thomas has emerged as one of the league's most valuable red-zone targets, scoring 12 touchdowns in both 2013 and 2014. The Jaguars decided to spend a nice chunk of change in hopes Thomas will continue that trend for them. Rapoport tweeted the deal:
After a little bit of elementary math, it appears as though Thomas' contract is worth a total of $46 million, making him the league's second-highest-paid tight end, according to OverTheCap.com. Jacksonville better cross its fingers Thomas can keep up his production, as he's now earning similar money to Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski .
That may be tricky for the tight end, as he's coming from a great system with the Denver Broncos to a very inexperienced Jacksonville squad. Should we really expect Thomas to put up similar numbers without Peyton Manning under center or Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders commanding attention on the outside? The jury's out on that one.
The Jaguars did have plenty of money to burn—they still do—so adding a proven weapon for the young Blake Bortles to utilize makes perfect sense. If Thomas can help the quarterback's development, Jacksonville should consider this money well spent.
No comments:
Post a Comment