NFL free agency gone mad
The 2016 National Football League began on Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST, and with it, the start of free agency. predictably, over $1 billion of team money was thrown around at players who were fortunate enough to be desirable and available, a deadly combination in this economic climate.
As always, the action was fast and furious. Not shockingly, some of the best teams in the league did very little including the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals. Some others were too capped out to make any more moves such as the Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills.
Going into Wednesday evening and subsequently, Thursday morning, it appears that most of the dust has settled on the truly large players, save Sean Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Russell Okung.
The teams that will be labeled winners by most o the national media will be the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars, both franchises that spent a ton of money. However, you can rest assured that all three are going to have massive buyer’s remorse when we look back in a few seasons.
Look, the signing of nose tackle Damon Harrison is a nice one for the Giants. Harrison is a quality player coming off his rookie deal, and getting him for five years at $9 million per season is fine. However, paying Olivier Vernon at five years and $85 million with $52.5 million guaranteed is insanity. Vernon got more guaranteed money than both J.J. Watt and Justin Houston. Vernon has 29 sacks in his four-year career. Houston had 22 in 2014.
New York is not the only one paying for all kinds of production that gets trumpeted constantly this time of year but never really happened. The Jaguars decided they needed a starting running back despite having drafted T.J. Yeldon in the second round last year. In this vein, the brass brought in Chris Ivory, who has exactly one season of going over 1,000 rushing yards. The overall deal calls for five years and more than $30 million. While the contract can be gotten out of after the second year, why waste the dollars and time?
Also, the notion that Malik Jackson is worth anything approaching five years and $90 million with $42.5 million guaranteed is flat out laughable. Jackson is a good player, but he’s not a great one. In four seasons, Jackson has never been an All-Pro or a Pro Bowler. He has 14 sacks in his entire career.
Jackson had 45 tackles and five sacks with seven pass deflections and two stuffs in 2015. Jaye Howard had 57 tackles and 5.5 sacks with seven stuffs and plays the same position. Howard just received two years and $10 million with $8.3 million guaranteed by the Kansas City Chiefs. Jackson has a longer track record, but Howard is currently playing at the same level.
Remember, in NFL free agency, buyer beware.
