The dust has settled on the first three days of 2014 NFL free agency. Here's a look at my picks for the best, worst and most surprising moves so far in this wild free agency period.
Most Surprising Signing: Jarius Byrd to the Saints
The Saints have been cleaning house in order to get below the cap in an attempt to lock down tight end Jimmy Graham to a long-term contract. With cap space being so precious to the Saints, you would've never expected them to be a player for any major free agent this year. To the surprise of everyone in the league, that's exactly what happened when the Saints locked down coveted free agent safety Jarius Byrd late Tuesday night. It was certainly a bold move for the Saints, but it should pay them dividends for them. Byrd was one of the very few game-changing players on the market this offseason and locking him down makes the already a top-5 pass defense of the Saints that much scarier. Kudos to the Saints for shocking the world and picking up the best two-way safety in the league not named Earl Thomas.
Honorable Mentions: Alterraun Verner to the Buccaneers, Darrelle Revis to the Patriots, Donte Whitner to the Browns, Justin Tuck to the Raiders
Most Surprising Release: Steve Smith being cut by the Panthers
After being the face of the Carolina Panthers franchise for 13 years, the Panthers sent the star receiver packing on Thursday amidst speculation that Smith had irked general manager Dave Gettleman with his outspoken antics. Smith may be 34 years old, but he's been the only really dangerous playmaker Carolina has had on offense the past few years and, had a great rapport with quarterback Cam Newton. Making this move that much more surprising is the fact that the Panthers just lost slot wideout Ted Ginn to free agency and could lose their other starting wideout Brandon LaFell to the open market as well. The Panthers are going to have to test their luck in the draft to find a young playmaker to replace Smith because they only have pedestrian inexperienced wideouts currently signed to their roster. Smith could potentially be a huge loss to this young, upstart team who will miss his veteran leadership and playmaking abilities moving forward
Honorable Mentions: DeMarcus Ware being cut by the Cowboys, Owen Daniels being cut by the Texans, Jabari Greer being cut by the Saints
Best individual signing: Alterraun Verner to the Buccaneers (four years/$26.5/$14 mil guaranteed)
Lovie Smith has made quite the splash with his array of moves in his inaugural year as coach of the Buccaneers. Out of all the moves he's made thus far, none is better than the addition of All-Pro cornerback Alterraun Verner. Verner has gotten better each year he's been in the league and with a defensive guru like Smith at the helm, Verner could very well be a contender for best corner in the league within the next couple years. Not to mention his contract is an absolute steal for a kid coming off an All-Pro season.
Honorable Mentions: Darrelle Revis to the Patriots, T.J. Ward to the Broncos, Aqib Talib to the Broncos, Golden Tate to the Lions, Jared Veldheer to the Cardinals
Worst individual signing: Branden Albert to the Dolphins (five years/$47 mil/$25 mil guaranteed)
If you watched the Dolphins at all last season; You know that their offensive line play was terrible. The team seemed a little to eager to try fix this problem and went out and overpaid ex-Chiefs tackle Branden Albert. While Albert is certainly an improvement over any of the abysmal tackles the Dolphins had last year, they paid way too much for a guy with a lengthy injury history that is coming off the worst year of his career.
Honorable Mentions: Darren McFadden re-signing with the Raiders, Everson Griffen re-signing with the Vikings, Chris Williams to the Bills, LaMarr Woodley to the Raiders
Best re-signing: Michael Bennett, Seattle Seahawks (four years/$28.5 mi/$16 mil guaranteed)
The Seahawks ended up getting Michael Bennett for the hometown discount that Bennett told the media he would not take. Bennett made the right choice going against his word and taking less money to stay with a winning franchise like the Seahawks- and the Seahawks get the benefit of having a versatile, two-way defensive lineman in his prime re-join their squad without placing a large burden on their payroll.
Honorable Mentions: Anquan Boldin, San Francisco 49ers; Greg Hardy, Carolina Panthers; Daryl Smith, Baltimore Ravens; Brent Grimes, Miami Dolphins
Winner of Free Agency (so far): Denver Broncos
The Broncos saw that their defense held them back from winning the Super Bowl last season and they were aggressive in free agency to fill those holes and solidify the entire unit. The Broncos addressed their poor secondary by picking up marquee free agents in safety T.J. Ward and cornerback Aqib Talib to bring them playmakers on the back-end that they sorely lacked last season while also adding another disruptive pass-rushing threat in DeMarcus Ware to assist Von Miller. The Broncos realized they have a short window to contend for a title with 38-year old Peyton Manning at the helm and made big moves to help increase their odds of not only returning to the Super Bowl, but coming out with a victory and their first title since 1998.
Honorable Mentions: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles
Loser of Free Agency (so far): Oakland Raiders
The Raiders entered free agency with the most cap space in the entire league yet they have done next to nothing with that abundance of money. First off, the team let two of their very few valuable players in tackle Jared Veldheer and defensive end Lamarr Houston walk without any visible effort to re-sign them. The move was head-scratching to say the least given that they have plenty of money and both Veldheer and Houston are promising pieces to a team that desperately needs productive players. The Raiders have instead spent their money bringing in once-great defenders (Justin Tuck, LaMarr Woodley) that are past their prime and overpaying a middling tackle (Austin Howard) to replace Veldheer. With most of the productive players off the market and still a ton of money left to spend, the Raiders seemed like they have wasted another free agency period. The Raiders just seem doomed to continue their seemingly endless rebuilding process thanks to the passiveness of general manager Reggie McKenzie and a plethora of questionable personnel moves.
Dishonorable Mentions: San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals
Best Player Left on the Market: Jared Allen, defensive end
Unlike a lot of the over 30 defensive lineman available on the open market, Jared Allen has something left in the tank. Allen is coming off a quietly productive year with the Vikings (11.5 sacks) and has remained consistently healthy year in and year out. If Allen backs off his demand to be paid $10 mil+ a year, he would be a great asset to any title-contender looking for a dependable pass-rusher.
Honorable Mentions: Ben Tate, running back; Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, cornerback; Antonio Cromartie, cornerback; Jermichael Finley, tight end; Henry Melton, defensive tackle
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