Spending Big With the amount of cap space rising, more teams are spending big money during free agency. The top three teams this year in free agency, spent a lot of cash on players to fill gaps on both offense and defense. In my opinion, these three teams have an extraordinary chance to make the playoffs now, and should move up the Power rankings. New York Giants - They most notably brought back Jason Pierre-Paul, and signed Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison, as well as Janoris Jenkins. Although each of these players received more money than they (probably) deserve, I think that these moves help the team's porous defense a lot, and it solidifies the defensive line. Oakland Raiders - This team spent a lot of money as well, and it was well worth it. Signing Bruce Irvin was great, and now they have a pass rusher opposite to Khalil Mack to wreck havoc on opposing offensive lines. They also helped solidify their offensive line by signing the best free ...
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The Rise of the Raiders The first week of the free agency period has finished, and a lot of top players in the market are no longer available, although many players are still looking for reasonable jobs, most notably Russell Okung and Chris Long. Here are the winners and losers of the first week of free agency: Winners: Oakland Raiders - Kelemichi Osemele, Bruce Irvin, Sean Smith New York Giants - Jason Pierre-Paul, Olivier Vernon, Janoris Jenkins, Damon Harrison Philadelphia Eagles - Traded away DeMarco Murray, Kiko Alonso, Byron Maxwell, and Mark Sanchez Houston Texans - Brock Osweiler, Lamar Miller Atlanta Falcons - Alex Mack, Adrian Clayborn, Derrick Shelby, Sean Weatherspoon, and Mohammed Sanu Losers: Cleveland Browns - almost everyone is out of town San Francisco 49ers - almost everyone is either retiring or on the verge of leaving town Denver Broncos - lost Brock Osweiler, Peyton Manning (to retirement), C.J. Anderson, D...
Demarco Murray, Kiko Alonso, and Byron Maxwell All Out A couple of transactions today has sent Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso to the Miami Dolphins and DeMarco Murray to the Tennessee Titans. All of these players were signed when Chip Kelly was the coach of the team, and the organization believes that they should move on from these particular players who were paid a lot, but did not contribute much effort on the field. They were not worth the money. DeMarco Murray would fit better in the system the Titans have in place, and the Miami Dolphins would benefit from having more pieces on defense to surround Ndamukong Suh. For the Eagles, they now have more cap space to lure other players into their system - players who will have an impact in Doug Pederson's system. The Eagles are also looking to make a couple of more trades before the free agency period commences.
Peyton Manning Will Retire An all-time great, the third best quarterback in NFL history, a quarterback with two Super Bowl victories. Peyton Manning has gone through much adversity - four back surgeries and plantar fascia - but still finds ways to come out on top. His Broncos actually won Super Bowl 50 with him injured. Ever since he came in the league he has been a force to be reckoned with. He helped an Indianapolis Colts team that did not have much talent in 1998, and other people around him grew and became better players with his presence. He helped out the Broncos as well, and his leadership led them to two Super Bowl appearances. His retirement after eighteen years was by no means a surprise, and everyone will miss him calling out an audible and saying "Omaha." His no-huddle and shotgun playing style was perfect, and I will treasure his visions on the field, knowing when to adjust plays and what to run when. He is one of the greatest football players I have wit...
Roddy White Released The Atlanta Falcons released Roddy White, their all-time leading receiver, even though he had two years left on his contract. White explicitly said that he wanted to finish his career in Atlanta and play in the league for at least another year or two. The only problem was that his production as a receiver dipped on the field this past season, and did not look like the franchise's all-time leading receiver. He did not catch a pass for two straight games and did not really fit in Kyle Shanahan's system. He had significant problems with the coaches and believed that he was not being targeted enough on offense. During the offseason, The Falcons asked White to take a pay cut, but he refused to do so. This led to the team cutting Roddy White, even though they never wanted to in the first place. The Falcons will miss his leadership and voice as a veteran of the league in the team facility. All of the players on the team looked up to him, and now that h...