Winners and Losers of Free Agency: Rising AFC Hotshots, Beginning of the End in Pittsburgh

Written by Ben Slavin

The first 48 hours of the legal tampering period are always crazy. Record-setting deals are handed out at multiple positions. Guys we consider role players or average get eight figure salaries from teams eager to improve. Then there’s the mind-blowing trades where stars go for way less than their perceived market value. All this makes for a whole lot of excitement for NFL fans and a whole lot of dents in owners’ wallets. Now that we’re a few days into free agency and things have cooled down, it’s time to sit back and reflect on who did the best and worst. As you’ll see by the disproportionate numbers in each category, free agency moves often look great when they happen and horrible years later.

Every trade that’s been made since the Super Bowl is factored in since none were official until the start of the league year on March 13.

Winners


Oakland Raiders


The perception of Jon Gruden and the Raiders took about as big of a positive turn as you could hope for. Everyone agrees the value in the Antonio Brown trade was amazing, with just third and fifth round picks going out. He is the exact type of weapon offensive coaches like Gruden dream of. But Oakland didn’t stop there with adding talent. At first glance, Trent Brown’s deal looks like an absurd amount of money for a left tackle with just one year of experience. While it is, the Raiders can get out in 2021 with zero dead cap. Same thing with the Lamarcus Joyner and Tyrell Williams signings, which both have no dead money after the first year. I was a heavy Gruden critic last year, but this is exactly how you should build a team. Phase one is to export existing talent for draft picks and tank for the best pick. Phase two is to trade some of your draft capital for established talent and sign free agents while preserving future cap space. The Raiders shockingly executed the first two phases flawlessly. Get ready for the fun part, Oakland fans, because phase three is to compete for a championship.


Cleveland Browns


What an offseason for the Browns. Re-signing Greg Robinson for $9 million will never be a sound financial decision, but that’s about the only negative move. Moving on from Jamie was the right move both for the roster and the finances. The Kevin Zeitler-for-Olivier Vernon trade was essentially a wash, but Cleveland clearly believes they can replace an offensive guard more easily than improve at defensive end. Adding Sheldon Richardson on a reasonable contract could make this D-line elite next season. And how could we not mention the Odell Beckham trade? If the Antonio Brown deal was a bank robbery, this is at least knocking off your local 7-Eleven unscathed. Beckham is younger, arguably better, and on a 5-year contract with a lower average salary. All they had to give up was a mid first round pick, a third, and a disappointing safety. The Browns team we see next year is going to be completely unrecognizable from the 0-16 iteration of two years ago.


Philadelphia Eagles


Howie Roseman must be a wizard. Every year the Eagles seem to enter free agency over the cap, but still find ways to improve the roster. Like last year with Nigel Bradham, Philly somehow found a way to retain one of their free agents who everyone had locked as a goner. This year it was Brandon Graham, who has developed into a good edge rusher despite looking like a bust early on. Roseman also made a pair of moves that essentially resulted in exporting Michael Bennett for Desean Jackson and a small draft gain. Jackson is back in the city that loves him and fits the team’s receiving core perfectly. And while Bennett would normally be a tough loss, the Eagles went out and replaced him with Malik Jackson hours later. For as much credit as BD Nick Foles gets for the Super Bowl victory, Roseman deserves about ten times that for all the moves he’s made.


Green Bay Packers

When you have a quarterback as great and old as Aaron Rodgers, you have to go all-in while you still can. That’s exactly what the Packers did this offseason. While you can squabble over the long-term money tied to edge rushers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, they are going to make an impact next season. Those deals might not look great three years from now, but if the Packers are in championship contention for those three years, it won’t matter. The Adrian Amos deal, however, shouldn’t lead to that queasiness years from now. Amos wasn’t as flashy as Khalil Mack or the other Bears defenders, but he was just as good. The Penn State alum is also only 25, so this deal should take him through his prime. Plus, it always feels great to screw over a division rival. Billy Turner’s deal is the offensive line equivalent of the Smith deals. Turner’s not good enough to move the needle, but you can never have enough competent bodies in the trenches. GM Brian Gutekunst’s aggressive attitude is exactly what Aaron Rodgers and Packers fans were sorely missing in the dark times of Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy calling the shots.


Losers

Detroit Lions


With Matt Patricia at head coach and Bob Quinn general manager, the Lions are trying their best to move the Patriots dynasty down to Detroit. Except when have we ever seen the Patriots overpay free agents like this? Exactly, they don’t. Tre Flowers is a great player (who the Patriots were willing to let walk, by the way), but not on a $18 million a year contract. The same is true for slot corner Justin Coleman (two short stints with the Patriots) and his $32 million deal. Danny Amendola (longtime Patriot) isn’t going to move the needle, either. Jesse James has no New England ties yet is coming aboard on an egregious four year deal worth $22.6 million. That’s a lot of money for a tight end whose ceiling might be a great backup. When New England does pay someone, he is a proven superstar who can put the team over the top. When the Lions do it, it’s just a desperate attempt to become relevant.


Kansas City Chiefs


Building draft picks is great, but the Chiefs had to be thinking they were a couple of defensive backs away from a Lombardi Trophy last season. Instead of adding multiple defensive backs, Kansas City decided to move on from the sole thing keeping their defense from a last place ranking -- their pass rush. Justin Houston and Dee Ford, who combined for 22 sacks last season, are gone, with the return being cap relief and a 2020 second round pick. Tyrann Mathieu was a great get to help offset the defensive losses. His three-year, $42 million deal looks to be great value, especially considering the easy out after year two. That’s about the only great thing the Chiefs did, though. Carlos Hyde has never been the answer to any team’s running back problems and will likely lose his job to the Williams (non)brothers. Alex Okafor looks to be the Chiefs answer to their new pass rushing problem, which is a sentence that should never be uttered. With reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes still on his rookie deal, this was the year to go all-in. Kansas City is in danger of being next-in-line on the long list of NFL teams who failed to strike while the iron was hot.


Pittsburgh Steelers


This loser status is directed as much at Ben Roethlisberger as it is the organization. Big Ben may be one of the better quarterbacks of all time, but it seems his ego and attitude have gotten in the way of team success in recent years. Roethlisberger and Le’Veon Bell didn’t seem to have a relationship strong enough to survive the latter’s holdout. QB1 in Pittsburgh has also been the target of many of Antonio Brown’s public criticisms against the franchise. The situation with Brown got so bad the Steelers had to eat $21 million in dead money in order to trade him for just third and fifth round picks. It’s not like this was the one blemish on an otherwise great offseason, either. The additions of Steven Nelson, Mark Barron, and Donte Moncrief not only look underwhelming, but overpays. It’s becoming more and more clear this is the beginning of the end for Pittsburgh.