It seems that NFL free agency ended before it really got going. Prior to the official start of the new league year on Wednesday, multiple high-end free agents had already agreed to sign with new teams. Meanwhile, the trade market was more active than we've ever seen around the league.
From Kirk Cousins signing the richest contract in NFL history to Richard Sherman trading in his Seattle Seahawks colors for the red and gold of the San Francisco 49ers, a lot has already happened around the NFL.
Here are the 10 stories we've talked about most thus far this NFL offseason.
Kirk Cousins' record deal
When you hand a quarterback the first fully guaranteed multi-year contract of its kind, people are going to talk. Reactions will be both positive and negative. Hence, the Minnesota Vikings ranking fifth on the SNIPdaily Franchise Top 100 for Sunday.
The deal itself pays Cousins $84 million fully guaranteed over three seasons. He can also earn millions more in incentives, including if the Pro Bowler were to earn Super Bowl MVP honors. It's a hefty price to pay. That's for sure. Though, we'd be hard-pressed to find any objective observer that doesn't believe Cousins is an upgrade over the trio of quarterbacks Minnesota had on its roster last season. Yes, that includes both Case Keenum and Sam Bradford.
Richard Sherman swapping teams
When the Seattle Seahawks released Sherman earlier in the offseason, common logic seemed to suggest that the division-rival San Francisco 49ers would show interest in his services. It was not yet known whether Sherman would want to join the team that had been his biggest adversary in seven seasons with the Seahawks.
Once it was reported that Sherman had decided to take his first visit with the 49ers in Santa Clara, all heck broke lose around the NFL world. Could this actually happen? The answer was obvious. Sherman signed with San Francisco on the same day he met with the team. Fans lost their mind on social media. And now, we're going to have a popcorn-worthy two games between Seattle and San Francisco next season. Whew.
Bills-Colts blockbuster trade
As most of America was either rolling out of bed following a long Friday night or preparing for Saint Patrick's Day, Buffalo and Indianapolis were set to announce a blockbuster trade that would shake up the entire football world and the NFL Draft.
Trading back from the third spot to No. 6 overall with the Jets, Indianapolis picked up two second-round picks in the 2018 NFL Draft and a second rounder in 2019. It was a hefty price for New York to pay. After adding Teddy Bridgewater and re-signing Josh McCown, the team is clearly looking for that quarterback of the future. The trade impacted several teams around the league, created winners and losers all throughout the NFL. And ultimately, the Jets themselves seemingly overpaid for the right to pick a signal caller at three.
Redskins replacing Cousins with Alex Smith
Before the stadium was even cleared out for February's Pro Bowl in Orlando, the Kansas City Chiefs sent Alex Smith to Washington for cornerback Kendall Fuller and a third-round pick. The trade itself was shocking. Reactions around the football world pretty much represented this. And in reality, it created a trickle-down effect we have not seen around the league in some time.
Seriously considering placing the franchise tag on Cousins for a third consecutive year, the Skins allowed him to hit free agency and ultimately set a new high on the quarterback market with Minnesota. In turn, Case Keenum was allowed to sign with the Broncos and Sam Bradford ended up in Arizona. Needless to say, the Redskins, Chiefs and Smith himself were the talk of the football world at this early point in free agency.
Cornerbacks "earn" huge paydays
One of the most shocking developments of the offseason has been the utterly absurd contracts non-elite cornerbacks have received in free agency.
It started with the New York Jets handing Trumaine Johnson a five-year, $72.5 million deal with $45 million guaranteed. He now matches Josh Norman as the highest-paid corner in the NFL. Meanwhile, Tennessee signed former Patriots corner Malcolm Butler to a five-year, $61.3 million deal with $30 million guaranteed. Butler allowed a passer rating north of 100 last season. That's just a whole bunch of meh right there.
Jarvis Landry trade
Landry had been the talk of the NFL after his former Miami Dolphins team placed the franchise tag on him. In fact, he came in as the 26th-most talked about figure in the SNIPdaily NFL Top 100 for the month of February, ahead of even Bill Belichick. Playing on a team that finished last season 6-10, that's somewhat shocking.
Then, when Landry was traded to the lowly Cleveland Browns, all heck broke lose. It came the same day that Cleveland landed Tyrod Taylor (more on them later). And it gave a Browns squad that is 1-31 over the past two seasons a brand new Pro Bowl battery between the two. For his part, Landry boasts an NFL record 400 receptions in his first four seasons. Not too bad.
Browns' plethora of moves
First-year GM John Dorsey really isn't messing around. Before free agency even started, he traded for the above-mentioned Landry and Taylor. The Browns' general manager also moved 2017 second-round pick DeShone Kizer for young defensive back Damarious Randall. The idea for Dorsey is to get "real" football players.
These moves had the Browns and their new players as the talk of Ohio as free agency opened up. Adding other key cogs in free agency, running back Carlos Hyde included, didn't hurt matters here. There's no telling whether the Browns are going to be competitive next season. But at the very least, they're being incredibly active in adding talent. That's not a bad thing.
Seahawks blow it up
There's a reason why nine of the 10 most-popular figures in the SNIPdaily Washington Top 100 for the week are either current or former members of the Seahawks. This time is blowing it up, and stat. Trading Pro Bowler Michael Bennett will lead to enormous questions. Releasing future Hall of Famer Richard Sherman while watching the likes of Jimmy Graham, Paul Richardson and Sheldon Richardson walk in free agency will also lead to a ton of questions.
It's now readily apparent that Seattle is a step below Los Angeles and San Francisco in the NFC West. And with only one pick in the first three rounds of the coming draft, that's not necessarily going to change heading into the 2018 season. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Bears get Trubisky some help
Bears GM Ryan Pace made sure to note after the hiring of head coach Matt Nagy that the team would be looking to add talent on offense. Boy, they have not disappointed. Here's a squad that spent a combined $100 million on three position players. That includes tight end Trey Burton as well as wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel.
Talk about going all in. It's also pretty big time given the lack of talent Trubisky had to work with as a rookie last season. We'll now focus on the draft to see if the Bears continue to add valuable pieces around the franchise quarterback.
Jimmy Garoppolo contract
Fresh off winning his first five starts as a member of the 49ers, Garoppolo signed an absurd five-year, $137.5 million extension with San Francisco earlier in the offseason. It led to some pretty entertaining social media posts and a reaction from Jimmy GQ himself. After all, it's not too often that a player with all of seven career starts under his belt becomes NFL's highest-paid player.
Flash forward over a month, and San Francisco continues to be in the news for all the right reasons. It's added multiple core pieces in free agency and seems to be on the upswing. The trade for Garoppolo back in October made this all possible.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://snipdaily.com/2018/03/ten-stories-making-headlines-in-nfl-free-agency/