NFL Offseason… Its FAN-tastic!
There are those that cling to the idea that baseball is America’s pasttime, and while I look forward to every spring no matter how woeful my Mets happen to be, no one can deny the popularity of football. Even in a weak free agent market, a lot of teams have already made huge moves to improve their respective teams. With an uncapped year looming, unrestricted free agents looked to cash in and a few guys got a huge payday.
One of the Giants biggest needs was in the secondary and they made a huge move to help out the defensive backfield significantly. Antrel Rolle accepted the Giants offer of $37 million over 5 years, with $15 million of the contract in guaranteed money. The prospect of having two impact safeties (both of whom are former Miami Hurricanes) is one that should scare some of the other NFC teams. This also alleviates another problem- who to take in the NFL draft. The Giants had several options in April’s draft but in my opinion they can focus on drafting a player that fills their huge hole at middle linebacker. Alabama’s Rolando McLain was one of the country’s best linebackers and while he might not have an immediate impact, he’ll smart, instinctive and he’s a great tackler. The Giants have a lot more needs, especially along the offensive and defensive lines, but signing Rolle is a great start. As far as the Jets are concerned, their offseason plans had to be adjusted because of the NFL’s “Final 8” Rule. Because of the uncapped year, the rule states that the final four teams shall not be permitted to negotiate and sign any unrestricted free agent to a player contract except for players who acquired their status by being cut or were on the final four team when their contract expired. Playoff teams five thru eight get a break to sign one player with a salary of $4,925,000 or more and any number of players with a first-year salary of no more than $3,275,000 and an annual increase of no more than 30 percent in the following years. Basically, it means that the Jets wouldn’t have been allowed to sign a guy like Julius Peppers unless he had been cut by the Panthers. Still, the Jets came away with what could be a steal of a trade by acquiring Antonio Cromartie from the Chargers for a few draft picks. If Cromartie can play as well as he did in 2007, the Jets defense will continue the dominance that carried them into the postseason.
Around the rest of the league, there was a lot of activity. The Ravens got Anquan Boldin from the Cardinals in exchange for two draft picks in 2010, Julius Peppers signed a huge deal with the Bears, Karlos Dansby signed with the Dolphins, and Kyle VandenBosch signed with the Lions… and this is all just on the first day of free agency. While I don’t think the Lions are going to be that great but it does show that teams all over the league are spending the money to make their teams better. Parity makes for a better league overall. The truth is we won’t know how good or bad the Giants and Jets will be until August but I think both teams have done a good job in the offseason.
