With the baseball season not quite started and the NHL and NBA seasons winding down the NFL should have a chance to really dominant the media’s attention this week.
The new NFL league year starts on Monday, so all of the trades that where agreed upon will become official. Then on Wednesday free agency starts and even though teams haven’t been allowed to negotiate with players there always seem to be a lot of signings right off the bat. Let’s take a look at some free agents and possible landing spots.
Let’s start with Le’Veon Bell. He sat out all of last season and wants a big contract that would be precedent setting at the running back position. Bell brings wide receiver skills to the running back position and while I doubt he gets the contract he’s looking for, he’ll still end up with a deal that will put him in the upper echelon of running back contracts.
As for fit and who can afford Bell. Well the Indianapolis Colts have the most salary cap space and Bell would be an upgrade in the backfield for them. The New York Jets are right behind the Colts in free cap space, so maybe they’ll take a shot at signing Bell. The Jets went after quite a few top free agents last off season but didn’t have any luck signing them. Maybe Bell changes that for them. It’s difficult to find a place where Bell wouldn’t fit but it’s just a matter of who has the cap space to sign him. About the only team with a lot of available cap space that might not have an interest in Bell could be the Cleveland Browns. Otherwise I’d look for a lot of teams to talk contract with him.
I was a little surprised to see the New York Giants let Landon Collins go into free agency. To be fair there are a lot of veteran safeties on the free agent market this off season but Collins is the youngest of that group. He should draw quite bit of attention.
This is a spot where a team like the Browns could jump in but also expect the Green Bay Packers to show some interest in Collins. He should also get some interest from the Cincinnati Bengals and possibly the Dallas Cowboys. The question here may be, would a team play top dollar for Collins when you might be able to get an Earl Thomas or Tyrann Mathieu for a little less.
The quarterback market should be an interesting place this week. There really isn’t a franchise changing type of quarterback on the market but there are three solid veteran guys and one of them has won a Super Bowl.
There have been a lot of reports out there that when free agency opens on Wednesday Nick Foles will sign with the Jacksonville Jaquars. This makes sense as Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator is John DeFlippo, who was Foles quarterback coach with the Philadelphia Eagles. Foles isn’t a fit for every NFL offense and landing in a comfortable spot would be the best thing for him.
If reports are true and Foles signs with Jacksonville, where might we see Teddy Bridgewater ad Tyrod Taylor end up?
It appeared that Bridgewater landed in a good spot with the New Orleans Saints but in his one start last season he didn’t look very good. To be fair though it was the last week of the season and the Saints sat some starters. Before he got injured Bridgewater looked like he’d be the Minnesota Vikings franchise quarterback. Maybe there’s a team out there that still sees him as that.
Taylor started the first 3 games of last season for the Cleveland Browns. Of course when the team your with spends a #1 draft pick on a quarterback you know your time is short. Taylor threw for 473 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions bu t completed just 49.4% of his passes. Taylor is a threat as a runner as he averaged 7.8 yards per run last season and scored a touchdown.
It looks like there might be just one starting spot open after Foles fills that role with Jacksonville. The Miami Dolphins could be in the market for a starting quarterback. If you’re the Dolphins would you go with Bridgewater or Taylor?
There aren’t a lot of top pass rusher on the free agent market this season; so teams may have to decide between Trey Flowers and Ezekiel Ansah.
Flowers posted a career high 7 1/2 sacks last season in 15 games while Ansah played in just 7 games last season and recorded 4 sacks. Flowers is just 25 years old and may have his best football ahead of him. Ansah is 29 and did have 14 1/2 sacks in 2015.
If a team isn’t willing to pay Flowers or Ansah maybe they’d be willing to take a chance on Dante Fowler Jr. He’s just and was the #3 pick in the 2015 draft. Fowler Jr. hasn’t really lived up to his draft hype though; so a team would have to hope that he’d reach his potential with them.
Without that top pass rusher on the free agent market this off season we might see teams try to find one on the trade market. There have been some reports that the Kansas City Chiefs might be willing to trade either Dee Ford or Justin Houston.
If your team is looking for wide receivers there are a couple available in free agency. Tyrell Williams seems to be the one getting the most attention, but Devin Funchess and veteran Golden Tate are also free agents.
Williams caught 41 passes and scored 5 touchdowns for the San Diego Chargers last season. Williams did have a 1059 yards in 2016, but was never a #1 receiver for San Diego.
Funchess was in a bit of a crowded receiving corp with the Carolina Panthers. He caught 44 passes for 4 touchdowns after having a career year in 2017 where he had 63 receptions. 840 yards and 8 touchdowns. Could more targets equal more production?
Tate will be entering his 10th season in 2019, but he has four seasons where he’s caught 90 plus passes. Last season he played 7 games with the Detroit Lions and 8 games with the Philadelphia eagles. He caught 74 passes and scored 4 touchdowns combined last season. Tate might not be that #1 receiver that he use to be, but there’s a team out there that he’ll be able to help.
After Bell the running back market seems a little thin, but there are a couple of players that can help a team.
Mark Ingram was a solid contributor to the New Orleans Saints offense for 8 seasons. He had back to back 1000 yard seasons in 2016 and 2017, but last season he ran for 645 yards and 6 touchdowns. Ingram is 29 and could probably be able to carry a teams rushing workload for a couple of seasons if that’s what they need. A team that misses out on signing Bell could benefit from bringing Ingram in.
Tevin Coleman had always been looked at as a 3rd down change of pace back, but when Devonta Freeman went down with an injury last season Coleman was able to step in as the #1 running back for the Atlanta Falcons. Coleman had a career high 167 carries last season; he rushed for 800 yards and 4 touchdowns while averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Coleman has always been a threat in the passing game and last season he caught a career high 32 passes for 276 yards and 5 touchdowns. Could Coleman be more than a change of pace back if given the chance?
Well there’s a look at some of the free agents available right now. Who do you think will sign where?
Remember to listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but if you miss the podcast live all you have to do is head over to TuneIn.com and you can listen any time you want.
You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime
Sports Time Radio 