March Madness, NFL Style

At 12 am Friday night, the NFL free agency period officially began.

By Sunday night, the NFL world had been completely turned on its fucking head.

I kept a running tally of the biggest moves with details and analysis. Hope you didn't have anything to do for the next hour.

News: Albert Haynesworth signs a seven-year, $100 million contract with Washington with $41 million guaranteed. The total value could go up to $115 million depending on incentives. Washington also signs cornerback DeAngelo Hall to a six-year, $54 million deal with $22.5 million in guaranteed money.

Analysis: Recession? What recession?

You could argue that giving that kind of coin to a soon-to-be-28-year-old DT with an injury history is foolish, but Redskins fans have to be ecstatic with these two moves. They’ve dramatically improved two of the three levels of their defense, which should make them far more able to compete with Dallas, New York and Philadelphia in the most loaded division in football.

As for Tennessee, you have the sense they were prepared to lose Haynesworth. Jason Jones, a second-round pick out of Eastern Michigan in the 2008 draft, had five sacks as a rookie last season. He’s not Haynesworth, but if you consider the difference in the contracts, Jones will be a far better value than the NFL's first hundred-million-dollar defender.

This why it’s so important to draft well.

News: New England signs veterans Fred Taylor (RB, Jacksonville) and Chris Baker (TE, NY Jets)

Analysis: Typical Pats. The Taylor signing is an incredible match of team need and player skill. New England won’t need him to carry anywhere near a full load, and he’s the prefect back for those late-season bad weather games that are critical to the AFC East title run.

Plus, this keeps him away from division rival Buffalo, where Taylor visited before going to Foxborough.

With both Ben Watson and David Thomas free agents after this season, and neither up for the role of football Iron Man, Baker provides extra protection at the position.

He now gets to fill the Kyle Brady/Christian Fauria role of veteran tight ends under Bill Belichick. Basically, he'll do a lot of run blocking and catch a few huge third down and red zone passes.

News: Minnesota acquires Houston backup QB Sage Rosenfels for a fourth-round pick and signs him to a two-year, $9 million extension. (He already had one year remaining on his deal with the Texans that would have paid him $1.35 million.)

Analysis: Rosenfels has shown some great skill in spurts. He’s also shown a propensity to making really dumb mistakes (the disastrous fourth-quarter against Indy last season comes to mind).

A fourth-round pick isn’t a huge price to pay, but I’m not sure this does anything to solve the Vikings’ quarterback issues. Now instead of having one QB I wouldn’t trust in the playoffs, they have two. Super.

I’m not sure why Houston made this deal, either. It’s not like Matt Schaub has shown himself to be incredibly durable. He’s already missed 10 games in his two seasons with the Texans.

And now instead of Schaub coming off the bench, their top back-ups at the position are veteran backup Craig Nall and 2008 seventh-round pick Alex Brink, who spent the majority of last season on the practice squad.

So now they just have to go out and get another backup, and all they got out of the deal is a fourth-round pick. What’s the advantage here?

News: Chicago signs former Carolina Panthers OT Frank Omiyale to a four-year, $14 million deal.

Analysis: This won’t register big on the national level, and may not be what Bears fans are looking for, but the Bears had to start building their O-line with the retirement of John Tait.

Omiyale, a fifth-round pick by Atlanta out of Tennessee Tech, has just one start in his four seasons, two of which he was inactive for all 16 games ('05 with the Falcons, '07 with the Panthers).

One bit of good news for Chicago fans: The one game Omiyale did start was Week 5 against Kansas City. Carolina won 34-0 with 205 yards rushing. Kansas City did not record a sack.

News: The Colts re-signed C Jeff Saturday to a three-year deal. Contract terms not available.

Analysis: This was an absolute must for the Colts. Re-signing Saturday prevents what could have been a major loss for Peyton Manning and the Colts offense. A+ move, but it shouldn’t have taken this long.

News: Bart Scott reportedly leaving Baltimore to sign with the New York Jets. Offer is reportedly for five years, $40 million; Scott has not yed given final ok on the deal.

Analysis: You knew Jets head coach Rex Ryan would make a play for at least one of his former linebackers with the Ravens, and Scott made the most sense. This will greatly aid Ryan in installing his attacking defense in New York.

As for Baltimore, they franchised Terrell Suggs, so they were bound to lose either Scott or Ray Lewis. Scott’s signing in New York makes it far more likely Lewis stays in Baltimore. If I’m a Ravens fan, that’s just fine with me.

News: Miami spends almost $50 million to sign safeties Yeremiah Bell (four years, $20 million with $10 million guaranteed) and Gibril Wilson (four years, $27.5 million with $8 million guaranteed).

Analysis: This is one of those moves you trust not because it makes sense, but because you trust the guy making the decision. Bill Parcells has a record of success.

And so my mind tells me this is a terrible waste of money and that nobody needs to spend $50 million on safeties, especially not these two, I’ll defer to the Tuna on this one.

By the way, take the Wilson signing, along with the Hall signing with Washington, as the league giving a big pass to the good judgment of Al Davis and the Raiders.

This time last year, Wilson and Hall signed deals with Oakland worth a combined $111 million. One year later, they’re signed to two other teams for a combined $81 million.

News: Cleveland trades TE Kellen Winslow to Tampa Bay for a second-round pick in this year’s draft (51st overall) and a fifth-round pick in the 2010 draft.

Analysis: Wow. I can understand new Browns head coach Eric Mangini wanting to get control of the locker room straight from the get go, and that involves getting rid of the me-first characters, but my initial reaction is this is a HUGE win for the Bucs.

Winslow is an absolute beast when healthy (and motivated, which he obviously will be after this move). He’ll provide an immediate weapon for whoever ends up being the Bucs’ starting QB, and gives what has been a stagnant passing offense a whole new dimension.

After the Phil Savage era, Cleveland could certainly use an influx of picks. So the extra second-round pick this year will certainly help in the rebuilding plan. But losing a talent like Winslow seems like a long-term loss just to avoid a short-term headache.

News: Baltimore signs CB Domonique Foxworth to a four-year, $27 million deal with $16.5 million guaranteed.

Analysis: With the release of veteran Chris McAlister, Baltimore needed to bring in some fresh blood in the defensive backfield. But I’m not sure Foxworth is the guy for the job.

In four seasons since being selected by the Denver Broncos in the third round out of Maryland, the 5-foot-11, 180-lb Foxworth has only four interceptions. Now he wasn’t playing corner the whole time in Denver, instead playing safety while Dre Bly and Champ Bailey manned the corners, but that’s still remarkably little impact for a starting DB in the NFL.

The 25-year-old Foxworthy was traded by the Broncos to the Falcons for a seventh-round pick last offseason. Now he’s worth $27 million?

Like Parcells, Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome deserves some latitude due his history of success. But this one stretches the limits of faith.

News: Pittsburgh re-signs guard Chris Kemoeatu to a five-year, $20 million contract, including nearly $6 million in guarantees.

Analysis: And here we have the first instance of a major free agent taking less than open-market cash to stay with his current team.

Kemoeatu reportedly received a higher offer from the Jets, but decided to stick with Pittsburgh, crossing off one of Pittsburgh’s major headaches. They still have quite a bit of work to do, but this was a good save.

News: Tennessee re-signs quarterback Kerry Collins to a two-year deal worth $15 million with $8.5 million guaranteed.

Analysis: And poof goes the Titans career of Vince Young.

The Titans have established a very clear path: Good defense, strong running and a quarterback who doesn’t screw it all up. In giving Collins this kind of cash, plus a guaranteed starting gig next season, Tennessee has practically guaranteed that Young goes off the deep end and starts demanding a trade through the press. At that point, head coach Jeff Fisher will ask the front office to get rid of him and that’ll be that. (Just ask Billy Volek what happens when you cross Fisher.)

Here’s betting the Titans bring back Chris Simms with an eye on him taking over full time once Collins rides off into the sunset.

News: Detroit signs former Seattle RB Maurice Morris to a three-year, $7 million deal.

Analysis: This will go way down on the list of earth-shattering news today, but Morris is a good get for Detroit. The tandem of Morris and 2008 third-round pick Kevin Smith will make a nice 1-2 once they get a good offensive line and a quarterback who can stop opposing defenses from stacking the box.

News: Broncos sign Brian Dawkins (S, Philadelphia, five years for $17 million, possibly up to $27 million with incentives), Correll Buckhalter (RB, Philadelphia, four years) and J.J. Arrington (RB, Arizona, four years)

Analysis: With Dawkins, the Broncos defense gets a whole lot smarter, though not much younger. That’s a good get.

(I’m not sure this is a killer for the Eagles. I think Dawkins has more sentimental value to Philly than he does on-field value. Successful teams in the NFL don’t pay for sentiment, no mater how badly their fan bases bitch and moan.)

With Buckhalter and Arrington, we are once again assured of a horrible time-sharing mess in the Denver backfield. I thought they fired Mike Shanahan.

News: The Saints have re-signed Jonathan Vilma to a five-year, $34 million contract.

Analysis: Wise move by New Orleans. Vilma was an instant upgrade at MLB and a great fit for the 4-3. Now all they need are some defensive backs.

News: The Broncos sign Jabar Gaffney (WR, New England) and Renaldo Hill (S, Miami). Both signed identical four-year deals worth $10 million with $3 million guaranteed.

Analysis: McDaniels heavily utilized the 3WR-1TE-1RB offense in New England the past year, and Gaffney makes the perfect compliment to Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal (as long as he catches the ball, that is). This probably signifies the end of the Brandon Stokley era. $1.5 million per year (for the next two) is a lot to spend on a fourth WR.

As for Hill, his stat sheet says he’s nothing special. Then again, McDaniels would have studied plenty of film on him as he prepared to play the Dolphins twice a year for the past three years. He must have seen something that makes him feel he would fit in the scheme being installed by new DC Mike Nolan.

News: St. Louis signs Baltimore Ravens center Jason Brown to a five-year, $37.5 million contract with $20 million guaranteed.

Analysis: Let it be known that February 27, 2009 was the date the St. Louis Rams officially became a respectable NFL football team again.

The 320-lb. Brown was unquestionably the top-rated center on the board, and might have been the top-rated available offensive lineman overall. This is instant new life for Marc Bulger, who was just a couple more blindsides from eating pudding through a straw for the rest of his life. This will also pay huge dividends for Steven Jackson (pay attention, fantasy drafters).

The Rams aren’t done by any means, and it looks like they had to overpay to get this deal done, but that’s what happens when you run a crap franchise with unsettled ownership. Sometimes you have to overpay to get top talent. Give new principle Rams owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez full credit for opening the checkbook on this one.

News: Philadelphia signs former Cincinnati offensive tackle Stacy Andrews (terms not yet available)

Analysis: Consider this a two-for-one for the Eagles. First, it gives them a legitimate (and much younger) replacement at RT for free agent Jon Runyan.

Second, Stacy Andrews is the older brother of enigmatic Eagles guard Shawn Andrews, who has suffered through some depression issues over the past year. Having his older brother line up next to him on the right side of the line should do wonders for Shawn’s comfort levels, not to mention opening huge holes for Brian Westbrook and whoever else they bring in to compliment Westbrook.

A+ signing by Philly.

News: Philadelphia trades cornerback Lito Sheppard to the New York Jets. According to reports, the Eagles will receive a fifth-round choice in this year’s draft and conditional choice, somewhere between a second and a fourth, in next year’s draft. Sheppard, according to a source, received a four-year, $27.2 million extension.

Analysis: Apparently new Jets coach Rex Ryan is intent on creating a new defense in his own image. Who would have guessed?

One question, though:

With the expenditures on defense, where are the Jets going to find the cash to fix their offense? It’s not like they were lighting up the scoreboard last season, and they don’t have a legitimate QB, No. 1 WR (after releasing Laverneous Coles) or No. 2 TE (after releasing Chris Baker, who signed with New England). It seems like Ryan might be taking the Ravens’ patented “just don’t eff it up” theory to building an offense.

(And don’t tell me re-signing guard Brandon Moore to a four-year, $16 million deal counts. There’s a reason they went after Chris Kemoeatu.)

News: Washington signs guard Derrick Dockery to a five-year, $26 million deal with $8.5 million guaranteed.

Analysis: This is like a gambler after he goes on a great winning streak. He’s feeling so good he starts throwing out big bets without really thinking them through, thinking he can never lose.

Except those bets almost never pay off. I don’t expect Dockery for $26 million to either.

News: The Giants sign former Falcons LB Michael Boley to a five-year, $25 million deal.

Analysis: The NFC East is like the Cold War arms race. You have Washington spending ridiculous amounts of money. Philly has been extremely active. And now the Giants finally get into the act with Boley, a 26-year-old who has appeared in every game during his four seasons in Atlanta, starting in 52 of them.

This signing won’t make the national top ten lists for most impactful signings, but Boley will turn out to be an excellent signing by GM Jerry Reese.

You get the sense Jerry Jones is just itching to get his name in print here.

News: The Patriots agree to trade QB Matt Cassel and LB Mike Vrabel to Kansas City for the Chiefs’ second-round pick (34th overall)

Analysis: Let’s take this point-by-point:

1. For Kansas City, this is a no-brainer. KC gets a veteran LB and their QB of the future. And all they had to give up was a second-round pick. Now Chiefs fans know why Clark Hunt went so hard after Scott Pioli.

2. This means the end of the Brodie Croyle era. (To give you an indication of just how unsuccessful the Croyle experiment was in KC, the Chiefs never won a single game during which Croyle attempted a pass.) It also likely shuts the door on Tyler Thigpen’s chances of ever gaining a starting spot.

3. It might seem that New England should have gotten more. People were thinking the Pats would be able to get a first and other compensation, so giving up Cassel AND Vrabel for just a second seems like short change.

Then again, the market really wasn’t developing for Cassel. And once Minnesota got Sage Rosenfels from Houston for just a fourth-round pick, the writing was on the wall: This wasn’t going to be a blockbuster haul for New England. The second pick of the second round was as good as it was going to get.

(After I originally wrote this, news came out New England reportedly could have landed the 12th overall pick from Denver in a three-way trade with Tampa. What the full details were, and why the Pats would have wanted the 34th pick instead of the 12th pick, may never be fully known. Of course that's not stopping douche bag conspiracy theorists, as if Belichick would ever voluntarily help another team. He's just not that kind of sentimental guy.)

4. With the 34th overall pick added to San Diego’s second rounder (acquired in last year’s draft), New England’s own second-round pick and New England’s first-round pick, the Pats now have four picks in the first two rounds of the draft. And the fact three of those picks are in the second round means they won’t have to kill their cap to sign them all.

That’s how you re-load for the future.

5. Between Cassel’s franchise tag and Vrabel’s salary, this deal frees up the $17 million-plus from the Patriots’ salary cap. They should immediately get on the phone with the agents for DT Vince Wilfork and LG Logan Mankins and start hammering out extensions. They might also use some of the cap space on somebody like former Ravens CB Chris McAlister.

6. This is a great indication that Tom Brady’s rehab is going great and he should be ready for the start of the 2009 season.

7. The next time you think about ignoring your team's pick of a seventh-round QB who didn't play in college, think again. You just never know.

8. Between this move and the flurry of activity by Denver on Friday, the AFC West just got a whole lot more interesting.

News: Houston signs former Arizona defensive end Antonio Smith to a five-year deal worth $35 million with a $12.5 million signing bonus.

Analysis: The Texans are betting big that Smith is finally the guy who will be able to take advantage of having Mario Williams on the other side of the defensive line.

How bad did they need it? Williams has 26 sacks over the past two years. Next best is DT Amobi Okoye with 6.5 over the past two seasons.

Smith has 14.5 sacks over his five-year career, including 8.5 over the past two seasons. And he didn’t have Mario Williams on the other side of him.

News: The Giants sign former Dallas DE Chris Canty to a six-year, $42 million contract and former Seahawks DT Rocky Bernard to a four-year, $16 million contract.

Analysis: Apparently the Giants really believe you can’t have too much of a good thing. Already loaded on the defensive line with Fred Robbins, Barry Cofield, Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka, and with Osi Umenyiora on the way back from injury, New York now adds Canty and Bernard for nearly $60 million. Rich getting richer, indeed.

It will be interesting to see if New York now moves Kiwanuka back to linebacker. He and Tuck made a very good tandem last season with 20 sacks combined (eight by Kiwanuka). Now with Umenyiora back and Canty in the fold, Kiwanuka could move back to LB and combine with Boley and Antonio Pierce to form one of the most dominant linebacker corps in the entire league.

News: Detroit trades QB Jon Kitna to Dallas for CB Anthony Henry; Dallas also signs former Falcons LB Keith Brooking to a three-year deal (financial terms not yet available)

Analysis: Well, you knew the Cowboys would get involved in the madness before too long.

In Kitna, Dallas acquires a back-up in case Tony Romo goes down again. Considering how horrible Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger were in relief last season, so it was only prudent they upgrade. Kitna is also a strong personality with experience being a back-up to a star (Carson Palmer in Cincinnati). He should be an asset for Romo.

In Henry, the Lions get an experienced corner. Sad as it is, that description already makes him one of the best players on the Lions defense.

In Brooking, Dallas gets an 11-year vet who was an on- and off-field leader for Atlanta. He’s probably more in the Zach Thomas stage of his career than somebody like fellow former Falcon Michael Boley, who signed with New York.

When you put these two deals together, I don’t think they bode well for the Cowboys franchise. Kitna and Brooking are decent players in their own right, but Dallas needed somebody who could bridge the gap from the Romo/Witten side of the locker room to the TO side of the locker room. That’s why Ray Lewis would have been a great fit. But in Kitna and Brooking, they got two guys who will undoubtedly be in Romo’s corner. And since Jerry Jones doesn’t seem to have any plans on cutting ties with Owens, the chances of him turning into an even bigger cancer in 2009 just went up.

In other words, Jones may have upgraded the talent on the field (or on the bench in Kitna’s case), but he didn’t fix the Cowboys’ main problem, which is in the locker room.

Contrasted with the moves by Philadelphia, Washington and New York, Dallas faces an even deeper hole in the 2009 NFC East than they did when free agency started.