By Andrew Hoenig | Assistant Editor
New England, U.S. – The start of the new National Football League year was officially Wednesday, March 9 at 4 P.M.
Teams wasted no time changing their rosters as this is also the time of year in the league when teams can sign free agents. NFL free agents are players that are eligible to sign with any team/franchise because they are currently not under contract with any team.
This year the free agent frenzy once again hit hard! Teams that missed out on the playoffs in 2015 took advantage of the opportunity to sign a number of highly coveted players. Some teams that did make the playoffs last year only got better on paper.
However, some teams got potentially worse. In addition to teams gaining talent in free agency, teams can also lose it. And that was no exception once again in the start of the new league year.
First, we’ll start with a look at the home town favorites, our New England Patriots. The Pats were quiet the first week of free agency, re-signing most of the teams own free agents. Full back James Develin, offensive lineman Cameron Fleming and LaAdrian Waddle, linebacker Rufus Johnson, cornerback Justin Coleman, and safeties Brandon King and Nate Ebner.
After a flurry of moves by teams around the league, free agency finally settled and once the Pats had taken care of most of their own players, they too took to improving their team more through free agency.
Before the new league year even began, the Patriots released wide receiver Brandon LaFell and tight end Scott Chandler. These moves had Pats fans in the usual uproar for the team to improve the offensive arsenal of weapons that they have for quarterback Tom Brady to throw to.
The Patriots signed restricted free agent wide receiver Chris Hogan from the Buffalo Bills to an offer sheet that Buffalo couldn’t match do to being strapped under the team’s current salary cap(an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on player salaries). They also signed defensive tackle Frank Kearse from the Washington Redskins and linebacker/specialist Ramon Humber from the New Orleans Saints.
The Pats then surprised the league with a trade of star defensive end Chandler Jones to the Arizona Cardinals for offensive lineman Jonathan Cooper and a second-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft. The need for the Patriots to improve their offensive line after losing to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship back in January proved to be more important to the team then keeping Jones, who was going in to the last year of his rookie contract with the Patriots. Jones figured to be an expensive investment if the team had wanted to re-sign him next year, but after an incident using synthesized marijuana and the list of other important names to be re-signed by the Pats that include linebackers Donta Hightower and Jamie Collins and cornerback Malcolm Butler, the Pats decided that Jones wouldn’t be worth the huge investment compared to those other vital defensive pieces.
To lessen the blow of Jones being traded, the Patriots signed defensive end Chris Long formerly of the St. Louis Rams(now the Los Angeles Rams). The Patriots also signed running back Donald Brown. Running back is another position that experts and fans alike have viewed as a position with a need for upgrade on the team. The Pats probably aren’t done adding there.
Then, the Patriots swung perhaps their biggest trade of the offseason so far, even more so than the Jones trade, by landing tight end Martellus Bennett from the Chicago Bears. Bennett could be the tight end the team has been looking for since Aaron Hernandez’s arrest to pair along with star tight end Rob Gronkowski. The two along with wide receivers Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, and the afore mentioned Hogan as well as running back Dion Lewis could give quarterback Tom Brady the most lethal offense he’s had since 2012, Aaron Hernandez’s last year on the team before being arrested for murder.
The Patriots also signed linebacker Shea McClellin, also formerly of the Chicago Bears, who could be the team’s next Akeem Ayers. Ayers was a late season trade acquisition in 2014, who helped the Patriots win Super Bowl XLIX that year against the Seattle Seahawks. McClellin figures to lessen the blow to the team’s linebacker depth after long-time veteran and team captain Jerod Mayo retired after suffering his third straight season-ending injury.
After all these moves made by the Patriots, head coach Bill Belichick had a classic line when asked about his team’s signings and trades, “Just doing what’s best for the team. We’ll see how it goes.” Patience is a virtue in New England when it comes to finding out what kind of player talent the team really gets from their free agent signees. But patience has at least paid off so far for the Pats this offseason as the team looks to improve and try for another run at the Super Bowl in 2016.
As far as the rest of the league, here are a few notes of important free agent signings and player trades by teams that could change the outlook of their season and the chances of making the playoffs.
The Houston Texans released long-time running back Arian Foster but ended up making perhaps the biggest and flashiest splash in free agency by signing quarterback Brock Osweiler, formerly Peyton Manning’s backup on the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, and star running back Lamar Miller from the Miami Dolphins.
The Jacksonville Jaguars signed former Broncos defensive tackle Malik Jackson and also former Jets running back Chris Ivory. The two are solid smash-mouth players that bring toughness to a team with an offense that could soar and a growing young defense.
The Tennessee Titans traded with the Philadelphia Eagles for running back DeMarco Murray. The team also signed former Dolphins receiver Rishard Matthews. These two give the young second year QB Marcus Mariota the chance to grow in an up-and-coming offense.
The Denver Broncos, the current reigning champs of the league, lost quarterback Peyton Manning to retirement and the afore mentioned Osweiler. This has left a hole at QB on the team. They did trade for QB Mark Sanchez from the Eagles but expectations are that there will be more movement there.
The Broncos lost two more defensive players, linebacker Danny Trevathan to the Bears and safety David Bruton to the Redskins, that also hurts their chance at repeating as champs next year. The team also released TE Owen Daniels and OL Louis Vasqez.
The New York Giants also made a few splashes in free agency, signing defensive end Olivier Vernon to a huge contract as well as cornerback Janoris Jenkins. They re-signed DE Jason Pierre-Paul as well.
The Oakland Raiders also came up big in free agency adding guard Kelechi Osemele from the Baltimore Ravens, DE Bruce Irvin from the Seahawks, and CB Sean Smith from the Kansas City Chiefs.
For more news and free agent signings check out NFL Network and Sportscenter or go to their websites NFL.com and espn.com.
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