Free Agent Wrap Up

Free agency is a time of year for teams and fans to get excited. It is a chance for your team to go out and pick up that missing piece that may put you over the top (Like Bret Favre to the Minnesota Vikings last year). Or maybe a chance to get that once in a life time player to build your franchise around (Like Drew Brees to the New Orleans Saints in 2006). Maybe you even want to go beyond that. Maybe you are a True Football Fans, and want to know how other teams around the league are going to affect things next year and for years to come. Maybe you are a 365 day a year fan that wants to know it all. With so many moves happening right now in free agency, it is hard to keep track of them all. It is hard to find the time to keep up with all the news. So we here at TrueFootballFans.com have went ahead a put the list together for you of all the important moves so far and what we think of them

Chicago Bears – Julius Peppers (Way over paid!!! Awful Move)
Chester Taylor (Cheap insurance, Smart Move)

Jacksonville Jaguars – Aaron Kampman (Depleted line needed the help, Great Move)

Miami Dolphins – Karlos Dansby (This has the Big Tuna written all over it and he knows you need two sides of the ball to be a champion so who am I to judge, Awesome Move)

New York Jets - Antonio Cromartie (3rd round pick? Well worth the role of the dice on his injuries, Great Move)

Baltimore Ravens – Anquan Boldin (He is injured a lot but you didn’t give up much for the only piece you are missing, the only question is he worth the 10 mil a year he is going to want, Good Move)

Atlanta Falcons - Dunta Robinson (Heck yeah I’ll take the guy, but he better be gold plated for that kind of money especially since he only plays two out of three game, Bad Move)

Kansas City Chiefs – Thomas Jones (Wait…2.5 mil…Ill take two, Awesome Move)

Detroit Lions – Lots of Defensive Players (At least some one has finally seen the light in Detroit, cant will if you need 63 points a game to do so, Awesome Moves)

New York Giants - Antrel Rolle (He isn’t cheap, but who is going to even attempt to through the ball against you now, Great Move)

Denver Broncos – Jamal Williams (Fine, I understand the enticement, but the guy hasn’t show up for years now, OK Move)

Cincinnati Bengals – Antonio Bryant (Expensive, poor work ethic, mediocre talent, troublesome and a big enough price tag when you are trying to get TO? Horrible Move)

It is not the end of the World...Yet!

So everyone is worried about the effect of the uncapped year on the NFL. I am going to make a wild and crazy prediction now: No one will notice. Now that I have made my prophecy I will just sit back, wait for those with deep pockets to notice my brilliance and cash out when the time is right…It may be a while though, so in the meantime let me explain.

Due to the uncapped year players now have to accrue 6 years of service to the franchise that drafted them instead of 4, before they become unrestricted free agents. Since most rookie contracts run 3-5 years this means that lots and lots of guys who would have been unrestricted free agents are now able to be tagged at a pretty affordable price. Thus, all the good young talent in the NFL is going to be locked down by their respective franchises for at least one more season. Not to say that there will not be a few key players available, Peppers (we already talked about this), Karlos Dansby, some other key players could move by trade, but even with an uncapped year no team will be able to just spend away and get tons of good talent because there is not tons of good talent available, there are a few guys available and lots of lower tier role players.

About now you are asking, well what if Jerry Jones with his deep pockets decided to go after ALL the big names? Well here is a little secret, the teams that finished in the top 8 in the league (participated in divisional round playoffs) can only take in an equal number of and contract values worth of free agents as they brought in. So essentially any team that won a playoff game can make lateral moves at best. Not conducive to getting over the hump. However if Daniel Snyder in Washington decided to go get all the free agents out their then…well he might actually have a playoff team.