This is the 2^nd player in as many days that the Eagles have extended despite having two years remaining on their contract. Given that Cole is 30 in October, this deals locks him up from the year he turns 32 to the year he turns 35. Given that, 13 million per year (4 years, 53 million) seems a little rich, but there isn’t a whole lot of guaranteed money (15 million) so it’s not too bad. Cole is currently one of the league’s best pass rushers.

Grade: B

Wharton isn’t the best guard in the world, but the Bengals have nothing at guard besides 2011 4^th round pick Clint Boling right now having lost starter Nate Livings to the Cowboys and having still not resigned soon to be 36 year old free agent Bobbie Williams. Wharton is a solid guard, who ranked 38^th on ProFootballFocus this past season and considering Livings, who ranked 56^th, got 19 million over 5 years from the Cowboys, getting Wharton for 10 million over 3 is a very good deal.

Grade: A

When Porter is healthy, he’s a great #2 cornerback. He had a great 2009 season, allowing just 55.0% completion, 7.1 YPA, and no touchdowns with 4 interceptions. Among cornerbacks who played more than 60% of their team’s snaps, he ranked 6^th in QB rating allowing, with a 56.8. He’s struggled some over the past 2 seasons, especially this season when he ranked 91^st on ProFootballFocus.

However, he hasn’t had a good pass rush in front of him and there have been some injuries. This is a nice, cheap bounce back contract for 4 million over a year and he’s almost definitely an upgrade over Andre Goodman, who is getting older at 34 this offseason. Porter is still young (26 in August) and an athletic cornerback with huge upside. This was a savvy move.

Grade: A

Makes a lot of sense considering they are only paying him 1.7 million next year. Holt will be 34 in June, but he has caught 115 passes for 1518 yards over the last 2 years despite playing with Marc Bulger and David Garrard as his quarterbacks so it’s not hard to imagine Holt putting up solid #2 numbers with Tom Brady at quarterback. A #2 receiver is much needed in town with Wes Welker’s knee injury and the uncertainty surrounding it and good job by the Pats getting one for cheap.

Grade: A

Wide Receiver

Maryland

6-1 204

Draft board overall prospect rank: #90

Draft board overall wide receiver rank: #6

Overall rating: 69 (late 3rd)

40 time: 4.37

3/29/11: Torrey Smith could legitimately go in the first round. He’s got great speed and is a dynamic return man and teams are always looking for the next DeSean Jackson or Mike Wallace, or even the next Jacoby Ford or Emmanuel Sanders, young speedsters who shined in their rookie years in 2010. Torrey Smith should not be lumped in with that group. I think he’s one of the more overrated players in this draft class.

People like to cite his strong production, but let’s take a closer look. He caught 67 passes for 1055 yards and 12 touchdowns this year, but only had 4 games of 70+ yards. 2 of those games were against joke opponents, Florida International, and NC State. The other two were against Virginia and West Virginia, but remember he only caught 3 balls against West Virginia. He had 149 yards, but he’s really boom or bust in terms of production.

2 catches for 10 yards against East Carolina in the bowl game, 1 catch for 6 yards against Navy, 3 catches for 41 yards against Morgan State, 2 catches for 50 yards against Duke, these are bad performances against bad teams. First rounders don’t do that. In 2009, he surpassed 70 yards 5 times, James Madison, Middle Tennessee, Rutgers, and Florida State (71 yards). 1 catch for 28 yards against Carolina, 2 catches for 13 yards against Duke. First rounders don’t do that.

He catches with his body and, no surprise, he has tiny hands. Doesn’t matter how fast downfield you run if you can’t catch the ball. Just ask another former Maryland Terrapin, Darrius Heyward Bey. A lot of people will say, well he was drafted by the Raiders, of course he was going to bust. Yes, the Raiders reached for him at 7, but if they didn’t, he could have easily gone in the bottom of the 1^st round, just like Smith is being projected.

Smith is a similar prospect, a bigger receiver, fast, but inconsistent production, lack of dominance against bad teams, and bad, and in Smith’s case small, hands are huge drawbacks. Smith is a better kick return and a better runner out of the backfield, but I would be very surprised if he became anything at receiver. He’s not a great route runner. He’s skinny and doesn’t run block or go over the middle well.

NFL Comparison: Troy Williamson

Updated 5/1/10

()=big board rank 

WR Danario Alexander (85)

MLB Micah Johnson (116)

OT Tony Washington (143)

MLB Reggie Carter (169)

G Joe Thomas (200)

K Leigh Tiffin (218)

MLB Boris Lee (219)

C Chris Hall (220)

C Kenny Alfred (247)

MLB Alex Joseph (250)

P Robert Malone (252)

RB LeMarcus Coker (255)

OT Dennis Landholt (256)

RB Andre Dixon (261)

OT Andrew Tyshovntsky (266)

S Nick Sandford (271)

G Matt McCracken (277)

3-4 DE/DT Swanson Miller (278)

DT Alan Michael-Cash (280)

G Reggie Stephens (287)

C Chris Fisher (288)

TE Cody Slate (293)

P Jeremy Boone (295)

K Aaron Pettrey (296)

1-10 

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

1-10

11-20

21-30 

31-40 

41-50 

1. S Deunta Williams (North Carolina)

2. S DeAndre McDaniel (Clemson)- New Orleans Saints

3. LB Josh Bynes (Auburn)

4. CB Kendric Burney (North Carolina)- Carolina Panthers

5. LB Steven Friday (Virginia Tech)

6. RB Derrick Locke (Kentucky)- Philadelphia Eagles

7. OT Darius Morris (Temple)

8. S Jeron Johnson (Boise State)- Seattle Seahawks

9. C Jake Kirkpatrick (TCU)

10. LB Thomas Keiser (Stanford)

11. C Kristofer O’Dowd (USC)- Arizona Cardinals

12. RB Noel Devine (West Virginia)

13. LB Mark Herzlich (Boston College)- New York Giants

14. C Alex Linnenkohl (Oregon State)- Chicago Bears

15. LB Mario Harvey (Marshall)

16. TE Zach Pianalto (North Carolina)- Buffalo Bills

17. DT Ian Williams (Notre Dame)- San Francisco 49ers

18. OT Derek Hall (Stanford)

19. QB Pat Devlin (Delaware)- Miami Dolphins

20. CB Mario Butler (Georgia Tech)

21. C Tim Barnes (Missouri)- Baltimore Ravens

22. WR Lyle Leong (Texas Tech)

23. WR Dane Sanzenbacher (Ohio State)- Chicago Bears

24. C Zane Taylor (Utah)

25. G Justin Boren (Ohio State)