NFL Offseason

Philadelphia Eagles re-sign WR Jeremy Maclin

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Free Agency, Eagles, NFL Offseason, Uncategorized

I like the idea of the Eagles re-signing Jeremy Maclin and cutting DeSean Jackson and his 10.7 million dollar salary. Maclin is actually the more versatile play maker and I think he can be a strong fit in Chip Kelly’s offense, though he’s yet to play for Kelly in a regular season game after tearing his ACL before last season. Injuries have been the problem for Maclin throughout his career as the 2009 1st round pick has missed 21 games in 5 years in his career, including all of last season and has only once played all 16 games.

Injuries are a big part of the reason why he’s never had a 1000 yard season in his career despite frequently flashing top level ability. He’s come close with a 70/964/10 line in 2010 and a 63/859/5 line in 13 games in 2011, but he’s never crossed that threshold. I think he has a good chance to do so this year, should he stay healthy. When healthy, he’s a better receiver than Riley Cooper and I think he and a rookie receiver can replace DeSean Jackson for less money.

I like the idea of giving Jeremy Maclin a one year prove it deal and I think he could break out on this deal in 2014, but 5.5 million dollars is a lot of money on a prove it deal for an injury prone receiver who has never had more than 1000 yards in a season. He could definitely prove to be worth it, but I think they probably could have gotten him cheaper. Compare this to the 3.975 million dollars that Hakeem Nicks got from the Colts on a prove it deal and this seems like a small overpay. That’s slightly nitpicking though and he could definitely prove to be worth this.

Grade: A-

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Philadelphia Eagles re-sign WR Riley Cooper

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Free Agency, Eagles, NFL Offseason, Uncategorized

This deal is part of the reason why the Eagles moved on from DeSean Jackson. They think they can replace DeSean Jackson with a healthy Jeremy Maclin and a rookie along with a bigger role for Riley Cooper. Cooper is getting 22.5 million over 5 years, though with only 9 million over 2 years guaranteed. I have a hard time seeing him getting that on the open market. A year ago, Cooper was the Eagles 4th receiver and had 46 catches for 679 catches and 5 touchdowns in his career in 3 years since being drafted in the 5th round by the Eagles in 2010.

He struggled to start the 2013 season as well, catching 8 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown in his first 5 games in a starting role, before breaking out down the stretch. Once Nick Foles came under center, it was a big boost to Cooper’s stats as the Eagles’ passing offense broke out and Foles liked to throw to Cooper more often than Michael Vick did. Cooper caught 45 passes for 810 yards and 8 touchdowns in his final 12 games including playoffs. The Eagles are paying a lot of money for a system player who, as of early October, was a non-factor as a receiver in the league.

I like the Eagles’ general direction at wide receiver this off-season, re-signing Jeremy Maclin, cutting DeSean Jackson and his large salary, and replacing him with a combination of a hopefully healthy Maclin and a rookie, but this is too much money for Cooper. This is the definition of buying high. The other angle here is that Cooper may have struggled to get as much money as he otherwise would have on the open market because of the comments he made last off-season and the potential locker room issues that signing him could cause. The Eagles’ locker room generally seemed to forgive and accept him, but it’s not clear if the rest of the league would feel the same way.

Grade: C

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers trade WR Mike Williams to Buffalo Bills

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Free Agency, Buccaneers, NFL Offseason, Uncategorized

Trade for Bills: Mike Williams is on a big contract, but only 1.8 million of the deal is left guaranteed so the Bills are essentially getting Williams on a 1-year, 1.8 million dollar deal with “options” for 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 at 6.8 million, 7.2 million, 7.5 million, and 8.75 million respectively. He’s unlikely to be back with the team in 2015 at that salary as the Bills will likely cut him or force him to restructure his deal following this season.

Considering Williams has shown he can be a very solid receiver when he has a fire lit under him, it’s a worthwhile gamble with little downside and potentially high upside. Williams had strong years in 2010 (65/964/11) and 2012 (63/996/9), grading out well above average on Pro Football Focus in each season. However, in 2011, he had just 65 catches for 771 yards and 3 touchdowns, grading out well below average, and reportedly displaying a very poor work ethic. In 2013, he had 22 catches for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns in just 6 games before going down with injury.

After his injury, he reportedly incurred 200K in fines for a variety of activity detrimental to the team, including missing meetings. He has a history of this type of behavior, not just in 2011 and 2013, but dating back to his collegiate days at the Syracuse University, when he was kicked off the team, ironically by head coach Doug Marrone, who is now head coach of the Bills. Williams also has a myriad of minor off the field incidents over the past calendar year, which are concerning when you put everything together.

All of that makes up why he was traded to the Bills for a 6th round pick, but this could serve as the wake-up call he needs to continue alternating bad years with strong years. This move will allow the Bills to likely cut Steve Johnson and save 5.675 million dollars in cash and immediately 75K in cap space and a combined 5.675 million dollars in cap space over the next two seasons. They are likely getting a comparable player for about a third of the price. In that scenario, they’d go into 2014 with Mike Williams, Robert Woods, TJ Graham, and Marquise Goodwin as their top receivers with the option to add another receiver through the draft.

The only concern is that Williams has a good enough season that he tricks the Bills into keeping him for 2015 at 6.8 million and then he coasts again. There are also minor concerns about Williams polluting the locker room or eventually doing something bad enough that he gets suspended. It’s still a worthwhile gamble with high upside and high potential dividends at the price of a 6th round pick.

Grade: A

Trade for Buccaneers: I guess the Buccaneers were just done with Williams after everything. The new regime coming in under Lovie Smith seems to be instituting a no tolerance policy for this type of behavior. Cutting him wasn’t a good option as they’d have to pay him 1.8 million dollars for this season either way, so I guess credit them for getting out of that and getting a 6th round pick. However, I would have just kept him at that salary and dealt with him after the season. This could easily become a case of one team’s trash becoming another team’s treasure in the Bills’ favor.

Grade: C

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Washington Redskins sign WR DeSean Jackson

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Free Agency, Commanders, NFL Offseason, Uncategorized

The Eagles cut Jackson because he was owed 10.7 million dollars and they didn’t want to pay him that when they already had 5+ million yearly committed to Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin at the wide receiver position (not because of racism). There are also reports of disrespectful behavior on Jackson’s part and he even confirmed that he was late to some meetings.

Whether or not any potential gang affiliation played a role is unknown, but comments from some people who have known Jackson since his childhood, coupled with the heavy interest Jackson was met with on the open market suggests that any affiliations were blown out of proportion by shoddy journalism. It really seems like, plain and simple, the Eagles didn’t want to pay Jackson 10.7 million dollars and think they can replace his production with a combination of a rookie and a now healthy Jeremy Maclin to go with Riley Cooper.

That makes a lot of sense. Jackson was Pro Football Focus’ 7th ranked wide receiver last year, but that’s not consistent with his history as he was actually about an average to slightly above average wide receiver on Pro Football Focus from 2008-2012. It’s possible that he was just a product of Chip Kelly’s offense last season. Even in his 1000 yard seasons in 2009 and 2010, Jackson was only catching about half of his targets as an inconsistent, one trick pony deep threat. Couple that with the fact that he can cause headaches to coaching staffs from time to time and I think the Eagles’ decision to move on from him makes a lot of sense, regardless of any gang affiliation.

The Redskins are getting him at a cheaper rate than the Eagles would have, giving him a 3-year, 24 million dollar deal with 16 million guaranteed, but they still might be overpaying for a system receiver. On top of that, the Redskins didn’t have a lot of cap space coming into this move, part of why they had to add a 4th “dummy year” to this deal to spread out the cap hit over 4 years instead of 3 years. This will be an expensive deal for the Redskins over the next few years and I don’t know if this is the right area for them to be allocating their cap space. They already have a #1 receiver in Pierre Garcon, but they have a large amount of holes on the defensive side of the balls, an amount that will grow next off-season if this deal makes the Redskins unable to retain Brian Orakpo long-term.

Jackson will make 8 million dollars per year in every season of this deal, including a non-guaranteed 8 million in the third year in 2016. This year, 5 million of that is the signing bonus so his cap hit will actually only be 4.25 million (3 million in salary, 1.25 million in prorated signing bonus). However, he’ll have a cap number of 9.25 million in 2015 and if he’s cut after the 2015 season, he’ll have a cap number of 2.5 million in 2016. If he stays on the roster in 2016, he’ll have a cap number of 9.25 million in 2016 and 1.25 million in 2017, his “dummy year.” It’s a lot to commit to a wide receiver when you already have a #1 receiver.

Grade: B-

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Tennessee Titans sign OLB Shaun Phillips

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Free Agency, NFL Offseason, Titans, Uncategorized

Shaun Phillips looked done after the 2013 season, going into his age 32 season after grading out as Pro Football Focus’ 2nd worst ranked 3-4 outside linebacker. He had to settle for a one year deal close to the veteran’s minimum with the Broncos, but he was able to rehab his value, grading out as Pro Football Focus’ 18th ranked 4-3 defensive end in 2013. He’s still no guarantee to continue being a starting caliber player going into his age 33 season in 2014, but the Titans protected themselves with this cheap deal.

This deal has a max value of 6 million dollars over 2 years, but the Titans can get out of it after 1-year and 2.5 million this off-season, if they so choose, as that’s all that is guaranteed. Phillips could be a bargain as an edge rusher if he continues to play like he did last season and if he doesn’t, there’s minimal downside. The Titans needed another edge rusher for their new 3-4, which Phillips has played almost his entire career in. Akeem Ayers will benefit from this new system and be one edge rusher, but Derrick Morgan is kind of in limbo moving to a 3-4. Phillips’ presence will allow Morgan to move around the formation.

Grade: A-

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San Diego Chargers re-sign MLB Donald Butler

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Free Agency, Chargers, NFL Offseason, Uncategorized

This deal has a max value of 51.8 million over 7 seasons, but Butler is highly unlikely to see all that money. Only the 11.15 million dollar signing bonus is guaranteed so the Chargers could conceivably get out of this after 1-year and 11.9 million. However, the Chargers are highly unlikely to give up on him that quickly. That’s a lot of money for one year anyway. More likely, the Chargers will get out of this deal (or attempt to restructure it) after the 3rd year following 2016. That’s when a 12 million dollar roster bonus kicks in. They can get through the first 3 years paying just 19.8 million (base salaries of 3.25 million in 2015 and 4.65 million in 2016), before owing him 32 million over 4 years, including the 12 million dollar roster bonus, from 2017-2020.

All that being said, I think it’s all an overpay. Donald Butler was a solid starter in 2011 and 2012, grading out 15th on Pro Football Focus among middle linebackers in 2011 and 16th in 2012, but he fell all the way to 45th out of 55 eligible in 2013. He’s also missed 23 games in 4 seasons. Meanwhile, the 6.6 million dollar average he’ll make over the next 3 seasons would be the 12th highest average annual salary among middle linebackers and the 7.4 million dollar average salary over the life of the contract would be 10th. They probably didn’t need to give him this much money. I doubt he would have gotten this much money on the open market. A short-term prove it deal would have been much more appropriate for him.

Grade: C

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San Francisco 49ers sign S Antoine Bethea

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Free Agency, 49ers, NFL Offseason, Uncategorized

The 49ers needed another safety after losing Donte Whitner to the Browns this off-season. Whitner is a better football player than Bethea, but Bethea came cheaper in terms of max base salary. Whitner got 28 million over 4 years, while Bethea gets 21 million over 4 years. Bethea is actually a boring player to write about. He hasn’t missed a game since 2007 and he hasn’t so much as been on an injury report at all over the past 4 seasons. He graded out above average on Pro Football Focus from 2008-2011, but he was never a top level safety, maxing out as Pro Football Focus’ 16th ranked safety in 2010.

He’s graded out below average in both 2012 and 2013 now that he’s getting older and he’s going into his age 30 season so he probably won’t be getting much better any time soon. He’s not really worth a 5.25 million dollar annual salary as he goes into his 30s, though he probably has two more seasons of being an average starter. The good part of this deal is that only 6.25 million is guaranteed so the 49ers can cut Bethea at any point and avoid base salaries of 3.5 million, 5 million, and 5.75 million in 2011, 2012, and 2013 respectively. It can essentially be a 1-year, 6.25 million dollar deal with 3 year options. It’s still an overpay though.

Grade: C+

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New York Jets re-sign G Willie Colon

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Free Agency, Jets, NFL Offseason, Uncategorized

There was a time when Willie Colon was one of the best right tackles in the game, grading out as Pro Football Focus’ 14th ranked offensive tackle in 2008 and 3rd ranked offensive tackle in 2009, but he missed every game but one in 2010 and 2011 combined. He returned as a guard in 2012 and played solid in 11 games and then signed a one-year deal with the Jets for the 2013 season. He played all 16 games for the first time since 2009 and he was a decent starter at right guard.

He’s definitely not the player he once was and he’s going into his age 31 season, with an extensive injury history, missing 36 games from 2010-2012, but he’s still a starting caliber player. He’s still a solid investment on this one-year deal (1 year, 2 million dollars) for the guard needy Jets. Brian Winters, their other starting guard, was Pro Football Focus’ 5th worst ranked guard in 2013 as a 3rd round rookie. If they didn’t re-sign Colon, William Campbell would have been their other starting guard. The 2013 6th round pick didn’t play a snap last season as a rookie. Colon at least locks in one starter at guard at a very reasonable rate.

Grade: A-

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Minnesota Vikings sign DT Linval Joseph

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Free Agency, NFL Offseason, Uncategorized, Vikings

Linval Joseph, a 2nd round pick, has been a 3-year starter with the Giants from 2011-2013, grading out as Pro Football Focus’ 21st ranked defensive tackle in each of the last 2 seasons. Only 5 other players have graded out higher than him in both seasons (Gerald McCoy, Ndamukong Suh, Jurrell Casey, Geno Atkins, Marcell Dareus). Joseph is better against the run than he is rushing the passer, but he graded out above average in both facets of the game in each of the past two seasons. He’s also one of the youngest players hitting free agency this off-season, going into only his age 26 season.

This contract (5 years, 31.5 million) has an average annual salary of 6.3 million, which puts him 9th among defensive tackles in terms of annual salary. That seems a little rich, but it’s certainly better than the 5 year, 33 million dollar deal the Falcons gave Paul Soliai this off-season. Soliai is an inferior and significantly older player and his deal has more guaranteed money as well (14 million to 12.5 million). Joseph’s deal doesn’t have any guaranteed money after the 2nd season so it could just end up being a 2 year, 13 million dollar deal if he doesn’t work out. There’s also a chance he continues to improve as a player as he goes into his age 26 season. He’s not even really in his prime yet. For a Vikings team in need of defensive tackle help next to Sharrif Floyd, this was a decent move.

Grade: B

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Pittsburgh Steelers sign RB LeGarrette Blount

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Free Agency, NFL Offseason, Steelers, Uncategorized

LeGarrette Blount is a big name after what he did to the Colts in the playoffs, rushing for 166 yards and 4 touchdowns. However, people forget he had just 6 yards on 5 carries the following week in a loss in Denver. He averaged 5.19 yards per carry last season, including playoffs, on a combined 182 carries, but he was also available for a late round pick and a minimal salary the off-season prior, after averaging 4.14 yards per carry on 225 carries in 2011 and 2012 combined.

His career average of 4.68 yards per carry is pretty solid, but he offers nothing as a pass catcher (23 career catches), pass protector, has minimal special teams experience (17 career returns), fumbles often (9 fumbles on 579 career carries) and has a history of discipline problems. That being said, the Steelers are signing him purely as insurance and a backup to 2nd year running back Le’Veon Bell and he’s easily their 2nd best running back. Now they won’t have to rely on bums like Jonathan Dwyer, Felix Jones, and Isaac Redman if Bell gets hurt again. At 3.85 million over 2 years, he’s being paid very reasonably.

Grade: A-

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