I don’t think I’ve ever done a grade for a kicker signing, but Barth is one of the best in the league. In 4 seasons, he’s nailed 73 of 87 field goals, including 24 of 26 last year and is perfect on 95 extra point attempts. He also handles all the kickoffs I normally don’t like giving multiyear deals to kickers because they’re so sporadic and unpredictable, but Barth is an exception. 4 years is a long time and 13.2 million is a lot of money, but only 4 million guaranteed. They might have been better off letting him play out the season under the 2.6 million dollar franchise tag, however.

Grade: B

This deal is for 45 million over 5 years with 20.765 million guaranteed. You know the Eagles used Arian Foster’s deal with the Texans, which he signed earlier this offseason, as a reference for this deal. Foster signed a 42.5 million dollar deal over 5 years with 20.75 million guaranteed. McCoy is a back on the same level as Arian Foster and 2 years younger so while I really, really liked the Foster deal, I love this deal.

McCoy doesn’t turn 24 until July so he is now signed through his age 29 season. He won’t be too old when he’s in the tail end of this deal so he should be worth this contract through the life of the contract and at least until all the guaranteed money has been paid, barring injury. He’s one of the best running backs in the league and should remain that for years to come.

When you compare McCoy to what Adrian Peterson got last offseason (7 years, 96 million, 36 million guaranteed), the Texans got a great value. In fact, the Eagles got McCoy for basically what the Panthers got DeAngelo Williams for last offseason (5 years 43 million with 21 million guaranteed). Williams had previous injury problems and was 5 years older. It’s ridiculous that McCoy got less money guaranteed than Williams did.

Grade: A

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I still don’t understand why Jabar Gaffney was cut. He led the Redskins in receiving last year, catching 68 passes for 947 yards and 5 touchdowns with Rexohn Grossbeck hurling shit at him. He’s 31, so he’s no spring chicken, but at just 2.65 million, he was still reasonably priced for the Redskins. The Patriots certainly didn’t need another receiver, but Gaffney can compete with Chad Ochocinco and Deion Branch for the #3 and #4 receiving jobs in New England and at 2.3 million over 2 years, why not? Gaffney is still a solid receiver and he has experience with Tom Brady (2006-2007) and Josh McDaniels (2007, 2009-2010).

Grade: A

Jones is a pretty mediocre receiver. He’s been given plenty of chances to lock down a starting job with the Texans, but struggled to hold off Kevin Walter. He’s never gone over 51 catches for 562 yards in a season, which he did in 2010. Last year, even with Andre Johnson missing a lot of time, he still managed just 31 catches for 512 yards.

He’s a decent return man, but shouldn’t be anything other than a #3 or #4 receiver. There’s a reason the Texans cut him to save 3 million dollars, after they couldn’t find a suitor for his contract through a trade. The Ravens needed receiver depth behind Anquan Smith and Torrey Smith because they have no proven depth, but I don’t understand why they forked over 7 million over 2 years to get him. That’s a lot to pay for a mediocre player, especially one available this late in the offseason and one who no one would pay 3 million in a trade a week ago.

Grade: C-

There was a time last season when the Bills were 5-2 and Fred Jackson was a legitimate MVP candidate. He got hurt and only played 10 games, but still managed 934 yards and 6 touchdowns on 170 carries (5.5 YPC) with 39 catches for another 442 yards. Despite missing 6 games, he was still ProFootballFocus’ highest rated back last season and if you count the Miami game where he got hurt and had just 7 carries, the Bills were 5-4 with him healthy and 1-6 without him last year.

He was heading into a contract year in 2012. This extension is for his age 32-33 seasons, which is normally an irresponsible signing because of how infrequently even Hall of Fame running backs continue to run well into their 30s. However, Jackson is still at 817 career carries after spending most of his career working his way up the depth chart as an undrafted free agent out of Division-III Coe College. This deal is only for 8 million over 2 years anyway (with more available through incentives) so this is a smart move for the Bills to extend one of their best players.

Grade: A

This is a fun idea I saw in other places on the internet, a dream draft. The point is, to give myself the 16.5th pick (right in the middle of the round) in every round, and take the best available player on my board, not paying any attention to team need, and knowing who would be available in the next round. Let’s see some results.

1. DE Whitney Mercilus (Illinois)

I think in 3 years time we’ll see Whitney Mercilus as the top pass rusher out of this draft class. He led college football with 16 sacks and 9 forced fumbles, and was 2^nd with 22.5 tackles for loss, but fell to the Texans at 26 because he was only a one year starter. Mercilus had only recorded 2 sacks in his first 2 years at Illinois, but this was because he rarely saw playing time as a small time recruit.

He worked his way up the depth charts and proved everyone wrong by dominating each and every offensive lineman he faced once he got a chance, including Ohio State’s Mike Adams (a 2012 2^nd round pick), and Wisconsin’s Ricky Wagner (a potential 2013 1^st round pick). He’s got underrated athleticism and is already a very natural pass rusher. He comes from humble beginnings, has high character, and a fantastic motor and with good coaching (which he’ll get in Houston from Wade Phillips) as well as more experience, he should become one of the league’s premier pass rushers.

He compares favorably to Aldon Smith and should dominate as a rookie in a situational role before becoming an every down player in his 2^nd year. He’s not great against the run, but he has solid size (6-4 261) and weight room strength (27 reps of 225) and can develop into a better player against the run. I’d much rather have him than someone like Chandler Jones (can play the run right now, but a project as a pass rusher), Quinton Coples (can play the run and rush the passer, but questionable motor), Melvin Ingram, Courtney Upshaw (tweeners), Bruce Irvin (undersized, one trick pony) and Shea McClellin (undersized and an average athlete).

2. OLB Zach Brown (North Carolina)

Zach Brown is a rare athlete at the linebacker position at 6-1 244 with 4.44 speed and came into his own this season with 105 tackles, 13.5 for loss, 5.5 sacks, 4 deflections, 3 forced fumbles, and 3 interceptions. He needs to become more physical and fight through blockers, but his ability to drop in coverage, his ability to rush off the edge or up the middle, and his natural speed and athleticism will make him an asset in today’s pass heavy NFL.

3. WR Mohamed Sanu (Rutgers)

Mohamed Sanu is a very one dimensional player, but he’s very good at what he does and he’ll thrive in a possession role opposite a feared deep threat in the NFL, much like the one he’ll serve in with the Bengals opposite AJ Green. Mohamed Sanu has 4.6 speed and only caught 4 passes longer than 20 yards in 3 years at Rutgers, but he’s got good size (6-2 211), excellent hands, and is a great route runner. Despite playing with 3 different freshman rookie in his time at Rutgers, Sanu managed 210 catches in 3 years, including 115 for 1206 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2011.

He accounted for almost half (115/256) of his team’s completions this season and is one of the most physical wide receivers you’ll ever see. He has no fear going over the middle and can snatch the ball in traffic. He’s a very willing and very able run blocker and tough to take down in the open field. In his earlier years at Rutgers, he even rushed for 655 yards on 121 carries. He won’t get a lot of separation, but he has such good hands and body control that he doesn’t need a lot of separation and if defenses are afraid of the deep strike on the other side of the field, it’ll open things up underneath for Sanu. He fits in very well in Cincinnati and might even become TJ Houshmanzadeh 2.0 for them.

4. OT Bobby Massie (Mississippi)

Several players slipped on draft day, but Massie might have been the most surprising and perplexing. Some guys slipped for injury reasons, but Massie did not. Adam Schefter tweeted that he texted a high ranked official in the NFL asking why Massie was failing, to which the official replied “no idea.” Massie was just a right tackle at Mississippi, but has good enough feet to play the left side in the NFL like Tyron Smith, a right tackle at USC who will play on the left side in his 2^nd season in Dallas in 2012. He doesn’t have Smith’s power or athleticism obviously, but he has good size (6-6 316), long arms (35 inches), and adequate athletic ability.

He’s a good run blocker who can hold his own in pass protection and will immediately upgrade the right side at Arizona and may end up at left tackle long term if Levi Brown continues to struggle. In a weak year for offensive tackles, Massie was not expected to get out of the 2^nd round. Instead, he went in the 4^th round.

5. WR Juron Criner (Arizona)

Criner is not dissimilar to Mohamed Sanu. He has 4.6 speed, but great size at 6-3 224 and was very productive at Arizona, often bailing out quarterback Nick Foles, who went in the 3^rd round. The differences are that Criner did have a better quarterback throwing to him, and was slightly less productive with 209 catches in 4 years. There are also undisclosed psychological issues that he has that might have been behind his fall to the 5^thround, but he’s definitely worth a shot there.

6. DT Billy Winn (Boise State)

I’m not entirely sure what was behind Winn’s fall to the 6^th round as he was almost universally projected to go in the 3^rd or 4^th round. He’s undersized at 6-4 294 and only put up 24 reps of 225. He struggles some against the run, but he’s an ideal fit as a 3-4 defensive end. He’s the ideal height and weight and is a great one gap penetrator who is better as a pass rusher than run stuffer.

He’s a well coached, high motor, 3 year starter at Boise State with 133 tackles, 37.5 tackles for loss, and 17 sacks in his career. He’ll be a fine nickel rusher in Cleveland at defensive tackle in a 4-3 and should be a better player long term than John Hughes, who was so big of a reach in the 3^rd round that he didn’t even plan on having his draft party until day 3 (rounds 4-7). He was reportedly very caught off guard by going that high.

7. C David Molk (Michigan)

Molk fell because of his height (6-1) and short arms (32 inches), but he plays center so that’s not a huge issue. He’s a tremendous run blocker for a center and Michigan’s run heavy offense almost always went through him. He was a very valuable “point of attack” man with great weight room strength (41 reps), who had a phenomenal motor and great intangibles. He’s intelligent and a leader on the offensive line.

He’s only an average athlete, but his position makes that not such a big deal and he has everything you want out of a starting center. I believe Molk will be a starter in this league someday, a statement Adam Schefter agreed with when he took time out of his normal reporting to tweet that the Chargers would be very satisfied and with Molk as a 7^th round pick.

Undrafted: RB Chris Polk (Washington)

Not really a surprise here, Polk seems to be the consensus top undrafted free agent available. He was snatched up by the Eagles after draft day, a team that reportedly had a 4^th round grade on him. There were concerns about his weight at the Senior Bowl (222 pounds) and he was out of shape, but he got back into shape at The Combine, where he ran in the 4.4s at 215 pounds. There were also some durability concerns after 799 career carries at Washington.

However, he was one of the Pac-12’s best backs for 3 years, amassing 4016 yards in 3 years behind below average offensive line. He is an incredibly physical back who rarely goes down on first contact and rarely gets tackled for a loss. He doesn’t have a lot of breakaway speed or athleticism, but he ran in the 4.4s and he has adequate speed and pass catching ability.

He should be a solid part of a tandem in the NFL and can carry the load if needed and be a good volume yardage back. Even though he went undrafted, many are expecting he will make the Eagles roster. In fact, I’d be surprised if he didn’t make it as their #3 back behind LeSean McCoy and Dion Lewis. He’s bigger than both of those backs so he could see carries right away in short yardage situations.

Undrafted: WR Gerell Robinson (Arizona State)

Gerell Robinson was a heavily recruited player who did absolutely nothing for 3 and a half years at Arizona State, but a light clicked midseason this year and he caught 58 passes for 1095 yards and 4 touchdowns in his last 8 games, including 13 catches for 241 yards and a touchdown in their bowl game against Boise State. In that game, he resembled Anquan Boldin because of his physicality as a blocker and his fearlessness going over the middle and ability to catch contested balls. He was also very tough to tackle in the open field, as you would expect out of a 6-4 227 pound receiver.

He was definitely worth a pick to see if he could continue his hot streak into the pros, like Denarius Moore did for Oakland last year. Those two have very similar stories. He goes into a good situation in Denver as they have a great quarterback, but a lack of depth at the receiver position. He could definitely make the roster and make an impact at some point.

Undrafted: WR Dwight Jones (North Carolina)

Jones fell because of character issues. He struggled at the Senior Bowl and coaches frequently yelled at him for various reasons. He has attitude issues and was suspended for North Carolina’ bowl game before being reinstated. He’s also been knocked for being out of shape and overweight at 6-3 230, though he ran well at The Combine (4.55).

However, on the field, Jones fought through inconsistent quarterback play to catch 147 balls for 2142 yards and 16 touchdowns in the last two seasons. He was very consistent, catching at least 4 balls for 72 yards in every game except one this past season and he has natural athleticism and pass catching abilities. He deserved to be drafted and still has a lot of upside. He was picked up by Houston and could make their roster after they cut Jacoby Jones (though they drafted 2 other receivers).

Poor Cameron Wake was probably starting to think he would never get a big contract. Wake signed a 4 year, 2.4 million dollar “rookie” contract before the 2009 season at age 27 and had done nothing but dominate since. In the last 2 seasons as a starter, he’s had 25 sacks, 41 quarterback hits, and 81 quarterback pressures, including 52 pressures last year (3^rd in the league behind Chris Long and Julius Peppers).

As a “rookie” in 2009, he only played 167 snaps, but still managed 7 sacks, 6 quarterback hits, and 20 pressures as arguably the best situational pass rusher in the league. ProFootballFocus has ranked him 4^th and 1^st in each of the last two years respectively among rush linebackers and ranked him 4^th among defensive ends in 2009 despite only playing 167 snaps.

However, because of how late his start in the NFL was (he began his career in the CFL where he won defensive player of the year in 2008) he is now 30 and the Dolphins did not seem too eager to give him the big contract he had earned over the last 3 years. He wouldn’t be any more likely to get it next offseason at age 31 on the open market. However, the Dolphins gave him the deal he earned today, extending him for 49 million over 4 years with 20 million guaranteed.

That’s a lot of money for someone who will be 31-34 over the life of the contract, but Wake has more than earned that money over the last 3 years and they simply couldn’t afford to let their best player hit the open market. Compared to what someone like Mario Williams got (6 years, 96 million, 50 million guaranteed, albeit at age 27), the Dolphins are getting an absolutely bargain with this deal as long as Wake continues to produce to even 75-80% of his peak. And if he doesn’t, they’re only on the hook for 20 million guaranteed.

Grade: A

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This deal makes a lot of sense. The Patriots top 2 backs are very inexperienced, while Addai is experienced, but might not have anything left in the tank. This deal is basically a “see what he has deal.” He’ll be brought into Training Camp and if the 29 year old back doesn’t have anything left in the tank, the Patriots can cut him and only owe him a 75K signing bonus and a 50K workout bonus. And if he does have something left, he’ll only cost them 725K over the season and provide them a decent back to an inexperienced backfield and a solid pass catcher.

Grade: A

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The Bears used the 19^th overall pick on Shea McClellin, but don’t expect him to be a starter immediately. The Bears still like incumbent starter Isreal Idonije opposite Julius Peppers and see McClellin more as a situational pass rusher and a long term successor for Idonije, who turns 32 in November. It still wouldn’t surprise me if McClellin made his way into the starting lineup sometime during his first season. Idonije is a pretty marginal player and McClellin was the 19^th overall pick. However, it’s clear he’ll have to earn a starting job. Either way, he should see some of the field and have some impact immediately in his rookie season.