Indianapolis Colts sign CB Greg Toler

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Injuries have limited Greg Toler to 308 snaps over the last 2 seasons, but the Colts gave him 15 million over 3 years anyway. He’s always played pretty well when healthy and graded out above average on ProFootballFocus this season, on the strength of a game against Detroit in which he didn’t allow a completion on 5 attempts, picked off a pass, and had 3 deflections. If he could ever stay healthy over the course of a full season, he could be a solid starter and the Colts definitely needed cornerback help, but it’s unclear who else would have given him this kind of money to find out if he could ever stay healthy. This looks like an obvious overpay.

Grade: C

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Indianapolis Colts sign G Donald Thomas

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Donald Thomas proved that he deserved a starting job in 2013 after playing very well for the Patriots in 7 spot starts in 2012. Despite his limited playing time, he still finished the year as ProFootballFocus’ 17th rated guard. He was a better run blocker than pass protector, but allowed just 1 sack, 2 hits, and 9 hurries, while committing just 3 penalties and he has the versatility to play both guard spots.

The Patriots weren’t going to give him a starting job, but credit the Colts for snatching him up and paying him like a low end starter when he could easily end up being a high end starter if he plays like he did last year. It’s a risk because he’s so inexperienced, but they didn’t give him a lot of money. He was given just 14 million over 4 years and he’ll help out what was the worst offensive line in the league last year in terms of pass block efficiency.

Grade: A

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Miami Dolphins re-sign S Chris Clemons

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Clemons is an unheralded player, but he graded out positively both against the run and in coverage last year. He barely played in 2011 and struggled in his first two years in the league after the Dolphins took him in the 5th round of the 2009 NFL Draft, so credit the Dolphins for not committing too much long term to him. With this deal, he’ll have to prove it again and he should once again be an above average starter for the Dolphins for cheap in 2013.

Grade: A

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St. Louis Rams sign TE Jared Cook

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Jared Cook was underutilized in Tennessee and put up good per snap numbers as a receiver despite never really having great quarterback play. He has 1718 career receiving yards on 1057 career routes run, a rate of 1.63 yards per route run. For comparison, Owen Daniels had 1.63 yards per route run this season, good for 11th in the NFL.

However, he doesn’t block, which is a big part of the reason why he was only a part-time player in Tennessee and he’s still relatively unproven. The Rams are paying a lot of money to find out if he can be an elite tight end in the right situation, paying him 38.5 million over 5 years with 19 million guaranteed. The Patriots gave Aaron Hernandez, already a proven elite tight end, 40 million over 5 years with less guaranteed money, 16.4 million guaranteed, on his extension last off-season. Hernandez is also younger than Cook.

Even Dustin Keller is a more proven player than Cook and he got just 4.25 million over 1 year from the Dolphins. Keller would have made a lot more sense for the Rams, especially since he would have been reuniting with Brian Schottenheimer. Under Schottenheimer, currently the Rams’ offensive coordinator, Keller had 65 catches for 815 yards and 5 touchdowns in a breakout year with the Jets and Mark Sanchez in 2011. That’s more productive than Cook has ever been.

Grade: D

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Arizona Cardinals sign QB Drew Stanton

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I do like the setup of this contract a lot. It’s worth 8.2 million base, but up to 20 million after incentives and only 3 million guaranteed. Basically, if he becomes a starting quarterback for them, he’ll be paid like one and if not, he’ll be paid a reasonable salary for a backup and they can always cut him one year into the deal and not owe him any more guaranteed money if they are dissatisfied.

I just don’t know how much I like Drew Stanton the player. Stanton has had chances to start games and never really impressed, even surrounded by all of that surrounding talent in Detroit. On 187 career attempts, he’s completed 55.6% of his passes for an average of 6.2 YPA, 5 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions and it’s not like he’s some young talent waiting to be tapped. He turns 28 next month and while he was a former 2nd round pick, it was in a horrible year for quarterbacks and the track record of non-1st round pick quarterbacks in the NFL is iffy at best.

He’ll make a solid backup, he knows Bruce Arians’ system, he doesn’t break the bank, and the Cardinals may have the most quarterback situation in the NFL but if the Cardinals are expecting him to be a legitimate starter, they’ll probably be disappointed. This should not deter them from restructuring Kevin Kolb’s contract, bringing in someone like Carson Palmer if he becomes available, and/or drafting a quarterback early in the draft, like Geno Smith at 7.

Grade: B

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Denver Broncos sign G Louis Vasquez

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I didn’t like a lot of moves today. That’s normally how the first day goes. The desperate teams make the big splash moves and don’t get any better as a result and end up cutting him 2 or 3 years into the deal, while the smart teams let things come to them once the buyers dry up on the later days of free agency and also build through the draft. However, this is one move I really liked.

Vasquez will allow the Broncos to move on from Chris Kuper, who turns 31 in December and is owed 15 million over the next 3 seasons. Kuper isn’t the same player anymore and has suffered three separate major injuries in a calendar year span. Vasquez, meanwhile, was ProFootballFocus 13th ranked guard last season and has been an above average starter in all 4 of his seasons in the league. He should have gotten a lot more than 4 years, 23.5 million with 13 million guaranteed, considering what Andy Levitre got from the Titans. I didn’t see this move coming, but at that price, why not bring him in?

Grade: A

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Tennessee Titans sign TE Delanie Walker

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I really didn’t think anyone would sign Delanie Walker other than the 49ers. Because of his specific role in their system, he was more valuable to them as a 2nd tight end than to anyone else. Apparently the Titans disagreed as they outbid the 49ers for him and will pay him like a starter, giving him 4 years, 17.5 million with 8.6 million guaranteed. He’s a very good blocker, but his 11 drops to 26 catches last year were by far the worst in the league and they will be very disappointed if they expect him to replace Jared Cook. They’ll have to hope 2nd year player Taylor Thompson catches on as a pass catching complement to Walker because Walker is pretty much just a blocker.

Grade: C

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Indianapolis Colts sign OLB Erik Walden

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It’s not often I hate a contract that isn’t worth a ton of money, but I hate this 16 million dollar deal the Colts gave to Erik Walden, over 4 years. They apparently view Walden as a cost effective option at rush linebacker opposite Robert Mathis, but he’s not a starting caliber player at all. Pressed into action due to injuries in each of the last two years in Green Bay, Walden ended up grading out as ProFootballFocus’ worst rated 3-4 outside linebacker by a wide margin in each of the two seasons, despite never being a full-time starter. The Colts have got to be kidding themselves if they think he can start for this team next year. They would have been much better off drafting someone at pick #24. It won’t surprise me at all if Walden struggles and gets benched for Jerry Hughes mid-season.

Grade: F

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Indianapolis Colts sign OT Gosder Cherilus

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I actually thought Cherilus would be a nice value signing this off-season. Much maligned in his first 4 years in Detroit, Cherilus got healthy this year and actually graded out as ProFootballFocus’ 8th rated offensive tackle. I’m always wary of guys who underachieve and then break out in their contract year, but it’s very possible that the procedure he had on his knee corrected the issue and that he’d continue to be an above average right tackle long term. I also thought he was undervalued because of his history and that he was never as bad when healthy in his first 4 years in the league as he was made out to be.

However, I did a complete double take when I saw what the Colts gave him. He got 34 million over 5 years with 10 million of that as a guaranteed signing bonus. That’s too much money for a right tackle and way too much for one with Cherilus’ history. I don’t know who else would have given him this much money and it was an obvious overpay.

Grade: D

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Miami Dolphins sign MLB Dannell Ellerbe

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This was the one move that came completely out of nowhere. Middle linebacker wasn’t a need of the Dolphins’. Sure, Karlos Dansby was getting older, but he still played at a very high level and cutting him and giving Dannell Ellerbe even more money makes absolutely no sense. Dansby was owed about 15 million over the final two seasons of his deal, including just 6 million this year. Ellerbe signed for 5 years, 35 million.

Dansby was ProFootballFocus’ 13th ranked middle linebacker last year and Ellerbe was their 14th ranked, but Dansby is also a much more proven player than Ellerbe, a bit of a one year wonder. His 667 regular seasons snaps from this season were a career high and this is also the first time he ever graded out at an above league average level, struggling mightily in limited action in his first three years in the league. The Ravens supposedly valued him higher than anyone, especially with a massive need at middle linebacker, and it’s really telling that their offer didn’t even come close to matching Miami’s. Who were they bidding against? It seems like they’re burning money just to make a splash.

Grade: F

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