Grading the Off-Season Moves: AFC

The Doc views free agency like picking up a date at a singles bar. Basically the market is filled with everyone else’s rejects. The goal is to find some short-term benefit while avoiding picking up anything that you’ll later regret.

A note about grading. The Doc went to a college with Grade-Deflation so he will stick with the traditional C average. A “B” is basically one standard deviation above the mean and an “A” is two standard deviations above the mean.

AFC North
Steelers: Re-sign LaMarr Woodley, Willie Colon, Ike Taylor
TJ: Woodley and Colon are terrific players, and the Steelers did well to bring them back. However, their “ageless” defense is continuing to age, and I don’t think Polamalu can be the same player he’s been in the past. The Steelers may have everything they need to compete this season, but they may have been well-served to use the free-agent bonanza to pick up a few players that could help in future seasons. Grade: B

DP: The Doc has seen the Free Agent Market in Pittsburgh and the Steelers did the right thing by re-signing their own guys and avoiding the Free Agent Market. Grade: C

Ravens: Sign Ricky Williams, Vonta Leach; Re-sign Marshal Yanda, Jared Gaither
TJ: Well, the Ravens apparently want to run the ball up everyone’s asses this season, and with Joe Flacco at QB, that’s probably a good idea. Ray Rice was terrific last year, and Ricky Williams offers decent backup value, but it’s bringing in Leach, one of the best fullbacks in the league, that pushes the Ravens running game into high gear. Yanda and Gaither keep the offensive line in good shape, and should make running between the tackles easy. Like the Steelers, though, this team might have put some effort into upgrading their defense. Ray Lewis has got to be 63 years old by now. Grade: B

DP: I like how the Ravens methodically cut their big name guys that are not producing (Todd Heap, Derrick Mason), signed their own line men to fair deals and then waited to add a couple good value guys. They know how to run their team. Grade: B

Browns: Re-sign D’Qwell Jackson, Seneca Wallace, Franchise Phil Dawson
TJ: This is a team that had a great season last year, lots of consistency in coaching, and is already very talented, so it makes sense they wouldn’t try to fill any needs in free agency . . . Oh, wait, that’s the exact fucking opposite of the truth. This team sucks everywhere but in the straight ahead run offense, and even that won’t hold true if opponents focus on Hillis the way they should have last year. I mean, Christ, they franchised a 36-year-old placekicker who was 3-8 from 40+ yards last year. What a joke. Grade: D-

DP: On paper it’s not much of an upgrade, but Mike Holmgren knows how to put together a plan. They have been stock piling draft picks, they have a QB they want to groom long term and the coaching staff is in place (You may not like Pat Schurmur, but at least they made a decision), and they haven’t saddled themselves with bad contracts. I look for them to emerge in 1-2 years as a contender. Grade: C

Bengals: Re-sign Cedric Benson, sign Nate Clements, Manny Lawson, Thomas Howard, Bruce Gradkowski
TJ: Gradkowski could wind up starting since Carson Palmer would rather do donkey porn than play for the Bengals one more year. Clements and Lawson could help the defense reach lower mediocrity. I don’t like Benson because he appears lazy and unmotivated to me, so signing him to a one-year deal so he’ll be motivated to play for a new contract is a smart move. Overall, this team still stinks, but they made some decent moves. Grade: B+

DP: I couldn’t disagree more. Palmer was not going to lead them to the Superbowl at this point in his career, so might has well get some value from him while you can. They lost Johnathan Joseph, their second best defender. Benson is not exactly the guy you want to focus an offense around when you’re braking in a rookie QB with no OTAs. Finally, you should almost never waste a top 4 pick on a wide receiver, especially with Atlanta’s crazy deal on the table. Bengals take a huge step back. Grade: F

AFC South
Colts: Re-sign Joseph Addai and Peyton Manning, sign Tommie Harris, Jamaal Anderson, Ernie Sims
TJ: Pretty much a wash, if you ask me. Obviously, settling with Peyton was a priority, and they did well to get that out of the way early with little distraction. Harris, Anderson, and Sims are low-risk/low-reward signings that will do little to improve an undersized defense that lost its (admittedly over-the-hill) marquee player in safety Bob Sanders. Seems to me this team should have been looking to improve the O-line and the secondary, especially with all those All-Pro corners floating around out there. Grade: C.

DP: The Colt’s off-season was very telling. They don’t like to go into free agency much, preferring to draft guys in the late rounds that fit their cover-2 defense. So signing the likes of Tommie Harris, Jamaal Anderson and Ernie Sims is a clear sign that the Colts don’t like their recent draft classes. Their offense should still be good, but I think the defense is now a liability. Look for a lot of shootouts and a lot of the “Manning Face” this year. Grade: C-

Titans: Sign Matt Hasselbeck, Barrett Rudd, Jordan Babineaux
TJ: Rudd gets a one-year deal, so it’s a good pickup for the Titans with little risk. They lost their QB of the future in Young, and who knows whether Hasselbeck can even be a QB of the present. He was overpriced, too (3 yrs, $21 million). This will not be a good team. Grade: C.

DP: Another team that I am having trouble understanding. I guess after years under Jeff Fischer, they are having an identity crisis. Jake Locker seems like a reach and Matt Hasselbeck feels like desperation move to prove they are relevant. The Chris Johnson hold-out does not help things either. Hard to see how they got any better. Grade: D

Jaguars: Sign Dawan Landry, Clint Sessions, Paul Posluszny
TJ: With a defense in the bottom ten against both the pass and run, I guess the Jags prioritized bringing in some help at LB and in the secondary. They could have done worse. But the passing attack was ranked 28th, and there were some cheap receivers out there (Braylon Edwards, anyone?). Seems like a missed opportunity, but then again, maybe they figured they’re so fucked at QB, they may as well not waste money on receivers. Grade: B-

DP: The Jags a classic example of team that uses Free Agency to try and make up for missed draft picks. They are all decent players, but nothing special and certainly overpriced. Grade: C

Texans: Re-sign Owen Daniels, sign Johnathan Joseph, Danieal Manning, Lawrence Vickers
TJ: Joseph is a young and awesome corner and Manning is an excellent safety. Houston, who had the worst pass defense in the league last year, just put together a GREAT secondary. Vickers is a good fullback (not as good as Leach, whom the Texans failed to resign), and comes at only 2 years and $3 million. Pretty successful moves for Houston. Grade: A

DP: I also like the Joseph signing, but they overpaid for Manning when there were a lot of safeties on the market. Their best move will turn out to be getting Wade Phillips to coach the defense. He’s not much of a head coach, but he’s a great D-coordinator. Picking up a competent coordinator is the second fastest way to improve your team (next to picking up a competent QB). Grade: B


AFC East
Patriots: Re-sign Matt Light, Kevin Faulk, Gerard Warren, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, sign Ochocinco, Albert Haynesworth, Shaun Ellis, Andre Carter
TJ: Wow. Ellis, Haynesworth, Warren, Carter: that’s a Pro-Bowl D-line just with new acquisitions. They don’t have a deep-threat on offense anymore, but they now have a ton of quality possession receivers, and a QB that can pick apart a defense with them. If half these pickups work out, this team looks fucking dangerous. Grade A

DP: Its funny because if any other team had picked up Ochocinco or Haynesworth, they would have been blasted, but not the Pats! The moves seem like low risk-high reward so I can’t fault them too much and they do have a good locker room environment. There is still one thing nagging at me though. Brady has probably 3-4 years left at the top of his game. Assuming you want to add another 1 or 2 Superbowls, why not just use the Mark Ingram pick and get the top RB in the draft for your last hoorah? I know the Saints offer was good, but why not just say ‘Fuck it” and go all in now. He would have been a cheap pick, its not like you’re saving that much money. Grade: B+

Jets: Re-sign Santonio Holmes, Antonio Cromartie, sign Plaxico Burress, Derrick Mason
TJ: The Jets looked like they were going to pick up Asomugha and become un-throw-against-able, but they lost out to the Eagles. They brought back their best free-agent players, did a great job of accurately assessing Braylon Edwards market value and letting him go, and took a couple of low-cost fliers on Burress and Mason. Letting Ellis go to the Pats may come back to haunt them. Grade: B-

DP: The Jets made a big stink early on, but really don’t have much to show for it. Holmes and Cromartie are fine, but they’re not difference makers and their contracts are fair to a little high. Signing a couple of washed up WRs makes no difference what so ever. Grade: C

Dolphins: Acquire Reggie Bush, sign Jason Taylor
TJ: Great strategy, if it’s 2006. This team had such momentum in 2009, and has really wasted it all. What a bunch of jokers. Grade: D+
DP: Another team that seems like they have no direction. It feels like the owners don’t want Sporano so Sporano would rather not have Henne because he needs to ‘WIN NOW”. They would like to have Kyle Orten, but only for a #4 not a #3?!?! Losing Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams for Reggie Bush is not an upgrade. My guess is that the team bottoms out and hopefully ownership puts a long-term plan into effect. Grade: F

Bills: Sign Nick Barnett, Brad Smith
TJ: Neither of these guys suck. Barnett will be a decent replacement for Posluszny, and Smith would be a good receiver, if they had a QB. As it is, I’m thinking he’ll be useful returning all those kickoffs after the Bills give up a million touchdowns. The team still stinks, but these are decent signings. Grade: B-

DP: I wouldn’t even call these moves treading water. You know that you’re in trouble when you say to yourself “We gotta get that WR who can throw passes for more trick plays”. Grade: D

AFC West
Raiders: Re-sign Kyle Boller, Michael Huff, Kamerion Wimbley, sign Kevin Boss
TJ: Man, the Raiders HUGELY overpaid for Wimbley (5 years, $48 million, $29 million guaranteed). Kevin Boss is good, but not as good as Zach Miller, the TE they let go. This team had a lot of needs (QB, WR, D-line) that they didn’t address at all, unless you believe in Boller at QB. Plus, they lost the best CB in the game, Asomugha, who got a deal nearly the same as they gave Wimbley (5y, $60m, $25m guaranteed). Al Davis is still a senile nutjob. Grade: D-
DP: I agree the Wimbley signing was absurd. The Raiders downgraded at almost every aspect: Coaching, offense, defense. Grade: F

Chiefs: Re-sign Tamba Hali, sign Steve Breaston, Le’Ron McClain, Kelly Gregg
TJ: Hali was a big reason the Chiefs D surprised some folks last year, and it’s a smart play to keep him. They got a good FB for a cheap 1-year deal in McClain, always a good move, and Gregg also came with a cheap 1-year deal to upgrade the run D. But Breaston has bad knees and they overpaid him. A poor signing at best, and drops them from an A grade. Grade: B

DP: I didn’t love their draft, but I guess time will tell. Nice job re-signing their own guys and picking up good value (Breaston and McClain) in free agency. Grade: B

Chargers: Re-sign Eric Weddle, Malcom Floyd, Billy Volek, Mike Tolbert, Randy McMichael, Franchise Vincent Jackson, sign Bob Sanders, Darren Sproles
TJ: I guess they thought they were good enough last season on D, and it’s hard to argue with their statistics (1st against pass, 4th against run). They passed well last year, and decided to keep the receivers they had, and I gues they think Sproles will help the mediocre running game. Really, I don’t know why they weren’t a better team last year. Shitty coaching, I guess? Grade: B+

DP: On paper it looks like they re-signed a lot of their own guys back and added a low risk/high reward guy in Bob Sanders, but it just feels like in San Diego the pieces never add up to a whole. The GM has pissed off everyone with his “I’m smarter than you’ attitude”, Norv Turner is still the coach, and they have not drafted well. This team feels a lot like last year’s Cowboys team that got off to a slow start and then ‘quit’ on Wade Phillips. Grade: C

Broncos: Re-sign Champ Bailey, acquire Broderick Bunkley, sign Ty Warren and Willis McGahee
TJ: They picked up some nice run stopping with Warren. McGahee could beat out Moreno at RB if Knowshon doesn’t put out. Bailey is old but knows the system, and Bunkley will also help against the run. Overall, not bad, though this is yet another team that could have used some help at WR, and failed to take advantage of a buyer’s market. Grade: B

DP: Signing Bailey, Bunkley, Warren, and McGahee is basically treading water and doesn’t anything better than a “C”. The weird thing is the handling of the Tebow/Orten drama. I have never before seen a QB situation ruin TWO teams like this. The Denver fans are clamoring for Tebow and want no part of Orten. Miami fans are clamoring for Orten and want no part of Henne. Meanwhile all three guy’s confidence is getting crushed while their two teams squabble over a 3rd vs. 4th round pick. How about this guys: a conditional 4th round pick that can move to a 3 if Orten hits certain targets like games played? Wouldn’t that be best for everyone?

OK, on to the real problem. Mike Lombardi made a great point on Colin Cowherd’s show Monday. The real problem with Tebow was firing McDaniel. Denver never drafted Tebow to be a ‘practice guy’, they drafted him on intangibles. So you need to have a head coach in place for several years that can install an offense specifically for him. I think John Fox is a legitimate coach in the NFL, but he seems like a bad match for Tebow. He’s a defense guy and coming off a 2-14 season in Carolina, I don’t think he wants another QB project. The owner needed to step in with a long term plan that was either John Fox and Kyle Orten and try to win now or young Offensive Coordinator who will groom Tebow. Under the circumstances, I would probably trade Tebow and cut the losses. Miami seems like a good spot and maybe San Fran or Seattle. Either way the whole plan of “Try to win with Orten now (unless we get a 3rd round pick) and try to win with Tebow later” doesn’t feel like its gonna work. Grade: D