Early Free Agency Thoughts

The steady salary cap of the past couple of years has kept the number of explosive contracts down. The teams with a ton of salary cap room like the Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, and Miami Dolphins were particularly active. The Denver Broncos kept finding a way to be. The contract signed by Mike Wallace might have been the biggest in numbers but it was far from the biggest surprise. You'd expect the top difference-making receiver to get one of the biggest contracts. No, the biggest surprise, for me, were the contracts signed by a couple of offensive tackles. The Chicago Bears signed Jermon Bushrod to a 5-year $36 million contract. The Colts signed Gosder Cherilus to a similar 5-year $34 million contract. In comparison, the Minnesota Vikings re-signed right tackle Phil Loadholt to a comparatively modest 4-year $25 million contract. The Bears were desperate for offensive line help. Quarterback Jay Cutler was getting killed behind that Chicago line. The Bushrod contract showed that desperation. The only thing that I ever saw Cherilus do that stood out in Detroit was when he tried to end the career of Jared Allen with a helmet to the knee. That hardly warrants a big payday. Cherilus was a first round pick that had warn out his welcome with the Lions. I don't think that they even made an attempt to re-sign him. Who knows, maybe the Colts coaches can bring out of him the talent that the Lions must have seen when they drafted him. Despite this signing, I mostly liked the players that the Colts added during the early days of free agency:

T   Gosder Cherilus
CB Greg Toler
S   Laron Landry
LB Erik Walden
G   Donald Thomas
DE Ricky Jean-Francois
-I especially like the Toler, Landry and Thomas signings. Walden was terrific for the Packers against the Vikings in the playoffs. The next week he spent the entire game staring at the back of Colin Kaepernick's jersey.

A couple others that I liked:

Broncos
WR Wes Welker
DT  Terrence Knighton
G    Luis Vasquez
CB  Dominique Rogers-Cromartie
LB   Stewart Bradley
-Manning and Welker. Oh my. Vasquez might have been one of the best lineman bargains. This group becomes awesome if Bradley can get back to the way that he played in Philadelphia.

Eagles
TE James Casey
S   Patrick Chung
DT Isaac Sopoaga
CB Bradley Fletcher
LB Jason Phillips
CB Cary Williams
S   Kenny Phillips
LB Connor Barwin
-I like this group a whole lot better than the "dream team" crap of a couple of years ago. Casey could be a monster in Chip Kelly's offense.

The Wes Welker out, Danny Amendola in, transaction in New England was interesting. Now, the word is that the Patriots had already signed Amendola when Welker bolted for Denver. I think that this is a win, win for both teams. Welker and Manning is scary. So is Brady and Amendola. The key to both teams winning is Amendola staying healthy. That guy is a little beast if he can stay on the field.

Salary cap room rarely means a thing. The Detroit Lions added Reggie Bush, Jason Jones, Glover Quinn and re-signed Chris Houston with about $6 million in salary cap space.