The Football Diner Big Top 5
When Free Agency Attacks
by Jody Jamieson
5/3/2008
 
When the clock struck midnight last Thursday night/Friday morning, the money men in the NFL sprung into action almost immediately. The opening of the free agency period is always an exciting time in the NFL as it's the time when the big names are open to talk to any team who shows an interest, and they usually get paid mega-bucks. Trades are an option again, and as always there's been a few interesting developments. This time round on Top Fives, we look at the happenings that didn't quite go to plan.
 
5. Ricardo Colclough gets $2million a year from Carolina.
 
My only question. How? I know free agency is always a great time for guys to get over paid, but how can anyone justify paying this guy at all, never mind $2million a year! Colclough was drafted by Pittsburgh in the second round in 2004, but his Steelers career never quite took off, to put it kindly. The Steelers have a history of hitting well in the Draft, but this one was a major mistake. Despite not being cut till last season by Pittsburgh, he never started a single game, which was a blessing as when he did take part, he regularly looked dodgy in coverage. For soccer fans - specifically Newcastle United and Leicester City fans - for Colclough think Nikos Dabizas. That guy who when he makes a mistake has a canny knack of making it look horrible.
 
The Browns took a shot in October when he was cut, but they saw sense pretty quickly. This guy sucks. Unfortunately, the Panthers are the latest team to believe they can make a player out of Colclough. Good luck John Fox. You're going to need it.
 
4. The Dolphins redesign their team in less than two days.
 
One team that didn't hang around as the market re-opened on Friday was the Miami Dolphins. Bill Parcells wasted absolutely no time in ripping the starting line-up and pretty much starting again, making changes all over the field. They made a few pick-ups defensively, bringing in two brand new defensive tackles in Randy Starks and Jason Ferguson. Both will likely start come September. They brought in Giants linebacker Reggie Torbor also, who will be an upgrade, aswell as Charlie Anderson from Houston. Offensively they added Jaguars receiver Ernest Wilford, and quarterback Josh McCown from Oakland. The biggest pick up on offense was the signing of 49ers guard Justin Smiley. They also added tight end depth, signing Sean Ryan from the Jets.
 
I'm pretty sure they aren't finished yet, as Parcells will not settle for a mediocre season, regardless of how bad they were last year. They should add even more talent with the #1 Draft choice, and suddenly Dolpin fans have hope. I don't see them competiting for the playoffs next year, but look for them to be much improved.
 
3. Al Davis makes a DE the highest paid DT in football.
 
Only in Oakland. Tommy Kelly is scheduled to make the move to defensive tackle next season. He was also scheduled to become a free agent, and Oakland felt they couldn't afford to lose him. A 7-year, $50.5million contract later, and the Raiders have their man. Kelly is a decent run stopper, but it goes to show by how much the Raiders are having to overpay to get their man. Kelly is coming off ACL surgery which makes their investment even more of a risk.
 
Gibril Wilson switched from the World Champion Giants to Oakland via free agency also. Wilson is a good safety, but again, hugely overpaid by the Raiders. I know you have to overpay slightly to get your man in free agency, as the Eagles did with Asante Samuel, and the Vikings did with Bernard Berrian, but a 6 year $36million contract is obscene. Wilson is a reasonable but hardly and elite safety, and compare him deal with Bob Sanders. The defensive player of the year for 2007 signed a new deal with Indianapolis for 5 years and $37.5million. Not a huge amount more than Wilson.
 
I actually worry about the Oakland Raiders and what the future holds for them as a franchise. After the situation with JaMarcus Russell's holdout last year, and now this, it's becoming increasingly obvious that the Raiders hold no leverage when it comes to signing new talent or even keeping their existing players. Al Davis is constantly ridiculed by the media and overall there may be worrying times ahead for Raider fans.
 
2. Shaun Rogers traded to Cincinnati. Wait...
 
This was a bizarre situation. bengals.com excitedly hailed the arrival of Lions defensive tackle Shaun Rogers via a trade, rumoured to be a third and fifth round pick. However Cincinnati GM Mike Brown didn't really think about the whole situation. Rogers was due a $1million roster bonus on the opening of free agency, and didn't fancy paying it. They had him on the block and despite Denver being early favourites to pick him up, the Bengals thought they has sealed the deal. Unfortunately for them, the bonus was due to go on last seasons cap, and because Cincy had no cap space last year, they deal was voided. The Cleveland Browns swooped in and offered cornerback Leigh Bodden and a fifth rounder, which Detriot was more than happy to accept.
 
Ultimately, it just made Cincinati look bad. They seem to be repeating the madness, to a lesser extent, in their efforts to take Jet's DT Dewayne Robertson. I looks like they have backed out of that one also, but at least this time it is by choice. The Rogers situation was a hideous piece of business by the Bengals and just made the look terrible.
 
1. Randy Moss hits the market.
 
So ultimately Moss has resigned with the Pats, and there was little doubt that it was going to happen. It was interesting to hear reports come out that Philadelphia actually offered MORE money to Moss than New England did. I think we all knew that Moss was going to be playing in New England in 2008, but the biggest surprise is that it took so long.
 
I'm actually a little surprised Moss wasn't tied up to a new deal during the regular season. New England may have decided to concentrate on football rather than worrying about deals during the season, which is their prerogative. It looked for all the world that he would be designated the franchise tag, but that never came along. We assumed that the reason he wasn't given the tag was that the Patriots already had a long-term contract in place. We expected the deal to be announced when the market opened on Friday, but again nothing was done.
 
Off-Season Thoughts
 
I worry that the Chicago Bears letting Mushin Muhammed and Bernard Berrian go is a sign that they see Devin Hester as a potential number number two wide receiver. Chicago have thus far made little effort to improve an already stuttering offense, and losing Berrian has only gone and made it worse. Hester playing as a receiver on a lot of snaps may have an adverse effect on his return abilities. I reckon the Bears don't spend a single Draft pick on defense till at the very earliest the fourth round.
 
I'm sorry to disappoint Eagles fans, but I am pretty confident that Larry Fitzgerald won't be in midnight green in 2008. Sure, he is going to rip apart the Cardinals cap with his mega contract, and Alan Faneca's agent commented that Fitzgerald's contract ruled Arizona out of the race for the former Steelers guard. But at the end of the day, some people seem to be of the assumption that Fitzgerald is going to be traded to Philadelphia, and then re-negotiate his contract to make it far more manageable. If he's playing hardball in Arizona, why all of a sudden is he going to be so co-operative in Philadelphia? Makes little sense to me.
 
How much will losing three defensive players hurt the New York Giants? I reckon they can cope pretty will with it. Reggie Torbor is limited, and while I'm sure they'd have rather kept Gibril Wilson, I'm pretty sure they can replace him. Kawika Mitchell may be a big loss, but with Antonio Pierce and Mathias Kiwanuka already there, they should be fine. The most important thing for them is keeping their front four intact, and as long as they can do that, then they will not suffer too badly.
 
Final Thought
 
So Brett Favre has officially called it a day. It's always a sad day when an NFL great hangs it up, especially coming off such a wonderful year where he led the Green Bay Packers to a 13-3 record and the NFC Championship Game. This year saw him pass his way to so many records, namely the most touchdown passes and passing yards in a career.
 
I am always torn on situations like this. While I am sad to see Favre go, I am absolutely delighted he went out on a high. I know his last pass of his career was the interception that led to the Giants game winning field goal, but after commenting in pre-season that "this team could be anywhere from 10-6 to 6-10" to go on and have the season he did was fantastic.
 
I hope there is already a space reserved at Canton for Brett's bust in 2013.