Offseason Winners and Loser through Two weeks

After two weeks of free agency, it’s safe to say that there is little other than a big trade that would adjust the fortunes of these teams. So why not look at the winners and losers of the offseason to this point? This will include trades as well as free agent signings as well as re-signings and contract extensions. So, without further ado, here we go.

WINNERS

Philadelphia Eagles – I think it goes without saying that the Eagles have probably had the best offseason

to this point. After spending a lot on free agents last year, the Eagles have focused on extending their own players and keeping their team together for the upcoming season. They extended guards Todd Herramans and Evan Mathis, as well as more well-known stars Trent Cole and Desean Jackson.  All of those moves were great, but the move that pushes the Eagles over the top was the trade for Demeco Ryans. They got a pro-bowl caliber middle linebacker for a psalm and they don’t even need to worry about signing him long term since he’s still under the contract he signed in the 2010 offseason. The Eagles have a great offseason and a solid draft could solidify them into a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

Detroit Lions – I’m amazed at how well the Lions have been able to do when they came into the offseason with so little cap space and so many players that needed to be re-signed. I had expected them to cut at least two players to pull off what they’ve done with one contract extension and a few restructured contracts. They got back their left tackle and their middle linebacker at reasonable prices while locking up Megatron to a new contract for almost the rest of his career. Additionally, they’ve been making small re-signings like getting running back Kevin Smith and punter Ben Graham back on short term deals. I love how much emphasis they put on getting their own guys back and how they’ve succeeded at doing that.

San Francisco 49ers – The things I’ve mentioned before are true here. In spite of having a bunch of free agent, the 49ers will return all 11 of their defensive starters as well as numerous offensive weapons including quarterback Alex Smith and receiver/return man Ted Ginn Jr. While they will have to contend with the loss of guard Adam Synder, I don’t think they’ll have a hard time slipping someone into his spot. Now if they can get Dashon Goldson signed to a long-term extension, their defense will be set for a very long time to come.

Atlanta Falcons – I think a lot of people would question me on this selection, but when you consider the three previous teams and examine what the Falcons have done this offseason, it’s not so strange. The Falcons have been almost exclusively re-signing their own free agents and keeping a team that has been to the playoffs three of the past four years together. Also, in almost every case, the Falcons have gotten their payers back at the price they wanted to get them back at. Even though the best free agent they had (LB Curtis Lofton) signed with a different team, the Falcons took a step to address the problem by signing Lofa Tatupu before free agency began in earnest. While none of this makes the Falcons problems go away, they know what they have and aren’t willing to just blow everything up thinking that it’ll equal a three game winning streak in the playoffs. They are absolutely having a great offseason.

St. Louis Rams – This one is a bit of a break from the pattern established by my earlier entries. However, the Rams have done a lot to build their team by addressing major needs with good players, but still leaving areas open to be addressed by younger players. A simple example is their defense. They already had solid young foundation players in defensive end Chris Long and middle linebacker James Laurinaitis. Then they add a good veteran presence in the secondary in Cortland Finnnegan and along the defensive interior with Kendall Langford. I also love the addition of Scott Wells in the middle because I think he can be a calming influence on quarterback Sam Bradford and a unifying force on the offensive line. While a lot of Rams fans will point to the fact that they didn’t sign any major receivers, I think that’s something that they should focus on getting through the draft. That’s one of the reasons I like the signing of Steve Smith. He’s a low risk/high reward signing. If he’s back to the player he was in New York, then he’ll be a great third down receiving option. If not, they lost nothing by signing him. All of this without mentioning the trade they pulled off in offloading the second overall pick. I just like who they’re signing and how they’re not panicking, in spite of their obvious talent issues.

LOSERS

Houston Texans – The Texans have been just beaten down by free agency, and it’s not even that they’ve down anything that wrong. While I don’t like the trade they made that shipped Demeco Ryans out of town, it was somewhat necessary because of how little they used him in the Wade Phillips 3-4 defense. He really was a better fit for a 4-3 defense like the Eagles. My problem with that move is that they could’ve gotten a lot more for him than they did, but I guess they only had one-trading partner. Otherwise, to make cap space for center Chris Myers and the impending contract extension for Matt Schaub, they had to cut Lawrence Vickers and the best right tackle in football in Eric Winston. Both have moved on to other teams. And all of that is before bringing up how they lost top pass rusher Mario Williams to the Bills, starting guard Mike Brisiel to the Raiders, great second tight end Joel Dressen to the Broncos and valuable cornerback Jason Allen to the Bengals. It’s just been a rough offseason for the Texans and they need to be able to reload in free agency or they may be stuck back in the rut they found themselves in before this season.

Miami Dolphins – The Dolphins have just been a mess this offseason. While I do like the signing of cornerback Richard Marshall and bringing back Paul Soliai, the Dolphins took a huge step back by trading Brandon Marshall to the Bears for only two-third round picks and letting Kendall Langford leave for St. Louis. They’ve also released long-time safety Yeremiah Bell, creating more holes in their defense when they were already having a hard time filling holes in their offense. They were rebuffed in the Peyton Manning sweepstakes and even failed to bring Matt Flynn down to reunite with his old offensive coordinator. On the whole, this team is worse off than it was when they finished the season and they must have a productive draft if they want any chance to recover from this.

Carolina Panthers – I loved what the Panthers did last offseason, but this offseason their moves have been just short of bizarre. I do like the signing of safety Haruki Nakamura, but he’s going to be competing with Sherrod Martin for a starting job and that’s not the best signing you want to have for an offseason. They let Dan Connor leave and lost three of their guards this offseason. It creates a need at guard that they really didn’t need and I’m not totally convinced that Mike Pollack will be the guy at either position. Additionally, signing Mike Tolbert and not trading any of their running backs makes absolutely not sense. Tolbert is purely a power back with little value in another role other than maybe fullback. To have him there and not trying to get value for Jonathan Stewart is just not a smart move in my mind.

Oakland Raiders – The Raiders were severely handicapped by how far over the salary cap they were, but still it’s really hard to lose so many free agents in one year. They ended up having to cut a number of their cornerbacks and safeties as well as Kamerion Wimbley to get under the salary cap. While I will give them credit for keeping part of their offensive line together, but they really need to have a good draft and see who they can grab at the end of training camp.