Tag Archive: NFL Free agency

So Long Shady

March 6, 2015 Adam Thomas

The Shady McCoy trade was a great example of a trade that seems to help both teams. Buffalo most definitely improves in the short term and the Eagles would seem to benefit more down the road. The trade also cannot be viewed as simply a player for player swap as an astute reader of the Headrush pointed out that the trade is Kiko and 10 million dollars in cap space for Shady–so it is really Kiko and whoever the Eagles sign in free agency for McCoy.

However, what I don’t like about the trade is that it looks like Chip Kelly is clearly in control of both coaching and personnel moves for the Eagles. This would scare me if I were an Eagles fan because I don’t think Chip has done enough in his brief tenure to have earned that power. He has only made the playoffs once and, save for the first game the system was implemented against the Redskins, the league has seemed to caught up with his up-tempo offense.

He also seems to be incredibly stubborn when it comes to getting rid of talented players. Desean Jackson would’ve helped the team last year. Shady would’ve helped the team this year. And for some reason, he doesn’t seem to like Nick Foles. It seems like instead of simply wanting to win, Kelly wants to win and get all the credit for being the mastermind behind the team’s success.

And I will say this, for a coach who seems to believe in player nutrition–smoothies! Fruits! Vegetables! No more junk food!–as part of his revolutionary ‘system’ shouldn’t he be buying into the program himself? It can’t be easy to have to hear about nutrition in the Eagles team meetings from a guy who looks like an avocado.

Anyway, getting back to the topic, if the Eagles sign a guy like Mark Ingram or CJ Spiller for $3-5 million, then can sign 1-2 other players with the remaining money, I think that the trade looks better for the Eagles. If, however, they waste the money on some more Oregon scrubs, well, than I think they are the clear losers in the deal.

Free Agency

Want to see how much more loaded the 2015 free agent class is than the 2014 free agent class? Look no further than the top 10 free agents available from each year:

2014:

Jairus Byrd, Eugene Monroe, Michael Johnson, Alex Mack, Lamarr Houstin, Jared Veldeer, Brandon Albert, Alterraun Verner, Michael Bennett, Aqib Talib.

2015:

Ndamukong Suh, Justin Houstin, Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Jason Pierre-Paul, Julius Thomas, Mike Iupati, Randall Cobb, Devin McCourty, DeMarco Murray.

Good God! It’s night and day! In 2014, two freaking Raiders made the top 10, that’s how weak that free agency class was. This year, holy smokes, it is LOADED.

Now, granted, some of those names in the top 10 received the franchise tag already, but 10-25 looks even better than the top ten from last year. Needless to say, this is the year to have all the monies.

Bracketology

People get on Kiper and McShay all the time for the stupidity of their Mock Drafts but is there anything stupider on ESPN (talent excluded) than Bracketology? I mean, “Joey Brackets” has to have the eaiest job in the world. Just look at the rankings, factor in strength of schedule aaaaaand your done. In fact, his job gets easier once all the conference tournaments are done and half the field is set, so I’m not even sure what he does all day. Look at rankings, look at strength of schedule, go back to sleep.

Album of the week

Last week, I talked about how the women were rocking it this year, so this week’s album will dip into last year and be very male centric as it’s Tomorrow’s Hits by The Men. Not only is the album lean and mean at 8 tracks (which a lot of albums are trending towards these days) but I watched a video of them on the AV Club and the bass player looked like Fat Mac from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. So definite bonus points for that.

Until next time….

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Random Friday Thoughts

February 27, 2015 Adam Thomas

1.) NFL free agency is about to start so let’s keep one thing in mind that I’ve talked about on this blog before: whoever wins free agency is not going to win in the regular season. Do the Patriots ever ‘Win’ free agency? No. Teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win free agency. In fact, they were declared winners by many media outlets last year and what did that get them? The number one pick in this year’s draft. The Bills won free agency in 2012 by signing Mario Williams and haven’t sniffed the playoffs since. Keep this in mind when players start flying off the shelves on March 10.

With that being said, I will definitely be up at midnight on March 10 to see who the Raiders pick up. Just because it’s fools gold doesn’t mean it’s not fun to imagine that it’s the real thing!

2.) If you can give up Michael Carter-Williams and get (potentially) the number 4 pick in the one of the next two drafts or a top ten pick in this year’s draft, I don’t have a problem with it. Put it this way, with MCW the Sixers were terrible. Without MCW, the Sixers are terrible. They aren’t winning any games this year with or without him so why not capitalize on the best value you can get for an over valued player like MCW? I like it.

And if you are doubtful of Hinkie, just take a moment to watch his press conference. The dude seems like an evil genius and I have no doubt that when the time comes, he will strike and bring a superstar to the Sixers because remember, that’s what you need in the NBA. You need one of those guys like Lebron if you want to win a championship. You don’t get there by holding onto players like MCW when a chance at the potential number 4 pick (in 2016 or 2017) comes around.

Some notable picks at #4: Chris Paul, Chris Bosh and Russell Westbrook.

If you can acquire a pick with the potential to turn MCW into a player like that, go for it.

3.) Speaking of NBA teams, for some reason, I just don’t trust the Warriors to make it out of the West. Call it the curse of Iggy, but they just seem like they aren’t there yet. Why do I feel like it will be Memphis or San Antonio this year?

4.) The album of the week is Colleen Green’s “I Want to Grow Up.” Which is the balls. In fact, let’s just do a quick shout out to the lady rockers out there who keep churning out some of the best albums around. This year, Sleater-Kinney dominated January, now Colleen Green is rocking February, what’s next for March? Guess we’ll have to find out.

Until next time…

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Free Agency Winners from….2012

March 13, 2013 Adam Thomas

mcmichael_leap-01-2Free agency is always one of the most exciting and mind boggling times of the NFL year. Exciting because players move around nimbly bimbly from team to team, and mind boggling because teams are always declared ‘Winners’ and ‘Losers.’ The fact of the matter is that most of the time, the ‘Winners’ of free agency are still ‘Losers’ when it comes time to play actual football.  Don’t believe me?  Well then let’s take a look at some of last year’s supposed ‘Winners’ according to John Clayton from ESPN.

1.) “The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the 2012 free-agency winners by grabbing Vincent Jackson, Carl Nicks and Eric Wright,” said Clayton. Most pundits pegged the Bucs as free agency winners last year.  And what did that winning get them? A 7-9 season and last place in the NFC South.

2.) The Buffalo Bills were also considered winners because they signed Mario Williams. A 6-10 record (last place in the AFC East) later and we all know what that did for them.

3.) Washington Redskins.  OK, but Clayton puts them on this list largely because they put themselves in a position to draft Robert Griffin III. And there ain’t no RGIII this year.

So Dolphins and Browns fans beware.  Even though your team is ‘Winning’ free agency, it may not matter when the leaves change.

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