The NFL new year officially started less than three days ago and already the league has been shaken up and there will be plenty of familiar faces in new places. From Tom Brady ending his twenty-year career in New England, to top tier players being traded in their prime like Darius Slay and DeAndre Hopkins. The official starts of NFL seasons are always intriguing, but this has been one of the wildest ever.
Before the new year even started, we had to run through the franchise and transition tag period which saw some big-name players get tagged. The biggest of the names that were tagged were Cowboys QB Dak Prescott and Titans RB Derrick Henry.
Both of these tags occurred due to these teams offering up large contracts to retain other potential free agents. Instead of giving a long-term contract to Derrick Henry, the Titans decided to give that contract to the QB who turned the team around when he took over—Ryan Tannehill. On the other side you have the Cowboys who knew what they needed to do and resigned WR Amari Cooper so Prescott can have a number one guy to throw to.
There were other big deals that happened before the league became official such as Krik Cousins agreeing to a two-year extension with the Vikings and Austin Hooper becoming the NFL’s highest-paid TE by signing with the Cleveland Browns.
However, the biggest news that happened before the league became official was the first of many blockbuster trades to happen this offseason. The trade between the Arizona Cardinals and the Houston Texans completely shocked the world, especially since the Cardinals gave up virtually nothing. In order to get star WR DeAndre Hopkins and a 2020 fourth-round pick, the Cardinals had to give up a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick along with RB David Johnson.
This was by far the strangest thing to happen so far this offseason, it’s not like Hopkins was in the final year of his contract, he still had three years remaining and getting a running back who has seen his best day due to injury this trade made no sense from the Texans perspective.
Although this may have been the strangest thing to happen so far in the free agent period, there has still been no shortage of topics to talk about.
The Baltimore Ravens still have a relatively new general manager in Eric DeCosta but so far, he has shown that he is not shy when it comes to making a trade. After coming off the trade that “shocked” the league last season by trading K Kaare Vedvik for a fifth-round pick and also trading for pro bowler CB Marcus Peters later in the season, DeCosta has already made two big trades which shakes things up in Baltimore.
With DT Michael Pierce leaving for free agency—signed with Minnesota— DeCosta knew he had to toughen up the defensive line and he did just that by trading the 2020 fifth-round pick the Ravens got from the Falcons for DE Calais Campbell. The Ravens then traded one of their big three TE’s in Hayden Hurst along with that 2020 fourth-round to the Atlanta Falcons for a 2020 second-round pick and a 2020 fifth-round pick—the one used in Calais Campbell trade.
The Browns made some big splashes on the offensive end by signing tight end Austin Hooper to a record braking deal and they also added one of the best run blockers in the game in RT Jack Conklin. They also added a backup QB to play behind Baker Mayfield in Case Keenum, a good veteran to have in the locker room.
If the Browns made one of the biggest splashes on the offensive end than the Dolphins may have made one of the biggest splashes on the defensive end by signing CB Byron Jones, making him the highest-paid corner in the NFL. The Dolphins’ signing didn’t stop there, they then added LB Kyle Van Noy who will be reunited with his former coach Brian Flores.
The Patriots have had some tough luck so far this offseason, from losing two of their top LB’s in Kyle Van Noy (Miami) and Jamie Collins (Detroit) to losing the foundation to their offense in Tom Brady.
Brady was adamant about playing this season, but he made the decision it would not be with the Patriots. Instead, Brady went to the other conference and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a two-year deal. Brady will now be playing with one of the best receiving corps in the game.
While the Patriots were losing players, the Bills were adding to their roster, making the second blockbuster trade of the offseason. This trade was definitely less lopsided than the first big trade of Hopkins, the Bills added WR Stefon Diggs in exchange for multiple draft picks, including a first-round pick.
Another big trade we saw was between the 49ers and the Colts in which DE Deforest Buckner was sent to the Colts in exchange for the 13th overall pick in the 2020 draft. The Colts weren’t done there, they also added QB Phillip Rivers on a one-year deal.
Finally, the last big blockbuster trade occurred between the Lions and the Eagles. The Eagles needed to bolster up their secondary and that is exactly what they did by getting one of the top CB’s in the game in Darius Slay in exchange for a 2020 third-round pick and a 2020 fifth-round pick. This was exactly what the Eagles needed to do, and they nailed in on the head with this trade.
The Bears have also made their mark so far this offseason, they have added to both their offense and defense other including DE Robert Quinn and trading for QB Nick Foles from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
These are not the only names that have moved during free agency, RB’s Davonte Freeman and Todd Gurley have been released by their former teams and Todd Gurley has already landed a new home on a one-year deal in Atlanta.
More names are bound to end up in new places as free agency is just getting kicked into gear, but for the first half-week of the free agent period, it has been one of the craziest.