Is it football season yet?
Wow, what a fun start to free agency! I mean, seriously, is anyone still alive since the last time fans legitimately had a reason to think the Cleveland Browns were contenders for anything before the season even started? They were winless two seasons ago, for crying out loud.
I'm loving that the Giants are on the other side of this seesaw. Their decline signals a few things. First of all, the Giants being stubborn enough to trade a top-three receiver in the league as young as Odell Beckham Jr. just means they'd rather avoid paying him big bucks or or want to avoid drama or whatever stupid reason they're trying to use to justify it to themselves. Secondly, the Giants are entering total rebuild mode, which means the draft picks they got from Cleveland might be used to help acquire a quarterback of the future, possibly in a trade package for the No. 1 pick from Arizona (should the Cardinals prefer to keep Josh Rosen at QB instead of taking Kyler Murray). Anyway you slice it, though, keeping a premiere receiver around is useful. I'm sure Baker Mayfield will enjoy allowing a receiver make him look much better than he is. What's great about all this is the team's commitment to Eli Manning is the catalyst for this downturn, and as a Niners' fan who'll never forgive the Giants for stealing that championship game away from them, I'm happy to see that Manning's two rings aren't shiny to erase the fact that he always has been, and always will be, an overrated quarterback who had one or two lucky toss-ups go his way when they were needed most.
Teams on the West Coast are certainly improving. My boys picked up a top-notch pass rusher in Dee Ford, who might make the Niners' defensive line one of the best in the league (they were underrated and undermined by an atrocious secondary, even with Richard Sherman not totally sucking). Picking up Tevin Coleman on a two-year deal was a fantastic move. It's insurance in case Jerick McKinnon, one of last year's splashy free-agent pickups who spent all year on the sidelines with Jimmy G. after tearing his ACL, doesn't turn out to be an every-down back. Coleman is a little bigger, but still fast and can break loose for big gains at any time. Throw in Matt Brieda, who was Pro Football Focus's highest rated running back for like the first two months of the season, and the Niners easily have the deepest stable of running backs in the league. Of course, Brieda could end up as a trade piece, but hopefully not.
Then there's the Raiders. Trading for one of the other top-three receivers in the league was a bold move, but also a tiny bit curious. Clearly they're willing to pay high-performing athletes top dollars, but for some reason, Kalil Mack didn't fall in that category...oh wait, he just turned in a defensive MVP-type season (it's kind of frustrating Aaron Donald won again, honestly, because Mack had a far greater impact on his defense). In any case, seeing Antonio Brown get a new start in Oakland is fascinating. Will he be able to put up the same kind of numbers with a different QB throwing to him? And in an offense that hasn't been as prolific? Or will Brown actually elevate the Raiders' offense that much? I think the answer is no to both of those, but Brown will still be a force who could help the Raiders get back on track.
Speaking of stupid moves, Le'Veon Bell's holdout saga finally came to a close because he was willing to sign a large contract...with the Jets. Really?! The Jets? Okay, so there's like a 1.5% chance I'm totally wrong and the Jets will begin to ascend to division/Wild Card contenders (they won't), but seriously, how is there any way Bell or anyone can view this as a win for the star running back? Sure, he got marginally more guaranteed money this way, maybe even a little more than marginally. But to think about the money he passed up from Pittsburgh's previous offer, coupled with the fact that he missed an entire year's salary, it's highly doubtful he'll really make up that money. Then there's the question of whether he'll be the same quality player after taking a year off. On the other hand, if Bell's move means more players fight for slightly lower-valued contracts if it means they get more guaranteed money, then I guess there was an upside. It is crummy that injured players sometimes get the shaft from organizations, but surely contracts include provisions for that kind of stuff these days, right? The Steelers still come off looking great, though, because they are taking care of injured linebacker Ryan Shazier by still paying him a salary even though he might never play another snap again.
Nick Foles getting a chance to start comes as no surprise, and it's really no surprise that he landed with the Jaguars. Earlier in the offseason, the Jaguar organization recommitted themselves to Blake Bortles (the Giants did that with Odell, and the Cowboys did a similar thing with one of their players. More on that later). They were trying to say that the Jaguars weren't bad because of Bortles. In part, they were right; the defense took a big step backwards, which is to expected when they play higher-caliber opponents as a division winner as opposed to the easier schedule they had two seasons ago in their championship year (I still maintain they got robbed in that Patriots' game, but oh well). Now, though, the Jaguars clearly don't believe Bortles can get the job done, so they cut him to make room for Foles. I get why Foles is a big question mark in the eyes of some. He's a Super Bowl winner who, at times, looked like he didn't deserve a starting job. But he also had that incredible, what was it, 27-2 touchdown-interception stretch during regular-season play? I don't think he'll be any worse than Bortles was, that's for sure.
It must've been hard for the Eagles to let go of a such a great locker-room guy. There's another team that made a move this week that might've been even tougher: Kansas City. There's little doubt that cutting Eric Berry was difficult to do, but unfortunately for them, it seems like it was the right move to make. Who knows if he'll ever return to form, and the Chiefs' are kind of gutting their defense anyway. Switching to a 4-3 means a lot of personnel changes (hence the exit for Dee Ford), and though a safety's skills usually hold up in either system, it seems they're focusing on truly fixing that defense by any means necessary (surely they won't cut Justin Houston, too, though. Right?)
Moves like that make it clear what an organization is trying to accomplish. Where I have issues is when a coach or GM says something like "We didn't re-sign Odell just to trade him" a couple months before they, you know, trade him. Sure, a lot can happen in two months, and I know they have to save face to the public and keep their cards close to their chest. But man, do they end up looking incredibly stupid in the long run.
I was talking to a friend at work who is a Cowboys fan - I was friends with her before I knew that about her (just kidding ;) if any of you are Cowboys' fans) - and she was telling me that the Cowboys had plans to incorporate Cole Beasley into the offense even more next season. Apparently that meant the Cowboys didn't want to use him at all, because Beasley will be suiting up with the Bills next year. I just hate when organizations do that, though. I'm not demanding total transparency, but just keep that kind of stuff out of the media if you don't mean it.
Speaking of Bills Mafia, they've picked up a few nice pieces on offense to complement their young quarterback, including my boy Frank Gore! Sure, Gore won't be the starter, but at this point in his career, he's nothing short of a marvel who keeps plugging along in the backfield. He'll forever be a Niner in my heart, and he is maybe a top 5 favorite Niner of mine all-time.
Speaking of former Niners, the Chiefs made a nice signing with Carlos Hyde. He'll give them physicality between the tackles, something perhaps Williams might not be fully suited to handle for an entire season, though his starts the last few weeks of the season and the playoffs were impressive. It's like they didn't even miss Kareem Hunt.
And I guess that brings me back full circle. The Browns' offense is full of stars and top performers, and they're all young. In any other situation, I'd be worried about them forming a long dynasty. But the Browns' track record has me worried they won't maintain this. Hopefully I'm wrong. Hopefully the Browns give the city of Cleveland a reason to move on from the LeBron James era (hey, you didn't think I'd pass up a chance to take a dig at my least favorite basketball player, did you?)
Notes:
-The Packers have made some sneaky good defensive moves that might finally get that defense over the hump.
-The Ravens, one of my two most hated teams ever, signed Earl Thomas, formerly a Seattle Seahawk (my absolute least favorite team).
-The Patriots are up to their usual tricks of behind-the-scenes moves. As good as the AFC East is trying to be, the division title still runs through New England.