It’s remarkable how fast things can change in today’s NFL.
A week ago at this time there simply wasn’t a whole lot going on in the NFL. Sure there was heated debate about what was to come, but there were very few significant developments to truly sink one’s teeth into. Speculation about franchise tags ran rampant as did rumors about the impending free agency period, but there was nothing truly concrete to be discussed.
Last week certainly seems like a long time ago.
In the last six days, the NFL landscape has changed dramatically and it feels like the 2015 season is already underway. Monday’s franchise tag deadline passed with five players receivers receiving the tender: Cowboys’ receiver Dez Bryant, Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston, Broncos’ receiver Demaryius Thomas, Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowsi, and Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. Dolphins tight end Charles Clay was the lone player to receive the less bally-hooed transition tag, and thus all six of these men will almost certainly remain with their current clubs in 2015.
Bryant, Houston, and Thomas were all seen as locks to be tagged, but there were a few surprises at the eleventh hour to keep folks captivated. Many people were surprised that the Patriots elected to franchise Gostkowski rather than safety Devin McCourty, but how can anyone confidently argue with any decision that Bill Belichick makes? Pierre-Paul being tagged may have raised some eyebrows, but was ultimately the right move. The dominance he flashed prior to his last few injury-riddled seasons was reason enough for the Giants to gamble on his return to elite status. Clay was expected to have a reasonably active market in free agency and so the Dolphins made the necessary move to keep a promising young player in the fold.
It was a newsworthy NFL week already, and then the events of Wednesday happened.
In a stunning blockbuster deal, the Philadelphia Eagles agreed to trade running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Kiko Alonso. The move gives the Eagles approximately $8.5 million in cap space to play with while reuniting Alonso with his college coach Chip Kelly, but comes at the expense of one of the league’s best runners. McCoy, the NFL’s 2013 rushing champion who ran for 2,926 yards during his two year stint in Kelly’s offense, was expected to be approached in the off-season about a possible contract restructuring, but no one saw this coming. Alonso was a sensational rookie in 2013 prior to missing all of 2014 with an ACL tear, but is expected to make a full return to his pre-injury form. The move instantly upgrades both the Eagles’ defense and the Bills’ offense, but we won’t truly know who won this deal for years to come.
The Bills then made a deal to acquire a quarterback, trading a picks to the Minnesota Vikings for Matt Cassel. Cassel will come to camp and compete for the starting job with incumbent E.J. Manuel. Within 24 hours, the Buffalo Bills had given their offense a completely new look with Cassel and McCoy in the backfield.
Throughout the course of the week, many veteran players were released or otherwise informed they would not be returning to the team they made their names with, leaving them without homes for the 2015 season. Some of the moves were expected, while others were surprises. Trent Cole, Reggie Wayne, Vince Wilfork, Cary Williams, along with many others are now all on the market as free agency approaches, to the surprise and chagrin of many fans.
Then, just prior to press time the Chicago Bears made a big move of their own, trading five time Pro Bowl wideout Brandon Marshall to the New York Jets for a fifth-round pick. The move shakes up a Bears organization that experienced it’s share of chaos in 2014, but costs them a talented, hard-working player with an excellent resume. Meanwhile, the Marshall acquisition give the Jets a formidable pass-catching duo in the form of Marshall and last year’s free agent signing Eric Decker. While the Jets are currently in the midst of a rebuild, a splashy move like this is always welcome in the eyes of the media, and Marshall will likely continue to succeed just as he has throughout his entire career.
With all of these moves taking place, it’s easy to forget that we are now entering the three-day window wherein franchises are allowed to negotiate with other teams’ free agents prior to the official start of the 2015 free agency period on Tuesday. With so many top notch players set to hit the market, the rumor mill will be churning at an unprecedented pace. After a week of massive upheaval in the NFL even greater change is on the horizon. Where will Ndamukong Suh land? Devin McCourty? Randall Cobb? The list goes on and on.
It’s impossible to predict what will happen next in the sport we love, but half the fun is trying to. Let the speculation begin. We’ll have our answers soon enough.
Thanks for reading, everyone.
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