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Indianapolis Colts among five teams that made questionable free-agent signings - NFL - ESPN
By Sam Monson
NFL free agency represents a brief period of each offseason where fans get to dream a little. The market is full of quality potential additions to every roster, and most teams (especially this year) have money to spend that is burning a hole in their pockets.
Then that hope gets dashed by signings that just don't make sense. The money gets squandered, and the dream free agent heads to somebody else's roster.
Let's take a look at five teams that have made such moves during the first week of free agency in 2015:
Note: For our grades on all the big deals so far, click here.
Indianapolis Colts: The 2010 Pro Bowl roster
For some reason, the Colts appear to be stuck in a time warp this free agency period. They have signed Andre Johnson, Frank Gore and Trent Cole, all of whom were at the top of their game four years ago when they made the 2010 Pro Bowl rosters. There's an argument that 2010 was Todd Herremans' best season, too (another Colts signing); and if it wasn't, his was even longer ago, back in 2008.
Any one of these signings in isolation makes sense. Every team needs a smattering of veteran leadership and experience on the field and throughout the roster, and most teams have guys like this in any given season. It's going out and signing a whole platoon of them that makes no sense.
Each of these players appears to objectively be on the decline from his best form, and the chances are that each is more likely to continue that downward trend given their age and the adjustment of moving to a new team than they are to reverse it. The Colts have signed a collection of players at positions of need who are all fading in ability, while for the most part ignoring younger options, despite having the money to spend. One or two of these signings may work out and represent upgrades to the team, but it's a senseless approach to free agency overall from Indianapolis.
Arizona Cardinals: Mike Iupati, G
There is no doubt that Mike Iupati was one of the best guards available this free agency period, if not the best, and Arizona's play at the position last year was horrible, so on the face of it this deal makes perfect sense, right? The issue is that Iupati is a pretty one-dimensional player -- strong and powerful as a run-blocker, but struggling throughout his career as a pass protector.
Arizona passes far more than San Francisco does, and when they pass it tends to be a deep shot on a deep dropback -- the toughest assignment for a pass protector. In 2014, the 49ers passed on 58.1 percent of their plays on offense, 25th in the league, and Iupati surrendered seven sacks, the most in the league at the position. While some of that can be explained by Iupati carrying an injury much of the season, he has never earned a positive grade at PFF over a season for pass protection, grading below average every single year as a pro. The Cardinals needed to upgrade at guard, but they have done so by bringing in one singularly unqualified to fit their offense.
Kansas City Chiefs: Jeremy Maclin, WR
The Chiefs needed a wide receiver; that's no secret. Their stretch of no touchdowns being scored by a wideout has become infamous, and it now stretches 18 games, back to the 2013 season. The issue is that they threw a lot of money at a player who has only really shown the ability to be a difference-maker once: last season, in Chip Kelly's unconventional offense.
Under Kelly this past season, Maclin played a career-high 1,043 snaps, earned a career-high plus-9.1 PFF grade, was targeted a career-high 140 times, caught a career-high 85 balls for a career-high 1,318 and a career-high 10 touchdowns. Can you spot the trend? He also dropped a career-low number of passes; just one.
If you compare those to his career averages before Kelly arrived -- or, under Andy Reid, the coach he will now be rejoining in Kansas City -- he averaged 173 fewer snaps, 39 fewer targets, 21 fewer receptions, 456 fewer yards and three fewer touchdowns. And Andy Reid just OK'd a contract that pays Maclin $11 million per season. That makes him the sixth-highest paid receiver in the league, fourth if you discount Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas, who are playing at the moment on the one-year inflated figure of the franchise tag.
Maclin's numbers may go up from his Reid average in Philadelphia now that he is the undisputed No. 1 WR in Kansas City, but the tape shows a player who is unlikely to match, or even approach, his 2014 totals.
Philadelphia Eagles: Ryan Mathews, RB
The Eagles' merry-go-round at running back has been entertaining, to say the least. In pretty rapid succession, they have gone from a presumed starter of LeSean McCoy to Frank Gore to Ryan Mathews and now to DeMarco Murray. The final move left Mathews presumably out in the cold, but rather than walk out on the agreed deal, he elected to sign with the Eagles anyway, consigning him to the bench or spot duty at best.
The Eagles may not want to punish Murray with the workload he received in Dallas in 2014 (449 total touches, the sixth most in NFL history), but they're not going to let him become just another back in a committee. Darren Sproles is there to provide the hands out of the backfield, leaving not a whole lot left for Mathews to do.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Jared Odrick, DL
All of the moves the Jaguars made fit with what they are trying to do, but they just leave you with the sense that the team lacked ambition, given the war chest in cap space they had to play with before free agency opened. Odrick perhaps represents that the best, though the signings of Davon House and Jermey Parnell would both be good examples, too.
Odrick (along with House and Parnell) is a player who has ability, and can have an impact for the Jags, but this is a team that needs huge upgrades. They were one of the few that had the money to go hard after Ndamukong Suh, who would have represented a far bigger upgrade and something of a coup for the Jags. Odrick will likely do well, and now that the team has cut Red Bryant, he seems to have a much more clearly defined role. But, it just smacks of heading out to buy a new sports car and coming home with something sensible that has good fuel economy.
By Sam Monson
NFL free agency represents a brief period of each offseason where fans get to dream a little. The market is full of quality potential additions to every roster, and most teams (especially this year) have money to spend that is burning a hole in their pockets.
Then that hope gets dashed by signings that just don't make sense. The money gets squandered, and the dream free agent heads to somebody else's roster.
Let's take a look at five teams that have made such moves during the first week of free agency in 2015:
Note: For our grades on all the big deals so far, click here.
Indianapolis Colts: The 2010 Pro Bowl roster
For some reason, the Colts appear to be stuck in a time warp this free agency period. They have signed Andre Johnson, Frank Gore and Trent Cole, all of whom were at the top of their game four years ago when they made the 2010 Pro Bowl rosters. There's an argument that 2010 was Todd Herremans' best season, too (another Colts signing); and if it wasn't, his was even longer ago, back in 2008.
Any one of these signings in isolation makes sense. Every team needs a smattering of veteran leadership and experience on the field and throughout the roster, and most teams have guys like this in any given season. It's going out and signing a whole platoon of them that makes no sense.
Each of these players appears to objectively be on the decline from his best form, and the chances are that each is more likely to continue that downward trend given their age and the adjustment of moving to a new team than they are to reverse it. The Colts have signed a collection of players at positions of need who are all fading in ability, while for the most part ignoring younger options, despite having the money to spend. One or two of these signings may work out and represent upgrades to the team, but it's a senseless approach to free agency overall from Indianapolis.
Arizona Cardinals: Mike Iupati, G
There is no doubt that Mike Iupati was one of the best guards available this free agency period, if not the best, and Arizona's play at the position last year was horrible, so on the face of it this deal makes perfect sense, right? The issue is that Iupati is a pretty one-dimensional player -- strong and powerful as a run-blocker, but struggling throughout his career as a pass protector.
Arizona passes far more than San Francisco does, and when they pass it tends to be a deep shot on a deep dropback -- the toughest assignment for a pass protector. In 2014, the 49ers passed on 58.1 percent of their plays on offense, 25th in the league, and Iupati surrendered seven sacks, the most in the league at the position. While some of that can be explained by Iupati carrying an injury much of the season, he has never earned a positive grade at PFF over a season for pass protection, grading below average every single year as a pro. The Cardinals needed to upgrade at guard, but they have done so by bringing in one singularly unqualified to fit their offense.
Kansas City Chiefs: Jeremy Maclin, WR
The Chiefs needed a wide receiver; that's no secret. Their stretch of no touchdowns being scored by a wideout has become infamous, and it now stretches 18 games, back to the 2013 season. The issue is that they threw a lot of money at a player who has only really shown the ability to be a difference-maker once: last season, in Chip Kelly's unconventional offense.
Under Kelly this past season, Maclin played a career-high 1,043 snaps, earned a career-high plus-9.1 PFF grade, was targeted a career-high 140 times, caught a career-high 85 balls for a career-high 1,318 and a career-high 10 touchdowns. Can you spot the trend? He also dropped a career-low number of passes; just one.
If you compare those to his career averages before Kelly arrived -- or, under Andy Reid, the coach he will now be rejoining in Kansas City -- he averaged 173 fewer snaps, 39 fewer targets, 21 fewer receptions, 456 fewer yards and three fewer touchdowns. And Andy Reid just OK'd a contract that pays Maclin $11 million per season. That makes him the sixth-highest paid receiver in the league, fourth if you discount Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas, who are playing at the moment on the one-year inflated figure of the franchise tag.
Maclin's numbers may go up from his Reid average in Philadelphia now that he is the undisputed No. 1 WR in Kansas City, but the tape shows a player who is unlikely to match, or even approach, his 2014 totals.
Philadelphia Eagles: Ryan Mathews, RB
The Eagles' merry-go-round at running back has been entertaining, to say the least. In pretty rapid succession, they have gone from a presumed starter of LeSean McCoy to Frank Gore to Ryan Mathews and now to DeMarco Murray. The final move left Mathews presumably out in the cold, but rather than walk out on the agreed deal, he elected to sign with the Eagles anyway, consigning him to the bench or spot duty at best.
The Eagles may not want to punish Murray with the workload he received in Dallas in 2014 (449 total touches, the sixth most in NFL history), but they're not going to let him become just another back in a committee. Darren Sproles is there to provide the hands out of the backfield, leaving not a whole lot left for Mathews to do.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Jared Odrick, DL
All of the moves the Jaguars made fit with what they are trying to do, but they just leave you with the sense that the team lacked ambition, given the war chest in cap space they had to play with before free agency opened. Odrick perhaps represents that the best, though the signings of Davon House and Jermey Parnell would both be good examples, too.
Odrick (along with House and Parnell) is a player who has ability, and can have an impact for the Jags, but this is a team that needs huge upgrades. They were one of the few that had the money to go hard after Ndamukong Suh, who would have represented a far bigger upgrade and something of a coup for the Jags. Odrick will likely do well, and now that the team has cut Red Bryant, he seems to have a much more clearly defined role. But, it just smacks of heading out to buy a new sports car and coming home with something sensible that has good fuel economy.
