The real story of the first week of free agency has generally not been free agency.
Its been the trades. Russell Wilson from Seattle to Denver, Davante Adams from Green Bay to Las Vegas, Matt Ryan from Atlanta to Indianapolis, and Deshaun Watson from Houston to Cleveland.
That said, there have been all kinds of signings and re-signings, from great to sneaky-good to terrible, and we analyzed and graded as many as possible in our Week 1 free-agency tracker.
But as there’s still all kinds of talent left on the open market — perhaps the trades delayed things this season — and with that in mind, it’s time to get rolling with analysis and grades of the signings and re-signings happening in Week 2 of the new league year.
(Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)
Mariota was more of a Wildcat quarterback and a pure runner for the Raiders last season; he ran the ball 13 times for 87 yards and a touchdown, while completing one of two passes for four yards. He completed 17 of 28 passes for 226 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in 2020, and he hasn’t had a substantive season as a starting quarterback since 2018 with the Titans, so this two-year, $18.75 million deal with the Falcons isn’t going to make a blip on the radar.
It will as we get ready for the 2022 season, because after the Matt Ryan trade, it’s quite possible that Mariota will be the Falcons’ starting quarterback. On perhaps the NFL’s worst team from a talent perspective.
The question then becomes, what does Marcus Mariota have left in the tank? Mariota was selected second overall in the 2015 draft out of Oregon by the Titans, and he never really lived up to that, but when you go back to his 2020 reps with the Raiders, there are some throws that defy his invisible status over the last few seasons. Moving to your left as a right-handed quarterback and making a bang-on throw under pressure and against your own physical momentum is something we’d expect from Russell Wilson, but Mariota showed against the Chargers in Week 15 (his only game of the 2020 season) that he can do that, too.
Mariota can also throw receivers open with anticipation in tight spaces, as he showed here.
This is a smart signing for a team that has taken all kinds of personnel hits of late, especially at the receiver position with Calvin Ridley’s suspension, and Russell Gage signing with the Buccaneers. Mariota is a decent bridge quarterback for the Falcons, who are still building the bridge, much less figuring out what’s on the other side.
(Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports)
The Saints were all in for Deshaun Watson in that particular sweepstakes, but it was the Browns who “won” the ability to sell the soul of the franchise to get a bit better at the quarterback position. So, with Sean Payton gone and former defensive coordinator Dennis Allen in charge, it’ll be up to Winston, at least in the near term, to define the quarterback position for the Saints. Winston was with the Saints for the last two seasons, and 2021 was supposed to be his opportunity to redefine himself as a starter after Drew Brees’ retirement.
Winston was out for the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in Week 8, which scuttled that plan. But he earned Payton’s endorsement by becoming the kind of quarterback he rarely was with the Buccaneers — still capable of the big play, but much more risk-averse. Winston learned at the hands of Payton and Brees, but he didn’t become a pure checkdown artist in his 14-touchdown/three-interception season — he just got a lot smarter about where to go with the ball when.
The Saints bet on that potential with a new two-year, $28 million deal with $21 million guaranteed. And if Winston does this kind of stuff in 2022, it’ll be a very wise re-signing.
Winston will still be careless with the ball at times, and that may be just part of his quarterback determinism, but you don’t see nearly as many of these types of interceptions as you used to.
Winston turned 28 in January, and there’s a lot of bark left on the tree physically. It will be fascinating to see how he’s able to pilot the Saints’ offense for a full season, if that’s how it works out.
(Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
Injuries limited Smith-Schuster to just five games in 2021, and when he was on the field, Matt Canada’s “RPO In a Can” offense with Ben Roethlisberger on his last professional legs didn’t do much for him. Smith-Schuster has been a relative afterthought since his 111-catch, 1,426-yard season in 2018, and the Chiefs are betting low on the fact that he can add to their offense both in the slot and outside with a one-year, $3.25 million contract with $2.49 million guaranteed.
Smith-Schuster isn’t the league’s most exact route-runner, but he can get open downfield with his athleticism, and he can also work inside as a top slot receiver in the right offense. The assumption is that the Andy Reid/Eric Bieniemy offense, as orchestrated by one Patrick Mahomes, is that right offense. And it is easy to extrapolate plays like this to Kansas City when Mahomes is running around and looking to throw intermediate and deep.
(AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)
Credit the Bengals for understanding their one obvious weakness from their 2021 AFC Championship season, and addressing it as aggressively as possible during this free-agency period. They’d already signed guards Ted Karras and Alex Cappa, and then, they tripled down with the addition of former Cowboys right tackle La’El Collins, released on March 17 after the cap-shy Cowboys tried in vain to trade him.
Cincinnati jumped right on that one, giving Collins a three-year, $30 million contract to defend Joe Burrow’s throwing side. It’s a cheap deal for Collins’ talent, and it also gives the team a massive upgrade at the right tackle position. Isaiah Prince may have potential, but the 2019 sixth-round pick of the Dolphins hasn’t really shown it yet, and that position was a huge liability in 2021. And the Riley Reiff experiment has gone about as expected.
Collins is a different cat. Last season, he gave up two sacks and 20 total pressures on 509 pass-blocking reps, and he’s become a top-level run-blocker. Collins can be beaten to either side and when speed-rushers cross his face, but if think you’re going to come straight at him with a bull-rush, expect to be disappointed.
Collins (No. 71) can also get upfield and hit his target, as Bucs linebacker Shaquil Barrett discovered last season.
The AFC is now loaded as never before, but the Bengals with an above-average offensive line? Watch out.
(Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports)
It wasn’t a complete surprise that Fournette became to Tom Brady what James White was for Brady in Foxboro — that reliable receiver out of the backfield in quick game. Fournette caught 76 passes on 100 targets for 522 yards in 2019, his final season with the Jaguars, but with Brady back, the organizational thought is obviously to make sure that Brady has his main guys around him. This was true with the Ryan Jensen and Chris Godwin re-signings, and this is another example. The Bucs brought Fournette back on a three-year, $21 million deal that could be worth as much as $24 million with incentives.
As a runner, Fournette isn’t a breakaway guy, but he can break tackles (30 missed tackles forced on 193 rushing attempts in 2021, per Pro Football Focus). But this re-signing is as much about a running back who can get open in short spaces and make the impressive catch.
The real story of the first week of free agency has generally not been free agency.Its been the trades. Russell Wilson from Seattle to Denver, Davante Adams from Green Bay to Las Vegas, Matt Ryan from Atlanta to Indianapolis, and Deshaun Watson from Houston to Cleveland.That said, there have been all kinds of signings and re-signings, from great to sneaky-good to terrible, and we analyzed and graded as many as possible in our Week 1 free-agency tracker.But as there’s still all kinds of talent left on the open market — perhaps the trades delayed things this season — and with that in mind, it’s time to get rolling with analysis and grades of the signings and re-signings happening in Week 2 of the new league year. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports) Mariota was more of a Wildcat quarterback and a pure runner for the Raiders last season; he ran the ball 13 times for 87 yards and a touchdown, while completing one of two passes for four yards. He completed 17 of 28 passes for 226 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in 2020, and he hasn’t had a substantive season as a starting quarterback since 2018 with the Titans, so this two-year, $18.75 million deal with the Falcons isn’t going to make a blip on the radar. It will as we get ready for the 2022 season, because after the Matt Ryan trade, it’s quite possible that Mariota will be the Falcons’ starting quarterback. On perhaps the NFL’s worst team from a talent perspective. The question then becomes, what does Marcus Mariota have left in the tank? Mariota was selected second overall in the 2015 draft out of Oregon by the Titans, and he never really lived up to that, but when you go back to his 2020 reps with the Raiders, there are some throws that defy his invisible status over the last few seasons. Moving to your left as a right-handed quarterback and making a bang-on throw under pressure and against your own physical momentum is something we’d expect from Russell Wilson, but Mariota showed against the Chargers in Week 15 (his only game of the 2020 season) that he can do that, too. Mariota can also throw receivers open with anticipation in tight spaces, as he showed here. This is a smart signing for a team that has taken all kinds of personnel hits of late, especially at the receiver position with Calvin Ridley’s suspension, and Russell Gage signing with the Buccaneers. Mariota is a decent bridge quarterback for the Falcons, who are still building the bridge, much less figuring out what’s on the other side. (Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports) The Saints were all in for Deshaun Watson in that particular sweepstakes, but it was the Browns who “won” the ability to sell the soul of the franchise to get a bit better at the quarterback position. So, with Sean Payton gone and former defensive coordinator Dennis Allen in charge, it’ll be up to Winston, at least in the near term, to define the quarterback position for the Saints. Winston was with the Saints for the last two seasons, and 2021 was supposed to be his opportunity to redefine himself as a starter after Drew Brees’ retirement. Winston was out for the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in Week 8, which scuttled that plan. But he earned Payton’s endorsement by becoming the kind of quarterback he rarely was with the Buccaneers — still capable of the big play, but much more risk-averse. Winston learned at the hands of Payton and Brees, but he didn’t become a pure checkdown artist in his 14-touchdown/three-interception season — he just got a lot smarter about where to go with the ball when. The Saints bet on that potential with a new two-year, $28 million deal with $21 million guaranteed. And if Winston does this kind of stuff in 2022, it’ll be a very wise re-signing. Winston will still be careless with the ball at times, and that may be just part of his quarterback determinism, but you don’t see nearly as many of these types of interceptions as you used to. Winston turned 28 in January, and there’s a lot of bark left on the tree physically. It will be fascinating to see how he’s able to pilot the Saints’ offense for a full season, if that’s how it works out. (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports) Injuries limited Smith-Schuster to just five games in 2021, and when he was on the field, Matt Canada’s “RPO In a Can” offense with Ben Roethlisberger on his last professional legs didn’t do much for him. Smith-Schuster has been a relative afterthought since his 111-catch, 1,426-yard season in 2018, and the Chiefs are betting low on the fact that he can add to their offense both in the slot and outside with a one-year, $3.25 million contract with $2.49 million guaranteed. Smith-Schuster isn’t the league’s most exact route-runner, but he can get open downfield with his athleticism, and he can also work inside as a top slot receiver in the right offense. The assumption is that the Andy Reid/Eric Bieniemy offense, as orchestrated by one Patrick Mahomes, is that right offense. And it is easy to extrapolate plays like this to Kansas City when Mahomes is running around and looking to throw intermediate and deep. (AP Photo/Ron Jenkins) Credit the Bengals for understanding their one obvious weakness from their 2021 AFC Championship season, and addressing it as aggressively as possible during this free-agency period. They’d already signed guards Ted Karras and Alex Cappa, and then, they tripled down with the addition of former Cowboys right tackle La’El Collins, released on March 17 after the cap-shy Cowboys tried in vain to trade him. Cincinnati jumped right on that one, giving Collins a three-year, $30 million contract to defend Joe Burrow’s throwing side. It’s a cheap deal for Collins’ talent, and it also gives the team a massive upgrade at the right tackle position. Isaiah Prince may have potential, but the 2019 sixth-round pick of the Dolphins hasn’t really shown it yet, and that position was a huge liability in 2021. And the Riley Reiff experiment has gone about as expected. Collins is a different cat. Last season, he gave up two sacks and 20 total pressures on 509 pass-blocking reps, and he’s become a top-level run-blocker. Collins can be beaten to either side and when speed-rushers cross his face, but if think you’re going to come straight at him with a bull-rush, expect to be disappointed. Collins (No. 71) can also get upfield and hit his target, as Bucs linebacker Shaquil Barrett discovered last season. The AFC is now loaded as never before, but the Bengals with an above-average offensive line? Watch out. (Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports) It wasn’t a complete surprise that Fournette became to Tom Brady what James White was for Brady in Foxboro — that reliable receiver out of the backfield in quick game. Fournette caught 76 passes on 100 targets for 522 yards in 2019, his final season with the Jaguars, but with Brady back, the organizational thought is obviously to make sure that Brady has his main guys around him. This was true with the Ryan Jensen and Chris Godwin re-signings, and this is another example. The Bucs brought Fournette back on a three-year, $21 million deal that could be worth as much as $24 million with incentives. As a runner, Fournette isn’t a breakaway guy, but he can break tackles (30 missed tackles forced on 193 rushing attempts in 2021, per Pro Football Focus). But this re-signing is as much about a running back who can get open in short spaces and make the impressive catch.