NFL Free Agency: Suggested Moves for All 32 NFL Teams (AFC East Edition)
Malcolm Floyd to the Jets: the right move.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
It's been a fascinating week in the sports world, with NFL Free Agency and the MLB Trade Deadline combining to give us the "Dream Week" phenomenon FanMan discussed at length in its latest piece.
Fortunately for us as sports fans, “Dream Week” is a bit longer than its title suggests. The trade deadline will pass this Sunday, but we will continue to reap the benefits of NFL Free Agency well into next week.
Plenty of moves have been made thus far, but no team should be ready to stand pat. Without further ado, suggested moves for all 32 NFL Teams…
Divisions: NFC EAST; NFC NORTH; NFC SOUTH; NFC WEST; AFC EAST; AFC NORTH; AFC SOUTH; AFC WEST
AFC East
Sign LB Stephen Cooper
The Pats have had a stellar offseason thus far, making two moves that epitomize the old Ancient Belichickian Proverb of “Low Risk, High Reward.” The team gave up a fifth-round pick and two sixth-rounders to acquire DT Albert Haynesworth, WR Chad Ochocinco and eight combined Pro Bowls.
Haynesworth is the bigger “risk” per se, coming off two disappointing and acrimony-filled seasons in Washington. But with a fresh start as a DE in New England’s 3-4 scheme and at only 30 years old, Haynesworth could find himself with a renaissance season in Foxboro.
Playing next to behemoth NT Vince Wilfork certainly won’t hurt. And if the former Gurode-stomping Titan falters, New England can cut him with little fanfare.
Bob Kraft and Belichick can thank Dan Synder for that, as the Skins owner loaded the majority of Haynesworth’s guaranteed money into the front end of the contract.
Ochocinco is a safer “risk.” While he won’t put up a season on the level of Randy Moss’ first in Foxboro, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a vintage season more along the line of Chad Johnson than Chad Ochocinco.
For all their undeniable personnel savvy, the Pats still have some issues on the defensive side of the ball, mostly in the second level. After cutting ties with aging LB Tully Banta-Cain, the Pats at least need an insurance plan.
Jerod Mayo is an up and coming superstar, and Brandon Spikes is brimming with potential, but it remains to be seen whether Guy Guyton and Rob Ninkovich can effectively fill out the rest of the “4” in the 3-4.
Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Cooper is 32 years old and likely doesn’t have too many 100-tackle seasons left in him, but he should, at the very least, be a nice holdover in the short term. The Pats once again have two first-round picks in next year’s draft, so they can sign Cooper to a one-year deal before plugging the hole next April.
Sign WR Malcolm Floyd, CB Antonio Cromartie, S Dashon Goldson
We already recommended that the former two players land with the Bears and Redskins, respectively, but the Jets would do well to open their checkbooks and give Floyd and Cromartie their warranted salaries.
Losing out on Asomugha hurt the Jets more than most people realize. Not only did they miss a chance to acquire the league’s best cornerback and maybe form the best DB tandem in league history, but focusing on the Nnamdi pursuit meant that the Jets missed out on the rest of the market.
The cornerback market is now effectively dry, with Cromartie being the lone above-average option still on the market.
There’s a reason the Jets were willing to part ways with the 13-child wonder. Yes, they saw the potential of greener grass on the horizon in Asomugha, but Cromartie presents a host of issues. He will always be overrated as a shutdown corner, riding the coattails of a 10-interception 2007.
He will almost certainly command money commensurate with his 2007-perpetuated reputation. In actuality, Cromartie’s talents are more in line with a solid, if not absurdly athletic No. 2 option.
The issue is that the Jets are in danger of being where they were in Mark Sanchez’s 2009 rookie campaign, where they were saddled with a thin receiving corps and a mediocre secondary outside of All-Pro defender and professional SportsCenter personality Darelle Revis.
Cromartie would do a lot to solidify the latter, with the prospects of Kyle Wilson filling in across from Revis being tenuous at best. Signing Goldson, the 26-year-old former 49ers safety, would be an even bigger coup.
Word is that Goldson is interested in heading to Oakland, but the Jets should swoop in if they can find the money to do so. Jim Leonhard and Eric Smith are a competent duo in the defensive backfield, but the Jets could use an upgrade.
And with backup Brodney Pool on the way out, signing Goldson would mean they could move Goldson into the starting lineup across from Leonhard. Having Smith as a backup would be a huge luxury, considering the problems the team underwent when Leonhard went down late last season.
On offense, the Jets must get another receiving option to put across from re-signed receiver Santonio Holmes. Jets fans might be content with putting Jerricho Cotchery on the other side while relying more heavily on budding star TE Dustin Keller, but they’d be wrong to do so.
Even if Cotchery can move forward after a massive step back in 2010, the Jets are in need of a slot receiver after seeing Do-it-All WR bolt to the somehow-greener pastures in lowly Buffalo.
Rumors have swirled that they may be interested in WR James Jones, but that would be the wrong way to go. In the mold of Brandon Stokley with Indianapolis and (Insert Receiver Here) in New England, Jones is likely to be overpaid and be a disappointment wherever he lands.
Third receiving options on teams with All Pro QBs and two other star WRs aren’t exactly a “buy low” option. It’s hard to believe Jones didn’t benefit from playing in a system where he consistently faced the defense’s third- or fourth-best coverage option. The Jets should beware of throwing too much money at him.
On the other hand, Malcolm Floyd is young, tall and freakishly athletic. And while the Jets may also find themselves paying a pretty penny for the former Charger, he’s a better option than Jones.
Floyd has shown the ability to make some pretty incredible catches, and he’d be an excellent tool to assist in Mark Sanchez’s development.
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Forget you signed QB Matt Moore, trade for QB Kyle Orton
The Dolphins need to find a quarterback. This much is simple. What isn’t apparently simple to them is how to go about doing that.
Chad Henne was once one of the league’s most promising young players, but any chance of the former Michigan star becoming an elite NFL QB seems to be vanishing quicker than Brandon Marshall after a 911 call.
The Fins brought in former Carolina QB Matt Moore to “solidify” the position. “Solidify” is a funny term considering Moore wasn’t good enough to start more than six games for the 2-14 Panthers a season ago.
The Dolphins aren’t a great team, but there aren’t too many of those right now in the NFL. A good QB has been missing from Miami for a very long time, and the Dolphins might have an opportunity to get one by talking to Denver about a trade for former Bears QB Kyle Orton.
Orton is far from a long-term answer, but he’s as good a short-term one as the Fins are going to find. We know he’s on the market; rumors have abounded about new Denver coach John Fox trying to unload him.
He’s also likely to regress, as he probably benefited from working with former Head Coach and New England OC Josh McDaniels. But if Miami wants to sniff the playoffs in the difficult AFC East, they’d be right to explore a deal for Orton at the right price.
Sign QB Mark Bulger, Explore OT Jared Gaither
The Bills are a long way off from anything in particular, with as bleak a future outlook as any team in the league. Stars are few and far between in Buffalo, and quality long-term starters aren’t plentiful, either.
Only WR Steve Johnson, S Jarius Byrd and CB Leodis McKelvin, among few others, provide anything resembling “cornerstone” pieces. So the Bills would be probably wrong to throw significant money at anybody, as they’re probably better off building through the draft.
Having said that, the Bills should take a look at former Ravens OT Jared Gaither. FanMan already recommended that Gaither land in Arizona, but the Bills are almost as, if not not just as, desperate on the offensive line as the Cardinals.
Gaither is 26 and only getting better, so he may command a big contract. He’d be an excellent place to start for Buffalo, allowing them to pick up a player who could perform at a high level for the next half-decade or more.
Elsewhere, the Bills seem to be strangely infatuated with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, almost to the point of self-destruction. Fitzpatrick is a decent player and a solid transitional QB, but the Bills seem to think of him as a franchise QB. That’s just fine, but the Bills should at least be exploring different options.
Bulger isn’t one, and FanMan isn’t half as high on him as many others seem to be. He was never as good at his peak as he got credit for, mostly because he was never healthy at his peak.
But bringing Bulger in and creating competition at the QB position would provide the Bills with a better perspective on Fitzpatrick’s skills, just by way of comparison.
The Bills also don’t have (another?) competent QB on the roster, so Bulger would provide an insurance plan in case Fitzpatrick is injured or woeful...or both.
This article is part of TheFanManifesto, the website for the Educated Sports Fan, written and created by BaseballDigest.com writer and All-Time Teams Guru. FanMan can be followed on Twitter@TheFanManifesto or contacted by email at JesseGolomb@TheFanManifesto.com.
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