2012 NFL Free Agents: 4 Things We Learned from Day One

The first day of the 2012 NFL free agent season is always a hectic one. The push toward Twitter as a social media revolution has definitely made this an even more interesting time for fans and media alike.

It has quickly become the Christmas Day of the NFL for many of us. This doesn't even take into account the money that is being thrown around at a record clip.

While the first day is fun in terms of news, we have to realize that free agency lasts months, not one single day.

With that said, a lot of signings happened in the opening hours of the new league year. This article is going to focus on four things that we learned from Tuesday's free-agent activity.

4. It Looks Like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Are Going to Use Their Cap Space

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into free agency with about $43 million under the cap, according to NBC Sports. While they were one of the teams that many were looking at to add veterans last offseason, Tampa Bay stayed relatively quiet.

That isn't going to happen this season.

Tampa Bay has already agreed on a five-year contract worth $55 million with Vincent Jackson, who many considered to be the top wide receiver on the market (via Yahoo Sports). This gives Josh Freeman a No. 1 wide receiver to throw to, and will help out Mike Williams a great deal on the outside.

While I am against spending a large sum of money in free agency, the Buccaneers needed to get an upgrade here and did.

The Buccaneers are also fully prepared to give Carl Nicks tackle money at this point. The Pro Bowl guard has been one of the best interior linemen in the entire NFL over the course of the last couple seasons and would help out their running game a great deal.

I think our very own Michael Schottey had it right when he said the following yesterday via Twitter:

"

Carl Nicks is going to get LT money (Bucs?) and some lucky team is going to get Evan Mathis (just as good) for top guard money

"

This deal doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. While Nicks is one heck of a player, I don't think he deserves left tackle money. We will have to wait and see how the contract is structured before drawing a conclusion.

Another player linked to Tampa Bay is Curtis Lofton, who has been one of the most unheralded inside linebackers in the game over the course of the last couple of seasons.

One thing is for sure: The Buccaneers have gotten quite serious in a short period of time. I guess a disappointing season with a young team will do that to a franchise.

3. The Peyton Manning Saga Is Going to Last Longer Than Most of Us Thought

Most people concluded that the whole Peyton Manning saga would have ended by the time free agency started yesterday.

Well, that obviously did not happen.

What we can say is that the Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans are out of the running. This has now become a four-team race, according to NFL.com.

The Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos have met with Manning, along with the Tennessee Titans, who are on the verge of hosting the future Hall of Fame quarterback (via USA Today).

We can expect Manning to take his time when coming to a conclusion about where he is going to be playing next. After all, this is the first time that he has been recruited since high school, it really is a process.

This means that we probably won't have an answer to the whole Manning saga in the near future. Instead, it will take a bit longer.

2. Wide Receivers Are Getting Some Serious Cash

Despite the fact that Marques Colston, Stevie Johnson, Wes Welker, Dwayne Bowe and DeSean Jackson were all taken off the market before the start of free agency, this is still a strong wide receiver class.

The money that was doled on on Tuesday indicated that teams believed this to be true.

Let us run down the list for a second:

1. Vincent Jackson agreed to five-year contract worth $55 million with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (via Twiiter).
2. Josh Morgan agreed to a two-year contract worth $12 million with the Washington Redskins (via RotoWorld).
3. Pierre Garcon agreed to a five-year contract worth $42.5 million with the Washington Redskins (via RotoWorld).
4. Robert Meachem agreed to a four-year contract worth $24.9 million with the San Diego Chargers (via RotoWorld).
5. Randy Moss agreed to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million with the San Francisco 49ers (via Boston Herald).
6. Reggie Wayne agreed to three-year contract worth $17.5 million with the Indianapolis Colts (via RotoWorld).

This all happened on the first day of free agency. I guess NFL teams were serious about adding weapons on the outside.

1. The Washington Redskins Still Don't Get It

While giving up three first-round picks and a second-round pick to move up four slots in the NFL Draft doesn't seem to make much sense to me, at least the Washington Redskins were looking to build through the draft.

Then came the opening of free agency, and the Redskins were back to their old tricks. Daniel Snyder and Co. signed two complementary receivers to contracts that totaled more than $15 million per season.

I do think that both Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan are good receivers, but that really isn't the point.

I guess that Washington hasn't learned that building a team through free agency doesn't work. They continue to stay hard headed while all evidence points to the fact that their plan is flawed from the outset.

Look at some of the top teams in the NFL and tell me what they have in common. The New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers all built the nucleus of their team through the draft, only supplementing in free agency.

As long as Washington doesn't change course and philosophy, they are not going to compete with the best teams in the NFL.

It just isn't going to happen and Tuesday proved that to a tee.