2014 NFL Free Agency: What We've Learned so Far

If there was any doubt the NFL is king, last week should have driven a stake through that notion.

Free agency opened up when the league year rolled over on March 11 at 4 p.m ET. The free-agent window opening was hotly anticipated, and the ensuing frenzy didn't disappoint. Free agency ruled the airwaves and the Internet all week.

The NBA and NHL are entering the home stretch on their regular seasons, and spring training is in full swing for Major League Baseball. Yet here we are, lapping up every shred of NFL news, gossip and rumor.

What did we learn from the first week of free agency, anyway? Click through to find out.

All free-agent signing terms and cap information per Spotrac.com

The Broncos Are All in for 2014

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Some men just want to watch the world burn. Denver Broncos general manager John Elway wants the rest of the NFL to catch fire.

The Broncos made it to the Super Bowl last season, despite losing stud pass-rusher Von Miller for the season and a shaky defense in general. They got blown out of the water by the hungry Seattle Seahawks, but a few tweaks here and there would put them over the hump, right?

Well, apparently wholesale additions were the name for Elway and the the Broncos over the past week. 

Denver has been the busiest team in free agency, seemingly signing every other big name on the market.

It started with T.J. Ward, the top strong safety in the league. The Broncos managed to snag him for a relatively meager four-year, $23 million contract. It was a steal of a deal for the Broncos, especially considering Jairus Byrd—free agency's other big prize at safety—signed a whopping six-year, $54 million deal with the Saints.

Denver proceeded to nab cornerback Aqib Talib (six years, $57 million), pass-rusher DeMarcus Ware (three years, $30 million) and receiver Emmanuel Sanders (three years, $18 million), bolstering its roster with some serious talent. 

Denver was not without its losses this week, though.

Sanders is replacing Eric Decker, who took a big deal to be the No. 1 receiver for the New York Jets. Talib is taking nearly the same deal offered to cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, per Mike Klis of The Denver Post. Linebacker Wesley Woodyard and guard Zane Beadles were also big departures last week.

Still, it's hard to believe Denver didn't improve this week, on paper. Expectations will be virtually impossible to meet this season after Elway pushed his chips all in.

Can the Broncos cash in while quarterback Peyton Manning is still around?

... so Are the New England Patriots

Stephan Savoia/Associated Press

A cold war has broken out between eastern and western powers, per USA Today's Lindsay Jones:

"

“You always know you have to go through New England. With their track record over the last 10 years, they’re a team you’re going to have to be able to deal with,” Elway said. “For us to get done what we want to get done, you have to be able to beat them. It’s a fun arms race, and we’ll see what happens next year.”

"

The Broncos might be building the Death Star out in Denver, but Emperor Hoodie—Patriots head coach Bill Belichick—knows a thing or two about building winning teams.

New England parried Denver's blows in free agency with big moves itself.

The Broncos might have made one big splash after another, but the Patriots have picked up the best player in free agency—cornerback Darrelle Revis, whom they snagged for $12 million after he was dumped by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That might be the trump card in the escalating aggression between the Broncos and Patriots.

Belichick paired Revis with Brandon Browner, a big cornerback with nice upside, if he can keep his affairs in order off the field. Julian Edelman is back with the Patriots as well, and Brandon LaFell came over from the Carolina Panthers to bolster the wide receiver corps for three years and $11.25 million.

There are rumblings that stud defensive tackle Vince Wilfork wants out of New England, which would put some tarnish on a sterling first week for the Patriots, but free agency has been a success one way or another.

The Raiders Are Gonna Raider

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Oakland Raiders are doing the exact opposite of the top contenders.

Well, not exactly, given they have signed a few free agents this week. They had to spend their league-leading cap space on something, after all.

Of course, Oakland's biggest signing wound up being a massive failure. Offensive lineman Rodger Saffold signed a five-year, $42.5 million contract that included $21 million guaranteed to play for the Raiders.

Per Sports Illustrated's Chris Burke, it wouldn't last:

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In what has been a frantic and often bizarre open to the NFL’s free-agent period, Saffold’s story may take the cake. The Raiders initially handed him a reported $21 million guaranteed, only to bail after a medical check revealed a shoulder issue, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. Schefter called the failed physical a “disagreement” — Saffold and his camp arguing that he was healthy; the Raiders obviously pushing back. But the Rams did not hesitate at all to lock Saffold back up once Oakland put the kibosh on its deal.

The failed physical meant that Saffold was a free agent again for the briefest of moments. More importantly for the Raiders, it means that McKenzie has now lost out on his big, early free-agency splash.

"

Of course that could have been avoided if general manger Reggie McKenzie has ponied up some of that league-leading cap space money to re-sign their best offensive lineman, Jared Veldheer. Instead, he took a cheaper deal to head south, signing a five-year, $35 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals.

McKenzie also let his best defensive lineman, Lamarr Houston, leave via free agency.

To be fair, Oakland has signed several free agents, most of whom on the cheap. Austin Howard (five years, $30 million), defensive end Justin Tuck (two years, $11 million), outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley (two years, $12 million), cornerback Tarell Brown (one year, $3.5 million), Antonio Smith (two years, $9 million) and even Darren McFadden (one year, $1.75 million) have filled up the roster thus far.

Brown was a particularly good value, but the Raiders have been stingy where they should have opened up the checkbook a bit with all that cap space. 

Maybe McKenzie has post-traumatic stress disorder from being in cap hell since he arrived in Oakland.

The Devaluation of the Running Back Continues

Jason O. Watson/Getty Images

For years we have witnessed the devaluation of the running back position. 

Sure, guys like Chris Johnson and Ray Rice are making big bucks, but those are increasingly sour-looking deals nowadays. Teams are looking to put them in timeshares, and the shelf life for a running back is simply shorter than other positions.

To wit, take Ben Tate, free agency's biggest prize at running back. The 25-year-old with a career average of 4.9 yards per carry recently signed a two-year, $7 million deal with the Cleveland Browns.

Rashad Jennings actually got the ball rolling on the first day of free agency when he signed a $14 million deal with the New York Giants, but the ball is trying to roll up hill. The other big deal came when Donald Brown signed with the San Diego Chargers for three years and $10.5 million.

That's it. A total of $31.5 million committed to three of the top backs in free agency, less than the total amount cornerback Aqib Talib got in his his deal. Even big-name Darren McFadden got a paltry $1.75 million deal. 

Running backs just aren't what they used to be, at least in the eyes of NFL teams.

A Trickle at Wide Receiver, Too

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

The wide receiver market was flooded as free agency opened up. As a result, there hasn't been a ton of movement in the first week.

Eric Decker was the best option available, and he was paid far more than his counterpart at running back. He signed a five-year, $36.25 million contract to go start for the Jets. Golden Tate signed a similar deal for $31 million. 

Theirs were the biggest contracts at the position, by far, however. Outside those two there has been a steady, dwindling trickle of signings at the position.

Hakeem Nicks was, perhaps, the next-best receiver available in free agency, and he wound up inking a one-year deal to play for the Indianapolis Colts. 

Andre Roberts, Emmanuel Sanders, Brandon LaFell, Steve Smith and Jacoby Jones all signed middling contracts with Washington, Denver, New England and Baltimore, respectively.

The market for quality receivers is dwindling quickly.

The Carolina Panthers Hate Wide Receivers

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Wide receiver was a position of need for the Carolina Panthers heading into the offseason. Now it's all the Panthers need.

The North Carolina National Guard might be called to action after the disastrous week the Panthers had in free agency.

Carolina had a decent amount of cap space heading into free agency, yet Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman has sat on his hands. Well, for the most part.

Gettleman did cut stalwart receiver Steve Smith—per Sports Illustrated's Doug Farrar—who was an original and popular Panther. Smith took it personally, vowing there would be "blood and guts" if he faced his old team in the future. After signing with the Baltimore Ravens, it looks like we should stockpile popcorn for their matchup this fall.  

The nasty situation even made a kid cry.

Combined with departures by Brandon LaFell and Ted Ginn, Smith's release left the Panthers with a wide receiver corps that has a combined five NFL catches and a collective cap hit less than $3 million, last in the league. That might have been fine had the Panthers signed a couple of receivers to replenish the ranks, but Gettleman has done nothing whatsoever.

Of course, Carolina didn't have much cap space to begin with, but why worsen a position of need to save just $2 million?

At one point it seemed like Hakeem Nicks might join the squad, but he took a detour to Indianapolis and never left.

So what's next for the Panthers? Will they be running a super jumbo offense with six offensive linemen and two tight ends? Are DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart finally going to live up to those massive contracts by playing wide receiver?

Truth be told, there are still options out there for the Panthers. Guys like James Jones, Santonio Holmes and Kenny Britt could neuter the criticism. The draft is also deep at the receiver position. 

Still, the clock is ticking. Will Gettleman get off his hands soon?

It Pays to Be a Cornerback

Stephen Morton/Associated Press

The market has spoken at running back, and it has done the same at cornerback. Instead of the position being relatively worthless, however, cornerbacks are being handsomely rewarded.

Sam Shields signed a four-year, $39 million contract to stay in Green Bay, per ESPN's Rob Demovsky. Vontae Davis grabbed a similar deal for $36 million to stick with the Colts.

Aqib Talib, who signed a one-year deal to prove his value in New England last year, got the biggest payday thus far—a surprising six-year, $54 million contract with the Broncos.

Even though the Buccaneers saw fit to part with Darrelle Revis, he still managed to score a $12 million payday to play in New England for once season. Even Brandon Browner, who is one misstep away from a lengthy suspension and still has to serve a four-game suspension, got a three-year, $17 million deal to play across Revis.

The Buccaneers Prefer Quantity to Quality

Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Rumblings rolled through the league for weeks that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were aiming to trade or release cornerback Darrelle Revis. It seemed like poppycock at the time—Revis is still arguably the best cornerback in the league—but rumor turned to fact this week.

In a perplexing move, the Buccaneers tried to trade Revis away before giving up the ghost on his roster spot last week, per USA Today's Jarrett Bell. 

Revis was due to make $16 million this season, far more than any other cornerback in the league. Perhaps that was too much, but the Buccaneers weren't exactly in financial peril. Tampa Bay had a healthy cap situation heading into the offseason.

It stands to reason new general manager Jason Licht couldn't have signed such a big free-agent class that includes defensive end Michael Johnson (five years, $43.75 million), offensive tackle Anthony Collins (five years, $30 million), cornerback Alterraun Verner (four years, $25.75 million), center Evans Dietrich-Smith (four years, $14.25 million) and tight end Brandon Myers (two years, $4.25 million).

There are some quality players in this class, to be sure—Johnson alone should make a huge impact on defense—but the Buccaneers could have found a way to sign most of these guys while keeping Revis, even if it took a little creative contract construction.

The best reason to let go of one of the NFL's premiere players might be to be able to save some cap space to roll over to next season, a feature many teams were able to exploit this year. Was it worth it to save some cap space so the Buccaneers were able to sign 34-year-old, journeyman quarterback Josh McCown to start next season?

For the new regime, that much is obvious. The question is whether it was a smart decision.

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