2017 NFL Free Agency: Who's on Notice After Early Signings?

Just one day into the league year, the NFL already looks drastically different than 24 hours ago. Who would have imagined that "Cleveland Browns quarterback Brock Osweiler" was a title we were going to see in March?

Outside of the Osweiler trade, though, all of the rest of the biggest news of the day came via free agency, as the majority of superstar free agents already signed their megadeals across the league. With every addition to a team, though, a player gets pushed down the depth chart.

Looking league-wide, there are five very interesting situations with big-name players being pushed down the depth chart by free agents who signed on March 9. All five of those players are former first-round picks, with four of them playing on rookie deals.

Follow along as we explain what signings in March mean for these young, well-known players come September.

Michael Oher, OT, Carolina Panthers

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Michael Oher is best known as the offensive tackle recruit from the book The Blind Side: Evolution of the Game by Michael Lewis. That is the qualifier that everyone uses when talking about Oher, who may be the most popular offensive lineman of all time.

Oher has played eight NFL seasons for three teams, but 2016 may have been the end of it all for him. After signing a three-year extension last season, a concussion ended his season. According to Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer, Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera stated that Oher was still in the league's protocol in February, despite the fact that Oher's concussion occurred in September.

Ryan Kalil, the team's starting center, is the veteran of the offense. His brother, Matt, a former first-round pick, was a left tackle for the Minnesota Vikings before testing the open market. The younger Kalil has since agreed a deal with the Panthers for $55 million, according to USA Today's Tom Pelissero.

If Oher isn't going into medical retirement, Carolina is at least telling him what it thinks of his ability to bounce back as a starting-caliber left tackle, based on the money it forked over to Kalil. Oher's days could be numbered, as only one right tackle league-wide, Lane Johnson, has an average salary larger than the book star's, according to Spotrac.

Dante Fowler Jr., DE, Jacksonville Jaguars

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Not very many pass-rushers succeed in the NFL, let alone live up to top-10 hype, with poor three-cone times. Dante Fowler was a pass-rusher at Florida who reshaped his body from more of an interior player to an edge defender, leading to some Justin Houston comparisons based on what he did on the field.

Still, in three years at Florida, he only had 10.5 sacks against Power Five opponents, and people ignored the difference between Houston's 6.95-second three cone in 2011 and Fowler's 7.40-second three cone in 2015. Fowler's always been behind the eight ball, and missing his rookie season due to injury only hurt his career trajectory even more.

In 2017, going into his third year in the NFL, the former third overall pick has one start to his name and four sacks under his belt. In the 4-3 under that the Jaguars play, rookie Yannick Ngakoue took over as the starting weak-side pass-rusher as he recorded eight sacks on the season, good for the second-best mark of a rookie in 2016.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the team have agreed to sign former Arizona Cardinals 3-4 defensive end Calais Campbell to a $60 million contract on the first day of free agency. Campbell should fill in the big end role in that 4-3 under, meaning that Fowler's position is now fully entrenched as a bench player.

Quickly, his once-promising career has spiraled into the 22-year-old being a role player for the foreseeable future, should he stick on the roster.

Greg Robinson, OL, Los Angeles Rams

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Of the first 17 picks of the 2014 draft, 10 have already made Pro Bowls in their three-year careers. Picked second overall in that class was Greg Robinson, a redshirt sophomore tackle from Auburn.

The big concern around Robinson was his pass protection, as Auburn played in a run-heavy spread wing while Robinson was a tackle, but that didn't scare the Rams, who played him as a guard early on in his rookie season. Robinson eventually transitioned outside to tackle, where his contract would suggest he'd play, but there's a good chance he's moving back inside.

On the first day of free agency, the Los Angeles Rams gave Andrew Whitworth, formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals, a three-year, $36 million contract, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Whitworth, a 35-year-old who has three plus years on Rams head coach Sean McVay, is going to be the team's starting left tackle.

Rob Havenstein, the team's 2015 second-round pick, has the right tackle spot locked up. That means that Robinson will have to go to the bench or compete for a guard spot, a position he wasn't truly great at in 2014, to carry his own weight in Los Angeles.

Often, the beginning of the end for top-10 offensive line prospects is the transition from failing at tackle to a potential failure at guard. Whitworth and Havenstein give the Rams options, which was the only thing keeping Robinson at tackle in recent seasons.

Nelson Agholor, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

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In 2015, the Philadelphia Eagles needed talent at the wide receiver position. In two offseasons, the squad lost a pair of pass-catchers in Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson, and despite "hitting" on Jordan Matthews as a second-round receiver, they still needed talent outside of him.

Under head coach Chip Kelly, the team took Pac-12 receiver Nelson Agholor with their first-round pick. In 2016, under a new administration, Agholor was a healthy scratch at one point in the season.

That was after the team traded for 2015 second-round pick Dorial Green-Beckham. On the first day of free agency in 2017, the Eagles signed Torrey Smith, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, to a three-year, $15 million deal, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

That didn't stop Philadelphia from shopping for more wideouts, though. The team also brought in former Chicago Bear Alshon Jeffery, arguably the best receiver on the open market, on a one-year "prove-it deal" worth $14 million, according to Rapoport.

Between Matthews, Green-Beckham, Smith and Jeffery, it's starting to become questionable if Agholor can even make the 53-man roster in his third NFL season.

Cameron Erving, OL, Cleveland Browns

David Richard/Associated Press

A few years ago, Cameron Erving was talked about as a top tackle prospect at Florida State. His last year with the Seminoles led to an up-and-down draft stock, with the highs of preseason top-10 finishes in mock drafts and the lows of being listed as a Day 3 prospect by the end of the season.

He eventually transitioned to the interior of the offensive line, which helped him tremendously at the Senior Bowl and led to him being a first-round center draft pick. Two offseasons after Cleveland made him a first-round pick, though, under a new administration, it seems that Erving's days may be numbered.

In college, he proved he couldn't hang outside at tackle in ACC play, let alone NFL play. At center, the Browns just handed the job to J.C. Tretter, who signed on from the Green Bay Packers for a $16.75 million contract, according to Josh Edwards of 247 Sports.

At guard, the other interior line spots, Joel Bitonio signed an extension and Kevin Zeitler signed on from the division rival Cincinnati Bengals. Bitonio came at the tune of $51.2 million, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, while Zeitler was an addition at the cost of $60 million, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.

With future Hall of Fame tackle Joe Thomas as the left bookend, it's hard to imagine where Erving fits other than as a swing interior lineman or competing for the right tackle position, which his history should suggest isn't a smart idea. As a backup offensive lineman, theoretically not one of the top 160 trench players in the league, Erving has the 54th-largest amount of guaranteed money of a lineman in the league, according to Spotrac.

The Browns may be hoping to dump his contract.