NFL Free-Agent Signings That Should Have Happened
When the tidal wave of NFL free agency ebbs at the end of March, a lot of fans are disappointed that their teams didn't address certain roster holes. But those fans can usually take solace in the fact April's draft will give their franchises another opportunity to address said holes.
The 2017 draft is over. Many holes remain.
We can now use hindsight in order to reflect on the heart of free agency and take a look at several moves that teams might wish they had made.
Here are 10 that stand out.
Arizona Cardinals Sign WR Alshon Jeffery
1 of 10
Top Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald will be 34 next season, and the Cards moved on from 2012 first-round pick Michael Floyd after a December arrest.
The window remains at least slightly open for this talented defensive team to contend with the aging Fitzgerald taking passes from the 37-year-old Carson Palmer, especially with running back David Johnson coming off a 2,000-plus-scrimmage-yard season. But the Cardinals could have used more talent in the receiving corps.
They didn't sign any notable receivers on the free-agent market and only drafted Grambling State project Chad Williams in Round 3 at No. 98 overall.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles got Alshon Jeffery—a 27-year-old former Pro Bowler with two 1,000-yard seasons under his belt—for just $9.5 million on a one-year deal.
Carolina Panthers Sign DE Nick Perry
2 of 10
The Carolina Panthers signed the wrong former Green Bay Packer.
Looking to spruce up a pass rush that lacks talent on the edges, the Panthers brought back Julius Peppers in free agency. But Peppers is 37 and only a situational player at this point, and he makes an aging pass-rushing group (fellow starter Charles Johnson is also on the wrong side of 30) even older.
It would have cost them a lot more money, but they should have signed Nick Perry.
The 27-year-old 2012 first-round pick experienced a breakout season with a team-leading 11 sacks while also serving as a superb run defender in 2016. He's returning to Green Bay on a five-year, $59 million contract, and it wouldn't be surprising if he became a Pro Bowl-caliber player while having a larger role in 2017.
Peppers comes in on a cheap one-year deal ($3.5 million), but Perry would have had a chance to do a lot more for that defense.
Carolina spent its top three draft picks on offensive players, so Peppers and Johnson had better come through in the fall.
Cincinnati Bengals Sign G T.J. Lang
3 of 10
Despite having money to spend, the Cincinnati Bengals lost two key offensive linemen—offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth and guard Kevin Zeitler—on the free-agent market.
Whitworth is old (35), and the Bengals used two early draft picks in 2015 on tackles Cedric Ogbuehi (No. 21) and Jake Fisher (No. 53). But Zeitler is only 27 and is coming off a season in which Pro Football Focus graded him as the third-best right guard in the game.
Zeitler got big money from the Cleveland Browns, and the Bengals aren't typically big spenders. But it's still odd they didn't bring in somebody to replace him via the draft or on the open market because it appears the only options right now are Christian Westerman, who didn't play a snap as a rookie fifth-round pick last season, undrafted free agents Dustin Stanton and Kent Perkins or unproven vets Alex Redmond and Trey Hopkins.
Coming off a Pro Bowl season, the 29-year-old T.J. Lang signed with the Detroit Lions for a reasonable $28.5 million over three years. The Bengals had that kind of cash under the salary cap, but they let Zeitler walk and didn't sign Lang or fellow free-agent guards Larry Warford and Ronald Leary.
As a result, a fading team is worse off now than it was following a six-win season.
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Cleveland Browns Sign S Tony Jefferson
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The Browns spent a ton of cash and draft currency on roster upgrades this offseason.
But even with 2017 first-round safety Jabrill Peppers on board, they could have used another talented young player at that position—one like Tony Jefferson, 25, who is coming off a strong season in which PFF graded him as the second-best safety in football when defending the run.
Even after taking on Brock Osweiler's salary and spending big on Zeitler, center JC Tretter and wide receiver Kenny Britt, the Browns have over $60 million in salary-cap space, according to Over the Cap. They should have outbid the division rival Baltimore Ravens for Jefferson, who landed a four-year, $34 million deal there.
He'd have been a major upgrade over Ed Reynolds or Ibraheim Campbell.
Denver Broncos Sign QB Jay Cutler
5 of 10
The Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl without elite quarterback play in 2015, but 2016 proved that lightning was unlikely to strike twice in that regard. Regular starter Trevor Siemian posted a mediocre passer rating of 84.6, and rookie Paxton Lynch didn't do anything in limited action to indicate he's ready to take the reins.
The Broncos, who had the league's best DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) on defense last season, are in win-now mode. They can't afford to wait for Siemian and/or Lynch to emerge, and there's a chance neither will.
They'd have been better off bringing in Jay Cutler.
The Chicago Bears released the 11-year veteran March 9 after an injury-plagued eighth season with the team, but just one year ago, he was coming off the highest-rated campaign of his NFL career. Seemingly in his prime in 2015, Cutler was a top-10 quarterback in terms of DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement) and DVOA at Football Outsiders.
He still wasn't a superstar, but only eight qualified passers had higher yards-per-attempt averages. According to Pro Football Focus, he had the league's 12th-highest passer rating when throwing deep and was the NFL's sixth-highest-rated passer under pressure.
It would have been nice to see Cutler return to Denver, where it all started for him over a decade ago. But Broncos general manager John Elway seems satisfied with Siemian and Lynch, which might be a big reason why both Cutler and Tony Romo retired.
Green Bay Packers Sign RB Rex Burkhead
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It appears that after letting Eddie Lacy walk, signing no backs in free agency and selecting none in the first three rounds of the draft, the Packers feel converted wide receiver Ty Montgomery can hold it down as the team's top back in 2016. But that's a risky proposition considering how inconsistent Montgomery was as a running back last season.
The 24-year-old averaged more than 6.0 yards per carry in four games but averaged 3.0 or fewer in seven (including the playoffs). Many of those were small sample sizes, but that's not reassuring either. Montgomery received 12-plus carries just once all season.
He could use some help, especially from a back with NFL experience. And the underrated Rex Burkhead might have been the perfect complementary addition.
The 26-year-old hardly saw the field for most of his first four seasons with the Bengals, but he still averaged 4.3 yards per carry while contributing to the passing game during that stretch. And then he finally earned his first career start in the 2016 season finale. The result: 144 yards from scrimmage on 29 touches along with two touchdowns (doubling his career total) against Baltimore's top-10 defense.
There's plenty of tread on his tires, and his ceiling remains high. He signed with the New England Patriots for just one year and $3.2 million. Green Bay could have afforded to pay him twice that, and he might have played a large role there.
Indianapolis Colts Sign G Kevin Zeitler
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Kudos to the Indianapolis Colts for spending a lot of money and draft capital upgrading their problematic defense this offseason. New general manager Chris Ballard signed front-seven defenders Jabaal Sheard, Johnathan Hankins, John Simon, Margus Hunt, Barkevious Mingo, Sean Spence and Al Woods in free agency before using the team's top three draft picks on defensive players.
But it's concerning the Colts continued to neglect an offensive line that PFF ranked dead last in the NFL in terms of pass-blocking efficiency in 2016. And franchise quarterback Andrew Luck was the most frequently pressured qualified quarterback in the NFL, which might explain why he once again struggled while bothered by nagging injuries.
Right tackle Joe Haeg and right guard Denzelle Good both proved to be liabilities, and yet it appears the Colts are going to risk entering the 2017 season with both as starters after they signed and drafted zero starting-caliber offensive linemen this offseason.
New York Giants Sign OT Rick Wagner
8 of 10
The Giants have to do more to protect quarterback Eli Manning. Ereck Flowers surrendered more quarterback pressures than any other left tackle in the NFL in 2016, and Bobby Hart and Marshall Newhouse were little better on the right side.
But after spending big bucks on the defensive side of the ball last offseason, the Giants didn't get involved in sweepstakes for hyped offensive tackles on the open market. The natural assumption was they'd invest in a tackle early in the draft, but that didn't happen either (they didn't add one until taking Pittsburgh's Adam Bisnowaty in Round 6).
They did add 2013 first-round pick D.J. Fluker as a cheap free agent, but Fluker played guard the last two years with the Chargers franchise. And he didn't play it well. They're still giving him $3 million in 2017, and they could have signed the best right tackle on the market, Rick Wagner, for only a few million more bucks.
Last season, Wagner was PFF's the fourth-best right tackle in football when it came to pass blocking, and he signed a five-year, $47.5 million deal with the Lions. But according to Spotrac, that'll cost Detroit only $5.9 million against the cap in 2017.
The Giants had the money to make it happen. And now that they've failed to upgrade elsewhere, they may wind up regretting not chasing a guy like Wagner.
Pittsburgh Steelers Sign CB A.J. Bouye
9 of 10
The Pittsburgh Steelers haven't had an impact defensive back since the days of prime Troy Polamalu, and it's been a while since that unit has been considered a strength.
As per usual, the Steelers were relatively quiet in free agency, but this might have been a good year to make a splash with a highly rated defensive back. At corner, William Gay is 32 years old, and the jury is still out on youngsters Ross Cockrell (25 years old) and Artie Burns (22). Pittsburgh had the cap space to invest in a top free agent at that position, and A.J. Bouye was the top of the top.
With the Houston Texans last offseason, Bouye emerged as an elite shutdown corner. It's unlikely he was ever on Pittsburgh's radar before signing a blockbuster deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he's the type of player that could have moved them just a little bit closer to the top of the heap in the AFC.
Seattle Seahawks Sign OT Andrew Whitworth
10 of 10
PFF ranked the Seattle Seahawks offensive line 30th in football when it came to pass-blocking efficiency last season and found that Seahawks franchise quarterback Russell Wilson was the third-most pressured qualified passer in the league.
No wonder he was banged up throughout the worst season of his career.
And yet Seattle did almost nothing in the offseason to address that. The team signed disappointing former No. 2 overall pick Luke Joeckel, but he couldn't cut it as a tackle in Jacksonville before being moved to guard and shredding his left knee.
He isn't a long-term solution, nor is Oday Aboushi (a journeyman who is a better fit at guard), Ethan Pocic (a rookie second-round pick also better suited to play inside) or George Fant (graded by PFF as the second-worst regular left tackle in the league last season).
The Seahawks weren't major players in free agency, and they didn't have a ton of cap space. But they could have found the money to sign a guy like Andrew Whitworth.
Coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons, the 35-year-old would have been a perfect fit as a short-term blindside protector for Wilson. Instead, he went to the Los Angeles Rams on a more-than-fair deal, which is a shame for Wilson and Co.
Advanced stats courtesy of Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted.
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