The NFL Tampering period kicked off this week. There have been some big time commitments from some big name free agents. Some teams have improved their rosters, and some teams have lost out on some big time players. Here are Five Winners and Losers from the NFL Tampering Period.
Five Winners and Losers from NFL Tampering Period
Winners
1. Jim Schwartz
The Eagles defensive line has become even better than it was last year. They added pro bowl defensive end Michael Bennett in a trade with Seattle where they gave up a preseason standout wide receiver, Marcus Johnson, and a 5th round pick. Then, during the tampering period the defending Super Bowl champions acquired defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, former two time pro bowler. These two join a defensive line that already has Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Timmy Jernigan, Derek Barnett, Vinny Curry, and potentially Chris Long if he resigns. Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz essentially has two sets of starting defensive lines. Watch out other 31 offensive lines and quarterbacks.
2. Mitchell Trubisky
The Bears are giving their young quarterback weapons, as they should. They added former Eagle TE Trey Burton and WR Allen Robinson to an offense that already has Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, and Kevin White. There is a lot of potential on this team, specifically on offense which has a real chance to take off next season.
3. Minnesota Vikings Wide Receivers
The Vikings signed free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins to a 3 year 84 million dollar deal. While that may be a lot of money for a quarterback who has never won a playoff game, he showed a lot of potential in Washington. The Vikings are coming off a wild season where all three of the quarterbacks on their roster, Case Keemun, Teddy Bridgewater, and Sam Bradford are all likely not going to be back next year. Keemun took the Vikings to the NFC Championship game before getting royally manhandled by the eventual Super Bowl Champion Eagles. The hope in Minnesota is that Cousins can be the quarterback to take the team to the next level. He is definitely an upgrade over the three quarterbacks the Vikings had the prior season, but weather he can bring Minnesota their first Super Bowl remains to be seen.
4. Patrick Mahomes
Earlier this offseason, the Chiefs traded veteran quarterback Alex Smith away, leaving the role to now second year quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs added Mahomes a number one target in Sammy Watkins on a 3 year 48 million dollar contract. Watkins is very good when healthy, but if he can play in a full season of football still remains to be seen as in his four year NFL career, has only played in all 16 games one time, his rookie season.
5. Sam Bradford
Sam Bradford has never in his NFL career played in a playoff game. He over the course of his career has made 114 million. In his career, he has a record of 34-45-1. Yet somehow, he convinced his fourth NFL team, Cardinals, that he is a starting caliber quarterback, and now will make 20 million this upcoming season on top of the 114 million he already made with a chance to make another 20 million the following year if Arizona decides to pick his option up. That would take his total to an astonishing 154 million over a ten year span, as a below .500 quarterback. Yikes.
Losers
1. Jared Goff
Goff was deemed a bust after he was drafted number one overall and sat majority of his rookie season before putting up extremely mediocre numbers. Then, his sophomore season he shined throwing for 3,804 yards, 28 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. However, he lost his number one Wide out Sammy Watkins and is likely to lose wide out Tavon Austin too. This is a huge loss to Goff because, while his stats look great, they are inflated. Many of his passes were short dink and dunk plays that lead to huge yards and even touchdowns to his number of offensive weapons. He’s losing two. Todd Gurley is a tremendous player but Goff is going to need a lot more help outside if he wants to have anything close to as successful of a season as he had a year ago.
2. Denver Broncos Fans
The Broncos have been a quarterback away from being a playoff team ever since Peyton a Manning retired. Now, they sign Case Keemun to a 2 year 36 million dollar deal. Keemun is coming off a good year where he put up 3,547 yards, 22 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions. But, he is doubtfully the answer to any team in need of a quarterback. Broncos will likely be back in the pool of teams looking for a franchise quarterback a year from now as it is doubtful Keemun will be the answer to their quarterback needs.
3. Danny Amendola
Amendola left the Patriots and arguably the best Quartrback of all time to sign with the Miami Dolphins. Ryan Tannehill, Matt Moore, and Jay Cutler are the current quarterbacks for Miami. This is hardly a fraction of the quarterbacking crew that division rival Patriots have. The Dolphins also have not won a playoff game since 2000.
4. DeShone Kizer
While Kizer will get an opportunity to work behind one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers, he also goes from an opportunity to start with the Browns into a backup role where the Packers fans hope to never see him play because that means Rodgers is hurt. This has a small chance to turn into a win for Kizer if Rodgers starts declining and Kizer becomes the new face of the Packers. That is a big if.
5. Carson Wentz
Wentz and the Eagles are not likely to be on this list for long, but for now, Wentz is here. He lost two security blankets in Trey Burton and Brent Celek and will have to get some rhythm going with one or probably two brand new tight ends behind star tight end Zach Ertz. He also lost number two wide reciever Torrey Smith, who was traded to Carolina for cornerback Daryl Worley. The Eagles will likely look to free agency and the draft to fill these new voids on offense and will look to be right back among the elites next season, but Wentz is going to need someone to fill the void left by Burton and Celek.
Main Photo:
