NFL Free Agency 2018: Grades for every major signing
It didn’t take long for 2018 NFL Free Agency to turn into the wild west, and we’re handing out grades for all of the major signings.
With players like Kirk Cousins, Allen Robinson and many more highly talented players available in 2018 NFL Free Agency, it was clear that things were going to get wild. And the league wasted very little time to make anyone predicting that would happen correct in their assumption.
On the Tuesday before the new league year began, everything started to fall in terms of the biggest dominoes. And we all know in NFL Free Agency that, once one domino falls, the others are right behind them.
Thus, we’re diving right into everything that’s happening, giving reaction and instant grades for every major signing. This will be updating throughout free agency.
Allen Robinson to the Bears (Three years, $42 million)
Beautiful. That’s what this is. Yes, Allen Robinson is coming off of a torn ACL, but he’s still 24 years old and the most talented wideout on the market. Thus, he made too much sense for the wide receiver-needy Bears and Ryan Pace went out and nabbed him — and at a price that looks quite good, no less.
Grade: A+
Case Keenum to the Broncos (Two years, $36 million)
While I think that things broke perfectly for Case Keenum last season in Minnesota, the same formula can theoretically be replicated in Denver. Thus, he should be able to serve as a stopgap for whichever young quarterback the Broncos decide to draft.
Grade: B-
Andrew Norwell to the Jaguars (Five years, $66.5 million)
It’s clear that the Jaguars are going to rely heavily on Leonard Fournette and the run game, so beefing up the offensive line is a smart move. To do so, though, they made Andrew Norwell the highest-paid guard in the league. That’s a steep price to pay for such things.
Grade: C+
Kirk Cousins to the Vikings (Three years, Fully guaranteed)
I never thought the day would come when we would see a fully-guaranteed contract for any NFL player, much less a quarterback. However, that’s what the Vikings have done to land Kirk Cousins, the biggest quarterback fish on the market. While Cousins isn’t an elite player, he’s better than Case Keenum and Minnesota almost went to the Super Bowl this past season with him at the helm.
Grade: B+
Sammy Watkins to the Chiefs (Three years, $48 million)
Speed kills and the Chiefs have it all over their offense. Kansas City wants to surround Patrick Mahomes with explosive weapons and Watkins, when healthy, is certainly that and more. The only thing that gives me pause is the price tag, as the wideout is a lesser player than Allen Robinson, but getting paid more.
Grade: B
Paul Richardson to the Redskins (Five years, $40 million)
Whoa, man. Paul Richardson is a nice player who could thrive in a new home outside of Seattle. Having said that, I’m not sure that his “thriving” is worth $8 million per year. For a Redskins team in need of much more than wide receiver talent, this feels like a bad call.
Grade: D
Drew Brees re-signs with Saints (Two years, $50 million)
This was easy for both parties and the only smart move for each. A reasonable price tag makes it even better.
Grade: A
Trey Burton to the Bears (Four years, $32 million)
There’s no doubt that Trey Burton was an under-utilized part of the Eagles offense, which is understandable being behind Zach Ertz. Now he’s going to be paid like a featured piece in Chicago and they’ll look for him to be another weapon for Mitchell Trubisky.
Grade: B-
Albert Wilson to the Dolphins (Three years, $24 million)
After losing Jarvis Landry, the Dolphins had to get a possession receiver to help Ryan Tannehill upon his return. Albert Wilson will assist with that, no doubt, and the price tag isn’t terribly steep. However, neither the player nor the deal are much to get excited about.
Grade: C
Star Lotulelei to the Bills (Five years, $?)
Even without seeing the money, this feels like a familiarity signing gone wrong. Lotulelei has been disappointing in Carolina over the past couple of years and is a rotational player that shouldn’t be featured. Yet, he likely will be for a while in Buffalo from the look of things.
Grade: D
Anthony Hitchen to the Chiefs ($9 million per year)
Hitchens undoubtedly has the potential to give the Chiefs linebacker corps a real boost as he showed flashes while playing in Dallas and could have his best football ahead. However, the price tag for the young player is quite steep, which definitely knocks the grade for this signing.
Grade: C+
Sam Bradford to the Cardinals (One year, $20 million with option)
The Cardinals are in dire need of a quarterback — as in they literally don’t have anyone. Bradford can be a solid stopgap player if he can stay healthy, but that’s a big “if” to bank on. Having said that, they can draft a quarterback and let him develop behind the veteran on this one-year deal, which is a wise move.
Grade: B
Marqise Lee re-signs with Jaguars (Four years, $38 million)
After opting to pay Norwell instead of re-signing Allen Robinson, the Jaguars needed to stay competitive at wide receiver. Lee has flashed and could be a nice option for them moving forward, but they clearly had to overpay a bit to keep him around.
Grade: B-
Jimmy Graham to the Packers (Three years, $30 million)
Graham finally had a resurgent year this past season with the Seahawks, but he still wasn’t the coup in Seattle many had hoped he’d be. Now he gets to go work with another one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers, in Green Bay. Coincidentally, Green Bay also happened to be in the market for someone at the position.
Grade: A
Taylor Gabriel to the Bears (Four years, $26 million)
Mitchell Trubisky will not have the lack of weapons excuse in 2018. Especially if Kevin White returns, Robinson, White and Gabriel at wideout and Burton at tight end gives them a formidable group for the young quarterback to throw to.
Grade: B+
Aaron Colvin to the Texans (Four years, $?)
The Texans needed to address the corner situation in Houston and did so with a fine player in Colvin. We’ll have to see if he shines outside of the loaded Jacksonville secondary, but it’s not like Houston is lacking in defensive talent elsewhere to help him out.
Grade: B
Bashaud Breeland to the Panthers (Three years, $24 million)
Breeland has never really played up to his full potential with any kind of consistency, but this is a relatively modest deal for a Panthers team that needed help at quarterback. Perhaps a bit of an overpay, but nothing too egregious.
Grade: B-
Josh McCown re-signs with Jets (One year, $10 million)
Is $10 million a lot of money to pay Josh McCown? Probably. However, the veteran played well for Gang Green last season and the Jets need a stable force in the QB room to help guide whomever they decide to bring in, be it a draft pick or someone like Teddy Bridgewater.
Grade: C+
Nickell Robey Coleman re-signs with Rams (Three years, $15.75 million)
This is a great signing by the Rams to retain their nickel corner. With him covering in the slot while Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters man the outside, it’s going to be damn hard to throw on Los Angeles and Wade Phillips’ defense in 2018.
Grade: A-
Malcolm Butler to the Titans (Five years, $61 million)
Most agreed that Malcolm Butler was the best cornerback on the market and he chose the Titans in a bit of a stunner. Pairing him next to Logan Ryan and young Adoree’ Jackson at cornerback will give the Tennessee defense a huge boost. And with only $30 million guaranteed, they might not be as locked in to five years as it may seem.
Grade: B+
Isaiah Crowell to the Jets (Three years, $?)
The Jets missed out on Kirk Cousins, wide receivers and plenty more. However, they did land an experience running back to go with McCown. Isaiah Crowell was up-and-down in Cleveland, but flashed talent and could give the backfield in New York a nice jumpstart.
Grade: B-
Donte Moncrief to the Jaguars (?)
Without seeing the money, it’s hard to grade this one for Jacksonville. Moncrief is a solid player, but considering what they paid Lee, you have to think they might’ve had to overpay once again to give Bortles someone to throw to.
Grade: INC.
John Brown to the Ravens (One year, $5 million)
The Ravens simply needed to add a young warm body at wide receiver. That alone makes this a positive signing. John Brown has shown flashes throughout his career, but never put it all together or stayed healthy. Baltimore hopes he can do just that, however.
Grade: B
Trumaine Johnson to the Jets ($15 million per year)
You have to like this signing for the Jets. They paid Trumaine Johnson a boatload, but after missing out on all of their other big-name targets, they had to secure him in any way they could. Putting him in the secondary with the likes of Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye gives Gang Green a nice look in the secondary.
Grade: A
Teddy Bridgewater to the Jets (One year, $?)
This is a smart, calculated signing by the Jets along with McCown. Frankly, no one knows what Teddy Bridgewater is at this point coming off his horrific knee injury that has kept him out for the past two seasons. However, with McCown and him in the fold, they’re able to see what he does have and have the chance to strike gold.
Grade: A
Muhammad Wilkerson to the Packers (?)
Though this is without looking at the terms of the deal, this is a huge get for the Packers who have been players in free agency for once. They needed to beef up both quality and depth on their defense and have started to do so with the talented Wilkerson, who should also benefit from a culture change going to Green Bay.
Grade: B+
Prince Amukamara re-signs with the Bears (?)
While he’s not getting any younger, Prince Amukamara was a bright spot on a defense ravaged by injuries last season. Bringing him back will give some stability to the defense moving forward, which a young, building team has to like the look of.
Grade: B
Dion Lewis to the Titans (Four years, $?)
With the departure of DeMarco Murray, the Titans needed a back to pair with the behemoth that is Derrick Henry. And here we are, with them adding the absolute perfect complement. The market for Lewis was likely aggressive, but this is a great fit for a team seemingly destined to make some noise after personnel changes on the sideline.
Grade: A-
Avery Williamson to the Jets (Three years, $22.5 million)
The Jets beef up their defense further after signing Trumaine Johnson earlier by adding the best linebacker on the market (or arguably so). This is a solid signing for a team that needs more than a few of those to get back to being a threat in the AFC.
Grade: B+
Carlos Hyde to the Browns (Three years, $15 million)
Who knows what the Browns are thinking in regards to the NFL Draft and Saquon Barkley. For now, however, the signing of Hyde to serve as a complement to Duke Johnson in the Cleveland backfield is a smart one and the two backs should work nicely together.
Grade: B-
Nigel Bradham re-signs with the Eagles (Five years, $40 million)
Retaining Nigel Bradham was clearly a priority for the defending Super Bowl champions, so they went out and made it happen with a substantial payday. Bradham was a fantastic player for them this past season on the way to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy and it’s hard to slight them for keeping that defense in tact.
Grade: B
Jerick McKinnon to the 49ers (Four years, $30 million)
There’s no doubt that the 49ers are going to work to bring weapons for Jimmy Garoppolo to utilize on offense to San Francisco and they landed a good one here. Jerrick McKinnon should really give them a nice player to use coming out of the backfield, though this seems like they had to pay quite a bit to make that happen.
Grade: C+
Josh Kline re-signs with the Titans (Four years, $26 million)
The Titans have made splashes and, while re-signing a guard may not seem like that, this is a great move for them. Not only has Josh Kline played quite well in Tennessee, but they lock him up for a relatively modest price tag to keep their offensive line shored up and a strength of this team.
Grade: A
Nate Solder to the Giants (Four years, $62 million)
It literally does not matter what the price of this deal is. The Giants desperately needed to get a major upgrade at tackle and they get the best guy on the open market in Solder. This is a massive get for Big Blue.
Grade: A
Julius Peppers re-signs with the Panthers (One year, $?)
Julius Peppers somehow won’t go down, even as he nears 40 years old. On a one-year deal, he’s too valuable of a situational pass-rusher for Carolina not to bring him back.
Grade: B+
Trent Murphy to the Bills (Three years, $21 million)
The Bills blew up a lot of their defense last season through trades. Murphy has been a productive player and one that should really help boost the Buffalo defense. Based on that, I like the signing. And to get him at only $7 million per year makes it even better as that’s not a bad price at all.
Grade: B
Patrick Robinson to the Saints (Four years, $?)
Oh no. Saints, what are you doing here? Patrick Robinson was great for the Super Bowl champion Eagles last year, but that was also an outlier in his recent career. He’ll also be 31 years old by Week 1. Signing that type of player to a four-year deal is questionable in even the best of lights.
Grade: F
A.J. McCarron to the Bills (Two years, $?)
While it somewhat depends on the money, I like this a lot for the Buffalo Bills. There’s a chance that A.J. McCarron isn’t very good (a likely chance, in my opinion). However, he’s almost surely better than Nathan Peterman and gets the Bills some depth and veteran experience in the QB room moving forward.
Grade: B
Todd Davis re-signs with the Broncos (Three years, $?)
Davis has been up-and-down throughout his tenure at Denver, but he’s been a solid cog in the linebacker corps of the Broncos. Retaining him helps them tremendously to keep at least a large portion of their biggest strength, the defense, in tact.
Grade: B-
Weston Richburg to the 49ers (Five years, $47.5 million)
Yes, that’s a lot of money to pay a center. However, Weston Richburg is a very good player at the position and the 49ers are in an enviable position in terms of the salary cap where they can target the guys they want and pay them a bit above the sticker price. Given the situation, this is a nice grab for San Francisco.
Grade: B
Next: NFL Mock Draft: Unexpected first-round picks pre-FA
Be sure to keep up with every major signing in 2018 NFL Free Agency and what we think of them as we’ll continually update this tracker.