Deals always hit hard and heavy on the first day of free agency, but with trades shaking up the system and another blockbuster Tony Romo trade coming, the madness has just started. I’ve already hit on a few of the moves here and here, but let’s take a look at what I’ve not hit on over the last 24 hours or so.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars nabbed two of the biggest prizes in this entire free agency period Thursday. First, the signed defensive end Calias Campbell to a four-year, $60 million contract. Campbell has played for the Arizona Cardinals his entire career and last year had 53 tackles, one safety, eight sacks, three fumble recoveries, a defensive touchdown, two forced fumbles, six passes defended and a pick.
Imagine Yannick Ngakoue,Malik Jackson,Calias Campbell and Dante Fowler Jr all together. #Coughlin #Duval #Jaguars pic.twitter.com/jNJVLZBXZp
— Lets Go J-Villains!! (@JaxJaguar95) March 9, 2017
A.J. Bouye’s emergence as a shut down corner in Houston spelled big bucks in his new deal with the Jaguars. Jacksonville added Bouye to the roster with a five-year, $67.5 million contract. Last year Bouye started 11 games, picked off a pass, defneded 16 passes, recorded a sack and had 62 tackles.
Former Texans CB AJ Bouye has agreed to a five-year deal worth $67.5M, $26M fully guaranteed, with the Jaguars. https://t.co/VrrGvaliNP pic.twitter.com/qF45itTrIh
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) March 9, 2017
The Jaguars will shore up the back end of the defense too and are finalizing a four-year, $26 million deal with former Dallas Cowboys safety Barry Church. Last year Church started 12 games for the Cowboys, recording 85 tackles, two interceptions, four pass defenses and one forced fumble.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs too nabbed their two free agent targets, shoring up their defense and adding another big-play target for quarterback Jameis Winston in the passing game. Former Washington Redskins wideout DeSean Jackson signed a three-year, $33.5 million deal with the Bucs with $20 million guaranteed. Last year Jackson caught 56 passes for 1,005 yards and four touchdowns.
The #Bucs are expected to sign #Redskins WR DeSean Jackson, source said. A deal they’ve expected, but a big one.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2017
On defense, the Buccaneers added defensive tackle Chris Baker form the Redskins too. Baker had 48 tackles, 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two passes defended last season. Details of Baker’s contract have not yet been disclosed.
Cleveland Browns
While the Browns made the biggest news of the day with the game-changing Brock Osweiler trade, they did plenty of solid work in the free agent market too. Cleveland started off the day by signing their own man, offensive tackle, Joel Bitonio, to a five-year, $51.2 million contract with $23.7 million in guaranteed money. While they had the roster slots open on their offensive line they added Green Bay Packers center J.C. Tretter with a three-year, $16.75 million deal and stole guard Kevin Zeitler away from their AFC North rival Cincinnati Bengals with a five-year, $60 million deal.
NEWS ALERT: Cleveland Browns set to sign G Kevin Zeitler to 5-year, $60M deal.
(via @MikeGarafolo) pic.twitter.com/1qODjPjsY2
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) March 9, 2017
With left tackle Joe Thomas still under contract, this immediately fortifies a significantly improved line for the Browns, regardless of what they do at quarterback.
The Browns didn’t ignore their need for receiving weapons either, signing former Los Angeles Rams wideout Kenny Britt to a four-year, $32.5 million deal. Even with the Rams’ shaky, if not downright pathetic, offense last season, Britt had his best season as a pro. He caught 68 passes for 1,002 yards (his first 1,000 yard season) and hauled in five touchdowns.
San Francisco 49ers
Brian Hoyer is harder to get rid of than a cold sore. The free agent quarterback signed a two-year deal with the 49ers Thursday and he wasn’t alone. New head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch also brought in fullback Kyle Juszczyk from the Baltimore Ravens, wide receiver Marquise Goodwin from the Buffalo Bills and their big fish of the day, wideout Pierre Garcon from the Washington Redskins.
The 49ers signing of Brian Hoyer is like the girl in a rom-com settling for the ‘best friend’ instead of going for her dream guy.
— Adam Rank (@adamrank) March 8, 2017
Garcon signed a five-year, $47.5 million deal with the 49ers. The 30-year-old wideout caught 79 passes for 1,041 yards and three touchdowns for the Redskins in 2016.
Goodwin comes to the Niners on a two-year, $8 million contract. Last year, once he missed out on his Olympic long-jump bid, Goodwin had his most productive year as a pass-catcher in the NFL. Goodwin hauled in 29 passes for 431 yards and three touchdowns.
Juszczyk really cashed in at fullback, getting a four-year contract worth $21 million. Juszczyk is a pure fullback and had just five carries and no catches at all last season with the Ravens.
As for Hoyer, this will be his sixth team since he entered the league in 2009. Last year he started five games for the Chicago Bears, completing 67 percent of his passes for 1,445 yards, six touchdowns and, believe it or not, no picks.
To be continued…
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