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What's going on?
I'm not sure where the New York Jets are headed. They shell out gazillions for guard Alan Faneca, making him the league's highest paid offensive lineman, but the guy's 31. Yes, Faneca is solid. Yes, he fills a glaring hole. Yes, he makes the Jets better. Yes, he acts as a mentor to left tackle D'Brickshaw Ferguson. But at $8 million per?
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Wow.
"I can see this if the team were a year or two away," said one player personnel director. "But they still don't have a running game, and they still need a quarterback."
The Jets also traded for massive defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, who suffered major knee and shoulder injuries two of the past four years and who has no experience in the 3-4 scheme.
"It will be somewhat of an adjustment," Jenkins told reporters on a conference call. "I'm human. I can't put on a red cape and fly away, but it's something I can excel at."
He'd better. Shortly after acquiring him, the Jets tore up his contract and signed him to a five-year, $35 million deal, including $20 million in guarantees. But that's not all: They just added veteran offensive lineman Damien Woody and defensive end Calvin Pace, paying Pace another $22 million in guaranteed money. The guy's been a starter for a year-and-a-half. I tell you what I don't like about the Jets: They had quality young players on defense -- guys like Victor Hobson, Vilma, Dewayne Robertson -- and they fell out of favor because they didn't fit Eric Mangini's scheme. That's OK if you find better replacements, like rookie David Harris, but going after expensive veterans when you're 4-12 doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
What's going on, Part Deux?
In letting Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad walk, the Chicago Bears have only two wide receivers who caught passes in the NFL under contract: Mark Bradley and Devin Hester. With Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton throwing, maybe it doesn't make a difference who's running the routes, but you'd think they find a veteran out there sooner or later. "They’re taking a risk with Hester if they're counting on him as a wide receiver," one GM told me at the scouting combine. "He's a special weapon as a return man, but the more you use him as a receiver the more you risk compromising his return ability."
Biggest surprise
Chicago keeping linebacker Lance Briggs. A year ago he was so insistent that he wanted out of Chicago, the Bears explored trade possibilities. Nothing happened, so Briggs played the season and now returns to Chicago after signing a six-year, $36 million deal. "I got the market I felt I was supposed to get," said Briggs. "So I'm not mad. I'm happy." The Bears should be, too. By signing Briggs they keep their starting linebackers in place for a fifth season. Continuity is always a good thing.
Move I'd like explained
Cleveland shelling out $10 million in guaranteed money to wide receiver Donte Stallworth. This will be his fourth team in four seasons, and there's a reason: He's not a difference maker, and if he were, the Eagles and Patriots wouldn't have let him go. I understand he's another weapon for the Browns, but at what cost? I almost always give GM Phil Savage the benefit of the doubt, but this is a move I have trouble understanding basically because I don't see how Stallworth makes an impact in this offense. I mean, Kellen Winslow had 82 catches, Braylon Edwards had 80 and Joe Jurevicius 50. Where's there room for Stallworth?
Biggest gamble
It has to be Justin Smith going to San Francisco. He's supposed to be used at right end in the 49ers' 3-4, and good luck. He's a 4-3 defensive end who never had nine sacks in any season and had two in 2007. Smith blamed last season's poor results on an elbow injury that hampered him, but wait 'til he gets a load of his new position. Talk about a challenge. A close second here is Shaun Rogers going to Cleveland. When Rogers is on, there are few better at his position. But he's not always on, and he's definitely a risk. This could be a huge get for Savage, or it could be a disaster. The Browns are betting a change of scenery will change Rogers and benefit them, but I want to see it happen. In third place is Buffalo's Marcus Stroud. He's terrific when he's right, but he hasn't done much the past two seasons and was hurt last year. The Bills made moves to shore up their run defense, the Stroud acquisition the most notable. But I'm skeptical about how much Stroud can deliver. He insists he has something to prove. So let's see it.
Teams I most admire
Indianapolis. New England. The Giants. San Diego. Baltimore. If they were active it was primarily in re-signing their own players. Free agency is overrated, and the proof is the 2007 Giants. They did next to nothing last year and won a Super Bowl. The 49ers, meanwhile, spent zillions on their defense and still wound up with a losing record. Look what happened to Indianapolis last season: The Colts lost three starters from their '06 defense to free agency, yet they were better, much better, a year later. Now look at San Francisco. The 49ers invested zillions in free agents like Nate Clements and Mike Lewis, yet moved up only four notches in the defensive rankings, from 26th to 22nd. More important, they won two fewer games. There's a message there, folks.