FINALLY the lockout is over and we are back to football. Saying that the first few days of free agency were hectic would be quite the understatement. There were more moves made in the first three days than Chris Brown has in his dance repertoire. I kept checking my twitter constantly to see what @AdamSchefter had to report and by the end of all the madness, a few teams improved their roster, while others failed to do so. So here are my grades.
AFC EAST
Buffalo Bills
Buffalo landed a solid defensive lineman when they drafted Marcell Dareus out of Alabama. He has the skill-set to help improve a defense that ranked dead last in stopping the run last season. The addition of veteran linebacker Nick Barnett also strengthens the linebacking core after the loss of Paul Posluszny , which also includes Sean Merriman . Finally, signing Brad Smith pushed this grade from a B to a B+. The guy is a playmaker returning kickoffs and out of the wildcat.
Grade: B+
Miami Dolphins
If anything, Miami took a step back. They dumped their two decent running backs and traded for Reggie Bush , who has shown that he cannot be a workhorse in the backfield. Granted, they did draft Daniel Thomas in the late second round, but I cannot see the tandem of Bush and Thomas being any better for Miami than Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams were, and the latter could at least excite the fans with the Wildcat. Also, the Dolphins failed to pull the trigger on a trade that would have landed them Kyle Orton and now they are stuck with Chad Henne . I would not be surprised if the Bills finish ahead of the Fish in the standings this year.
Grade: D+
New England Patriots
New England suffered no significant losses in free agency, they retained Logan Mankins for another year, and they took a gamble by adding two head-cases with superstar talent. Tom Brady can make any wide receiver look amazing, and Chad Ochocinco already possesses pro bowl skills. These two just may very well become one of the premiere QB-WR duos in the AFC, behind Manning and Wayne and Schaub and Johnson. Albert Haynesworth will be interesting to watch in New England’s system because he doesn’t like playing in a 3-4 scheme, but if he finds his groove it will be incredibly difficult for anyone to run past him and Vince Wilfork . The Patriots also added to their offensive line by drafting Nate Solder with their first pick.
Grade: A-
New York Jets
Locking up Santonio Holmes on the first day gave the Jets an A to begin with, but they quickly went downhill, beginning with the Nnamdi sweepstakes. This grade is not based off of the fact that they couldn’t land Nnamdi Asomugha , but the ramifications of engaging in these dealings hurt them very badly. Brad Smith bolted to Buffalo because he couldn’t afford to wait around to see if the Jets could afford him. He has won the Jets so many important games during his time in New York and losing him cannot sit well with any Jets fan. GM Mike Tannenbaum also made Antonio Cromartie sit around and feel like a backup prom date. Even though the Jets re-signed Holmes and signed Plaxico Burress , they may not have made the receiving core better at all. They lost Braylon Edwards who had a very productive season last year, they released Jerricho Cotchery , who was incredibly reliable, and they lost Brad Smith. I’m not sure that I would have traded the three of them for someone who just spent 2 years in prison but we will see how it turns out. Furthermore, the Jets did nothing to improve their pass rush before losing Shaun Ellis to New England.
Grade: C+