AFCEast Weekly Free Agency Tracker

S/R Staff class="post-date-wrap left relative post-date-mob">

March 4, 2014

In an effort to track the progress of each teams “improvements” and overall roster strength during the pre-draft free agency period cap figures from overthecap.com, RotoWorld for transactions, and data on the S/R Authors Site (link on the bottom of the page) have been used. The report covers the week of Sunday, February 23rd to Saturday, March 1^st.

At the bottom of this report you will find out Rankings as of this week. We have based our rankings on a point system. The total is 1000 points, divided among the four teams. The points are awarded according to possible wins. For this week we will use the win totals of 2013. This will change weekly, as Looney and I will assign or remove points, according to Free Agents signed and those lost.

Facts:

Cap Space & Rookie signing costs as of 3/1 per overthecap.com

Bills cap space = 25.5M picks =7 rookie cap cost = 2.8M free agents = 8

Fins cap space = 39M picks = 7 rookie cap cost = 1.8M free agents = 16

Pats cap space = 12.5M picks = 7 rookie cap cost = 1.4M free agents = 13

Jets cap space = 23.5M picks = 8 rookie cap cost 2.0M free agents = 20

Team Free Agents

Bills			Dolphins
Dan Carpenter	K	UFA	Randy Starks	DI	UFA
Jairus Byrd	S	UFA	Brent Grimes	CB	UFA
Arthur Moats	LB	UFA	Paul Soliai	DI	UFA
Thomas Welch	OT	RFA	Richie Incognito	G	UFA
Mike Caussin	TE	RFA	Chris D. Clemons	S	UFA
Alex Carrington	DI	UFA	Chris Owens	CB	UFA
Scott Chandler	TE	UFA	R.J. Stanford	CB	RFA
Jim Leonhard	S	UFA	Nolan Carroll	CB	UFA
			Will Yeatman	OT	RFA
Jets			Austin Spitler	LB	UFA
Nick Folk	K	FRAN	Dustin Keller	TE	UFA
Kellen Winslow	TE	UFA	Danny Watkins	G	RFA
Leger Douzable	DI	UFA	Tyson Clabo	OT	UFA
Joshua Cribbs	WR	UFA	Marlon Moore	WR	UFA
Aaron Berry	CB	UFA	John Jerry	G	UFA
Lex Hilliard	FB	UFA	Bryant McKinnie	OT	UFA
Josh Mauga	LB	UFA
Nick Bellore	LB	RFA	Patriots
David Garrard	QB	UFA	LeGarrette Blount	HB	UFA
Ellis Lankster	CB	UFA	Brandon Spikes	LB	UFA
Isaiah Trufant	CB	RFA	Julian Edelman	WR	UFA
Austin Howard	OT	UFA	Steve Gregory	S	CUT
Willie Colon	G	UFA	Austin Collie	WR	UFA
Darius Reynaud	HB	UFA	Danny Aiken	LS	RFA
Calvin Pace	ED	UFA	Aqib Talib	CB	UFA
Darrin Walls	CB	RFA	Dane Fletcher	LB	UFA
Garrett McIntyre	ED	RFA	Will Svitek	OT	UFA
Edward Reed	S	UFA	Matthew Mulligan	TE	UFA
Jeff Cumberland	TE	UFA	Andre Carter	ED	UFA
Vladimir Ducasse	G	UFA	Michael Hoomanawanui	TE	UFA
			Ryan Wendell	C	UFA

OUR REPORTS: by Jay Sweeney & Luciano Rapa

Looney: As is usually the case in the AFC the Patriots are once again poised to dominate their division and the conference. The team has ample cap space (12.5M) to resign any of its 12 free agents it deems worthy of playing for the team again. In addition it will use its 7 draft picks for selective additions on offense and defense that will strengthen both units. As a result the team will return to the field in 2014 with the same players or stronger replacements that took it to the Championship Game in 2013. The combination of seasoned veterans and younger players are more than enough to envision the Patriots sweeping the division. The division sweep has always been the factor propelling them to 12 or 12+ win seasons and with the Packers and Broncos they only opponents of consequence in 2014 little will change. In short the other teams of the East are doomed and while 16-0 isn’t out of the question a conservative 13-3 record accounting for a few unexpected outcomes is a realistic prediction.

Lucky: Lets face it, this time of year is not for the Patriots. I mean all they do is win, win and win. The rest of us are concerned about who we sign, who we draft, how do we improve? While we try to figure out how to get to a WC, or get passed that 6 win threshold, the Patriots are trying to figure out how to win the AFCCG. You have to admire the work the GM/HC/OC/DC/President has done during his stay in New England. Pats have the resources to sign players, they don’t really need much: OL depth is a must, WR that can stretch the field, DL (not sure how much gas is left in Wilfork’s tank), an entire backfield except for one safety spot. Hey, the draft should help fill these few spots as well.

Looney: Here we have a couple of teams with lots of cap room and not enough quality players on the roster. Sure the cap space will help bring in some quality but we have seen time and time again that expensive free agents don’t change the course of a franchise. The arrow points flat on both teams for 2014 but if the front offices have any brains this can be a good thing. Teams are built by recognizing young talent on the roster and spending the money to keep them there. Ideally the contracts have to be spread out so money is available for extensions down the road without half of the playmakers hitting free agency at the same time. If these teams restrain from overdoing it in free agency and start locking in talent gradually they may amount to something in a few years. Lets start with a prediction of a hard fought 8-8 season for both teams and measure from there.

Lucky: These two teams ended the year with the same record, and as far as I’m concerned they start that way too. Both are sort of following the same script, except as far as we know nobody in the Jets locker room was sent home crying. Dolphins were without question last year’s off-season champs, didn’t really translate to much on the field. I don’t expect a Wallace this year, but I do hope they use some of the money left to sign OL help. They have to without question resign Grimes, and get another TE to complement Clay. Since it appears that their DL anchor is walking, a wide body would also be needed. The Jets have lots of needs, especially at WR/TE. This team has one playmaker, Kerley, and lots of nothing on offense. RB position could use a screen threat, if Woodson is getting released. Resigning Howard is a must, and OL depth or a starter to replace Colon are also needs. Free Safety and a CB if Cro is not brought back.

Looney: Here we have a team with talent and the money to improve that history shows us will not. The Bills have 63 wins in 10 years while the Patriots have 61 in 5 years. I hate to tell you but Tom Brady doesn’t make that much of a difference. Jim Kelly and Marv Levy left and took professional football in Western New York with them. In fact the Bills really have accomplished something very difficult to do in Goodell’s NFL. Despite a draft slot around 10^th for 10 years in the salary cap era and with the league doing everything it can to promote parity the Bills have managed to consistently produce below average results. The coaching quarterbacks and players have changed but not the results so look to the front office. Despite the announcements of new leadership with Russ Brandon and Doug Whaley taking over the truth is this duo has been steering this ship for several years already and there’s no reason to expect anything different from them. For the brainwashed fans who disagree please take a look at the job title changes of Russ Brandon since 2006 and tell me you don’t see a smokescreen with no changes in responsibilities. The Boston Red Sox maintained its fan base for 80+ years without a Championship and Buffalo’s over halfway there. Some will predict the playoffs for this team but I’m predicting the safe 6-10 season once again.

Lucky: It’s ironic that this article has created a Diamond, with the Pats on top, Jets/Dolphins in the middle and the Bills at the bottom. But, this has been the case for years. The Bills are the only small market team in the division, and that maybe the problem, but let’s face it, this once glorious franchise is a mess. What do they need? Maybe its easier to say what hey have: A good above average/overpaid defensive line, and two RBs that together = one, that is it. They used to have a great safety, but apparently he can’t wait to get out of hell. This team has nothing, not a QB, since they used three last season. Not an OL, have not had one in years. WR are way overrated, only reason we pay attention, its because of big mouth himself. Fans will be the first to tell you “we have a great pass rushing team”, LOL, LOL…That is who Pettine is, he blitzes you to death, until teams know it, and then they kill you with the running game. Dirty Schwartz now takes over, he will regret this very fast, Detroit is going to look like Paradise by game 8. Its going to be very hard to convince free agents to move their talent to Western NY, unless they overpay. This team has no direction!