Post by Funkytown on Mar 24, 2022 9:12:31 GMT -6
Uh, it ain't pretty...
Football Outsiders: NFL Free Agency 2022 Winners and Losers
Rest of the teams at the link:
www.footballoutsiders.com/walkthrough/2022/nfl-free-agency-2022-winners-and-losers
Football Outsiders: NFL Free Agency 2022 Winners and Losers
NFC North
Chicago Bears
Improved Roster: C-
Used Resources Well: B
Coherent Plan: B
Overall Grade: B-
Khalil Mack and Allen Robinson are gone, as are guard James Daniels, defensive lineman Bilal Nichols, and returner/receiver Jakeem Grant. A whole squadron of newcomers are on board, some as lateral replacements (Lucas Patrick for Daniels), others as curiosities. (Byron Pringle and Equanimous St. Brown could host a "WR4s on Great Offenses" podcast. Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes would never be guests.)
It all adds up to a rebuilding team shuffling money and manpower around. The second-round pick the Bears received for Mack may be their most interesting—and valuable—acquisition of the offseason so far.
Detroit Lions
Improved Roster: C+
Used Resources Well: C-
Coherent Plan: D
Overall Grade: C-
Zzzzzzzzzzzz Oops! Sorry: the Lions offseason lulled us into a deep coma!
D.J. Chark is a solid acquisition, Trey Flowers a logical subtraction. Cornerback Mike Hughes is a perma-prospect who appeared to be coming around for the Chiefs last year. Other than those minor moves and some even more minor ones, the Lions have busily signed in-house free agents, which is a totally normal thing for a 3-13-1 team to want to do.
Like the Jets, the Lions deserve some credit for prioritizing in-house players and avoiding a silly Jaguars-style splurge. But the Jets at least have a quarterback prospect, and their acquisitions gave the offense a sense of direction. The Lions look eager to enjoy another mulligan year of Dan Campbell soundbites and backdoor covers. We'll reserve judgment until we see what Brad Holmes does with two first-round picks and an early second-rounder. But it's time to start moving forward, fellas.
Green Bay Packers
Improved Roster: D
Used Resources Well: C-
Coherent Plan: F all the minuses on earth
Overall Grade: F
It takes two to tango in a dysfunctional codependency. Yes, Aaron Rodgers is as prickly as a porcupine petting zoo, but the Mark Murphy/Brian Gutekunst braintrust really gets their jollies from trolling him, even if it hurts the team.
Yes, yes, Davante Adams supposedly wanted to play for the Raiders, the Packers outbid them, blah blah blah, spinney-spin-spin. The Packers held Adams' rights. They're a Super Bowl contender. There was no reason to trade him two days into free agency, less than a week after Rodgers signed his latest money-as-surrogate-for-mutual-respect contract, except that they liked the price and seem to enjoy the ever-roiling soap opera as much as Rodgers does.
Also, the Packers lost two offensive linemen: Lucas Patrick and Rodgers bestie Billy Turner. Writing Za'Darius Smith's loss off as a necessary compromise, the Packers could have kept most of the core of their roster together by doing Saints stuff. And Saints stuff is 100% justified for a 14-team win with a Hall of Fame quarterback in a conference with few serious contenders, as opposed to the Saints. If the Packers really care about future draft picks and resources, they should have just let Rodgers play the field.
Assemble all the receiver-heavy Rodgers fanfic mock draft scenarios you like: the Packers have guaranteed another Super Bowl second runner-up finish in 2022, at best, with their quarterback beefing and bloviating each week to everyone on earth with a Stitcher account.
Minnesota Vikings
Improved Roster: D
Used Resources Well: F
Coherent Plan: C-
Overall Grade: D
It was tempting to give the Vikings an F-minus-minus-minus-minus in every category simply for extending Kirk Cousins' contract even further into the future. But in a league where teams trade for Carson Wentz and break the bank for Deshaun Watson consolation prizes, even a premium-priced Cousins starts to look pretty good.
Adam Thielen's contract extension is a quieter but larger problem: Thielen turns 32 this summer, has a mounting injury history, and is settling into a WR2 role; he can still play, but he's not the sort of player a rebuilding team should be extending its relationship with. Meanwhile, the Vikings tried to trade or renegotiate with Danielle Hunter but ended up eating his $26-million cap hit all at once. Then they randomly added Za'Darius Smith because ... they're contending???
Cleaning up the excesses of the Rick Spielman/Mike Zimmer "Let's pay Rolls Royce prices for Hondas" era is going to take a while, especially when the new braintrust keeps making more messes.
Chicago Bears
Improved Roster: C-
Used Resources Well: B
Coherent Plan: B
Overall Grade: B-
Khalil Mack and Allen Robinson are gone, as are guard James Daniels, defensive lineman Bilal Nichols, and returner/receiver Jakeem Grant. A whole squadron of newcomers are on board, some as lateral replacements (Lucas Patrick for Daniels), others as curiosities. (Byron Pringle and Equanimous St. Brown could host a "WR4s on Great Offenses" podcast. Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes would never be guests.)
It all adds up to a rebuilding team shuffling money and manpower around. The second-round pick the Bears received for Mack may be their most interesting—and valuable—acquisition of the offseason so far.
Detroit Lions
Improved Roster: C+
Used Resources Well: C-
Coherent Plan: D
Overall Grade: C-
Zzzzzzzzzzzz Oops! Sorry: the Lions offseason lulled us into a deep coma!
D.J. Chark is a solid acquisition, Trey Flowers a logical subtraction. Cornerback Mike Hughes is a perma-prospect who appeared to be coming around for the Chiefs last year. Other than those minor moves and some even more minor ones, the Lions have busily signed in-house free agents, which is a totally normal thing for a 3-13-1 team to want to do.
Like the Jets, the Lions deserve some credit for prioritizing in-house players and avoiding a silly Jaguars-style splurge. But the Jets at least have a quarterback prospect, and their acquisitions gave the offense a sense of direction. The Lions look eager to enjoy another mulligan year of Dan Campbell soundbites and backdoor covers. We'll reserve judgment until we see what Brad Holmes does with two first-round picks and an early second-rounder. But it's time to start moving forward, fellas.
Green Bay Packers
Improved Roster: D
Used Resources Well: C-
Coherent Plan: F all the minuses on earth
Overall Grade: F
It takes two to tango in a dysfunctional codependency. Yes, Aaron Rodgers is as prickly as a porcupine petting zoo, but the Mark Murphy/Brian Gutekunst braintrust really gets their jollies from trolling him, even if it hurts the team.
Yes, yes, Davante Adams supposedly wanted to play for the Raiders, the Packers outbid them, blah blah blah, spinney-spin-spin. The Packers held Adams' rights. They're a Super Bowl contender. There was no reason to trade him two days into free agency, less than a week after Rodgers signed his latest money-as-surrogate-for-mutual-respect contract, except that they liked the price and seem to enjoy the ever-roiling soap opera as much as Rodgers does.
Also, the Packers lost two offensive linemen: Lucas Patrick and Rodgers bestie Billy Turner. Writing Za'Darius Smith's loss off as a necessary compromise, the Packers could have kept most of the core of their roster together by doing Saints stuff. And Saints stuff is 100% justified for a 14-team win with a Hall of Fame quarterback in a conference with few serious contenders, as opposed to the Saints. If the Packers really care about future draft picks and resources, they should have just let Rodgers play the field.
Assemble all the receiver-heavy Rodgers fanfic mock draft scenarios you like: the Packers have guaranteed another Super Bowl second runner-up finish in 2022, at best, with their quarterback beefing and bloviating each week to everyone on earth with a Stitcher account.
Minnesota Vikings
Improved Roster: D
Used Resources Well: F
Coherent Plan: C-
Overall Grade: D
It was tempting to give the Vikings an F-minus-minus-minus-minus in every category simply for extending Kirk Cousins' contract even further into the future. But in a league where teams trade for Carson Wentz and break the bank for Deshaun Watson consolation prizes, even a premium-priced Cousins starts to look pretty good.
Adam Thielen's contract extension is a quieter but larger problem: Thielen turns 32 this summer, has a mounting injury history, and is settling into a WR2 role; he can still play, but he's not the sort of player a rebuilding team should be extending its relationship with. Meanwhile, the Vikings tried to trade or renegotiate with Danielle Hunter but ended up eating his $26-million cap hit all at once. Then they randomly added Za'Darius Smith because ... they're contending???
Cleaning up the excesses of the Rick Spielman/Mike Zimmer "Let's pay Rolls Royce prices for Hondas" era is going to take a while, especially when the new braintrust keeps making more messes.
Rest of the teams at the link:
www.footballoutsiders.com/walkthrough/2022/nfl-free-agency-2022-winners-and-losers
... and neither is this Chris guy.