The franchise tag deadline has past, the RFA tender deadline is approaching and the “legal tampering” window is open (so stash the burner phones for a while). There has actually been a fair amount of action over the past week or so. Some teams have made some moves in their efforts to be the offseason champs, some have not. Here’s where we stand:
In last place, we find our perennial offseason losers, the New England Patriots. The Pats seem content to let their entire defense from the Super Bowl championship leave; Hightower is all but gone, Chris Long already said he’s out, Logan Ryan is sure to be overpaid elsewhere and the biggest blow is that Malcolm Butler was tendered at the highest level. To the untrained eye, this looks like the Pats want to keep him, but to those of us that are a bit wiser see it as an opening for him to be playing elsewhere in 2017. A 1st round pick is a low price to pay for a #1 corner in the NFL, there are plenty of teams in the second half of the first round that are in need of a CB and getting a guy in the prime of his career is a far safer play than drafting a guy and hoping he doesn’t suck. The way the RFA rules are structured, it’s pretty easy to offer a guy a contract that his current team can’t (or won’t match). Not saying the Pats won’t be in the AFCCG again, but I really hate the way the Pats do it.
In second to last, we’ve got the Bills. The Bills are pretty much being held hostage by their refusal to make a decision on Tyrod. They’ve got next to no cap space right now, so they’ve got some work to do if they want to make any sort of splash and run at the title. Here’s what they did do: placed a tender on Mike Gilislee, a solid move in my humble opinion. They also tendered their backup center. On the downside for the Bills, it looks like Gilmore is gone and Lorenzo Alexander might be tough to sign (it could come down to a decision on letting Tyrod go in order to keep him…). Things are a bit messy up in Orchard Park right now, but hey, at least Doug Whaley is still employed.
In second place in the race for offseason champs, sit the Miami Dolphins. The Fins are in a great place to take the offseason title once again. They’ve got money burning holes in their pockets and a lot of “quality” free agents on their list. There’s not a lot of news on the RFA or franchise front for the Fins, but they are certainly in the news. Reports surfaced yesterday that the Fins may be the front runner to land Smokin’ Jay Cutler, which is amazing from a blog perspective. You can also bet that they will make a big run at guys like Hightower and Butler. They’ve been open that they are interested in trading for a CB, and giving up their 1st for Butler would be a pretty savvy move; OK, so now I don’t believe that will happen, because you know savvy and Tannenbaum don’t really go together.
And out leader, the Jets. They’ve announced that they will part ways with overweight, over paid and possibly jailed CB Darrell Revis. They’ve also been linked to every available QB that sucks (Romo, Cutler and Beaker). And their up and coming WR prospect has been suspended for the first four games of the 2017 season. Now that’s how you own the back page. I’m sure Woody Johnson is positively skipping around his penthouse suite in jolly old England right now. The Jets also cut our old friend Mr. Marshall, leaving him free to go destroy some other team’s locker room (latest reports are that it will actually be the locker room across the hall, well played Jets, well played indeed).
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