Grading The N.F.C. North in Free Agency

Minnesota Vikings

Added:

Charlie Johnson, T, Colts

Scott Kooistra, T, Baltimore Ravens

Michael Jenkins, WR, Atlanta

Mark Washington, LB, Arizona

Remi Ayodele, NT, New Orleans

Devin Aromashodu, WR, Chicago

Resigned:

Eric Frampton, S

Fred Evans, NT

Ryan Cook, G

Chad Greenway, LB

Husain Abdullah, S

Acquired in a trade: Donovan Mcnabb

Lost:

Bryant Mckinnie (released),

WR Sydney Rice, WR

Madieu Williams, S

Ray Edwards, DE

Tavaris Jackson, QB

Frank Walker, CB

Pat Williams

Grade: B-

This may seem like a high grade for a team that lost so many valuable contributors to their team in the offseason. The Vikings lost mammoth DT Pat Williams (unless I missed his resigning), Sydney Rice, Bryant Mckinnie, and DE Ray Edwards. But I’m not going to kill the Vikings for that because I think it’s fair to argue that all of the players got overpaid in free agency. The Seahawks gave Rice a pretty big contract, which he can definitely live up to because he’s talented, but he’s only had one season and has only played in 16 games in one of his four career seasons. Still, he instantly upgrades the Seahawks offensive weapons and the Vikings WR are worse for the loss, but it can be argued he was overpaid.

Same thing with Ray Edwards. Edwards was talked about like a dynamic pass rusher who can take over games and he has 16.5 sacks over the past two seasons (which is respectable), but he was also playing alongside Pat Williams and Kevin Williams (two potential hall of famers) and Jared Allen (one of the best sack masters in the entire game). It is fair to wonder if he’ll have the same kind of success with inferior surrounding talent. The Vikings may also believe that Everson Griffen is the real deal, though he had no sacks last year.

I really like what the Vikings did in free agency. Getting Donovan Mcnabb was wonderful. Mcnabb is a guy who will help develop younger players, I believe and I think he’ll teach Christian Ponder some things about the game. He also still has some left in the tank and now that he’s out of the terrible situation in Washington he could be pretty solid this year while the Vikings look to stay competitive in the N.F.C. North.

The Charlie Johnson signing was also a good one. The Vikings were unhappy with Bryant Mckinnie and while Johnson is not a great player he’s a plus pass protector. I also think adding Jenkins wasn’t a bad move either. He hasn’t lived up to his lofty draft status, but he’s a solid rotational WR. The problem for the Vikings is they might not have a true number one WR on the roster now.

One of the hardest positions to fill in my opinion is a quality 43 linebacker. They are becoming a rare breed in the N.F.L. as the N.F.L. moves to a more wide open league. Finding a player who can rush the passer, stop the run, and cover running backs, TE, and even WR at times. Great resigning by the Vikings.

All in all, I don’t think the Vikings will be that competitive this season, but they gave their fans hope with the Mcnabb trade, they didn’t over pay for some pretty good players while they rebuild so while Christian Ponder develops they’ll keep themselves clear of debilitating contracts three years from now. Pretty decent off-season even though they lost a lot.

Green Bay Packers

Resigned:

James Jones, WR

Spencer Haven, LB

Mason Crosby, K

John Kuhn (FB/RB)

Lost:

Cullen Jenkins (Eagles)

Nick Barnett (Bills)

Brandon Jackson (Cleveland)

Daryn Colledge (Cardinals)

Grade D

I’m not saying that the Packers aren’t going to be a good team this year, what I’m writing is that if I’m grading a free agency based on paper. The Packers was weak. They lost starters in Cullen Jenkins, Nick Barnett and Daryn Colledge. They lost depth at running back with Brandon Jackson (not that big of a loss), they added essentially nothing. The team is still a very good team, as all teams can be when they have a franchise quarterback. Packers fans are lucky their G.M. already stacked their team with tons of depth or they could be in a bad situation. Still a good team, but a boring and unproductive free agency.

Detroit Lions

Resigned:

Cliff Avril, DE

Bobby Carpenter, LB

Jerome Felton, FB

Andrew Fluellen, DT

Chris Houston, CB

Stefan Logan, WR

Lost

Turk Mcbride, DE

Signed:

Stephen Tulloch, LB (Titans)

Eric Wright, CB (Cleveland)

Maurice Legget, CB (Kansas City)

Justin Durant, LB (Jacksonville)

Grade A-

If I wrote a book about how to build a team successfully in the N.F.L. one f the chapters would be titled “draft the best player available and fill your needs in free agency” and that’s exactly what the Lions did in free agency. The Lions made sure they wouldn’t lose Cliff Avril and then went into free agency with a goal of upgrading their linebacker corps and adding talent and depth to their cornerback unit. The Lions had one of the worst linebacker corps in the entire league last year and they instantly upgraded that position. Stephen Tulloch is one of the better 43 linebackers in the league. A player who had 160 tackles last year (with 6 passes defensed) as he flew all over the field. To make it even better is that he’s familiar with the Lions head coach because he was the former Titans defensive coordinator. Great signing.

Then the Lions also added former starter in Jacksonville Justin Durant. Durant’s not a great player, but he could definitely win a starting spot with the Lions and at the very least provides excellent depth. Durant has started 34 games the last three years (he played in only 37) and while he wasn’t dynamic he’s solid.

The Lions knew they had to improve their secondary so they grabbed a super talented player in former Cleveland Browns CB Eric WRight. Wright has excellent physical ability and if the Lions can harness that, they’ll have a good number two cornerback and potential #1 cornerback. Maurice Leggett is nothing special, but he’s more competition and depth at cornerback.

Great job by the Lions in free agency.

Chicago Bears

Resigned:

Josh Bullocks, Safety

Anthony Adams, DT
Desmond Clark, TE

Lost:

Greg Olson (Trade with Panthers)

Olin Kreutz, C

Signed:

Roy Williams (Dallas)

Marion Barber, RB (Dallas)

Chris Spencer, C (Seahawks)

Matt Spaeth, TE

Adam Podlesh, P

Amobi Okoye DT

Vernon Gholston, DE

Grade B

I didn’t love the Greg Olson move, but I liked a lot of what else they did. Chris Spencer isn’t great either but he’ll start for Chicago and he’s younger than Kreutz. After that the Bears took on a lot of low risk high reward kind of players. Roy Williams is a nice complement to Johnny Knox and Devin Hester. Amobi Okoye and Vernon Gholston have all the physical ability in the world if DL Coach Rod Marinellie can maximize that talent the Bears defensive line could be scary. Marion Barber can catch the ball out of the backfield which is important in their offense and he can bang it up in the middle. Perhaps a decreased workload will help Barber regain his magic from a few years ago. The Bears had an interesting offseason to say the least. I like the aggressive nature of the Bears in the free agency market this year and I think there are some possible hidden gems so I’ll give this a solid B.

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