By TORI ADDISON
Staff Writer
The NFL free agency period certainly opened with a bang this past Tuesday as players were released from one team and signed by another in rapid fashion. It is no doubt that the rich just kept getting richer as big name teams claimed the hottest names off the block and definitely turned some heads in doing so.
Perhaps some of the biggest surprises came not with the signings, but rather with the releases that started all the commotion in the first place.
Of course, leave it to the Cowboys to make the biggest headline by releasing their star defensive end due to limited cap space. While many fans were outraged over DeMarcus Ware’s departure from Dallas, it was not necessarily an awful move by Jerry Jones. After spending the past season sidelined on and off with injuries and recording the lowest number of sacks of his career, the Cowboys may not have made such a bad decision after all in releasing Ware. The seven-time Pro Bowler most definitely had a stellar career with the Cowboys, but such a huge change may actually end up to be a good thing after all.
Although, the release of defensive end Jason Hatcher pushed it a bit far for the already deteriorating defense, hopefully Jerry Jones has a decent plan up his sleeve to patch things up for his post-Ware defense because so far he has made the Cowboys clear losers in the free agency.
Another jaw-dropping move was the Panther’s release of wide receiver Steve Smith, who was quickly snatched up by the Ravens. To be honest, I do not think that anyone really knows why Smith was released, but perhaps his lower than usual stats last season had something to do with it. Although it is extremely tough to cut players who have been a part of a team for so long, older players start to become questionable in terms of reliability as they continue to inch towards retirement.
While Carolina may be looking to start fresh with a rookie wide receiver, Smith seems to have had the last laugh as he guaranteed that “blood and guts” will be spilled once he matches up with his old team in the future. All I can say to that remark is best of luck to you Carolina, he is out for vengeance.
On the other hand, the Broncos may be the biggest winners with the additions they made to their team in the opening days of free agency. Not only did they claim Ware, but they also picked up defensive free agents Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward to add to what is becoming a dream team between their offense and defense. It is obvious that Denver is looking towards another Super Bowl run, hopefully one that does not leave them outscored and humiliated this time around.
But they were not the only team to make noise in the free agency.
I am yet to decide if the Raiders’ moves have been worthy, but I am still unsure if anything the Raiders do ever makes sense. While Oakland definitely made some key moves in signing Justin Tuck and LaMarr Woodley, I hope old age does not come back to bite them. The Raiders have a lot of issues that they need to address before moving forward, and maybe the signing of two veterans is a great start to what could be a decent season in Oakland.
Perhaps the quietest move was the Eagles trading for now ex-Saints running back Darren Sproles. Between him and LeSean McCoy, head coach Chip Kelly is going to have a field day with the running game next season.
That other team in green (the Jets) also managed to make some decent moves, especially with the pickup of former Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker. Geno Smith is certainly no Peyton Manning, but maybe all he needs is a fresh target to start creating more touchdown passes. While the deal may not be as good for Decker, who is use to catching top notch passes from the quarterback of all quarterbacks, the Jets needed to make a big move to bring some hope to their fan base.
Speaking of quarterbacks, I was not one bit surprised that Brandon Weeden was released. Why on Earth would the Browns keep him with all the talent available in the draft? With that said, hopefully the quarterback they take can turn the team around instead of get sucked into the black hole that has seemed to form in Cleveland.
If anything, the opening days of free agency definitely did not fail to disappoint. With all the roster changes, it will be interesting to see which players pan out in their new systems once the regular season starts up again.
If one thing is for sure, the NFL never stops creating havoc amongst the sports world as they sure know how to keep fans entertained during the offseason, and us fans sincerely thank them for that.
