Now that the draft is over, there’s still a lot of talent on the open market. Here are the NFL’s best remaining free agents.
Now that the 2022 NFL draft is over, it’s time for executives, personnel people, and coaches to get their rookies into minicamps, take another look at their rosters, and see what might still be out there in the remaining class of free agents to fill out their teams.
This process is now assisted by the fact that free-agent signings will no longer could against the formula that gives teams compensatory picks (previously in the league year, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires in the previous year is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks), which evens out the math a bit.
The Saints took advantage of that on May 2 when they signed former Chiefs defensive back Tyrann Mathieu to a three-year, $33 million deal with $18 million guaranteed. You could soon see other teams pounce on the names on this list; other players might be signings closer to summer minicamps and training camps.
The Houston Texans should take a look at defensive end Trey Flowers if they want to put the finishing touches on their edge defense.
The Houston Texans have completed the first wave of free agency and the 2022 NFL draft. Ostensibly the club has filled their roster holes and are ready to get to work.
The Texans still lack a solid veteran presence along the edge, but they could find one easily in defensive end Trey Flowers.
Flowers was unable to stay healthy the last two seasons, but he’ll only be 29 years old this fall and had a PFF grade over 80 in every season between 2017-2020, making him one of the most consistent defensive linemen in football. He should still have good football left in him in the right scheme.
Flowers has familiarity with general manager Nick Caserio as he played for the New England Patriots from 2015-18, winning two Super Bowls in the process. Flowers spent the last three seasons with the Detroit Lions as he followed former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to the Motor City when he took the job in 2018. Flowers stayed on one more year through the beginning of the Dan Campbell era.
The former Arkansas Razorback generated 24 combined tackles, a tackle for loss, three quarterback hits, 1.5 sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery through seven games, all of which he started.
Flowers is 29 years old and still has some good snaps remaining.
The Texans’ defensive ends consist of Jonathan Greenard, Jordan Jenkins, Michael Dwumfour, Derek Rivers, and Demone Harris.
The offseason workouts will reveal where the Texans are at in terms of their defensive end situation, even if the pads aren’t on yet and the trenches aren’t yet colliding with one another. Nevertheless if coach Lovie Smith believes the edge defense could use a boost, they need to consider Flowers.
The 6-foot-4, 243-pound Akins was a third-round pick of the Texans in the 2018 NFL draft. He had spent the entirety of his career in Houston before becoming an unrestricted free agent in March.
In 58 career games (23 starts), Akins has hauled in 114 receptions for 1,260 yards and three touchdowns. He’s also rushed the ball twice for seven yards and recorded one special teams tackle.
Akins, 30, joins a tight end group that currently consists of Ricky Seals-Jones, Jake Hausmann, Rysen John and Chris Myarick.
The Houston Texans may not be done with addressing the safety position through free agency and the NFL draft.
The Houston Texans have their safety situation shored up for the time being.
The club re-signed Terrence Brooks and still have veterans Jonathan Owens and Eric Murray on the roster. Throw in the versatility of Lonnie Johnson to go from cornerback to safety, and the Texans have players who can at least dress on game days and fill out the roster.
Houston still has a big void to fill with the departure of Justin Reid, a former 2019 Ed Block Courage Award winner, who signed a three-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency.
As offseason workouts kicked off for the Texans Monday at NRG Stadium, coach Lovie Smith expressed confidence in who the club currently has under contract.
“As we go forward, Jonathan Owens did a few good things last year, he played,” said Smith. “He fits the profile of what we’re looking for. Eric Murray, same thing, did some good things. I believe in him. He’s smart. We have a new safeties coach that loves him, also. Terrence Brooks, we’re bringing back three guys that have played a lot of football that we feel good about.”
The Texans brought in Joe Danna as their safeties coach. Danna had previously spent the past five seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars coaching defensive backs in various capacities.
Whether through the addition of assistant coaches or retaining existing talent, Smith knows the Texans still have work to do in acquiring talent on the backend.
“There is still free agency going on and there’s a draft going on, and we’re going to improve the club still with that,” Smith said. “In an ideal world we’re going to dress four safeties, have five safeties that you feel good about. That’s the goal.”
While it makes sense for the Texans to draft Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton or Georgia’s Lewis Cine, the end of the month will reveal whether general manager Nick Caserio and the personnel department similarly thought it was sensible to invest capital in a young safety.
The Houston Texans are all-in on Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2 defense. Here is a breakdown explaining how defensive linemen factor into his defense.
Houston Texans fans have heard and are going to continue to hear a lot about defensive scheme and fit during the draft.
Cries of “this corner isn’t big enough for the scheme” or “that linebacker doesn’t have the right size for his role,” are shouted from the rooftops during the draft season. This comes equally from professional analysts and the most casual fans and, as such, figuring out true signals from the noise can be extremely difficult.
Specifically in Houston, much of the draft conversation revolves around the scheme fit needed for Lovie Smith’s trademark Tampa 2 defense. It’s a personnel grouping that is somewhat dated but was once the dominant defensive set in the NFL. Last year, as the defensive coordinator, Lovie showed signs of modifying the base sets and showing some versatility to make the scheme more compatible with today’s league.
The Texans Wire wants to make this verbiage less complicated.
The goal of this article series will be twofold. First, we want Houston fans to be smarter about how they understand their own coaching staff and their own scheme. When terms like “three-technique” or “strong safety” are used, Texans fans are going to be much better off if they can picture exactly what that player is doing on defense.
The second goal is to provide a better comprehension for the draft. Understanding Smith’s defensive scheme should allow better comprehension of why Houston values certain players and certain skillsets in the draft. Should a player be selected that seemingly shocks national analysts, it may make more sense within the schematic context of the scheme the Texans want to execute.
For this series, John Crumpler will be teaming up with Jordan Pun from Sports Illustrated. Each article will be accompanied by a video of their conversation for those that prefer to listen rather than read. Below is the first edition and what correlates to this article:
Houston, let’s get smarter this week.
The basics of the Tampa 2 are pretty simple. For years Houston ran a 3-4 base defense under Wade Phillips and several other coordinators. Now, the schematics under Smith primarily fall under a 4-3. This means there are four down defensive lineman and three linebackers in every base set. On passing downs, that third linebacker may be replaced by a corner (AKA the nickel.)
Specifically, the Tampa 2 employs a zone heavy scheme that asks safeties to play two-high. The middle linebacker is responsible for a deeper zone than usual, but that’ll be broken down when the linebackers are covered. This article will focus on the four down defensive lineman. There are two unique defensive tackle position and two edge rushers, each with different responsibilities.
Stopping the run begins with the nose tackle, also known as the one-technique. This player is responsible for engaging both the center and a guard simultaneously and creating one on one opportunities for his teammates. The one-technique is an absolute necessity in preventing push in the run game and the very best are able to make life miserable for running backs that want to run up the A-gap (between the center and the guard).
In 2021, the nose tackle role was occupied by Roy Lopez. The sixth-round pick from New Mexico State had an excellent season and easily over performed draft expectations. Looking towards the draft, a name Houston fans should be aware of is Jordan Davis. Davis is an off-the-charts combine tester and debatably the hallmark player of the national champion Georgia Bulldogs defense. He’s a candidate that’s a viable pick at 13th overall and would do an excellent job of pushing runners towards Jonathan Greenard and the other edge rusher.
2020 Auburn UGA.
Line Jordan Davis up on a guard and let him bully them. It’s not hard!
The length, mass, brute explosive strength and ability to make plays in space… pic.twitter.com/JZsaOrZfjx
— Spencer N. Schultz (@ravens4dummies) April 1, 2022
The other defensive tackle in the 4-3 defense is known as the three-technique tackle. This defensive tackle can be a bit slighter and is more so responsible for rushing the passer and winning a one-on-one matchup with the guard. Rather than lining up at the one-gap, like the nose tackle, where the tackle is between the center and the guard, this player lines up in the three-gap between the tackle and the guard.
The player responsible for this in Smith’s defense is Maliek Collins. Collins entered free agency in March but was a clear priority for Houston to re-sign and it makes sense. The two-year, $17-million contract was a bargain for a player that is an absolute necessity within the scheme of the Tampa 2. 2020 second-round pick Ross Blacklock can also be thought of in this role.
At their best, this player is able to isolate a guard and win consistently to wreak havoc on both the running game and the passing game. Houston currently has one of the better three-techniques in the league in Collins, but the name to watch in the first round of the draft for this position is another Georgia defensive tackle. Devonte Wyatt and Perrion Winfrey, although likely not Texans, should be thought of in this aspect.
Finally, there are the two edge positions. This is where we saw Jonathan Greenard take huge strides forward last year and where Houston sorely needs another player. The two defensive ends have similar responsibilities but can be thought of separately as the strong side and the weak side players.
The strong side is the side that is supported by the tight end in a set. Greenard thrived in that role in 2021, taking advantage of players who simply aren’t the same caliber of blockers as offensive tackles. Meanwhile, the weak side edge rusher is just asked to win against a tackle one-on-one.
Both of these players are tasked with setting the edge, or preventing the run game from bouncing plays outside, and pushing everything towards the collapsing defensive ends. On passing downs, the defensive ends are simply asked to pin their ears back and attack the opposing quarterback.
Defensive end is, understandably, an extremely popular option for Houston. Kayvon Thibodeaux from Oregon, Travon Walker from (again) Georgia, and Jermaine Johnson from Florida State would all make excellent additions in the first round to play across from Greenard.
In particular, Thibodeaux at third overall is perfectly suited to play opposite of Greenard and occupy the weak side role. His unique blend of speed and power is perfect for setting the edge and allowing the rest of Houston’s existing defense to do what they do best.
Of the four positions on the defensive line in Lovie’s Tampa 2, Houston’s new head coach should feel great about two of the spots and has a great contributor at a third. It’ll be up to Nick Caserio in the draft to find a complimentary edge rusher and to decide if he wants to upgrade the one-technique spot from Lopez.
In the next installment, we’ll go over the linebackers and what exactly differentiates the responsibilities of Christian Kirksey from another linebacker like Kamu Grugier-Hill
Mack was supplanted as the Colts’ feature back in 2020 due to injury. In Week 1, the former 2017 fourth-round pick from South Florida sustained a torn Achilles that knocked out for the season. Second-round running back Jonathan Taylor took over and has never looked back. Mack did return to the Colts in 2021 with 28 carries for 101 yards over the course of six games.
The 6-0, 210-pound running back’s most productive season was in 2019 when he carried 247 times for 1,091 yards and eight touchdowns through 14 games, 12 of which he started.
The Texans already have Dare Ogunbowale, Darius Anderson, Scottie Phillips, Royce Freeman, and Rex Burkhead on the roster along with fullbacks Andy Janovich and Paul Quessenberry.
But they are still in financial dire straits as the 2022 NFL draft approaches. The Giants have the worst cap situation in the NFL right now with just $737K in available cap space.
Following the early wave of free agency, a look at where all 32 NFL teams officially stand in terms of cap space, from the Panthers to the Giants. pic.twitter.com/rOBNzOb5IJ
Of course, they can recapture a huge chunk of cap space by trading Saquon Barkley and releasing/trading cornerback James Bradberry. That could still happen, but still might not get them there.
They can, however, deal one of their first round picks, which will reduce their cap requirement. The 5th overall selection projects a first year cap hit of $6.3 million while the 7th overall pick is around $5 million.
The New England Patriots and former New York Giants safety Jabrill Peppers have agreed to a one-year deal.
There was no bigger advocate for safety Jabrill Peppers than former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge. And when he was sent packing from East Rutherford, it stood to reason that Peppers would follow him out the door.
As it turns out however, Peppers not only followed Judge out the door but followed him all the way to New England.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Peppers had agreed to a one-year deal with the Patriots.
Peppers had his 2021 regular season end early after suffering a ruptured ACL in Week 7 against the Carolina Panthers. Despite the injury occurring mid-season, ESPN reports that Peppers should be back in time for the start of training camp.
The New Jersey native joined the Giants as part of the Odell Beckham Jr. In fact, he was a main cog in said trade — a demand from former general manager Dave Gettleman.
In 61 career games (59 starts), Peppers has recorded 333 tackles (224 solo, 21 for a loss), 13 QB hits, 4.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, 25 passes defensed, four interceptions and one touchdown.
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Luke Easterling of Draft Wire and Bucs Wire discuss Kayvon Thibodeaux, free-agent fits, and the new overtime rules.
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, and Luke Easterling of Draft Wire and Bucs Wire, are back with yet another episode of “4-Down Territory,” in which our intrepid analysts throw a wide net over everything that’s happening in the NFL.
This week, Luke and Doug discuss the myth that Kayvon Thibodeaux doesn’t love football, which free-agent signing will pay the biggest dividends for his new team, which currently unsigned free agents should point to which teams for the best fit, and the overtime rule proposals at the owners meetings (which have fortunately now passed, with a postseason modification).
Free agency is in full swing, which means that the New York Giants aren’t just looking for players to add, but which players to keep.
Some players don’t give them the choice, though, which is what makes free agency so exciting — you never know which players will end up on each team.
Former Giants offensive lineman Will Hernandez has decided that his time in New York is over. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals on Monday.
Hernandez was drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft (the 34th overall pick). Prior to entering the draft, Hernandez played in 49 games over his career at the University of Texas-El Paso. After the 2016 season, he was named second-team All-American, and after the 2017 season, he was named to the Conference USA first-team.
The Giants had high hopes for Hernandez, who showed real promise as a rookie, but that promise was not realized. 2021 was Hernandez’s worst season in New York, by far, so it’s no real surprise that the Giants didn’t highly pursue him when his contract was up.
Enter the Cardinals, who have decided to sign Hernandez to a one-year contract. He will reunite with one of his college coaches in Arizona, Sean Kugler, who currently serves as the Cardinals’ offensive line coach. He was the head coach at UTEP when Hernandez was a player.
Should the Cards sign Hernandez to a large deal, it may factor into the compensatory pick formula. But if not, he won’t. And, interestingly, the Giants just signed guard Max Garcia, a former Cardinal.
It’s not a swap, per se, but in an odd turn of events, Arizona and New York have “traded” players.
