Tag: 2021 Free Agency

Miami Dolphins boast 9th youngest free agent class of 2021

Miami Dolphins boast 9th youngest free agent class of 2021

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It feels like just yesterday that everyone was sitting around waiting for the Dolphins to make the kinds of maneuvers in free agency that gave anyone the impression that the roster was better than it could be claimed to be at the end of the 2020 season. But now, nearly one month after the opening of the league calendar year, the Dolphins are suddenly among the league leaders in transactions signed this offseason. The Miami Dolphins, according to Over The Cap, are tied for the fourth-biggest free agency crop of 2021 — and they’re also among the youngest crops of free agents, too.

Over The Cap has the Dolphins marked as the 9th youngest free agency class of 2021 as things currently stand, with an average age of 27.82 years of age.

That falls in line with the philosophy we’ve seen from the Dolphins, which is to attack young players even as the team looks to transition from a young rebuilding team to a viable contender. The experience of veterans can be useful — but Miami is betting on the youth of their roster growing together to experience the needed trials to become a winner together. The next step for the Dolphins will be a big one: returning to the postseason and securing a win along the way.

Miami owns one of the longest playoff win droughts in all of football — and they cannot consider the next chapter of their rebuild a success until that streak is broken. The Dolphins, interestingly enough, aren’t hoarding players who have been there and done that, however. Instead, they’re targeting talents whose best football may yet be ahead of them.

6 takeaways from Bills’ quiet free agency

Buffalo Bills takeaways from 2021 free agency.

Free agency kind of never ends in the NFL. Teams can still sign players whenever they want.

But as we all know, the true excitement for free agency exists in the early stages when the big fish in the pond find new teams.

Not only are those types of signings well in the past, we’ve now turned the calendar to April. That causes attention to shift toward to the NFL Draft. Before doing so, let’s take one last look back at the free agency period that was for the Bills.

Here are six takeaways from Buffalo’s relatively quiet but important free agency:

Bears coaches were ‘thrilled’ to land QB Andy Dalton in free agency

After failing to trade for Russell Wilson, it sounds like the Bears were thrilled to land Andy Dalton as a consolation prize.

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The Chicago Bears sent shockwaves through their fanbase when they inked veteran quarterback Andy Dalton to a one-year deal in free agency.

It came as a shock given Chicago’s pursuit of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who the Bears were all-in on. They even made a formal offer — three first-round picks, a third-round pick and two players — which the Seahawks turned down.

General manager Ryan Pace missed out on making his splash this offseason. So it wasn’t really a shock to see Chicago target a veteran in free agency after losing out on Wilson.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Bears coaches were “thrilled” with landing Dalton in free agency.

“I’m told inside the building there with the coaches, they are thrilled with the Dalton pick because when it came to free agency, they broke down all the potential starters,” Fowler said, via Bleacher Report. “You had the Jameis Winstons, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Dalton, I’m told, was very high on their list.

“They felt like they’ve been churning out eight-win seasons, despite having some spotty quarterback play. They think that just capable play with Dalton can really elevate them to a new level and with reuniting with former offensive coordinator Bill Lazor in Cincinnati, they think they can produce there.”

Dalton has found success in the past, but going off his most recent performance with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, there’s a lot to be desired in a Bears offense that had its struggles beyond quarterback last season.

While Bears coaches might be encouraged that Dalton can find success in this offense, it’s hard to believe that Dalton was high on Chicago’s list given their aggressive pursuit to land Wilson. All this QB1 chatter and praise doesn’t mean much when evidence suggests that he was the rebound.

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Buffalo Bills earn ‘B’ grade for work in free agency

Bleacher Report grade for the Buffalo Bills in 2021 free agency.

The Buffalo Bills did a lot of maintaining in free agency. It wasn’t filled with big splashes, but that was never the plan.

Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane even said that at his end of season press conference. His goal was always to keep things in-tact. That happened as Buffalo re-signed several pieces of their roster, including offensive tackle Daryl Williams and linebacker Matt Milano.

For these accomplishments, Bleacher Report recently handed out grades for work done in free agency and Buffalo’s consensus mark was a B. Here’s the breakdown:

They did a solid job maintaining their roster. The Bills didn’t necessarily get any better, but they offset a potential major loss at wide receiver when John Brown left by signing Emmanuel Sanders. Plus, Buffalo retained cornerback Levi Wallace.

By comparison, the Bills did just as well as the rest of the AFC East, according to B/R. But we had a classic reaction to some teams. Each year, everyone loves the club that spends a ton at this time of the year.

No one made more splashes in free agency than the Patriots. That helped them land an overall mark of A-minus. That was the best divisional grade from B/R.

We’ll have to see if that spending was worth it on the field in 2021.

However, the Jets did spend more than the Bills during free agency, but they also earned a grade of B. The Dolphins were slightly being with a B-minus.

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Bills host OL Le’Raven Clark on free-agent visit

The Bills’ search for depth in the trenches involved a free-agent visit with a former Colts player recently. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, offensive tackle Le’Raven Clark was in Buffalo on Friday. The third-round pick of the Colts in 2016 has …

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The Bills’ search for depth in the trenches involved a free-agent visit with a former Colts player recently. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, offensive tackle Le’Raven Clark was in Buffalo on Friday.

The third-round pick of the Colts in 2016 has made 15 starts in his career and has appeared in 47 games. In 2020, his season ended with an Achilles injury in Week 13.

Considering an Achilles having nearly a year’s timetable for recovery, it’s unlikely that Clark would be good to go. The Bills could just be touching base for a future look.

Last week Buffalo came to terms with two other depth options for the O-line as well. Former Bengals tackle Bobby Hart signed a one-year deal with the Bills while ex-Titans tackle Jamil Douglas was also signed.

Last season Pro Football Focus graded Clark a well below average 49.1 overall grade.

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Cowboys have been more involved than ever in free agency

After an active free agency so far for Dallas, has it been successful? Todd Archer weighed in on the moves that could pay dividends in 2021.

During the 2021 free agency cycle, the Cowboys have added eight free agents, the most in franchise history, and they might not be done yet. Among the already-made additions are former Atlanta Falcons secondary players Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee along with defensive linemen Brent Urban and Carlos Watkins.

Dallas has added depth at a premium while bringing in playmakers for the defense. ESPN’s Todd Archer recently discussed the Cowboys’ acquisitions and losses in an article on Friday.

Collectively, that group will count $12.712 million against the salary cap. Neal has the largest signing bonus at $3 million. Basham has the highest cap figure at $2.5 million. Kearse, Kazee and McQuaide are on minimum-salary benefit contracts.

Perhaps there will be more additions as the offseason moves along, but the question now is: Have the Cowboys gotten better with their additions?

For the pair of Kazee and Neal, their recent careers have been plagued by injuries but they have been able to make plays when healthy and at their best. Kazee had his best season in 2018 and Neal had 14 forced fumbles between 2016 and 2017. They will be reunited with their head coach from their time in Atlanta in defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

If Kazee, 27, can return to form, the Cowboys have a playmaker at safety. He had seven interceptions in 2018. The Cowboys have not had a defender with more than six interceptions in a season since Everson Walls had nine in 1985. But Kazee played four games last season for Atlanta because of a torn Achilles.

Jayvon Kearse also brings depth to the safety position. Mainly known for his hybrid ability, similar to Neal, and will bring another playmaker to the special teams unit to pair with C.J. Goodwin who re-signed with Dallas.

The offseason has also included losses to free agency, notably cornerback Chidobe Awuzie and quarterback Andy Dalton. Dallas also swapped 16-year long snapper L.P Ladouceur for two-time Pro Bowler Jake McQuaide.

Our own KD Drummond graded all of the Cowboys’ moves in free agency and decides if Dallas has been successful or not this summer. The Cowboys have been more involved than ever in free agency, but this coming season will decide if they were the right ones to help Dallas retake the NFC East.

Bills sign OL Jamil Douglas to one-year deal

OL Jamil Douglas signs with Buffalo Bills.

After a couple of depth additions for the defensive side of the ball this week, the Bills went back to bolstering things in the trenches on offense on Friday.

The team announced that offensive lineman Jamil Douglas was signed to a one-year deal. Earlier in the week, Buffalo added former Bengals lineman Bobby Hart to a one-year deal for depth as well.

In 46 career games, the 29-year-old has made 11 starts. The former fourth-round pick of the Dolphins from 2015 has played the last two seasons with the Titans in a depth role.

Last season, Pro Football Focus graded Douglas a very low 37.6 grade, but he only played in 95 total snaps on offense in 2020.

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Updated status for every Buffalo Bills 2021 free agent

Updating status for every current Buffalo Bills free agent.

The Buffalo Bills and NFL are now turning their attention to the 2021 NFL Draft. The rookie event always becomes the forefront of everyone’s attention once the calendar turns to April.

Despite the draft being in the crosshairs, free agency continues to roll on. For the Bills, there’s still plenty of players from their 2020 squad that are still free agents, while others have signed contracts with other new teams.

Here’s an updated list of what’s going on with Buffalo’s current free agent class:

Grading Tracker: All Cowboys moves, departures through 2 weeks of free agency

Need to keep track of everyone who has joined or left the Cowboys roster? Looking for financial details? Want to know how well they fit or how good or bad a decision to let someone walk was? We’ve got you covered, fam.

This past Wednesday was free agency’s two-week birthday. The official window now squeaks when moved and there’s been a substantial level of activity at The Star in Frisco with eight external signings, as well as around the league. The Dallas Cowboys were extremely focused on the defensive side of the ball in the early throes, as they should be. The club made a handful of transactions during the tampering period, and then systematically went about addressing individual positions over the following days.

The team has filled holes with both replacement-level players and players with some upside. It’s not the haul most fans crave, but in typical Stephen Jones fashion, it opens up the team’s ability to maneuver through draft weekend without feeling obligated to take one position or another. Fans shouldn’t get this statement wrong. Things are not ideal at several positions, most notably the three biggest needs of the team; cornerback, safety and to a lesser degree defensive tackle. Upgrades can still be made, still need to be made. But there is a starting lineup carved out based on the additions that have been made.

How well did Dallas do in each of those decisions? What about for the players who were with the club but have been allowed to go someplace else? Here’s a look at each transaction, the financial details of each and how well Dallas did in their strategy.

Contract details are all from the incomparable Over The Cap unless otherwise noted.

Chiefs to sign former Saints fullback Michael Burton

The Chiefs found their Anthony Sherman replacement by signing former New Orleans Saints fullback Michael Burton, an unrestricted free agent.

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The Kansas City Star’s Herbie Teope reported Tuesday that former New Orleans Saints fullback Michael Burton signed a one-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. Burton was an unrestricted free agent after his one-year deal with New Orleans expired after the 2020 season. He was presumed to depart after the Saints signed former Carolina Panthers fullback Alex Armah to a one-year contract earlier this offseason.

A fifth-round pick out of Rutgers in the 2015 NFL draft, Burton spent two years with the Detroit Lions before he was claimed off of waivers by the Chicago Bears. After joining the Saints for training camp in 2019, he returned to New Orleans after a year with the Washington Football Team to replace the retired Zack Line. The fullback is viewed as a dying breed around the NFL, but Sean Payton is one of a handful of play callers who has shown a propensity for them on his roster.

While primarily a special teams player, on the field for 29% of snaps in the kicking game compared to 19% of the offensive snaps, Burton shined with his blocking skills. He saw just four targets in 2020 but was a cornerstone in the New Orleans rushing attack, which ranked sixth in the league; the trio of Alvin Kamara, Latavius Murray, and Taysom Hill averaged over 141 yards per game on the ground.

The salary terms are not yet known, but it’s likely the Chiefs offered a veteran minimum contract similar to what the Saints signed him to last season. That would not qualify for a compensatory draft pick in 2022. In such an underused role, any production on the part of Burton is a positive for Kansas City, particularly in the upward trajectory of young running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire as a key lead blocker. But if Burton hits the ground running, he could hang around: he’s replacing longtime Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman, who retired after eight years with the team.

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