Last week, QB Robert Griffin III was the last of the big-name free agent dominos to fall. With him landing in Cleveland, the smoke seems to have cleared as the 32 NFL teams set up for the draft. There was no Reggie White in this year’s class but it was a quality class that had players that can help a team.
Filling team needs there sets a team up to pick a star in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Of course, there were some G.M.s that were able to get that done for their respective organizations. Then there were other GMs that simply dropped the ball in free agency this year.
Some teams need free agency more than others so it’s not just about who signed more quality players. Of course, holding on to quality players is great but teams against the salary cap can’t keep all of them. So teams deciding who to hold on to and how to replace their losses with the team’s resources is huge.
And another big factor is how each free agent fits in with their new team and the system they run. If a quality player leaves a team that runs a system he doesn’t fit, the team will not get bad marks. How much a team is paying a given player will also factor in as ridiculous contracts will get marked down
Trades and cuts for underproductive players to create salary cap room will also be graded here. And when a team cuts or trades a player, no matter how talented, that’s a potential cancer, they’ll get high marks. I’m all for establishing your program but keeping core players together and setting the team up for the draft is big.
Turn the page to see the grades.
Next: Indianapolis Colts