All the talk about fiscal restraint in an uncapped year turned out to be a lot of hot air on the first day of the NFL’s free-agency period.
The dollars were flying furiously yesterday as the Bears lavished defensive end Julius Peppers with $40 million in guaranteed money, the Dolphins made Karlos Dansby the league’s third-highest-paid linebacker with $22 million guaranteed, and the Ravens prepared to reward wide receiver Anquan Boldin after landing him in a trade with the Cardinals.
Dansby, a target of the Giants and the top linebacker in unrestricted free agency, never gave anyone a chance to compete with the Dolphins’ five-year offer after making Miami his only stop.
The Giants then compounded Arizona’s talent drain by signing safety Antrel Rolle last night to a five-year deal that included $15 million guaranteed. That was after Baltimore acquired the disgruntled Boldin and a fifth-round pick in next month’s draft for a third- and fourth-round choice this year.
The Ravens swooped in at the last moment to pry Boldin away from the Patriots, who had been considered the favorites to get the three-time Pro Bowl selection.
“Anquan is such a competitor that I’d be remiss if I said you could easily replace a player of his caliber,” beleaguered Cardinals general manager Rod Graves said.
The Peppers signing was just one of several rapid-fire moves by Chicago yesterday in hopes of catching the Vikings quickly in the NFC North.
The Bears, who stumbled to a 7-9 mark last season, made it clear to potential lame-duck coach Lovie Smith that they want to win now by also signing former Vikings running back Chester Taylor to a four-year deal with $7 million guaranteed and agreeing to terms with ex-Chargers tight end Brandon Manumaleuna.
“Free agency wise and just looking at our roster right now, when you go 7-9 of course you need to make some changes,” the Bears’ Smith said. “You need to change some things up.”
The Jets’ acquisition Thursday night of former All-Pro cornerback Antonio Cromartie from the Chargers was the opener in what looks to be a flurry of trades prompted by the uncapped year.
Teams were reluctant to make a lot of trades under a capped system because of cap-related money reasons, but the handcuffs are off this year and clubs appear intent on taking advantage.
The only people who figure to be unhappy about a busy first day of free agency are the roughly 212 players who would have been unrestricted free agents under a capped system.
An uncapped year forced those players to revert back to restricted free-agent status, preventing the bigger names from cashing in.