The winners and losers from a wild opening day of NFL free agency:
Winners
Defensive backs: It’s a passing league now, which puts a premium on finding players who can defend against that. That explains the huge deals handed to safety Jairus Byrd by the Saints ($54 million over six years) and cornerback Aqib Talib by the Broncos ($57 million over six years) and why the top five safeties were off the board before free agency was even six hours old.
Agents: NFL teams handed out over $1 billion in contracts on the first day of free agency, which was a record. Of course, much of that figure is “funny money” at the end of deals that will never be paid because the player was cut, traded or renegotiated, but that’s still a lot of scratch for the people with the 4 percent commissions who worked on the details.
DeMaurice Smith: The NFLPA chief has been under fire even from his own membership for supposedly giving away the store in the 2011 labor negotiations, but the windfall for so many free agents on the first day gave Smith reason to feel good about the collective bargaining agreement.
Anyone visiting the Raiders: Oakland GM Reggie McKenzie is under pressure to win now, and he’s spending like it. Giving the likes of Rodger Saffold and former Jets tackle Austin Howard $21 million and $15 million, respectively, in guaranteed money? Wow. Agents no doubt were afraid to go to sleep Tuesday night for fear that McKenzie might call with a huge offer.
John Elway: Say what you will about the possible implications down the line, but Elway is going all in and has proven to be quite the closer already. Signing Aqib Talib and former Browns safety T.J. Ward rejuvenated the Broncos’ secondary overnight, and DeMarcus Ware followed on Wednesday to fortify the pass rush. The Talib addition (assuming the Patriots don’t go get Darrelle Revis) has the bonus effect of hurting a fellow AFC Super Bowl competitor in the process. Elway obviously sees a small, one- to two-year window to win with Peyton Manning and intends to make the most of it.
Losers
Saints: Sure, landing Byrd and being able to pair him with Kenny Vaccaro will give New Orleans one of the most fearsome and hard-hitting safety tandems in the league. But at what price for the future? The Saints had the second-lowest amount of cap room in the league going into Tuesday and had to structure Byrd’s deal in unorthodox ways just to fit him in — in essence, kicking the can down the road. Not to mention the impact it will have on their ability to keep budding star Jimmy Graham.
Jerry Jones: The Cowboys have no cap room and now no more franchise cornerstone in Ware. And Jones’ poor decisions in the past could cost them defensive tackle Jason Hatcher, too.
Patriots: If they don’t sign Darrelle Revis to replace Talib, their secondary is going to be frightful on paper. And since New England rarely spends big money in free agency, Revis looks like a longshot.