NFL Free Agency 2021: Bears fail at Wilson – and get Dalton

Day 2 of the Free Agency wasn’t quite as stable as Day 1 – but again it was the New England Patriots who opened the action with a bang. Also: The Chicago Bears come to an agreement with Andy Dalton, the Giants give Leonard Williams a proud contract and Tyrod Taylor goes to Houston.

NFL Free Agency Tag 2 im Recap

Bears fail at Wilson – and get Dalton

The Chicago Bears have found their quarterback for the coming season, Andy Dalton should ensure that the offense is implemented more consistently and ideally help to save the jobs of GM Ryan Pace and Head Coach Matt Nagy. Dalton is awarded a ten million dollar one-year contract in the Windy City.

He was not the first choice for this, however: As ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported, the Bears tried “very aggressively” to thread a trade for Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Until Seattle finally put a stop to it and said a resounding no. Accordingly, Dalton was only the contingency plan that Chicago subsequently fell back on.

Wilson would have been the big move a Bears team desperately needed for a good quarterback fix. Dalton is a solid interim solution, but not a quarterback who can do an offense better or challenge Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in their own division with an average team.

And a look at the overall picture does not cast a particularly good light on those responsible in Chicago. The Bears could have signed Andy Dalton for less than five million last offseason – instead it was decided to trade Nick Foles from Jacksonville. With a more expensive contract and the price of a four-round pick. Foles will presumably be the backup behind Dalton now.

The Patriots also get Hunter Henry

Anyone who thought that Monday’s New England shopping tour would initially calm the minds in Foxborough was quickly mistaken on Tuesday: The Patriots also made the first bang on the second day of the Free Agency by dealing with ex-Chargers-Tight- End Hunter signed Henry on a three-year contract.

Henry will sign for three years and $ 37.5 million, of which 25 million is guaranteed – 24 hours after the Pats Jonnu Smith signed a 4 year and $ 50 million (31.25 million guaranteed) deal. Two impressive deals for the two best tight ends on the market – and a clear indication of where the Pats should go.

Henry as the primary in-line tight end, Smith as the player who can be pushed around – that promises to be an explosive mix. The Pats generally had massive deficits in the Receiving Corps last year, but especially on the tight end. Suddenly they have one of the most exciting duos in the league and will again be able to pull off their offense significantly more over 2 tight end sets.

The Pats currently have a quarterback who is playing on a – financially speaking – rookie deal, and New England went into an offseason with a lot of cap space, in which not many teams have cap space. Belichick is investing this money now after a season in which the gaps in this squad were made abundantly clear. Gaps that mainly arose because the Patriots have not drafted well over the past few years and have not positioned their squad well for the long term.

Giants give Leonard Williams monster deal

That the New York Giants would extend long-term with Leonard Williams was foreseeable at the latest when he received the franchise tag for the second time. However, that automatically put the G-Men in an extremely bad negotiating position – and Williams took full advantage of it.

The defensive tackle has signed for 3 years and $ 63 million, of which $ 45 million is guaranteed. So Williams will be back on the market before his 30th birthday, and yet his average annual salary under defensive tackles is only behind Aaron Donald, on par with DeForest Buckner. He even surpasses Buckner when it comes to guarantees.

So it’s a huge deal for a defensive tackle that is good all round, but doesn’t represent an elite pass rush presence. And it once again raises question marks about GM Dave Gettleman’s long-term roster planning.

In addition, the Giants also commit Speedster John Ross with a low-risk deal: the former Bengals first-round pick receives 1 year, 2.5 million dollars and only one million guaranteed.

Griffin and Marvin Jones go to Jacksonville

It took a while, but finally the first big cornerback contract took place: Ex-Seahawks corner Shaquill Griffin signs with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The waiting time was worth it for Griffin: The three-year contract for 44.5 million dollars (29 million guaranteed) was ultimately too high for the Seahawks, who were interested until the end, to want to go along.

Griffin is an inconsistent corner, but it has hinted at high-end potential. Together with last year’s number 1 pick CJ Henderson, this could be a very exciting cornerback duo. After several small moves, that was the starting shot for the Jaguars, who, after all, had started this Free Agency with the most cap space of all teams.

A little later it was announced that Jacksonville would also sign ex-Lions receiver Marvin Jones, and that on very favorable terms: 2 years, $ 14.5 million, of which $ 9.2 million guaranteed. Jones is still a good number 2 and should work very well alongside DJ Chark and Laviska Shenault in Jacksonville.

The Jags then went on defense again, with the Saints defending tackle Malcom Brown via trade. Jacksonville gives the Interior Defensive Lineman a two-year contract for up to $ 11 million (8 million guaranteed).

Free Agency: More news in quick succession

• The Houston Texans have agreed on a contract with Tyrod Taylor. This is also exciting in view of the structure: the deal could be worth up to 12.5 million dollars, but is built up massively through bonus payments. The base value is reportedly less than half that. That could be just the right contract to have a quarterback on the one hand as a backup, but on the other hand also as a starter in case Deshaun Watson is not available.
• The Arizona Cardinals hold right tackle Kelvin Beachum. Beachum had come to the desert late in the last offseason and then convinced as a right-tackle starter as a result of Marcus Gilbert’s opt-out: Beachum played all 16 games and only allowed 25 QB pressures in 693 pass-blocking snaps , for this he is now being rewarded with a new two-year contract. Beachum allegedly allows the Cardinals to pull last year’s rookie Josh Jones inside to one of the guard posts.
• The day’s biggest surprise came from Las Vegas, with the Raiders being reportedly sacking center Rodney Hudson. Allegedly Hudson asked for his dismissal and waived part of his guaranteed salary in return, but a dead cap hit in the tens of millions remains for the Raiders – and they no longer have a top 5 center in their own ranks. After the Raiders have already separated from both guards and sent Right Tackle Trent Brown to New England by trade, a radical offseason in the once strong offensive line is perfect.
• In addition to Rodney Hudson, the Tennessee Titans provided the surprising layoffs of the day: Cornerback Adoree ‘Jackson, whose salary would have been guaranteed to exceed $ 10 million on Wednesday, and right tackle Dennis Kelly were fired. Kelly had jumped in on Right Tackle last year as a result of the Conklin exit and Isaiah Wilson disaster and had done a good job. So far in this offseason, the Titans have lost or given up offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, wide receiver Corey Davis, tight end Jonnu Smith, cornerbacks Adoree ‘Jackson and Malcolm Butler, Tackle Denns Kelly and last year’s first round pick Isaiah Wilson. Not an ideal start to the offseason in Nashville, although Tennessee quickly found a veteran interim solution on cornerback with Janoris Jenkins.
• In the Buffalo Bills wide receiver corps, John Brown recently had to pack his bags – now the Bills have found a veritable replacement: Emmanuel Sanders, who was laid off in New Orleans, is supposed to sign in Buffalo as soon as his discharge becomes official. Together with Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis, this gives the Bills a strong receiver quartet.
• The Cincinnati Bengals have invested twice in their secondary: Ex-cowboys corner Chidobe Awuzie, a good outside zone cornerback, is signing for three years in Cincinnati and slot cornerback Mike Hilton comes from Pittsburgh. Hilton, who should also find a role as a speed camera, has agreed on a contract with the Bengals for 4 years and $ 24 million (8.5 million guaranteed).
• The Atlanta Falcons came to the fore not through a major signing or layoff, but rather through a reorganization: Quarterback Matt Ryan’s contract was reorganized to bring his cap hit that year from $ 40.9 million to $ 26.9 million. For this, parts of his salary were converted into a bonus and spread over the next few years, which virtually guarantees that Ryan will not be traded this year. It could also suggest that Atlanta wants to attack again with Ryan – a quarterback with the number 4 pick may also be off the table in the upcoming draft.