Some teams find gems on open market

Titans GM recalls work that went into finding fit at center.

NASHVILLE, TENN. — NFL free agency isn’t as simple as making a shopping list among available players and positions, then writing checks.

No matter how much a team needs a top cornerback to fix a porous secondary or a left tackle for a struggling offensive line, adding a veteran means finding someone who plugs as seamlessly into a locker room as into a coach’s schemes on the field.

That requires as much research as does drafting a player out of college. Fitting a coach’s strategies, displaying a strong work ethic and even the player’s personality all are crucial pieces of the decision. Interviews at the NFL scouting combine years before supply some answers. Game video helps to evaluate production.

A wide receiver might have caught more passes if only his quarterback had more time to throw the ball, or perhaps that quarterback’s line didn’t protect well. Or that QB wasn’t very good.

Before a team agrees to a big deal, it needs to chat with its own players to ensure a free agent will meld with teammates.

“All these guys, it’s a brotherhood,” Titans general manager Jon Robinson said. “NFL players talk, and they communicate with each other. We summon their opinions on the guys. You try to get the right chemistry and the right fit.”

Free agency starts Thursday, and here are examples of what teams and their general managers have gone through to find gems.

Titans

Robinson needed a center l as t s eason to f i x t he Titans’ offensive line and help a young quarterback in Marcus Mariota. Knowing Houston’s Ben Jones was about to hit free agency, Robinson thought back to when he interviewed Jones at the NFL combine while working for the New England Patriots. Jones, who played at Georgia, impressed Robinson with how he worked with his quarterback installing the game plan and met with both his coordinator and coach Mark Richt.

“I’ll never forget that conversation,” Robinson said. “The way he presented himself. You could tell football was very important to him, yet he had a personality that you knew everybody was going to try to jell and he was going to kind of help with that. Specifically to him, that combine experience with him certainly played a role.”

Jones anchored the NFL’s third-best rushing unit last season and a line that allowed 28 sacks a year after Tennessee gave up a league-worst 54 sacks.

Raiders

General manager Re ggie McKenzie had plenty of youth and needed playoff experience when he went into free agency last year. He brought in linebacker Bruce Irvin, with two Super B owl a pp e a r a n c e s f ro m Seattle, to ease the focus on Khalil Mack, and Irvin came through with seven sacks and six forced fumbles.

Unsure if he could keep left tackle Donald Penn, McKenzie spent big on Kelechi Osemele, who came with a Super Bowl ring from Baltimore. Osemele meshed so well beside Penn, who returned on an extension, that Osemele earned his first All-Pro berth at left guard.

And the Raiders improved from 7-9 to 12-4.

Giants

Defensive tackle Damon “Snacks” Harrison played right under the noses of the Giants, spending his first four seasons with the Jets after going undrafted out of NAIA-level William Penn. The Giants made their biggest splash by signing defensive end Olivier Vernon in 2016 free agency. But Harrison proved worth his five-year deal with $24 million guaranteed by becoming an AllPro. He set career highs with 21/2 sacks and 86 tackles. Sometimes you get lucky. “If you have a chance to hit with some clean players that you feel good about that can make you better,” Giants coach Ben McAdoo said at the combine, “then you take your shot.”