Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
NFL auction season
Free-agency storylines to watch.
The NFL’s auction season officially begins today as teams look to utilize free agency to improve their rosters.
Agents can start fielding offers from interested teams regarding their clients at noon, but no deals can be consummated until Thursday at 4 p.m. unless a player is being re-signed by his last employer.
Good players rarely hit the open market and teams usually pay premium price for players they target, especially in the first wave of free agency. But this transaction period gives teams an opportunity to fill holes, and supplement their roster with veteran players before April’s NFL draft.
The Dolphins have typically been big spenders in free agency during Steve Ross’ tenure as Miami’s majority owner, but the people in power have said recently that the Dolphins will take a conservative approach to free agency this offseason, filling needs with lower end free agents or draftees.
Here’s a look at some NFL free-agency storylines to watch this offseason:
1. Will Washington make long-term commitment to Kirk Cousins?
Cousins, who has a 99.4 passer rating the past two seasons as a starter in Washington, became the first quarterback in NFL history to receive the franchise tag two years in a row. The Redskins haven’t offered the five-year veteran a lucrative multi-year contract he’d agree to and it is possible that Cousins could force a trade out of Washington, or holdout if both sides can’t find any common ground.
2. What championship contender will land Adrian Peterson?
The Vikings ended their 10-year relationship with Peterson, who has rushed for 11,747 yards and scored 102 touchdowns throughout his career, because they wanted to avoid paying him a $6 million roster bonus this offseason. Peterson, who is coming off his second anterior cruciate ligament injury, is likely looking to latch onto a title contender. Will the Giants, Cowboys, Packers or Patriots land his services, and can he still be an elite tailback?
3. Which quarterbackstarved teams will pounce on passers available in free agency or via trade?
Tony Romo, Jay Cutler, Colin Kaepernick, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tyrod Taylor, Robert Griffin III and likely Jimmy Garoppolo are available to the highest bidders. Each quarterback has his own flaws, but desperate teams – Browns, 49ers, Bears, Bills, Rams, Jaguars and Jets – can’t exactly afford to be picky considering this draft is filled with quarterback prospects that are projects.
4. Patriots have a ton of cap space, but will Bill Belichick spend it to improve his roster?
The reigning Super Bowl champions have nearly $62 million in cap space this offseason, and a ton of quality soon-to-be free agents like Dont’a Hightower, Martellus Bennett, Jabaal Sheard, LaGarrette Blount, Michael Floyd, Chris Long and Alan Branch that are available. The Patriots rarely ante up when it comes to their free agents, so don’t be surprised if most of these players end up playing elsewhere, and New England restocks the deck with another batch of title chasers.
5. Which unrestricted free agent will get the largest payout of guaranteed money?
Last year, Olivier Vernon was the pace setter when it came to free agency as the Giants gave the 26-year-old pass rusher $52.5 million in guaranteed money to lure him from the Dolphins, outbidding two other teams. Will it be Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery, Patriots’ Hightower, Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore, or Chiefs defensive tackle Dontari Poe who raises the bar for NFL salaries?
6. Will 30 year olds find favorable contracts?
In the NFL, 30 year olds are usually paid less for their contributions. So don’t be surprised if talented players like Arizona defensive lineman Calais Campbell (30), Patriots’ Blount (30), Redskins receiver Pierre Garcon (30), and Bengals offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth (35) are forced to take less money than they would like, despite coming off career years.
7. How many trades will be executed before the draft?
The Dolphins and Jaguars have already worked out deals that will send left tackle Branden Albert to Jacksonville and tight end Julius Thomas to Miami for a pair of late-round draft picks. This will be the third consecutive offseason the Dolphins used trades to enhance their roster. A handful of other decent veterans like Saints receiver Brandin Cook, Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson and Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks are also on the trading block.
8. Expect more veterans to be cut.
If future Hall of Famers like Darrelle Revis and Peterson can be released by the teams that made them household names, anyone can get cut. More big name veterans could be released this week when teams begin their spending sprees. Some of the players let go, like Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall, who the Jets cut last week upon his request, could drastically alter the freeagent market.
9. Will Packers buck trend and be aggressive?
Green Bay is in position to make a push for a championship if they can fill some holes in free agency, and they have the cap space ($40 million) to do it. A ton of Packers — Julius Peppers, Jared Cook, Nick Perry, T.J. Lang, Eddie Lacy, J.C. Tretter, Micah Hyde — are set to become unrestricted free agents. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers isn’t getting any younger, so Green Bay’s window to win another championship could be closing without some key additions.
10. Will Dolphins be conservative?
Dolphins owner Steve Ross has doled out more money in contracts — this includes extensions — than any other NFL owner in all but two of the years he’s owned the franchise. Ross wants to win, and isn’t afraid to put his wallet behind his efforts to sign players like Marshall, Karlos Dansby, Mike Wallace, Albert and Ndamukong Suh. But the Dolphins are trying to be more conservative with their free-agent spending and focus on building the roster through the draft despite all the team’s needs on defense, and the $41 million they have in cap space. Can Miami’s executives convince Ross to keep his checkbook in his pocket instead of bidding big on players like Hightower?