The NFL free agency period has been overloaded by some smart player moves along with some bizarre signings and trades that have a lot of people wondering what exactly is happening in the minds of key decision makers around the league.
Here are five player moves that just don’t add up.
1. The New Orleans Saints Trade Jimmy Graham to the Seattle Seahawks
Let’s give one of the most stellar teams in the NFL just what it needs to beat its competition further into the ground. The Seahawks sub-par receiving corps is about the only area where the team fell short last season. Quarterback Russell Wilson now has a 6’7″ receiving target to play catch with next year. Just imagine if Graham had been the guy on the receiving end of Wilson’s last pass in Super Bowl XLIX. The England Patriots unofficial MVP Malcolm Butler might not be driving his shiny red truck around.
2. The New York Giants Sign Dwayne Harris to a Five-Year Deal with $7.1 Million Guaranteed.
That’s a lot of dough to fork out for a special teams player that has not scored a kick return touchdown in his four years in that role. When lining up at wide receiver, Harris has only managed 33 catches for 418 yards. We will see if Harris can tear up the field and possibly score his first kick return touchdown with his new team this season. If not, $7.1 million guaranteed is some pretty sweet money to put into Harris’ bank account.
3. The San Francisco 49ers Swap Veteran Running Backs
The team let soon-to-be 31-year-old running back Frank Gore, who has has achieved 1,000-plus yard seasons all but two times during a 10-year NFL career, walk this offseason. With Gore gone, the 49ers then signed 30-year-old Reggie Bush, who has only topped the 1,000-yard plateau twice in his career.
It all came to down to money. Bush is the cheaper deal, but what value does the embattled back exactly add to 49ers with Carlos Hyde already prepared to take over the starting role?
4. The Buffalo Bills Pay Charles Clay Elite Tight End Money
The Bills had it bad for tight end Charles Clay, offering him an astounding $38 million deal for five years. Additionally, Clay will see $24.5 million of that payable to him over the next two seasons. Clay only managed one full 16-game season during his four years with the Miami Dolphins while averaging only 452 receiving yards per year. So let’s go ahead and pay him Rob Gronkowski-type money. Does this make sense to anyone outside of Western New York?
5. Desperate for a Quarterback, the Cleveland Browns Sign Josh McCown
Did the Browns not see the disastrous season McCown dealt the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014? Perhaps they did not have satellite. In his 11 games for the Buccaneers last season, McCown compiled a 1-10 record with 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. That lackluster performance also came with Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans on the receiving end of his dying ducks.
Who is McCown going to throw to in Cleveland? Brian Hartline, Dwayne Bowe and Andrew Hawkins do not even compare to Jackson and Evans. Additionally, the Browns weren’t exactly being cheap when they signed McCown to a three-year $14 million contract with $6.25 million guaranteed.
If McCown does not work out, that means the team will likely have to turn back to Johnny Manziel. We all saw how wonderfully that went in 2014.
Photo: USA Today