Vincent Frank
It’s late August around the football world. That’s when we are all privy to overreactions in pretty much every city where an NFL team exists.
From a rookie quarterback looking stellar in the preseason to issues with veterans under-performing, these overreactions give way to reality when September hits.
Though, there are already some pretty strong conclusions we can draw from the offseason that was.
What exactly are the Philadelphia Eagles doing at quarterback? Fans in San Francisco may be asking the 49ers this very same question.
Meanwhile, some teams that struggled last season decided to spend top dollar on mediocre talent. These are among the 10 biggest mistakes of the NFL offseason.
1. Philadelphia Eagles trade up for Carson Wentz
Even when Philadelphia moved up to the second pick in the draft during the spring, it caught a lot of people by surprise. Here’s a team that just doled out a huge contract to Sam Bradford and was paying Chase Daniel top-end backup money (more on that below).
Why would Philly move up to the second spot, exhausting a huge capital, to acquire another quarterback? It really didn’t make much sense at all.
Now, after the team decided to use that pick on small-school product Carson Wentz, it’s looking even more questionable.
The initial plan was to sit Wentz for his entire rookie season as he learned the nuances of the NFL. It wasn’t, however, for the North Dakota State product to fail to see preseason action. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened after Wentz was injured in his preseason debut.
While Wentz has returned to team activities, this injury pushed back any opportunity for him to gain valuable in-game experience. That just adds to the questionable decision to move up for someone of his ilk.
2. Seattle Seahawks let Russell Okung walk
Even as injury-plagued as he’s been throughout his career, this former top-10 pick was still Seattle’s best offensive lineman. That might not be saying much considering how bad this offensive line was.
Even then, how do you let your starting left tackle walk with all of your realistic playoff aspirations relying on your franchise quarterback?
This has reared its ugly head during the exhibition slate. Russell Wilson was sacked four times in limited snaps last week. The unfortunate reality of the situation here is that he simply doesn’t have the offensive line to keep him upright on a consistent basis.
What makes Seattle’s decision to let Okung walk even more interesting is the contract he ended up signing with the Denver Broncos. Negotiating his own deal, the former Pro Bowler settled for zero guaranteed money (more on that here).
Now, less than three weeks before the start of the regular season, Seattle finds itself in an unattainable situation. Meanwhile, Okung himself has been dominating the line in Denver.
3. New York Giants sign Janoris Jenkins
Doling out $62.5 million to a corner that had been burnt continually during his St. Louis Rams days made absolutely no sense. Sure the Giants were in need of an upgrade, but it’s this type of high-priced free-agent signing that dooms teams. Add in the $28.8 million New York guaranteed Jenkins, and this made even less sense.
The Giants then doubled down at corner by selecting Eli Apple in the first round of the draft. Heck, the team also signed a washed-up veteran in Leon Hall.
In reality, what was the point in giving Jenkins so much cash? Here’s a guy that needed help over the top throughout the majority of his tenure with the Rams. Is he really that guy the Giants can rely on to shut down the likes of Dez Bryant and Jordan Matthews? We’re not too sure there.
4. Washington Redskins let Alfred Morris sign with Dallas
Morris’ game has regressed each season he’s been in the NFL. The two-time Pro Bowler has seen his production decline big time from a rookie season that saw him put up 1,613 rushing yards. This past season, Morris put up just 751 rushing yards and one score.
None of this means that Washington was smart to let him walk to the division-rival Dallas Cowboys.
Alfred Morris finds the end zone for the first time as a Cowboy! @DallasCowboys take the lead. #MIAvsDAL https://t.co/n6RvA6DprT
— NFL (@NFL) August 20, 2016
As Morris continues to shine in Dallas during the preseason, Washington finds itself in an unenviable position. New starting running back Matt Jones suffered second-degree AC sprain in his left shoulder this past week and is sidelined for the remainder of the preseason.
Between Jones and Morris, Washington finished last season ranked 20th in rushing. If the former were to remain hobbled early in the season, that would only magnify the issue Washington had on the ground last season.
5. Tennessee Titans trade Dorial Green-Beckham
Why give up on a second-round pick just one year in? Dealing Green-Beckham to the Philadelphia Eagles was an absolutely stunning move for Tennessee. In fact, the young receiver himself seemed a bit shocked.
“I was definitely surprised,” Green-Beckham said about the trade, via Today’s Pigskin. “I went to camp expecting I would be playing for the Titans this season. You never know what might happen, though. People go through worse things in life than having to switch teams and move to a new city.
The former college malcontent may have put up zero catches on two targets in his Eagles debut, but he’s already looking much like a starter.
https://twitter.com/JoshPaunil/status/767764028353605633
With a 6-foot-5 and 223-pound frame, Green-Beckham will act as an immediate red-zone target for Sam Bradford in Philly. And despite an inconsistent rookie campaign, there’s no on-field reason for Tennessee to have given up on him.
That’s only magnified by the presence of a less-than-stellar receiving group for Marcus Mariota in Nashville. After all, the likes of Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter recorded a combined 58 catches last season. Add in the washed-up Andre Johnson, and there’s not much to like there.
Should Green-Beckham break out with Philadelphia this season, acquiring a backup offensive lineman in Dennis Kelly will look foolish. Heck, it already does.
6. Miami Dolphins running back mess
After letting Lamar Miller walk in free agency, the Dolphins decided to make a restricted free-agent offer to C.J. Anderson. That failed to pan out when the Denver Broncos matched said offer.
This is the risk you take when you let a talented running back leave at a time when the free-agent market itself is watered down.
What makes this decision even more curious is the fact that Miami failed to select a running back in the first two rounds of the draft. Instead, the team reached for Alabama backup Kenyan Drake in the third round.
With Drake and last year’s fifth-round pick Jay Ajayi failing to impress during off-season activities, Miami was then forced to sign an injury-plagued Arian Foster in July.
What may have been the best-case scenario here could also force Miami into an unattainable situation. Ajayi has struggled big time during the preseason with Foster just seeing action this past week.
In fact, the Dolphins are now expected to give Foster a big-time look in their third preseason game. This comes after he put up negative five yards on two rushes in his preseason debut. Needless to say, things aren’t looking all too inspiring here.
With Ryan Tannehill relying a great deal on the running game to succeed, the Dolphins are going to need that aspect of their offense to come up big. If it doesn’t happen, fans in South Beach will once again be disappointed. All of this could have been avoided if the team wasn’t so cheap as it related to re-signing Miller.
7. Dallas Cowboys avoid adding veteran backup quarterback
Sure, Dak Prescott has impressed through two preseason games. In reality, that means very little as it relates to regular season success. Now take into account the fact that the rookie fourth-round pick is viewed as a project, and this is becomes more clear.
Now, less than three weeks before the start of the regular season, Dallas is likely going to be relying on Prescott to be the team’s primary backup. It will be doing so with an injury-plagued Tony Romo under center.
This was made possible by the season-ending broken ankle that Kellen Moore suffered during camp. Even if Moore were healthy, the idea of having him back up Romo couldn’t have inspired much confidence from Cowboys fans.
All of this could have been avoided if Dallas decided to dole out a couple million to a capable backup. Now that this isn’t the case, Jerry Jones and Co. are left relying on Romo to remain healthy. If that doesn’t happen, a repeat of last year’s 4-12 performance is likely.
8. San Francisco 49ers retain Colin Kaepernick
Where to begin here? It started when Kaepernick lost his job to Blaine Gabbert midway through the 2015 season. It continued when the much-maligned signal caller went through multiple off-season surgeries. This all culminated after he requested a trade from San Francisco (more on that here).
All this came at a time when the 49ers themselves could have gotten out from under Kaepernick’s contract without paying him a penny this upcoming season. It also came with the team transitioning to its third head coach in as many years.
Months removed from all this drama, and the situation doesn’t seem to be any more settled. Kaepernick was sidelined from the first two preseason games with a “dead arm,” which placed him behind Gabbert in what seems to be a non-existent quarterback competition.
It’s so bad that San Francisco had to resort to signing Christian Ponder off the street after Thad Lewis injured his knee in the preseason opener.
Not only could the 49ers have saved $15.9 million by releasing Kaepernick during the spring, they are now set to pay him that amount to sit on the bench.
It really is hard to imagine a team handling this type of situation in more of a haphazard manner than the suddenly fledgling 49ers.
9. Philadelphia Eagles sign Chase Daniel
Between Sam Bradford and Daniel, Philadelphia is paying its top two quarterbacks a combined $17.5 million this season. Add in an injury Carson Wentz, and that number goes up to $22 million.
In a vacuum, it would be hard to question Philadelphia signing Bradford to the deal it did. Heck, some might still understand the decision to trade up for Wentz.
But when you add all this together, how can the team justify handing Daniel, a career backup, $21 million over three seasons? Here’s a dude that’s thrown all of 77 regular season passes in six years. That’s just grotesque.
10. Green Bay Packers’ inactivity in free agency
We fully understand why Ted Thompson and Co. rarely venture into free agency. It’s a philosophy that has worked well for the Packers over the past two decades. Even then, there comes a time when you have to change it up a bit. For Green Bay, that time was this past spring.
With tons of money to spend under the cap, Green Bay’s biggest off-season acquisition was tight end Jared Cook. This came at a time when the team needed upgrades at inside linebacker, outside linebacker, along the offensive line and potentially even running back.
Sometimes it makes sense to be cheap as a way to avoid the overpays on what has been an increasingly negative market for buyers.
But when you’re coming off a season in which the Minnesota Vikings surpassed you, that might not have been wise. Now with holes on both sides of the ball, it remains to be seen whether Green Bay can regain the top spot in an increasingly competitive division.
