Free Agent Choices Made By NFC East Which Are Not So Wise?

The feeding frenzy of free agent in 2023 is about to start. Fans want to think that every veteran their club signs is the final piece still needed to complete the championship jigsaw, and that every veteran player they let go must be past his prime and clearly not worth the cost to maintain.

The truth is that signing free agents is frequently little more than a costly gamble. Some free agents achieve success with their new teams, while others only demonstrate the reasons for their initial permission to go. And the reasons why a free agent signing succeeds or fails may be attributed to a variety of factors, including team chemistry, plan compatibility, inflated expectations, or simply plain old luck.

let’s take a look at the choices made by NFC East!

Washington Commanders- Andrew Wylie

The offseason of the Washington Commanders was comparable to that of the New York Giants, but the challenges they have faced are quite similar to those of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The team has made some progress over its first four years under head coach Ron Rivera, but it hasn’t yet managed to shake off its long-standing reputation as the NFC East division’s lowest-ranking team. The Commanders’ greatest performance under Rivera resulted in an 8-8-1 record in 2022 and an offence that was rated 28th overall by the conclusion of the season, despite making significant free-agent signings in recent years and discovering latent potential in the reserves.

In addition to carrying $17 million in dead money charges from the contract terminations of William Jackson III, Landon Collins, and veteran Bobby McCain as of February 27, the Commanders have over the $224.8 million salary maximum for 2023.

Before the free agency negotiation window opened, Washington needed to get back under the threshold, so they started immediately thinking about contract restructures and cutbacks they might use to free up salary space for future signings. The next day, the club released Wentz in a move that netted a massive $26 million.

To be fair, they haven’t made many mistakes, but they still appear to have trouble identifying their needs. Consider the signing of Andrew Wylie as an example. The Kansas City Chiefs won a Super Bowl when Wylie started at right tackle for them, which is fantastic. But he wasn’t exactly lighting up the planet.

Instead, he was the line’s weak link and had trouble blocking runs. Additionally, PFF placed him as the 59th tackle overall, below just Charles Leno and Sam Cosmi. (tied for 31st). Last season, Leno really performed well enough to force Cosmi inside to guard.

He’ll probably sit on the bench from here on out for a guy who hasn’t been as good since Wylie will be making $8 million per season.

The majority of the aforementioned free agents will either provide the Commanders with greater depth at the positions at hand or act as reliable replacements for the players that left the team via free agency, most notably Heinicke, centre Wes Schweitzer, and wide receiver Cam Sims.

Without making any other changes to the players on their existing roster, the Commanders have around $2.95 million in cap space remaining, according to Over the Cap. They might just need to do that to make way for further recruits, but it seems like they have a bunch that might increase productivity and contend in 2023.

Washington Commanders- Jacoby Brissett

In terms of signing new players, Washington gave contracts to wide receiver Marcus Kemp, quarterback Jacoby Brissett, cornerback Cam Dentzler Sr., offensive linemen Andrew Wylie and Nick Gates, defensive lineman Abdullah Anderson, linebacker Cody Barton, and cornerback Cam Dentzler Sr. Wylie, a former offensive lineman with the Chiefs, received the largest external deal, for $24 million over three years.

Once more, they went into the summer searching for a new offensive coordinator. They thought they would be alright with Sam Howell one year after persuading themselves Carson Wentz could go back five years. The justification was that Howell had triumphed in his one start, which came against Dallas.

Howell receives credit for being calm and proficient in his work while not being very dominant. He only completed 11 of his 19 passes for 169 yards, a score, and an interception. Sure, he wins, but the Cowboys were ignoring their opponent because they had nothing to play for.

Washington went out and signed Jacoby Brissett, who is coming off what many are calling his finest season as a pro, in an effort to be protected should Howell not be the solution. The Cleveland Browns’ 4-7 record during their “best season” included five games in which they lost by a single point, mostly as a result of Brissett’s failure to score when it mattered most in the fourth quarter.

He was also simply ordinary statistically. He threw for 2,608 yards and a career-high 64 percent completion rate with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. Again, nothing spectacular, but it was still the strongest performance he had made in seven seasons.

Kevin Stefanski, who utilised a lot of smoke and mirrors to get the greatest performance out of Brissett, is to blame for his progress. Similar to what the Minnesota Vikings accomplished in 2017 with Case Keenum, whose QB coach was Stefanski.

After that season, two years later, Washington acquired Keeenum as well. It’s difficult to imagine Brissett working for them either, and he didn’t work out.

Philadelphia Eagles- Fletcher Cox

A club may be able to win the Super Bowl if it has an abundance of skill on its squad. On the other side, a company like the Philadelphia Eagles may face severe salary cap issues the following spring as a result.

Following their 38-35 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, the Philadelphia Eagles sought to retain the majority of their championship-caliber team in the City of Brotherly Love while also adding a few new pieces to aid in their pursuit of another title. For the 2023 season, the squad already had 67 players under contract, but up to 18 players were free agents.

That objective is being hampered by a crippled wage cap, several high-paying contracts, and a sizable amount of dead money from past agreements. The Eagles carried over $28 million in dead money from five separate contracts and were one of 13 teams that were above the NFL’s $224.8 million cap limit for 2023 when free agency began on March 15. The team has around $6.5 million in cap room to spend, with about $4.25 million coming via a rollover from the 2022 season, barring any financial gimmicks.

They are fortunate that Philadelphia has Howie Roseman, one of the league’s top executives, who has a wealth of expertise extending high-value contracts in ways that reduce cap impacts and free up more room in the short term. Teams like the Giants have tried to avoid it, but since the yearly cap amount for the game keeps rising every year, Roseman has learned how to use it to his advantage.

The two-time Executive of the Year did just that to launch his franchise. Right tackle Lane Johnson and cornerback Darius Slay had large contracts that he initially targeted by adding a vacant year in 2025 to the former and agreeing to a two-year deal with the latter that reduced his cap down to $16 million per season.

There have been nine new arrivals to Philadelphia since the start of the new league year, and the overall restructures freed up around $28.4 million in cap space for UFAs and free agents.

Among the free players they retained, the Eagles signed cornerback James Bradberry to a three-year contract, defensive end Brandon Graham to two one-year agreements, and defensive lineman Fletcher Cox to a two-year deal.

Fletcher Cox formerly had a position as one of the top defensive tackles in the whole NFL. Cox, the No. 12 overall choice in the 2012 NFL Draft, has consistently caused problems for the Cowboys throughout his career. Overall, he has 486 tackles, 65 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, and 156 quarterback hits. He has faced them at some pivotal occasions.

Despite all of it being amazing, he hasn’t been the same performer over the last several seasons. He recorded 43 tackles and seven sacks last season, so it’s hard to tell by looking at his stats, but he’s not the same dominant player he once was, especially when it comes to stopping the run.

In terms of run defense, PFF only awarded him a grade of 53.5 in 2022; altogether, he was barely above a 60. That is less than the 74.1 in 2020 and 68.7 from a year ago. Although the years before were all quite spectacular, it is obvious that he is heading the wrong way.

Despite this, Philly renewed his contract with him for $10 million this season. The most “Jerry Jones” move I’ve ever seen is that one.

 

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