Even the most active teams in free agency can swing and miss on the top players available. But a team that identifies its biggest holes and can fill as many of them with quality players — that’s how you compete for championships in the salary cap era.
This year, three teams stand out among the pack in terms of free agency winners.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos are in a win-now mode and John Elway is not allowing the Peyton Manning window to close without a fight. You can argue the Broncos are stronger than they were a year ago when they dominated the regular season en route to the Super Bowl.
Eric Decker was the NFL’s top free agent wide receiver and the Broncos allowed him to walk away without overpaying to keep him in orange. Instead of giving Decker marquee money — five years and $36.5 million with $15 million guaranteed — the Broncos made a surprising splash to nab another top wideout, Emmanuel Sanders, on a three-year, $15 million deal.
The Broncos are paying Sanders less and might be upgrading at the position. Sanders has been a great Robin to Antonio Brown’s Batman while with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and brings a lot of versatility to the team’s already-deep receiving corps.
Not only did Denver quickly replace Decker, but added a trio of monumental pieces to the defense. It began with a King’s ransom. When Jerry Jones put on his general manager cap and put DeMarcus Ware on the market, Denver wasted no time letting the pass-rush aficionado wait before handing him a deal to create an All-Pr0 linebacker tandem with Von Miller.
Let Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Champ Bailey go — then, they get a physical, lockdown corner in Aqib Talib, not only addressing a need but taking him away from a conference rival. And they weren’t done there. They followed the Seattle Seahawks’ mold by shoring up the back end of the defense with a Pro Bowl safety in T.J. Ward.
New York Giants
It’s not the Giants way to empty the wallet on free agents, but apparently general manager Jerry Reese was sick and tired of the team’s non-competitiveness the past two seasons.
The Giants lacked any sort of running game last season, and the team couldn’t keep Eli Manning off his backside. Defensively, Corey Webster was a shell of his former self as teams took advantage of the secondary time and time again. And the special teams unit lacked any sort of spark and was barely a factor in game-planning.
Areas of need were targeted and addressed, effectively.
The Giants retained Peyton Hillis and added fresh legs in Rashad Jennings to create a three-prong backfield that still includes former first-rounder David Wilson. And they added arguably the top guard available in Geoff Schwartz to try and revamp the rushing attack.
In the secondary, the Giants not only re-signed Trumaine McBride but added ex-Seahawk Walter Thurmond III and Rodgers-Cromartie. They also re-signed Stevie Brown, who led the team in interceptions two years ago when healthy to create the East Coast version of the “Legion of Boom.”
And not to be overlooked was the addition of Trindon Holliday, who was a electric spark-plug in the return game for Denver. Holliday’s one flaw was coughing up the football, which happens to be Tom Coughlin’s specialty.
New England Patriots
There was a period this offseason where it looked as if the Patriots were going to be picked apart. But the team’s patience paid off, and it looks as if Tom Brady and Co. are re-grouping for yet another run.
The Broncos ripped Talib away, so the Pats replaced him with Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner to not only solidify one cornerback slot but but create a tandem to lock down the perimeter of the secondary.
Some team might have been willing to overpay to get Julian Edelman coming off a career year, but the savvy slot receiver opted to return to New England, where he fits in as Brady’s veteran target. The team also brought in Brandon LaFell, another vet to contribute to a young receiving corps.
The one hiccup thus far has been the tricky situation with Vince Wilfork, who reportedly requested his release from the team after being asked to restructure his contract. The loss of their run-stuffer could be detrimental to the team’s offseason, but nothing solid has transpired just yet.
