The Second Wave
by Luke Paul Chandler
If your favorite team didn’t sign the big-name free agents, that’s okay. Dave Gardner takes a look at who’s left that could still have a big impact in 2008.
By Dave Gardner
Are you sad that the Raiders and the Jets signed all the players you were looking forward to wearing your team colors this year? Well, it’s okay.
Free agency can be like surfing and seeing a wave that looks really nice and entices you, but is probably a little bit out of your skill range. If you paddle up to it and take off, you make a fool out of yourself. However, if you wait for that second wave, you’ll ride off into the sunset (or at least back to the beach in one piece).
Remembering what you already learned about how the draft will actually be a better source of infusion of talent for your team, there are still some second-tier free agents (you know, the ones who actually earn their contracts) who are left on the market.
For the sake of this list — although this wasn’t the case in the original — restricted free agents will also be included (denoted with an asterisk). Now is the time when teams turn away from unrestricted players and start looking at some possible trades. This is a list of players who are available for cheap or for picks:
1. Marion Barber III (RB, Dallas)*: He’ll cost you a first- and third-round pick, but for the price, you’ll get one of the best running backs in the league. However, it’s widely assumed that Barber will stay in Big D for two reasons: 1) Jerry Jones loves him and 2) Its a deep draft class for running backs.
2. Bryant Johnson (WR, Arizona): Previously ranked as the seventh-best offensive free agent, Bryant Johnson has been taking free agency very slowly. The teams who seem most interested in him are the Bills, Bears, Bucs, and Redskins. He would be a huge haul for any of those receiver-needy teams.
3. Eugene Wilson (S, New England): Wilson reportedly is close to a deal with the Buccaneers, which means he’ll likely be switching positions in Tampa. The Bucs, who are two-deep at both strong safety (Jermaine Phillips and Sabby Piscitelli) and free safety (Tanard Jackson and Will Allen), will likely ask Wilson to play cornerback. Wilson, a converted cornerback, can help there or as a free safety, where he saw most of his playing time as a Patriot.
4. Michael Boley (LB, Falcons)*: The Falcons gave Michael Boley, perhaps the only bright spot on their miserable 2007 campaign, a first round tender. Just 25, Boley came into the league as an unheralded fourth-round pick. Since then, he’s gotten better and better. After finally being a full-time starter last season, he notched 109 tackles and caused 6 turnovers. The Falcons will probably hang on to the young strong-side linebacker.
5. Brandon Chillar (LB, St. Louis): A fast, 245pound linebacker is hard to find in the NFL — a linebacker who can play inside or outside is also hard to find in the NFL. Brandon Chillar is both. Although he started his career as a special-teams standout, he’s made his way into the starting lineup. He filled up his stat sheet last year with 85 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 8 quarterback pressures, and 3 forced fumbles.
6. D.J. Hackett (WR, Seattle): 105 receptions, 1,394 yards, and 9 touchdowns. That’s a pretty good year, right? The problem is that you’re looking at the line for D.J. Hackett’s career. A soft-handed, hard-to-tackle receiver from Colorado, Hackett would be putting together seasons like that if he could stay on the field for a whole one. In his four year career he’s played 0, 13, 14, and 6 games per season. If he can stay healthy, he can be a real threat.
7. Chris Brown (RB, Tennessee): Ranked 10th in the Top Offensive Free Agents list, Brown is still a very good back when properly motivated. His problem is that he runs high and has a tendency to take a good deal of hits, but his strengths outweigh is shortcomings: he’s an off-tackle runner who has soft hands out of the backfield.
8. Chris Canty (DE, Dallas)*: Canty enjoyed his best season last year, and while it wasn’t terrific, he was tendered at the first-round level. Canty isn’t quite the prototypical Richard Seymour 3-4 end, but he’s been growing into that. He recorded 3.5 sacks last year, the best of his career, as well as the most tackles he’s ever had in a season, 43.
9. Clark Haggans (LB, Pittsburgh): Haggans exploded into the league with his rookie season in which he landed nine sacks. After that, he was never really able to re-create the magic, with his numbers declining each year. He was being phased out of his position last year by LaMarr Woodley — the Steelers 2007 second-round pick — but he should be able to be a decent 3-4 outside backer with another team.
10. Ty Law (CB, Kansas City): Going into his 14th season, Law no longer has the speed that made him a lock-down corner with the Patriots. But he does have the experience and the knowledge of a veteran of that amount of time. He could be signed as a mentor who would help a young group of cornerbacks develop and reach their potential, and to be a situational player. One thing is for sure, a team in the AFC South should try and get him: he’s picked off Peyton Manning more times than any other corner.
Don’t fight it, write it! Got a question or a comment? Send it in to theconstantgardner@newerascouting.com. Include your name and hometown, and I might include you in an upcoming article (unless you instruct me otherwise).