NFL Free Agency 2022 edition

[crawhammer]

Here's What I believe happened:

Watson wanted Atlanta all along. Hometown and familiarity.

Why meet with Caroline and NO? Because those are Atlanta's biggest rivals. His hope was Atlanta would step up and offer more money than said two teams.

Atlanta didn't immediately come forward with an offer. So Watson let it be known he would be interested in meeting with Atlanta. The fact he did this after meeting with Car & NO tells me he wanted to be a Falcon all along. Hometown team.

Football wise? I think he immediately makes the Saints SB contenders. They already have a great D, coaches, and a top 5 receiver. I'm not so sure Atlanta would be top 6 SB odds on favs with Watson. Unless they guarantee him a plan is in place. They need RB, receivers, and Defense.

Long story short, he used NO & Car to get Atlanta's interest. And to get most money out of them. I wouldn't be surprised if Atlanta immediately agrees to pay him more than the other two offered.

That's just a guess. If Atlanta never got involved, I think he would've picked NO.

I'd be stunned if he's not a Falcon by tomorrow.

Any of the those NFC South teams aren't winning that division. It's Tampa Bay's division with Brady back. Of the three teams though, New Orleans is in the best position to be immediately competitive with Watson. Atlanta is a mess right now, really bad on both sides of the ball. Ryan is not a bad quarterback and he's couldn't get anything going with that offense. Seriously, had they not had Cordarrelle Patterson doing his thing, they would have had absolutely nothing. Carolina is not exactly a decent team either. The best fit for Watson in my opinion is Cleveland... Watson and Jackson in the same division would be a lot of fun to watch.

That's nice

It must be difficult dealing with all of your bitterness. Yes, Brady will be throwing more dirt on your Montana argument. Durability is yet another checkmark in Brady's column... competing for MVPs in his mid-40's. Montana only made it to 38, barely, and that was two years too late... he would have been better off going out gracefully in '91.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

The Pats’ brain trust is all-in, laser focused on day 1 of free agency today.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

All this talk about Watson coming in and suddenly making any team a Super Bowl contender... what has Watson done to get this much shine?

Year	Age	Tm	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	1D	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	QBR	Sk	Yds	4QC	GWD	AV	Awards
2017	22	HOU	7	6	3-3-0	126	204	61.8	1699	19	8	85	72	8.3	8.4	13.5	242.7	103.0	83.5	19	116			7	AP ORoY-3
2018*	23	HOU	16	16	11-5-0	345	505	68.3	4165	26	9	215	73	8.2	8.5	12.1	260.3	103.1	61.8	62	384	5	5	16	PB
2019*	24	HOU	15	15	10-5-0	333	495	67.3	3852	26	12	191	54	7.8	7.7	11.6	256.8	98.0	70.5	44	257	3	5	16	PB
2020*	25	HOU	16	16	4-12-0	382	544	70.2	4823	33	7	221	77	8.9	9.5	12.6	301.4	112.4	63.7	49	293			16	PB

Career record: 28-25 regular season; 1-2 playoffs

On top of that, his cap hits are astronomical:
2022: $40.4 Million
2023: $42.4 Million

And I don't think that they can easily lower that since he's technically signed until 2025 (with 2024 & 2025 essentially voidable with a $5.4 Million dead cap hit). That's a lot of cap space for a QB that hasn't really won anything.

He could make some of these bad teams okay, but the only teams id really see him being worth the move are indy or no… other than that whoever acquires him will basically be Houston. Maybe a few playoff appearances

 

[50-yard-line]

Onwenu played LG, RG, and RT as a Rookie.

LG - 112 snaps - 3 pressures, 3 hurries
RG - 185 snaps - 1 hurry, 1 pressure
RT - 616 snaps - 3 sacks, 5 hurries., 8 pressures.

Note: He played multiple positions against Denver, LAC, and Buffalo. I didn't have time to do a deep dive into what he gave up where in those games.

Sophomore: LG/RT
LG: 290 snaps - 2 sacks, 2 hits, 3 hurries, 7 pressures
RT: 276 snaps - 2 hits, 2 hurries,. 4 pressures.


I think the biggest problem that Onwenu has is that the Pats haven't kept him at one spot. His first "bad" game at LG last season was against TB. Then he was mediocre against the Chargers while playing RT. He then ended the season with a bad game run-blocking against Jax when he saw 30 snaps back at LG. He saw 10 snaps at LG against Miami and his pass blocking was trash that game.

His most snaps have been at RT. His least at RG.

Total:
LG - 402 snaps - 2 sacks, 2 hits, 6 hurries, 10 pressures.
RT - 892 snaps - 3 sacks, 2 hits, 7 hurries, 12 pressures.

I said it before and will say it again. Stick him at a position and leave him there. With Mason gone, you need to build around Onwenu and Andrews. But they need something more than Patricia/Yates for the O-Line Coaching.. Without that, then it won't matter who they have for players. Patricia = Gugs PT 2, imho.

He's like the "Firefly" of the Pats offensive line. Never gets a time slot to build an audience.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

 

[Hammer of Thor]

 

[Guts]

Cap casualty by the looks of it. He is pretty good

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Any of the those NFC South teams aren't winning that division. It's Tampa Bay's division with Brady back. Of the three teams though, New Orleans is in the best position to be immediately competitive with Watson. Atlanta is a mess right now, really bad on both sides of the ball. Ryan is not a bad quarterback and he's couldn't get anything going with that offense. Seriously, had they not had Cordarrelle Patterson doing his thing, they would have had absolutely nothing. Carolina is not exactly a decent team either. The best fit for Watson in my opinion is Cleveland... Watson and Jackson in the same division would be a lot of fun to watch.


It must be difficult dealing with all of your bitterness. Yes, Brady will be throwing more dirt on your Montana argument. Durability is yet another checkmark in Brady's column... competing for MVPs in his mid-40's. Montana only made it to 38, barely, and that was two years too late... he would have been better off going out gracefully in '91.

Nothing Brady can do to top Montana's 127 QB rating in Super Bowls...Brady can play in 10 more SBs and it's not going to reach that level. And you must not have watched football prior to 2000. If you did, you'd know that Brady is playing into his 40s due to the rule changes that favor the offense. Brady wouldn't have survived the 80s in the NFL. Not only that, Brady trying to play under center his entire career without ever going into the shotgun (like Montana) is laughable.

 

[Ring 6]

My preference is for the $160 mil in guaranteed money spent last offseason to have not left the team in a state of considerable need with holes up and down the roster on both sides of the ball (with the one notable exception of the RBs).


Again, this doesn't jive with their offseason merely one year ago when they spent record amounts in free agency.


That approach "works" when you have a HOF quarterback.

What team has ever won at a high level with hardly any well-paid premium players? I can't think of one.

The 160 mill spent last year gave them a team that made the playoffs with a rookie QB, the 5th one picked in his draft.
It gave them an offense that was second best in the league at the % of drives they scored on, and 6th best in points scored and a defense that was also 2nd best in % of drives they allowed a score and 2nd in points allowed.
The “holes up and down the roster” are a product of your lack of knowledge, not the 4-13 result you seem to be describing.
From that team they have lost 2 Gs and a corner.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Snoop Dogg’s nephew.

 

[Ring 6]

Nothing Brady can do to top Montana's 127 QB rating in Super Bowls...Brady can play in 10 more SBs and it's not going to reach that level. And you must not have watched football prior to 2000. If you did, you'd know that Brady is playing into his 40s due to the rule changes that favor the offense. Brady wouldn't have survived the 80s in the NFL. Not only that, Brady trying to play under center his entire career without ever going into the shotgun (like Montana) is laughable.

What team are you a fan of?

 

[Rob0729]

The Pats’ brain trust is all-in, laser focused on day 1 of free agency today.

1. What is Georgia doing scheduling their pro day on the first day of free agency?

2. Belichich doesn't need to be in Foxboro waiting by the phone to get deals done. Wolf will most likely do the negotiations and Belichick is just a call away if necessary.

 

[Love The Drake]

My mood today

Patiently Waiting 50 Cent Patiently Waiting - Google Search

 

[Hammer of Thor]

1. What is Georgia doing scheduling their pro day on the first day of free agency?

2. Belichich doesn't need to be in Foxboro waiting by the phone to get deals done. Wolf will most likely do the negotiations and Belichick is just a call away if necessary.

Oh I agree, just having some fun. .

 

[Love The Drake]

1. What is Georgia doing scheduling their pro day on the first day of free agency?

2. Belichich doesn't need to be in Foxboro waiting by the phone to get deals done. Wolf will most likely do the negotiations and Belichick is just a call away if necessary.

Wolf and Groh let’s make it happen.

 

[JMC00]

The Pats’ brain trust is all-in, laser focused on day 1 of free agency today.

Matt Groh and Eliot Wolf are doing the heavy work. Belichick probably has given his input and is a phone call away

 

[50-yard-line]

How? I thought the Saints were screwed cap wise

The Pats could do this if they wanted. Here are the problems with it: Converting salary to bonus pushes payouts forward, but pushes cap back. So Kraft has to pony up millions right now, but the Pats feel it on the cap next year and the year after.

it also means that you create the Gilmore situation, where the salary becomes LOW, even though the cap hit remains very high. "He's not playing for $5 million when so-and-so is getting twice that!"-type scenarios. You see them all the time.

This is the philosophical struggle that now defines the NFL: collect talent, pay for it later, and wallow for years vs. build a consistently good, but not top-talented team?

I'm not sure which is better at this point, as the last two SB champs have gone the former, anti-Patriot route.

As a fan, I think it's BAD for the game. Destroyed the NBA, in my opinion.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

 

[Patsgofor4]

The Pats’ brain trust is all-in, laser focused on day 1 of free agency today.

And if Bill wasn’t in attendance, some here would write “How can Bill not show up, to get a closer look at all of that elite talent!” I’m sure that he has his cell phone with him.

 

[jah]

Cap casualty by the looks of it. He is pretty good

I think for the right money he could be good, but he was probably cut because he wasn't $8M/year good.