Given that we’re into Week 2 of NFL free agency, we have more to look back on than we do to look forward. Most of the impactful signings happen during the first week (the first few days, really), which is obviously in the rearview mirror at this point.
This season, it seems like most of the true impact players changing teams in free agency were on defense. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to dig into on the offensive side of the ball. Plenty of notable players changed teams, including a couple of quarterbacks.
With that in mind, we want to take a look at some of the most interesting signings that happened on offense. The key word to keep in mind there is interesting, and that can be on a schematic level or some other level, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to include the most expensive or noteworthy players. (Although the list below obviously does include some of those players.)
In the space below, we’re touching on eight different signings, though a few of them come in pairs because there were several teams that double dipped in defensive free agency. Without further ado …
These might be the two most fascinating bets of the offseason. The Vikings seemingly did not try all that hard to bring Darnold back, if you look at the structure of the contract he accepted from the Seahawks. And the Rams paid a bunch of money to move on from Kupp and bring in Davante Adams instead. (More on him in a minute.) The Seahawks are clearly higher on both players than are their former teams.
They should theoretically fit in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s offense, which is similar to those run by Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota and Sean McVay in Los Angeles. But Darnold — who struggles with pressure — is going to play behind a very suspect offensive line, and Kupp — who has struggled to stay healthy and seemingly fell off over the second half of last season — is leaving the McVay and Matthew Stafford cocoon. How these two signings work out will go a long way toward determining how the NFC West shakes out.
These signings are interesting less for what the players themselves will bring to the table than for what they signal about the NFL Draft. Many people thought the Titans would be in the veteran quarterback market, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Instead, they beefed up their offensive line, seemingly setting the stage for them to draft Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick. And that’s certainly interesting.
Los Angeles Rams
We identified this signing as one we’d like to see when doing our NFC free agency matchmaker:
I debated between giving the Rams Adams and Chris Godwin, with the theory being that the latter could slide easily into Cooper Kupp’s old role. But the Rams probably want to have Puka Nacua do more of that stuff, and getting someone who has more inside-outside versatility (and a better track record of health, given the health concerns they already have with Nacua) might make more sense. Either way, giving Matthew Stafford two elite receivers is always fun, so let’s do it again.
Adams has played in this style of offense before during his time in Green Bay, and he can be both the prototypical X receiver and the guy who moves around the formation and forces defenses into uncomfortable situations. Pairing him with Nacua and giving Stafford a different kind of weapon than he had with Kupp is going to be really cool to watch.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs going out and paying Moore — who has been a backup throughout his entire four-year career — to protect Patrick Mahomes’ blind side is, technically, really interesting. Maybe not in a good way. But it’s definitely something to which we need to devote a lot of attention. Mahomes got extremely frustrated with his left tackle play this past season, to the point that the Chiefs felt that they had to move one of the best guards in the NFL outside for the first time in his career. Moore has given up 36 pressures on 446 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, an 8.1% pressure rate. That’s … not great. Kansas City is betting on some major improvement.
Is Hopkins as good as he once was? No. Obviously not. We saw that last season, when he was traded to the Chiefs and then remained a rotational player for the entire season and playoffs despite predictions that he’d eventually take over a larger role. But this signing and fit remains interesting because he’s a specific type of player who the Ravens have never had during the Lamar Jackson era: The ball-winner. The contested-catch guy. It’s going to be fascinating to see how that connection develops — even if Hopkins is a secondary or tertiary passing-game option.
New York Jets
Fields got a chance to start early last season for the Steelers, and it looked a lot like what things looked like when he was in Chicago. He ran the ball A LOT — 9.2 times for 38.5 yards per game. He threw the ball less often than almost any other starter, and he completed 66.3% of his passes at an average of 6.9 yards per attempt with just five touchdowns and one interception in six games. (He also had five rushing scores.) Playing for a team coached by a staff that came from the Detroit Lions — a team whose defense Fields tore apart several times, particularly on the ground — should provide some major intrigue. He also has some better weapons in New York (Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall) than he did in Chicago or Pittsburgh, so that could take his game to another level.
Add Comment