So far free agency has had its fair share of twists and turns, even in the best division in football, the NFC West. Every year now it seems to turn into an arms race between the two top teams, 49ers and Seahawks, and now the Cardinals. It is a series of punches and counterpunches. The Rams, however, aren’t to be outdone.
Seattle Seahawks
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises for the Super Bowl champs was defensive end Michael Bennett re-signing with Seattle. It had been reported before the start of free agency that Seattle had made him an offer but he wanted to test the market anyway. As it turns out, he didn’t want to test it that badly as he signed the Monday before free agency started.
Something that might have come as a surprise to Seattle fans is the fact that former Seattle cornerback, Walter Thurmond, is even entertaining the idea of signing with their bitter rivals the San Francisco 49ers. The biggest shock will come if he actually signs a deal with them.
Another surprise is that, with the departure of Golden Tate to Detroit, the Seahawks are contemplating re-signing Sidney Rice, a cap casualty not so long ago. In the early days of free agency the Seahawks haven’t been particularly busy. This might be because they know how deep the draft is this year and they know with monster deals coming down the pike for guys like Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, and Earl Thomas they need to conserve their money and build even more through the draft.
San Francisco 49ers
The biggest surprise for the 49ers came on the first day in the first hour when they inked a deal with safety Antoine Bethea. Usually the 49ers sit and wait and let the market dictate value rather than going out and being the aggressors. But this year has been different.
Although Blaine Gabbert and Jonathan Martin weren’t free agents, the 49ers trading for both during the free agency period was just as surprising as the Bethea signing. Then just a few days after that on Friday the 49ers bring in Walter Thurmond, formerly of the Seahawks. I’m sure 49ers fans everywhere are hoping they sign him as an “in your face” to Seattle, not to mention he’s a pretty good cornerback. The same day they bring Thurmond in, they sign cornerback Chris Cook from Minnesota.
At first this was surprising to some because when looking at his stats you wonder what on Earth could the 49ers front office see in him. But then when we all saw that he was signed to a one-year deal with no guaranteed money, it became clear that Cook is there to compete for a roster spot in training camp and to add depth. Also on Friday cornerback Tarell Brown signed with the Raiders.
Not many people had Brown on the Raiders’ radar. I think like Seattle, the 49ers realize how deep this draft is and are completely willing to fill any needs they have by way of the draft. Most likely the 49ers are also confident that with their abundance of draft picks this year they will be able to move up and down to get pretty much whichever players they want.
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals haven’t had many surprises during this free agency period except the re-signing of outside linebacker Matt Shaughnessy. The reason this signing was surprising is because the Patriots were very interested in him and a lot of people had him penciled in on the Patriots roster already. Arizona did a good job of keeping one of their own guys who is an important piece in Todd Bowles’ defense.
Also, Ted Ginn Jr. is back in the NFC West, but this time with the Arizona Cardinals. Ginn will have possibly the best opportunity of his career to succeed in Arizona with Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd already on the roster.
St. Louis Rams
Easily the biggest surprise involving the Rams so far has been the Rodger Saffold story. First St. Louis decides to let him go and test the waters of free agency. Saffold then gets a deal in place with the Raiders. Most believe that the Raiders were grossly overpaying him. Then comes his team physical so everything can be finalized. Saffold failed the physical (perhaps due to buyer’s remorse from Oakland), re-signs with the Rams, and somehow passes their team physical. Other than that the Rams have been very quiet up to this point. But like their NFC West rivals, they realize the importance of patience in free agency and building their core through the draft.
In the first four days of the free agency period the NFC West has been fairly quiet. Especially compared to teams like the Dolphins, Colts, and Titans. But all of these teams have very good leadership in place and know what it takes to build a winning team. And what it takes is not overspending in free agency. In the coming weeks before the draft look for all of these teams to make smart, financially sound signings. Also I expect most or all of the NFC West teams to be major players in the draft, moving up and down rather frequently. The arms race is on and when the 2014 season comes, it’s going to be a war in the NFC West.