Well, even on the fourth day of free agency the trades and the signings kept on going full speed. Nothing slowed down, just some of the names were a little less well known than on the previous days. It’s going to be a lot of the signings that take place from this point out that will have more of an impact during the season than the signings that have happened on previous days. Here’s a recap of what happened on the fourth day of free agency:
There weren’t many individual teams that were extremely busy today but the Saints certainly were. They started with a trade that sent wide receiver Kenny Stills to the Miami Dolphins for linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and a third round pick. After that, the Saints went out and signed running back C.J. Spiller. For the Saints it’s going to take a lot more work for them to dig themselves out of the hole they’re currently in as far as their salary cap situation goes.
The Rams were another team doing a lot of work on Friday by signing defensive lineman Nick Fairley and re-signing wide receiver Kenny Britt. Wednesday night they were able to reach a deal with defensive lineman Akeem Ayers as well. Their front seven is going to be a force to be reckoned with.
The Titans were able to reach a deal with outside linebacker Brian Orakpo on Friday morning and re-sign Derrick Morgan as well. With them being in the running to draft defensive lineman Leonard Williams with the second overall pick in this year’s draft, their front seven could be much better than a lot of people are expecting.
In the AFC West the Raiders signed quarterback Christian Ponder and will likely cut current backup quarterback Matt Schaub. The Broncos brought in offensive guard Shelley Smith to help strengthen their offensive line while the Chargers signed safety Jimmy Wilson.
Out in the AFC East the Dolphins traded wide receiver Mike Wallace and a seventh round pick to the Vikings in exchange for a fifth round pick. The Bills signed wide receiver Percy Harvin despite rumors that the deal might fall through due to a late push by the San Francisco 49ers. The Patriots strengthened their tight end group by signing former Bills tight end Scott Chandler. The Jets made their secondary better by signing safety Marcus Gilchrist.
After losing running back DeMarco Murray to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys needed to bring in a running back. On Friday they signed former Raiders running back Darren McFadden. The Washington Redskins made a solid move and signed former 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver. Lastly, the Steelers brought in veteran running back DeAngelo Williams for some production and to also show their young running backs like Le’veon Bell and Dri Archer the ins and outs of the position.
The fifth day of free agency is quickly upon us and while for the casual fan it might feel like things have died down a lot since Tuesday, it really hasn’t. There are a lot of valuable backups, role players, and special teams players left to be sign and even a fair amount of players who will end up as key starters for certain teams. If you’re thinking about turning your attention away from free agency because you think the best has past, you better think twice about that.