NFL Free Agency 2008

ATLANTA FALCONS_Re-signed QB Chris Redman. Agreed to terms with RB Michael Turner. Signed DB Erik Coleman, DB Von Hutchins and TE Ben Hartsock.

BUFFALO BILLS_Agreed to terms with LB Kawika Mitchell and DT Spencer Johnson.

CAROLINA PANTHERS_Agreed to terms with CB-KR Ricardo Colclough.

CHICAGO BEARS_Re-signed LB Lance Briggs.

CLEVELAND BROWNS_Agreed to terms with WR Donte' Stallworth. Re-signed QB Derek Anderson.

HOUSTON TEXANS_Signed CB Jacques Reeves.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS_Signed CB Drayton Florence. Agreed to terms with WR Jerry Porter.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS_ Agreed to terms with LB Demorrio Williams.

MIAMI DOLPHINS_ Signed LBs Reggie Torbor and Charlie Anderson, TE Sean Ryan, WR Ernest Wilford, DT Randy Starks, G Justin Smiley, and QB Josh McCown.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS_Agreed to terms with WR Bernard Berrian, FB Thomas Tapeh and S Madieu Williams.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS_Re-signed LB Tedy Bruschi, C Lonie Paxton and WR Kelley Washington.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS_ Re-signed DT Brian Young, WR Devery Henderson, RB Aaron Stecker and LB Mark Simoneau. Agreed to terms with DE Bobby McCray and CB Randall Gay.

NEW YORK JETS_Agreed to terms with G Alan Faneca.

OAKLAND RAIDERS_Signed S Gibril Wilson.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES_Signed CB Asante Samuel and DE Chris Clemons.

ST. LOUIS RAMS_Signed K Josh Brown.

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS_Agreed to terms with QB Billy Volek.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS_Signed KR Allen Rossum, DE Justin Smith, WR Isaac Bruce, and QB J.T. O'Sullivan. Agreed to terms with RB DeShaun Foster and LB Dontarrious Thomas.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS_Signed TE John Gilmore, C Jeff Faine, LB Antoine Cash and DE Jimmy Wilkerson.

TENNESSEE TITANS_Signed TE Alge Crumpler

WASHINGTON REDSKINS_Re-signed QB Todd Collins.

Courtesy of:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/03/sports/FBN-Free-Agent-Signings.php

Nice to see K.Jenkins leave for the Jets if he has problems with us and the coaching staff.

I'm really glad to see the Panthers are making moves, bringing back Moose, cutting Carr. Hoping that maybe they sign B.Johnson from Arizona for that 3rd or 4th WR.

Vikings have $30 million in room. Word has it they've been told to spend by the owners. *crosses fingers*

Vikings signed Madieu Williams S

As of 2/29 notable FA 49ers has picked up...

DeShaun Foster, (two-year contract).

Allen Rossum, (one year deal)

Crossing my finger that none of my teams go on a spending spree. So far so good.manningbowl135

I am too. I don't need the Pats to spend unecessarily big moves in off-season. They got a good team that can win it all. They just need more youth in the defense.

[QUOTE="manningbowl135"]Crossing my finger that none of my teams go on a spending spree. So far so good.dkhw

I am too. I don't need the Pats to spend unecessarily big moves in off-season. They got a good team that can win it all. They just need more youth in the defense.

How about Randy Moss? Isn't he technically a FA right now?

im a bears fan and i cant stand the way the organization is anymore and its always been this way but its honestly not gonna work. they believe in signing your own players on team and building in the draft thats fine. but i mean seriously this year of all years they need to do something in free agency. also if they believe in signing there own then they would have locked up briggs and berrian (two of there own) nope probably gonna just let them go why because there cheap and wont spend the money they have.

besides qb, wr, and ol they need rb competition. i think they should just go out and get michael turner and call it a day. seriously lets go angelo and bears you cheap bastards.

im a bears fan and i cant stand the way the organization is anymore and its always been this way but its honestly not gonna work. they believe in signing your own players on team and building in the draft thats fine. but i mean seriously this year of all years they need to do something in free agency. also if they believe in signing there own then they would have locked up briggs and berrian (two of there own) nope probably gonna just let them go why because there cheap and wont spend the money they have.

besides qb, wr, and ol they need rb competition. i think they should just go out and get michael turner and call it a day. seriously lets go angelo and bears you cheap bastards.

xbox360isgr8t

I can't blame ya. I've been wondering where the angry bears fans are. They've been way conservative when it seems they were just a bit of luck and a player or two away from winning a Super Blow.

Right now, I'm wondering who the Bears are gonna take with the first pick in the 2009 draft. Holy crap, Jerry Angelo is a freaking moron.

The last few years, one of the Bears' weaknesses was the Wide Receiver position. The best two of these weak wide receivers (Berrian-Minnesota, Moose-Carolina) are now gone. So, now they are gonna strike fear into opponents with Rashied Davis (17 receptions, & I dunno if he's actually still on the team...looking him up on the team website confused me), Mark Bradley (6 receptions), and Mike Haas (0 receptions)? What in the crap are you guys doing? Please tell me you're not planning on using Hester at WR all the time. So, now I hear possible targets may include DJ Hackett and this Bryant Johnson dude. Both are okay receivers I guess, but neither is a #1 -- but on this terrible Bears' team, they'd be #1 by a huge margin. Embarassing. It looks like Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark are gonna be getting a lot of playing time this year -- at least I hope so, since they're the only decent guys who can catch on this team(unless you count Hester).

Offensive Line was arguably the biggest weakness for the Bears last year...but they don't even attempt to go after Alan Faneca, and I don't hear any rumors of the Bears going after any significant O-Linemen.

Cedric Benson sucks; it'd be nice for the Bears to go after Michael Turner or somebody to at least give Benson competition, but it sounds like they'll address RB in the draft. Because obviously, the Bears are awesome at drafting Running Backs (see Cedric Benson).

I heard Angelo say that the biggest issue concerning the Bears this offseason will be to try to restructure Brian Urlacher's deal. His deal ends in 2011. When I heard this pieace of news, I wanted to punch my radio. Briggs might still be back, but I ain't keeping my hopes up. Uuuggh.

Addressing the whole crappy safety issue would be nice, too. Mike Brown is an awesome player when he's healthy, but he never is. Adam Archuleta is probably the worst player to ever play football. The other safeties(D. Manning, McGowan) are pretty mediocre.

I guess the Bears are planning on just having the injury-prone Tommie Harris play at both D-Tackle slots. Idonije is awesome on special teams, but mediocre at best at DT -- another decent one would be nice.

Seriously. It'd be cool if they were going after some guys, but right now it seems like the Bears ain't even making an effort. I also like how they're doing damage control -- an article on the team website says "Contrary to what all the hype this week might indicate, the NFL does not award the Lombardi Trophy to the team that spends the most money during the offseason. Recent history shows that franchises like the Bears that believe in re-signing their own players [such as Nate Vasher and Charles Tillman, above] and building through the draft are more successful than those that shower unrestricted free agents with megabucks contracts."

Good job on resigning your own players...like Berrian. Oh yeah, I forgot that you're trying to resign the aging and on the decline Brian Urlacher 3 years before his contract is up.

Right now, I'm wondering who the Bears are gonna take with the first pick in the 2009 draft. Holy crap, Jerry Angelo is a freaking moron.

The last few years, one of the Bears' weaknesses was the Wide Receiver position. The best two of these weak wide receivers (Berrian-Minnesota, Moose-Carolina) are now gone. So, now they are gonna strike fear into opponents with Rashied Davis (17 receptions, & I dunno if he's actually still on the team...looking him up on the team website confused me), Mark Bradley (6 receptions), and Mike Haas (0 receptions)? What in the crap are you guys doing? Please tell me you're not planning on using Hester at WR all the time. So, now I hear possible targets may include DJ Hackett and this Bryant Johnson dude. Both are okay receivers I guess, but neither is a #1 -- but on this terrible Bears' team, they'd be #1 by a huge margin. Embarassing. It looks like Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark are gonna be getting a lot of playing time this year -- at least I hope so, since they're the only decent guys who can catch on this team(unless you count Hester).

Offensive Line was arguably the biggest weakness for the Bears last year...but they don't even attempt to go after Alan Faneca, and I don't hear any rumors of the Bears going after any significant O-Linemen.

Cedric Benson sucks; it'd be nice for the Bears to go after Michael Turner or somebody to at least give Benson competition, but it sounds like they'll address RB in the draft. Because obviously, the Bears are awesome at drafting Running Backs (see Cedric Benson).

I heard Angelo say that the biggest issue concerning the Bears this offseason will be to try to restructure Brian Urlacher's deal. His deal ends in 2011. When I heard this pieace of news, I wanted to punch my radio. Briggs might still be back, but I ain't keeping my hopes up. Uuuggh.

Addressing the whole crappy safety issue would be nice, too. Mike Brown is an awesome player when he's healthy, but he never is. Adam Archuleta is probably the worst player to ever play football. The other safeties(D. Manning, McGowan) are pretty mediocre.

I guess the Bears are planning on just having the injury-prone Tommie Harris play at both D-Tackle slots. Idonije is awesome on special teams, but mediocre at best at DT -- another decent one would be nice.

Seriously. It'd be cool if they were going after some guys, but right now it seems like the Bears ain't even making an effort. I also like how they're doing damage control -- an article on the team website says "Contrary to what all the hype this week might indicate, the NFL does not award the Lombardi Trophy to the team that spends the most money during the offseason. Recent history shows that franchises like the Bears that believe in re-signing their own players [such as Nate Vasher and Charles Tillman, above] and building through the draft are more successful than those that shower unrestricted free agents with megabucks contracts."

Good job on resigning your own players...like Berrian. Oh yeah, I forgot that you're trying to resign the aging and on the decline Brian Urlacher 3 years before his contract is up.

JML897

That was a nicely controlled rant. I commend you.

Now for some optimism: This is widely considered to be the deepest WR class in years. The Bears drafted a TE in the first round last year and will probably take a WR within the first day (1-2 rounds now) this year. Benson two years ago was a top 5 pick whose strength is between the tackles. Bust in those RBs are rarer than flashier RBs. But for good or bad, no way the Bears go after a RB. They have $35 million tied up in Benson. That's entirely too much for them to invest even more at back.

I can't find optimism for the rest.

BTW if Benson becomes a concrete bust soon, wouldn't it be an amazing example of how a high bust can set a franchise back years at a certain position? Bears draft Benson, that year Jones plays amazing, next year he does the same and gives the Bears a franchise back. But since Benson was such a high pick and they had to feature him to justify the money, they trade their franchise back and now their hands are tied. They can't go after another franchise back or draft another high RB b/c they'd have to be tentative about a $35 mil guy. In effect, this high pick may lose the Bears a franchise back and set back their search for another one for 2-3 extra years.

EDIT: Looks like the Bears resign Briggs

What's with the hate on Urlacher? He's probably the greatest Bear post 80s.

Now for the bad news: Grossman is still your starting QB.

also the Browns signed Donte Stallworth to a 7 year deal, seems a little long to me. how old is stallworthKFrandsen2

Since teams can cut guys basically whenever they want, there's no risk in a team signing a guy to a long deal like that.

Well, at least the Bears resigned Briggs.

And Manningbowl, don't get me wrong, I think Urlacher is great. But last year he didn't play all that well, and had some injuries -- by 2011, he'll almost be done with his career IMO. I don't see how the Bears could say that the most pressing issue facing the team this offseason is restructuring his contract when there are so many other holes to fill.

ya but when you cut guys you still have to pay off some of there contract so it can still hurt you if you just sign guys to long term deals then cut them when you dont want them anymoreKFrandsen2

Depends on how the contract is. Patriots signed Stallworth to a 6 year deal, but the contract was structured so that they could cut him after one year with no money owed.

Its been reported that Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper have spoke about reuniting together on some team. How interesting...Los9090

who reported this do you have a link

also the Browns signed Donte Stallworth to a 7 year deal, seems a little long to me. how old is stallworthKFrandsen2

My Giants lost Gibril Wilson, Kawika Mitchell, and Reggie Torbor so now we're going to have to fill three holes on defense.Jaybird36

ya the raiders signed gibril wilson, i really like that signing i think he will help the raiders d alot

I maybe get the feeling the Panthers are not going to sign any big known players, and just wait for the draft. mvphalo8

Ya, the Panthers have been trading and cutting players left and right while at the some time eating up draft picks. Should be intresting to see who they take.

*sigh* looks like my Packers have been doing nothing really. Got a Draft pick from KC thats about it. Have until friday to re-sign Grant.

[QUOTE="mvphalo8"]I maybe get the feeling the Panthers are not going to sign any big known players, and just wait for the draft. limpbizkit818

Ya, the Panthers have been trading and cutting players left and right while at the some time eating up draft picks. Should be intresting to see who they take.

*sigh* looks like my Packers have been doing nothing really. Got a Draft pick from KC thats about it. Have until friday to re-sign Grant.

how did they get a pick from KC wut round is the pick

[QUOTE="limpbizkit818"]

[QUOTE="mvphalo8"]I maybe get the feeling the Panthers are not going to sign any big known players, and just wait for the draft. KFrandsen2

Ya, the Panthers have been trading and cutting players left and right while at the some time eating up draft picks. Should be intresting to see who they take.

*sigh* looks like my Packers have been doing nothing really. Got a Draft pick from KC thats about it. Have until friday to re-sign Grant.

how did they get a pick from KC wut round is the pick

O my bad, they got the pick from the Browns.

Traded DT Corey Williams for it (2nd round).

[QUOTE="Los9090"]Its been reported that Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper have spoke about reuniting together on some team. How interesting...KFrandsen2

who reported this do you have a link

Right on ESPN.com

[QUOTE="Jaybird36"]My Giants lost Gibril Wilson, Kawika Mitchell, and Reggie Torbor so now we're going to have to fill three holes on defense.KFrandsen2

ya the raiders signed gibril wilson, i really like that signing i think he will help the raiders d alot

All three have agreed to terms with a team and Strahan is undecided about retirement so we could be in trouble.

[QUOTE="KFrandsen2"]also the Browns signed Donte Stallworth to a 7 year deal, seems a little long to me. how old is stallworthJML897

Since teams can cut guys basically whenever they want, there's no risk in a team signing a guy to a long deal like that.

Well, at least the Bears resigned Briggs.

And Manningbowl, don't get me wrong, I think Urlacher is great. But last year he didn't play all that well, and had some injuries -- by 2011, he'll almost be done with his career IMO. I don't see how the Bears could say that the most pressing issue facing the team this offseason is restructuring his contract when there are so many other holes to fill.

Urlacher did just as good this year if not better. Sure he has about 20 tackles less than last year but he also had 5 sacks this year which he had 0 last year. He had about the same solo tackles as he did last year but had 20 less tackles. He had 5 INT compared to 3 last year. He had 1 defensive TD compred to 0 last year.

[QUOTE="JML897"]

[QUOTE="KFrandsen2"]also the Browns signed Donte Stallworth to a 7 year deal, seems a little long to me. how old is stallworthKillfox

Since teams can cut guys basically whenever they want, there's no risk in a team signing a guy to a long deal like that.

Well, at least the Bears resigned Briggs.

And Manningbowl, don't get me wrong, I think Urlacher is great. But last year he didn't play all that well, and had some injuries -- by 2011, he'll almost be done with his career IMO. I don't see how the Bears could say that the most pressing issue facing the team this offseason is restructuring his contract when there are so many other holes to fill.

Urlacher did just as good this year if not better. Sure he has about 20 tackles less than last year but he also had 5 sacks this year which he had 0 last year. He had about the same solo tackles as he did last year but had 20 less tackles. He had 5 INT compared to 3 last year. He had 1 defensive TD compred to 0 last year.

Huh. It didn't seem like he played that great(maybe I just thought that because the defense as a whole was pretty mediocre this year). I think the sacks are because Babich liked to blitz Urlacher more than Rivera did, but I can't argue with the other stats. The injuries and age (I know he's 29, but still) still worry me.

Minnisota made a very bad move signing Berrian on such a huge contract.

He can't block, wont fight for the ball, and wont go down the middle, yet he's being paid almost top WR money.

Ben Roethlisberger got a 8 year/$102 mil deal with $36mil in guarantees.

Link

NFL free agency is disgusting. Some of these signings just make me sick. Stallworth got a 7 year deal? WTF? And 6 years for Briggs and Berrian? Since when do these above-average players get such longterm deals? What has happened to football?murlow12

briggs is worth a 6 year deal buddy.

[QUOTE="murlow12"]NFL free agency is disgusting. Some of these signings just make me sick. Stallworth got a 7 year deal? WTF? And 6 years for Briggs and Berrian? Since when do these above-average players get such longterm deals? What has happened to football?xbox360isgr8t

briggs is worth a 6 year deal buddy.

yieh, hes good but, a think a deal for 6 years is a lot.

My Eagles need a top-tier WR that ISN'T Moss, and some younger defensive players, while the Colts could use...well, same thing, but with LBs instead of any position possible.Fireball2500