AFC Teams
PITTSBURGH (AFC North champion/AFC Champion/NFL Champion, 12-4)
The Steelers have their way of doing things and that means little or no activity in signing players from other teams. As of March 20, Pittsburgh was one of four teams that has not signed a UFA. In fact, you can use the fingers of one hand to count the free agents that have come in for a visit. The most noteworthy was CB-Returner Chris Carr, who ended up signing in Baltimore. The Steelers interest in him probably had the Ravens overpaying for Carr.
They have lost one starter: CB Bryant McFadden, a former second-round pick. They made no attempt to re-sign him. They also lost backup safety Anthony Smith (Green Bay) and backup WR Nate Washington (Tennessee). Washington provided their offense with a speed element, but he has shown very inconsistent hands over his career.
Pittsburgh has been able to hold together its offensive line, such as it is. If there was one area where they were expected to be active among UFAs it would have been the blockers. They slapped a franchise player tag on LT Max Starks and they re-signed starting LG Chris Kemoeatu and backup tackle Trai Essex. They also got RT Willie Colon to sign his RFA tender offer, so he will be back.
This is how the black and gold roll and it’s hard to argue with their success.
BALTIMORE (Second place in NFC North, wildcard team advanced to AFC final, 11-5)
The Ravens are a team in transition right now. The Baltimore front-office has done a very good job over the years keeping the team in contender status, but that was always built on the defense. Now, the focus must shift to finding more weapons for quarterback Joe Flacco.
They lost center-guard Jason Brown (St. Louis), but replaced him with a better, if older player in Matt Birk (Minnesota). They added tight end L.J. Smith (Philadelphia), which should help the offense since it seems starting TE Todd Heap is always injured in some fashion.
On defense, they’ve got adjustments to make. Losing Bart Scott at one of the inside linebacker spot hurts not only now, but in the future. Ray Lewis is going to have to step up his play. The secondary has really been shuffled as CBs Chris McAlister (released), Samari Rolle (released) and Corey Ivy (Cleveland) are gone, as is safety Jim Leonhard (NY Jets).
Between now and the start of the season, they need to find some cornerbacks.
SAN DIEGO (First place team in AFC West, 8-8)
The Chargers have not reacted to their struggles last year by changing their approach. They have signed a single UFA in LB Kevin Burnett (Dallas). They lost one starter in DE Igor Olshansky, who the Chargers did not press to re-sign.
The biggest move they made was keeping LaDainian Tomlinson for at least another year. He’s at the end of his great career, but even 80 percent of L.T. is better than most of the backs in the league.
Healthy is what the Chargers need to do in the months before the season.
TENNESSEE (First-place team in the AFC South, 13-3)
The Titans have a big hole in the middle of their defense now, with DT Albert Haynesworth getting the giant UFA deal with Washington. They did sign Jovan Haye (Tampa Bay) to pick up some of the slack from losing Haynesworth. Last year, Haye started 15 games for the Bucs, providing 40 tackles and no sacks. Haynesworth had 75 total tackles and 8.5 sacks, along with four forced fumbles.
Otherwise, Tennessee has reacted in free agency. They lost WR Brandon Jones (San Francisco), they signed Nate Washington (Pittsburgh). They lost return man Chris Carr (Baltimore), they signed Carolina returner Mark Jones. At wide receiver, Washington is an upgrade as he caught more passes, for more yards and touchdowns last year than Jones. The return swap turns out pretty much even based on ’08 numbers.
MIAMI (First-place team in the AFC East, 11-5)
Offensive line was obviously a priority for the Dolphins, as they went out and added guard Joe Berger (Dallas) and center Jake Grove (Oakland). They lost a pair of secondary starters in Andre Goodman and Renaldo Hill (Denver). They added safety Gibrill Wilson (Oakland), to take Hill’s spot. Depth on the corner is now a concern.
INDIANAPOLIS (Second-place team in the AFC South, 12-4)
When needed in the past, the Colts have dipped into free agency. But that hasn’t happened this year, with the exception of re-signing center Jeff Saturday. Keeping the veteran snapper should be very good for the Indy offense.
Right now, they’ve lost only DT Darrel Reid (Denver), who contributed largely on special teams.
NEW ENGLAND (Second-place team in the AFC East, 11-5)
Although the Patriots missed the playoffs winning 11 games with a backup quarterback who hadn’t started in eight years was one of Bill Belichick’s greatest accomplishments of his coaching career. Losing Scott Pioli has forced adjustments in how New England handles personnel and they’ve been busy.
The Pats have added plenty of veteran help in the secondary in Leigh Bodden (Detroit) and Shawn Springs (Washington) and at wide receiver with Joey Galloway (Tampa Bay) and Greg Lewis (Philadelphia).
NEW YORK JETS (Third-place team in the AFC East, 9-7)
With Rex Ryan now head coach, the attention has been on revamping the defense, as all of their UFA signings have been on that side of the ball, with potential starters in linebacker Bart Scott, safety Jim Leonhard and cornerback Lito Sheppard.
Offense hasn’t been addressed and they lost wide receiver Lavernaues Coles (Cincinnati) and quarterback Brett Favre (retirement). With running back Thomas Jones unhappy with his contract, the offense needs some weapons.
DENVER (Second-place team in the AFC West, 8-8)
The diaper dandy duo of Brian Xanders and Josh McDaniel decided that jumping into the deep end of the free agency pool was necessary to increase the talent level of the Broncos roster. They didn’t hold back, signing 14 players, at least one at every position group.
Whether any of the players makes a major contribution remains to be seen; starters from the group figure to be safety Brian Dawkins and cornerback Andre Goodman.
HOUSTON (Third-place team in the AFC South, 8-8)
The Texans had defensive problems last year, but they’ve done little to improve the talent level, adding only defensive end Antonio Smith (Arizona). They were able to keep CB Dunta Robinson (franchise-player).
BUFFALO (Fourth-place in the AFC East, 7-9)
The Bills believe in the draft, but they figured to be more active in free agency than they have been, even with the signing of wide receiver Terrell Owens (Dallas). The replaced cornerback Jabari Greer (New Orleans) with Drayton Florence (Jacksonville) and linebacker Angelo Crowell (Tampa Bay) with Pat Thomas (Chiefs).
JACKSONVILLE (Fourth-place in the AFC South, 5-11)
In the past, the Jaguars have been very active in the UFA market. Last year, they signed up WR Joey Porter and CB Drayton Florence and they ended up releasing both players. All the personnel decisions are now in the hands of new GM Gene Smith and head coach Jack Del Rio can only watch. That’s probably a good thing, based on decisions like Porter and Florence. So far, they’ve added only two UFAs: safety Sean Considine and OT Tra Thomas. Both should be starters.
OAKLAND (Third-place in the AFC West, 5-11)
The Raiders have not been very active in the UFA market and their best moves came with the signings of CB Nnamdi Asomugha and punter Shane Lechler before they reached free agency. Offensive tackles Khalif Barnes (Jacksonville) and Erik Pears (Denver) will provide good O-Line depth.
CINCINNATI (Third-place in the AFC North, 4-11-1)
The Bengals have stayed out of the UFA market for the most part. They lost T.J. Houshmandzadeh and signed Laveranues Coles. They lost backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and signed J.T. O’Sullivan.
CLEVELAND (Fourth-place in the AFC North, 4-12)
The new duo in charge of the Browns — George Kokinis and Eric Mangini have been one of the busier teams in the league. They’ve added a pair of veteran offensive linemen in John St. Clair (Chicago) and Floyd Womack (Seattle) and five defensive players, including four who followed Mangini from the Jets.
KANSAS CITY (Fourth-place in the AFC West, 2-14)
Role players are what Scott Pioli and Todd Haley have been looking for and that’s what they found in the UFA market. Obviously, the addition of QB Matt Cassel and LB Mike Vrabel in a trade brings two starters into the ’09 equation.
