Draft King Analysis
March 15, 2015
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
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There's no rest for the weary on the weekend after the start of NFL free agency for 2015. Earlier today, the Cincinnati Bengals signed free agent DE Michael Johnson to a four-year, $24 million deal. No word yet on how much of that is guaranteed, which is very important.
Keep in mind that Johnson, who spent 2009-2013 with the Bengals, left as a free agent to join the Buccaneers this time last year. As a reminder of why I emphasize guaranteed money so much on here, Johnson's signed with Tampa Bay in 2014 by signing a five-year, $43.75 million deal.
He ended up seeing just $16 million of that, which is not a bad haul for one year of work, but again it reinforces that NFL salary listings are often unrealistically inflated. In pro football, unless it's guaranteed, don't count on it.
Yesterday morning, the Kansas City Chiefs signed free safety Ron Parker to a five-year, $35 million contract with $8 million guaranteed. I'm not sure what that says about the future of Chiefs safety Eric Berry, who is fighting Hodgkin's lymphoma. Hopefully Berry can beat it, and his long-term health certainly trumps any sports-related concerns.
It wasn't terribly surprising that the Vikings cut WR Greg Jennings yesterday, one day after acquiring WR Mike Wallace from the Dolphins in a salary dump move by Miami. This wasn't a surprise with Jennings, who turns 32 in September, due to make $8.9 million this year. He reportedly would have cost $11 million against the cap for Minnesota. But Jennings is still a quality wide receiver and I would expect him to land with another NFL team before the start of training camps.
This is all interconnected: Buffalo is still expected to sign transition-tagged TE Charles Clay to an offer sheet, which it would appear Miami is unlikely to match. Miami, despite signing DT Ndamukong Suh to a massive contract, made room under the cap to work with after trading Wallace and making multiple cuts. That allowed the Dolphins to sign TE Jordan Cameron to a new deal, which was an apparent swerve to the Cleveland Browns, who multiple respected reporters had reported would be keeping Cameron with a new deal.
With the 49ers signing free agent RB Reggie Bush, the Patriots will have to look elsewhere for a Shane Vareen replacement. Meanwhile, former 49ers cornerback Perrish Cox signed a three-year deal with the Titans, who seemed content to wait out the first wave of big signings to then go for some mid-level deals.
Finally, in case you missed it, Draft King is now teaming with CineSport to provide quality video content and analysis on this site. Here are just some of the videos from this past week.
VIDEOS
Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger Discusses New Deal
The Steelers rework Big Ben's contract to provide some salary cap flexibility.
Quarterbacks: Teams Gunning for Mariota & Winston
Four teams that might be willing to trade up for one of the top two QB prospects.
Dallas Cowboys: McFadden Heading to Cowboys
Why the newly-signed Darren McFadden isn't expected to be the primary RB for Dallas in 2015.
National Football League: Top 5 NFL Offseason Moves
Spoiler -- the top player on this list was acquired via trade.
Kansas City Chiefs: All Good with Smith-Maclin?
Kansas City looks to improve its passing game for the 2015 season.
University of Oregon: Marcus Mariota’s Pro Day Recap
The good and bad of Mariota's pro day performance in Eugene.
Philadelphia Eagles: What the Murray Deal Says About Eagles
Another day, another major move by Philadelphia.
