Some More NFL Free Agent Thoughts

It says something that when you type Michael Turner’s name into Google images to find a picture of the guy, that you have to go to the 5th page to find a decent photograph. (The entire first page is filled with images of cartoon drawings). Yet, this is the player that the Falcons are willing dime out $34.5 million to over six years. Really?

I mean, what has Turner accomplished in four years with San Diego? Six career TDs, and just over 1,200 yards of rushing. That’s what. Now granted, he has been backing up the best running back in the game for this time period, but still, if he was worth the $15 million in guarantees that the Falcons shelled out to him then why hasn’t another team hopped on the Michael Turner train recently? Not to mention now that they’ve locked up this guy as their running back of the future, they can’t go after Darren McFadden in the draft. You have to wonder what’s going on over in the Falcon’s board room.

Instead of dragging on about how great I think the Browns have done for themselves during this FA period, I’ll let John Clayton do the talking: With four of his five draft choices gone in trades, Browns general
manager Phil Savage can schedule his vacation for draft day, and he has
earned a rest. He beefed up the defensive line with trades for Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams. He added Donte’ Stallworth to an already potent offense. He signed quarterback Derek Anderson
to a three-year contract and, with Brady Quinn on the roster, he now
has security at that vital position. Savage learned to build through
the draft when he was in Baltimore, but his unconventional
aggressiveness at the start of free agency might turn the Browns from a
10-win surprise in 2007 into the team to beat in the AFC North.

Sticking with the AFC North theme, good for Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers on finally coming to grips with each other. This is money well spent. Big Ben is a fan favorite and deserves every cent of the $102 million pay check that he’s going to be getting. Think about it, he has just as many rings as that guy Peyton over in Indy, and despite not being as athletic as Ron Mexico, he’s not exactly a convicted felon either. As long as Ben stays off those bikes for the next eight seasons, everything should work out nicely.