Early winners and losers in NFL free agency

Steven Ruiz | USATODAY

NFL free agency got off to a fast start, with most of the big names signing with new teams on the first day. Let's pick out some of the early winners and losers…

Winners

New Orleans Saints

So New Orleans missed out on landing Jimmy Graham. And maybe Demario Davis is more of the same at the linebacker position. The Saints are still winners because they somehow convinced Drew Brees, who had all the leverage in negotiations, to agree to a team-friendly deal that won't cripple the franchise if he falls off a cliff over the next year. Locking down Brees for a below-market price is easily the best move of the offseason so far.

Green Bay Packers

I'm seeing a lot of talk about it being a new day in Green Bay because the Packers are actually making moves in free agency. I don't get it. The Jimmy Graham and Muhammad Wilkerson signings are the kind of low-cost moves former GM Ted Thompson would make when he dipped his toes into the free agency waters. New day or not, the Packers landed two potential All-Pro performers for modest deals.

Mitchell Trubisky

The Bears probably paid too much money to bring in Allen Robinson, Trey Burton and Taylor Gabriel, but, hey, it's not Trubisky's money. The second-year quarterback suddenly finds himself in a stacked offense. He was already playing behind a solid line. Now he's got a true No. 1 receiver, two promising tight ends, a speedy playmaker in the slot and a running back duo of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. Trubisky also gets a creative play-caller in new coach Matt Nagy.

New York Jets

While I'm not a fan of some of the Jets' signings, they've handled the quarterback situation perfectly after whiffing on Kirk Cousins, who wasn't worth the money anyway. They bought low on Teddy Bridgewater, hoping he can return to his pre-injury form. If that happens, the Jets will have found a franchise quarterback for nothing. If he can't get back to full strength, New York can move on after 2018. Same goes for Josh McCown, who provides a security blanket for Bridgewater. And the team could still go ahead and draft a quarterback just in case Bridgewater isn't the answer.

Running backs

Is it 1999 again? It sure seems like it with teams across the league spending money on running backs. Jerick McKinnon never broke out in Minnesota, but that didn't stop San Francisco from making him one of the league's highest-paid backs. Dion Lewis got a nice payday without ever proving he is capable of being a lead back. And it's not just the versatile, three-down backs getting paid. Carlos Hyde is a non-factor in the pass game, but Cleveland decided he was worth a $15 million investment. If Saquon Barkley goes anywhere in the top-three of next month's draft, we can officially declare that, like Tiger Woods, the running back position is back!

Losers

Cam Newton

It's starting to look like the Panthers will never give Cam Newton a competent receiving corps. If Carolina doesn't make another move for a receiver, the 2015 MVP will be throwing to Devin Funchess, Torrey Smith and Curtis Samuel, a gadget player coming off a brutal ankle injury. Newton also lost his best lineman after Andrew Norwell got paid in Jacksonville. The Panthers' run game was already a mess last year, now it figures to get worse. As will Newton's pass blocking. It's looking like it will be Cam against the world once again.

New England Patriots

It's the Patriots, so there's a good chance none of this will matter by September, but they've already lost three key players and we're not even through the first week of free agency. Nate Solder is gone, and there isn't a clear replacement for him on the roster - or anywhere else, for that matter. Malcolm Butler is going to Tennessee. Even if he wasn't included in Bill Belichick's Super Bowl gameplan, he was still a good corner who will be hard to replace. Dion Lewis, a key figure in New England's march to Super Bowl LII, will join Butler in Tennessee, giving Josh McDaniel one fewer chess piece to work with on Sundays.

A.J. McCarron

McCarron fought to be a free agent this offseason, and, in hindsight, that may have been a mistake. With an unusually high number of competent quarterbacks available in free agency and five quarterbacks slated to go in the first round of the draft, teams weren't desperate enough to hand out the kind of deal Mike Glennon got in 2017. Instead, McCarron had to settle for backup quarterback money in Buffalo.

Ravens

This might be the saddest tweet I've read this year…

#Ravens updated Skill-Position Corps:



QB Joe Flacco

RB Alex Collins

WR Ryan Grant

WR John Brown

WR Chris Moore

TE Nick Boyle/Maxx Williams — Evan Silva (@evansilva) March 14, 2018

The Ravens missed out on Sammy Watkins and Allen Robinson, forcing them to settle for the unspectacular Ryan Grant. There isn't a sure-fire receiver prospect in the draft either, so don't expect Joe Flacco's stable of weapons to get any better before the season starts.

Browns

It's clear what the Browns are doing: Building up the roster with capable vets in order to field a competitive team in 2018. But it's required a lot of cap space to do so. And with so many veterans in the fold, it will be hard for the Browns' young players - including all the rookies they'll add in the draft - to get playing time. Championship cores aren't typically forged from the bench. Cleveland had the resources to build a championship roster if it practiced just a little more patience. This offseason binge may make the Browns better in the short-term but it has lowered their long-term ceiling considerably.

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