It was an active, if not a generally uninteresting, first day of free agency. The wide receivers group stole the headlines, both proving their high value in the eyes of the league (Pierre Garcon, Vincent Jackson and Robert Meachem all quickly signed lucrative contracts), and Brandon Marshall and Miami looked to pull the wool over Chicago’s eyes.
As reported early Wednesday morning, Marshall, for whom the Bears just traded two 3rd round draft picks, is being accused of punching a woman in the face at a New York City night club.
Chicago felt pretty good about picking him up for so relatively low of a price. If the allegations are true, Marshall, who’s had several reported incidents of similar nature, would almost assuredly be sat down for a game or two.
Former Chargers WR Vincent Jackson signed a five-year, $ 55,555.55 million deal with Tampa Bay. The gratuitous amount of 5s apparently is out of homage to QB Josh Freeman, who wears the No. 5.
No word yet on whether Steelers WR Mike Wallace is planning to honor Ben Roethlisberger in his future contract negotiations.
Pierre Garcon must have held a gun to Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s head, demanding $ 17.5 million guaranteed over a five-year deal. Snyder made it $ 20.5 million, probably just because he could.
Snyder’s Skins signed WR Josh Morgan and are closing in on a deal with Eddie Royal as well, likely due to Snyder’s desire to pack as many fourth-option receivers on his roster as possible.
Former Saints receiver Robert Mechem will replace Jackson in San Diego after signing a four-year, $ 25 million deal with the Chargers. He’ll join Malcolm Floyd in San Diego as part of the only team in the league with great vertical threats, but zero short-route ability and a long history of injuries.
If former Steelers WR Hines Ward is still looking for work, the Chargers could really use a receiver who catches passes inside the numbers. Ward probably isn’t fast enough to go anywhere else on the field.
Indianapolis managed to hold onto free agent WR Reggie Wayne, inking him to a 3-year, $ 17.5 million deal. He’ll pretty much be the only Colts player left from the Manning Era after owner Jim Irsay slashed every other player who contributed to one of the most dominant teams in the league over the last 12 years (before last year).
So it’ll kind of like be playing for a new team. Just seems strange, free agency wasn’t even 12 hours old yet, if the Colts were his only option, why didn’t he just sign back with them earlier?
Atlanta managed to retain WR Harry Douglas, but no one seems to care enough to report his contract numbers. Or maybe that’s just me.
There are plenty of signings coming, and although Steelers fans are like the people who meet up with friends at a buffet when they’re trying to lose 20 pounds, thinking they’ll enjoy themselves anyway, we’ll talk about who’s doing what and why (if we can figure it out) throughout the day.
Source: Behind the Steel Curtain
