NFL update by Seneca Barnes Most Everyone I’ve talked to about this past off-season in the NFL agrees it’s been crazy. There have been so many free agents picked-ups I can hardly believe it. I’m telling you, it has to be the craziest free-agency in years. A lot of teams picked up key players and unfortunately some lost them, changing the look of the NFL. Seeing my favorite players on teams I don’t partially like is unbearable. Let’s talk about these changes starting with the AFC. The reigning Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens probably experienced the most change and suffered the biggest lost. Just imagine- they lost two future hall-of-famers in Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Lewis retired and Reed went to the Texans as a free agent. Wow! They also lost multiple key players from their super bowl defense to free agency like: Cary Williams to the Eagles and Paul Kruger to their division rival Browns. The Browns, on the other hand, were able to benefit from Baltimore’s loss by adding another key piece to their sleeper defense. Key additions like Elvis Dumervill from the Broncos, Michael Huff from the Raiders, and Matt Elam- their first-round draft pick. Surely adding a ranging safety that has a nose for the football, and hits like a bull to an already tough secondary will make most Madden player jump for joy. And of course there’s Joe Flacco who had the most unimaginable and most surprising playoff run. Eleven touchdowns, no interceptions, and a Super Bowl MVP game performance. Surely he was due for a major pay day. Now many people would argue, myself included, that Joe isn’t actually worth a hundred million big ones just because of one great playoff run; but that’s another conversation entirely, and one that not easily won because he did win a Super Bowl, which after all is the “ultimate goal” of every team. In my opinion, even with all these changes the Ravens to me still have a great chance at another Super Bowl but only if they can manage to develop the same chemistry they had with last year’s group. The Broncos are a team that really didn’t do much in the off-season but the few moves they did make changed their team drastically on both sides of the ball. The biggest move obviously would be the addition of slot receiver Wes Welker from free agency. Acquiring him from Bill Belicheck and Tom Brady’s Patriots was a smart move. Brady was furious of course. He took a pay cut last year so they could keep the guy. I on the other hand was happy and couldn’t stop laughing when I found out. It was such a huge move for the Broncos because they now just might have the best receiving group in the NFL. If it’s not the Broncos then it’s the Atlanta Falcons. Julio Jones is loudly making their GM look like a genius for giving up a trillion picks to move up and get him in the Draft. “Boy that’s a dangerous kid let me tell you”; but back to the Broncos. They already had rising star Demaryius Thomas and established veteran Eric Decker, now you add the absolute highest value slot receiver in the NFL, Wes Welker to the mix with a young group of tight ends, and Peyton Manning as the quarterback who had his BEST statistical year last season after his major neck surgery, you get an offense that makes any defensive coordinator shudder and turn over the night before a game. Think about all the Broncos-fans fantasizing about all those freakin touchdowns he’ll throw in one quarter to his new friend in Wes Welker and the rest of that incredibly talented receiving core. It’s going to be an absolute nightmare of an offense to game plan for. And just think it was all done without breaking the team’s bank. Welker is due around $10 million dollars. On the defensive side of the ball the loss of Elvis Dumervil to free agency will be felt but with a Tasmanian devil like Von Miller still young and getting better every season, getting to the quarterback won’t be as easy this year. I think the Eagles could have used Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie better than what they did. Sadly he was also acquired in the off-season by the Broncos but suffered a torn ACL in training camp so his presence won’t be felt this year. I hope the Broncos decide to keep him after this season. Another team to watch out for in the AFC is the Dolphins. They probably spent the most money and added the biggest name players to their roster on both sides of the ball. SUPER speedster, Mike Wallace from the Steelers has wheels on him like no other receiver in the league except maybe DeSean Jackson of course. He can take the top off of any secondary. He also has a chip on his shoulder from a bad breakup with the Steelers so he’ll be trying real real hard to prove himself as an elite receiver this season with the Dolphins. Just look for them to make a splash in their division and maybe even a Wild Card playoff spot at the end of the regular season, remember I said this.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 06:31:46 +0000
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