By Staff Writer Matt Pearce:
The NFL Draft may have been the big news last week but more than that happened in the NFL world over the past week.
Another example of the limited free agent market for veteran players is shown by Phillips. Last year Phillips, 31, had 9.5 sacks for the San Diego Chargers but there wasn't a free agent market for him.
Eventually, Phillips was able to find a deal with the Denver Broncos. It is only a 1 year deal worth $1 million with $2 million available in incentives.
For a player of his caliber, this is a steal for the Broncos. In nine seasons, Phillips has only missed eight games and has been productive every season. He has averaged 7.7 sacks per season and has two seasons with double digit sacks (11.5 in 2006 and 11 in 2010).
For the Broncos, Phillips is expected to rotate between playing defensive end and strong side linebacker in their 4-3 defense. With the Chargers for the last few seasons, Phillips has played as a 3-4 outside linebacker. The switch between these two defenses schemes shouldn't be hard for Phillips as he has played as a 4-3 end before with the Chargers.
The Broncos needed another pass rusher after they lost Elvis Dumervil in "faxgate". Dumervil then left and signed with the Baltimore Ravens. In the draft, the Broncos didn't address the defensive end position until the 5th round with Quanterus Smith. Smith has the potential to surprise people but he is coming off of a torn ACL so he might not be able to play right away.
This signing is great all-around for the Broncos. Phillips comes in as a one year fix to help out their pass rush at a cheap price. He should produce well and even if he doesn't, with only a $1 million investment, the Broncos won't be losing much.
New York Jets trade for RB Chris Ivory
During the 2013 NFL Draft last week, the New York Jets made a trade with the New Orleans Saints for Ivory. The Jets, who were rumored to be interested in Ivory for the last few weeks, traded a 4th round pick to the Saints for Ivory.
Moving quickly, the Saints traded this pick and another 4th round pick to trade up into the 3rd round to select Georgia NT Jonathan Jenkins.
Soon after making this trade, the Jets signed Ivory to a contract extension. Ivory's old contract was a restricted free agent tender (2nd) round, which was worth about $2.02 million.
Under his new contract, Ivory will make about $6 million over 3 years and received a signing bonus worth $2.25 million. The yearly value of this contract is almost the exact same as the tender was worth.
An undrafted free agent in 2010, Ivory has had limited playing time in his career with the Saints due to their crowded backfield. However, in his three years in New Orleans, Ivory averaged 5.1 yards per carry which would have been the 6th best in the NFL last year. His career stats are 256 carries for 1,307 yards and 8 touchdowns.
The Jets will be hoping that Ivory can perform at this high of a level over a full season for them. This trade makes sense for the Jets as they had now starting caliber running back on their roster. Ivory is a physical runner so he will allow head coach Rex Ryan to continue with his smash-mouth football style.
With the Jets quarterback position being unsettled, they could rely heavily on Ivory at the beginning of the season to limit mistakes by the quarterback.
Along with making sense for the Jets, this trade also makes sense for the Saints. The Saints backfield was a little crowded with Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles, and Mark Ingram. With the 4th round pick that they acquired, the Saints were able to trade up into the 3rd round to get a falling talent in NT Jonathan Jenkins. He should have a bigger impact for the Saints than Ivory because Jenkins could be a day one starter and Ivory wasn't.
Overall, this was a good trade for both teams and both will be happy with their new players.
New York Jets cut QB Tim Tebow
The New York Jets cut backup QB Tim Tebow.
While trading for Chris Ivory will have the biggest impact on the Jets this season, the move that got the most publicity by the Jets this week was them cutting Tebow.
The reason this got all the publicity is well, its Tim Tebow and anything that happens to him is all over the media.
After trading 4th and 6th round picks to the Broncos for Tebow and a 7th round pick, the Jets barely even used him. Active in 12 games last season, Tebow attempted 8 passes and completed 6 of them for 39 yards and no touchdowns. In the running game, Tebow ran 32 times for 102 yards and had 0 touchdowns as well.
With the drafting of Geno Smith in the 2nd round of the draft and the signing of veteran David Garrard, Tebow was expendable to the Jets, who, before cutting Tebow, had six quarterbacks on the roster.
I would expect Tebow to get invited to a team's training camp because he does have talent. Many people think that he should move to tight end or another position but Tebow has said he is a quarterback.
I think the Patriots will be the team to take on Tebow. In the 2010 draft, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was intrigued by Tebow and there were reports that he would have taken Tebow. Also, the coach that drafted Tebow with the Denver Broncos, Josh McDaniels, is now the Patriots offensive coordinator.
Buffalo Bills trade LB Kelvin Sheppard to the Indianapolis Colts for LB Jerry Hughes
A rare player for player trade but, this trade involves two players who have disappointed their whole career.
Sheppard was drafted by the Bills in the early 3rd round in 2011 to be their middle linebacker for years to come. However, he has been disappointing for the Bills over his two seasons. He has had one of the best defensive tackle combinations in the league of Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus to protect him and allow him to make plays but Sheppard hasn't been able to take advantage of this.
The Bills drafted Kiko Alonso in the 2nd round of last weeks draft to play inside linebacker which made Sheppard expendable.
Hughes was drafted 31st overall in 2010 by the Colts in what was a questionable pick from the start as the Colts had Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis at pass rusher. In 40 career games, Hughes only has 5 sacks. Last season he did receive more playing time as the Colts moved to a 3-4 defense which fits him more and he recorded 4 of his 5 sacks.
While the Colts decided to let Dwight Freeney leave in free agency (he still hasn't signed actually), the Colts drafted Florida State pass rusher Bjoern Werner in the 1st round of the draft. This move allowed Hughes to be expendable.
This trade of under-perfomers makes sense for everyone involved. The Bills need another pass rusher to play opposite of star Mario Williams and they didn't draft one. Hughes should compete in training camp for that spot. The Bills are expected to run a hybrid defense that has 3-4 and 4-3 looks do Hughes will be a decent fit.
The Colts will be happy with this trade as well. They needed depth at inside linebacker and they didn't draft one. Sheppard should compete for a starting spot but I'm not sure he will win it.
This move is a surprise signing as over the last few days, McKinnie had taken visits to the Miami Dolphins and the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers had even offered McKinnie a contract for him to mull over. While all of this was going on, there was no news about the Ravens talking to McKinnie so it was assumed that they would be letting him walk.
However, McKinnie wanted to stay in Baltimore all along and the Ravens were able to get a deal done.
The deal is over two years and has a maximum value of $7 million. This value includes incentives that can be earned so the real value of the contract will be a bit cheaper.
Coming out of last weeks NFL draft, one of the main criticisms of the Ravens draft was that they failed to address the left tackle position. While they did draft Wisconsin OT Ricky Wagner, he isn't a candidate to start as he was a 5th round pick. The Ravens must have known that they had McKinnie in their back pocket if they couldn't draft a suitable starter at left tackle.
With this signing, the Ravens offensive line is set for this year. McKinnie will be at LT, Kelechi Osemele at LG, Gino Gradkowski at C, Marshal Yanda at RG, and Michael Oher at RT.
When the Ravens offense excelled in the playoffs, this was their offensive line (with one exception due to retirement). McKinnie played very well at left tackle during this run. Osemele was the starting right tackle in the regular season and played pretty good there. Once moved to left guard though, his performance was much better. Gradkowski, a 4th round pick last year, will take over for the retired Matt Birk. Yanda has shown over the last few years that he is the best right guard in the league so there are no worries at this position. Lastly, at right tackle, is Michael Oher. Oher has had an up and down career, switching between left and right tackle. His best position has been right tackle though. He is in his contract year this season so he will be motivated to perform.
Overall, the McKinnie signing is very good for the Ravens. It upgrades three positions on the offensive line at once (LT, LG, and RT). Plus, they didn't spend too much on re-signing McKinnie. Assuming McKinnie's weight stays under control, as it has been a problem before, the Ravens will be happy with this signing.
Other Moves:
The New England Patriots trade RB Jeff Demps and a 7th round pick (used in last week's draft) to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for RB LeGarrette Blount.
The New England Patriots cut WR Jeremy Ebert.
The New England Patriots cut G Brian Waters.
The Detroit Lions sign S Trevor Coston.
The Jacksonville Jaguars release DT Jerome Long and WR Jerrell Jackson.
The Minnesota Vikings cut P T.J. Conley.
The Minnesota Vikings cut CB Nick Taylor.
The Buffalo Bills cut QB Aaron Corp, TE Joe Sawyer, T Adam Grant, and K Chris Koepplin.
The Philadelphia Eagles cut TE Evan Moore.
The Green Bay Packers cut G Joe Gibbs.
Former Green Bay Packers CB Al Harris has announced his retirement with the team.
The Baltimore Ravens release TE Steve Watson.
The Baltimore Ravens waive RB Lonyae Miller.
The New York Jets waive OT D.J. Young, CB Cliff Harris, and LB Claude Davis.
The Oakland Raiders sign K Eddy Carmona.
The Pittsburgh Steelers sign P Brian Moorman.
The Pittsburgh Steelers release WR Bert Reed.
The Indianapolis Colts release RB Alvester Alexander, FB Robert Hughes, and LB Shawn Loiseau.
The Arizona Cardinals cut G Adam Snyder.
The Tennessee Titans release WR Lavelle Hawkins.
The Tennessee Titans release S Suaesi Tuimaune and WR Michael Calvin.
The Kansas City Chiefs cut QB Alex Tanney, LB Cory Greenwood, and OL Bryan Mattison.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers cut G Derek Hardman, DT Corvey Irvin, and CB James Rogers.
Current Tampa Bay Buccaneers K Nate Kaeding and TE Drake Dunsmore have announced their retirement.
The Kansas City Chiefs trade CB Javier Arenas to the Arizona Cardinals for FB Anthony Sherman.
The Kansas City Chiefs cut FB Patrick DiMarco.
