I am going to start with the Odell Beckham trade and then go in order of teams.
Giants trade Olivier Vernon and Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns for Kevin Zeitler, Jabrill Peppers, as well as, a first and third round pick in this year’s draft.
Let me start off by saying I love Odell Beckham Jr’s talent. I picked him up off of waivers in week 3 of his rookie year and him and Julio led me to back 2 back titles in my older brother’s fantasy keeper league. I know no one cares about my fantasy league, but I just say that to say I don’t hate Odell. I love him. He has made me a lot of money. This play below won me the fantasy championship. I still have chills watching it. He jukes Mark Barron (#26) on the Rams so bad I prayed for Barron that night.. and I ain’t even that religious.
Odell is amazing, but I don’t think he is a great leader. I know him and Giants’ owner John Mara don’t get along. I know he ate a pepperoni pizza while a stripper did cocaine in his room during the offseason. He prolly did the sex that night. I know he went on a boat and had a good time the week before his only playoff game, a 38-16 loss to the Packers. He had 11 targets, 4 catches, and 28 receiving yards in that game. That’s bad. I know he had an interview with Lil Wayne that aired on a Sunday gameday where he called Eli “slow”, New York “cold”, and blamed the coaching staff for not calling aggressive enough plays. That could not have helped the locker room. He says he tried to bring energy to the locker room. Now in 2016, Ben McAdoo was his coach, so I don’t blame him at all for his multiple fines and ridiculous antics that season. If Ben McAdoo was my coach, I may have quit football.
So Giants fans are pissed they lost one of the best wideouts in the game, which is reasonable. Where has Odell taken you is my question? Yes his catches against the Cowboys and R-words will be remembered forever, but it’s not like those catches led to postseason success. Hell Mario Manningham has a better playoff resume than Odell. Olivier Vernon is a great defensive end, but he has history of dirty play (See hits on Dak and Mariota). When him and Suh were on the Dolphins I hated him. In my opinion, Vernon and Beckham are some of the best NFL players, but they are not great locker rooms guys and that is why they have had hardly any playoff success. Football is a team sport, and these players seem bigger than the team.
I hope Odell gets his act together and he seems to be doing that. Watching him, his college buddy Jarvis Landry, Baker, Njoku, and Chubb is going to be fun. His interview after the Giants’ MNF win over the 49ers showed a lot of maturity, which was refreshing as an Odell supporter.
The Giants needed a locker room change to make way for Saquon Barkley and whichever young QB they draft (I think Kyler Murray is the best one available) to be their leaders. Obviously, they have to move on from Eli. Jabrill Peppers will fill the void Landon Collins left and Zeitler adds much needed offensive line talent. I have not even mentioned Odell’s injury history either. The Steelers got a 3rd and a 5th for AB. I know AB is older and he wanted out, but I am not so sure Odell wanted to be in NY either.
I compare this trade to the Boogie Cousins/Pelicans trade. When that trade happened, it seems like everyone said the Pelicans won the trade. Achilles injury aside, the Kings won that trade. Draft picks and Buddy are worth more than Cousins is now. The Kings changed their locker room and got better because of it. They have won more games this season than they have in any season with Boogie. Mark my words, Giants will go further in the playoffs over the next 4 years than they ever did with Odell over the past 4 years. Finally, the Cowboys won the division last year with a good defense and a great running game. The Giants can do the same without Odell.
49ers trade a 2019 second round pick to the Chiefs for Dee Ford. I like this trade for both teams. San Francisco adds a needed pass rusher and the Chiefs were not going to pay him anyway. Good business. Also, the 49ers have signed LB Kwon Alexander.
DeSean Jackson has been traded back to the Eagles from the Buccaneers. Wentz can throw the ball further than Uncle Rio and DeSean Jackson can still go get it. Can Mahomes, JaMarcus Russell on his knees, or Wentz throw the ball the furthest you think?
Patriots trade a 2020 5th round pick for a 2020 7th and Michael Bennett. Coach Bill wins another trade.
Steelers trade LT Marcus Gilbert to the Cardinals for a 2019 6th. Arizona had the worst offensive line ever seen in the NFL last season due to injuries. They get depth here. Good business. Cardinals also have added LB Jordan Hicks, LB Terrell Suggs, QB Brett Hundley, and OG J.R. Sweezy. Arizona need LBs and O-linemen so great work for them. It is going to be weird seeing Suggs not in a Ravens’ uniform.
Broncos get a 2020 6th round pick from the Redskins for Case Keenum. The R-words didn’t sign Kirk Cousins and now they have, not 1, but 2 Qbs that a eerily similar to him in Keenum and Alex Smith. LOL. John Elway gets another tall Qb in Joe Flacco for a 2019 4th round pick. Ravens move on from their Super Bowl winner and Elway continues to suck at evaluating QB talent.
The Falcons have signed two guards in Jamon Brown and James Carpenter. Atlanta has talent on both sides of the ball, if they can stay healthy, I wouldn’t be shocked to see them make another deep playoff run. Can’t go wrong with proven offensive linemen.
The Buffalo Bills have been busy. They signed veteran wideouts John Brown and Cole Beasley. Both are short, fast, and have good hands. Bruce Arians likes John Brown so that’s enough for me. Beasley played well with Dak, so he will play well as the security blanket for Josh Allen. Also, Bills signed former Texans’ corner Kevin Johnson (not the same Kevin Johnson that worked Allen Iverson and became Mayor of Sacramento for clarification), former Bengals’ tight end Tyler Kroft (he can’t have more drops than Clay had last year), and offensive linemen Mitch Morse and Ty Nsekhe.
The Carolina Panthers have signed one of the best centers in the league in Matt Paradis. Denver fans have told me he is great in the running game, that is music to my ears as a Cam fan. Colin Cowherd can take all his Cam hate and shove it.
The Chicago Bears have signed RB Mike Davis, WR Cordarrelle Patterson, and CB Buster Skrine. Nothing earth-shattering here like Khalil Mack last season, but all solid role players.
The Browns have added DT Sheldon Richardson along with the guys mentioned above. The Browns might have the best defensive line in football now (Broncos are neck and neck with them).
The Cowboys have signed Jason Witten. Their offense didn’t feel the same without the slow big guy. Witten was not good in the MNF booth, so this is a good move for him… for Dallas I’m not so sure. He has to help the locker room though so that’s a plus.
The Broncos have signed SS Kareem Jackson from the Texans and OT Ja’Wuan James from the Dolphins. Both of these players fill a need.
The Ravens have signed Mark Ingram and Earl Thomas. C.J. Mosley and Terrell Suggs are big losses, but Earl Thomas is one of the best safeties in the league when healthy.
The Lions have signed WR Danny Amendola. Wow a former Patriots coach adds a former Patriots player. Never seen that before. Lions also add former Seahawks CB Justin Coleman and former Patriot DL Trey Flowers. Wow a former Patriots coach adds a former Patriots player. Never seen that before. Former Steelers tight end Jesse James also signed with the Lions. I am not sure these signings make the Lions any better, but Stafford gets some weapons to keep building his hall of fame resume. The Hall is going to have a real problem keeping Stafford out when he holds every passing record.
The Packers add much needed pass rushers in Za’Darius and Preston Smith. Adrian Amos fills in nicely for HAHA. Also, they signed OL Billy Turner.
The Texans have added S Tashaun Gibson from the Jags and Bradley Roby from the Broncos. I don’t think these guys are enough to make Houston’s awful secondary better, but I’ve been wrong before.
The Colts sign WR Devin Funchess. Funchess had a lot of drops last season for Carolina and had trouble even seeing the field toward the end. He is still young and tall though.
The Jags sign Super Bowl Winner Big Dick Nick Foles.
The Chiefs sign Carlos Hyde, Tyrann Mathieu, and LB Damien Wilson. I love the honey badger. Hyde fills a need and adds depth. Good business.
The Rams sign veteran safety Eric Weddle. Weddle gets to go back to SoCal and LA gets more veteran leadership. Weddle is older than Sean McVay.
The Dolphins have signed TE Dwayne Allen and former Patriots CB Eric Rowe. Wow a former Patriots coach adds a former Patriots player. Never seen that before. I miss the days when their offensive line coach was doin cocaine on camera. Bold strategy Cotton, it didn’t pay off for him (yet).
The Vikings have signed former Seahawks DL Shamar Stephen. Cool. Kirk “can’t beat a team with a winning record” Cousins is still their QB.
The Saints are signing Latavius Murray, who will try to fill the void left by Mark Ingram.
The Giants have also signed veteran S Antoine Bethea to help fill the void Collins left.
The Buccaneers have signed OLB Deone Bucannon to a one year prove it deal. He is reunited with Bruce Arians.
The Jets have had the best free agency period in their history. Le’Veon Bell is the best running back the Jets have had since Curtis Martin had 7 1,000 yards seasons for the Jets. Martin ran for 1,697 yards in 2004. Martin and the big shoulder pads were fun to watch in the early 2000s. Jets also signed one of the best linebackers in the NFL in C.J. Mosley. Josh Bellamy and Jamison Crowder add some much needed Wideout depth as well. diddukewin.com
The Raiders have added 3 of the best players at their positions in the league in WR Antonio Brown, OT Trent Brown, and S Lamarcus Joyner.
The Eagles have signed DT Malik Jackson. Jackson is scary good at getting penetration from the DL position. He has averaged more than 5 sacks over the past 4 years for the Jags and Broncos.
The Steelers have signed one of the few bright spots in the KC secondary from last season, CB Steven Nelson.
The Titans have signed a WR in Adam Humphries who adds some much needed consistency. They also signed OG Roger Saffold and edge rusher Cameron Wake.
The Redskins have signed pro bowl S Landon Collins away from their rival Giants to a 6 year, 84 million dollar deal. Wow.
Posting my record here so it is easier for me to find when I bet too much money on my Panthers’ 1st preseason game.
69-58-5 on the NFL last season up 26.36 units