The term “March Madness” is typically reserved for discussing the college basketball season, where events like a 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s team upsetting a 2nd-seeded Kentucky team tend to mess up everyone’s brackets. That said, I believe the NFL has turned in a historic month of action in March that’s comparable to the NCAA’s yearly college basketball tournament. Think about it, the NFL has seen tons of star quarterbacks on the move, the return of Tom Brady, a free agency frenzy, and much more just in the month of March alone. We’re talking about star players here too, household names that have been comparatively rated amongst the league’s elite. Let’s dive in & find out what has happened (so far) during March, and how it affects the league.
Quarterback carousel
Russell Wilson & Deshaun Watson were amongst the elite QBs traded during March. Others such as Carson Wentz, Teddy Bridgewater, and Mitchell Trubisky were sent elsewhere. It’s still possible that Matt Ryan, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Baker Mayfield could be on the move. That’s a big game of musical chairs as the quarterback position as those teams who missed out on these guys will have to pivot elsewhere, likely to the rookie quarterbacks in the 2022 Draft. It’s also created new opportunities for unheralded names around the league, such as Davis Mills of the Houston Texans, to come out & prove themselves as their team’s franchise quarterback.
Tom Brady’s back
Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the most important quarterback acquisition of the offseason, which is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers getting Tom Brady to come back out of retirement (sigh). For better or worse, Brady’s back and is set up well to continue terrorizing defenses this season. He saw that the NFC is now a weak quarterback conference and decided to give it one more shot. Tom Brady seems unlikely to retire until the wheels fall off, which likely won’t be until 2057.
Free agency frenzy
Okay, so we’re done talking about quarterbacks, but what about the other star players? WR Allen Robinson, DE Chandler Jones, CB J.C. Jackson, and many others have taken their talents to new places through the NFL’s free agency frenzy process that began on Monday. Several others, such as LB Bobby Wagner, OT Terron Armstead, and S Tyrann Mathieu have yet to sign as they examine their options and await lucrative offers from teams around the league. There are 44 of the league’s top 101 free agents list who are still on the board for teams to sign. Teams like the Rams, Bengals, and Raiders were clear winners in free agency’s initial wave. Meanwhile, teams like the Colts, Seahawks, and Texans could make noise in the next wave.
Star players traded
WR Davante Adams, OLB Khalil Mack, and WR Amari Cooper were amongst the superstar players traded to new teams earlier this month. Lesser-known players, such as WR Robert Woods, OG Shaq Mason, & DE Yannick Ngakoue also found new homes via trade. That’s a very active trade market in today’s NFL, as trades have typically been hard to come by. All of these players on the move are surely to shake up the league during the 2022 NFL season.
Series of questionable moves
It’s clear that the Jaguars overpaid just about everyone that they signed in free agency. WR Christian Kirk got a 4-year, $84M deal despite never having a 1,000-yard season to date. LB Foye Oluokun got a three-year, $45M deal despite never being an impact player for the Falcons. The list goes on and on for the Jaguars, as they signed a slew of free agents so far this offseason. They weren’t the only ones who made head scratching decisions though, as the Bills handed OLB Von Miller a monstrous 6-year, $120M deal to become their team’s primary pass rusher. It’s not that I don’t like Von Miller, but paying a 32-year-old pass rusher $20M per year over 6 years when he played better with a superior supporting cast in front of him seems like a bad idea. I also loathe the Cowboys re-signing WR Michael Gallup to a 5-year, $62.5M deal. Gallup is a good player, but paying your No. 3 receiver like a No. 1 receiver just seems like bad business.
The bottom line
It’s clear that the dynamics of the league will change after this March Madness bonanza. There’s been a definite shift in quarterback play around the league, and especially in the AFC. The AFC is loaded with superstar QBs in the conference, with the AFC West leading the way. That’s why several of these teams, like the Bengals, have prioritized signing offensive linemen. Other teams, like the Chargers, have signed pass rushers and cornerbacks to bolster their defense. Pass catchers are also valued at a premium, as Davante Adams & Amari Cooper have shown us. Add all of this up, and it’s clear that NFL fans are in for a dramatic and exciting season in 2022.
The Sports Beacon 