NFL Free Agency Recap

Since free agency started in the NFL a little over a week and a half ago, there has been quite a bit of movement around the league. Some teams have made noise, either by re-signing players, making a trade or bringing in new players. Other teams have sat by and done nothing, either because somebody else bet them to it or they just couldn't come to terms with a player. So with all that being said, lets try and get you caught up on some of the players that have new deals and some who might still be on the move. Here are some of the winners and losers in early free agency.

Winner: Denver Broncos
Denver is coming off last year's trip to the Super Bowl with a high powered offense and an average defense. I know they lost one of their best receivers in Eric Decker, who signed a five year deal with the Jets. Sure they don't have a set running game yet as Knowshon Moreno is still a free agent, but there is still time to get him re-signed. No the reason Denver has been a winner in free agency so far is that Denver is getting the players it needs, premium guys, and at important positions. They lost Decker, no problem, they go out and pick up Emmanuel Sanders, who had been a solid threat with the Steelers a year ago. That helped out this high powered offens. What John Elway needed to do was help try and improve that Denver defense. To help out that defense, Elway brought in safety T.J. Ward, shutdown cornerback Aqib Talib and pass-rusher DeMarcus Ware. With all this that Denver has already done to better their team, they still also have $5.4 million in cap space to work with if they should try to add more pieces to the puzzle.

Winner: New England Patriots
Yes I know this may be a bit of a surprise to see the Patriots here but it needs to be said. New England still has a lot of work to do to fill the holes on their offense, that is true. The reason I put them here as a winner so far is the fact that they bolsterd their defense by bringing in cornerback Darrelle Revis. In this case, Revis turns out to be the big winner. Why? He gets to play for a championship with the Patriots, as opposed to being a single star amid a Tampa Bay Buccaneers rebuilding program.

Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Going into free agency, you didn't really see Tampa Bay as being a place to go, but it turns out it has been. The Buccs were awful last year, trying to improve this offseason and had some money to spend. In total so far, according to reports, the Bucs have signed 10 players to a league-high $142 million. I know it may look bad in the fact that they lost Revis Island, but that was for the better trust me. The Bucs went out and got some players they really needed. They got themselves a starting quarterback in Josh McCown and named him their starter right away. They also added much needed pieces in defensive end Michael Johnson, left tackle Anthony Collins, cornerback Alterraun Verner, tight end Brandon Myers and defensive tackle Clinton McDonald. Will they be better this year? In theory yes, but how much better we don;t know as of yet.

Loser: Dallas Cowboys
Coming into the offseason, Dallas had some work to do, as they were going to be over the Salary Cap by the time free agency hit. So they cut a few players like Miles Austin and DeMarcus Ware. After clearing the cap space, Dallas still hasn't done much of anything with it. Their defensive line has gone from a force to now a bunch of nobodies. Dallas really needs to wake up and start trying to build otherwise it could be a long season in Big D.

Loser: Carolina Panthers
After coming off a solid 11-5 season last year, and a playoff birth too, Carolina was on the cusp of becoming a big force in the NFC. To this point, however, they have totally dropped the ball. First lets take a look at their offense. Going into free agency the Panthers would have looked to possibly add another weapon for Cam Newton to throw to. Well not only have they not gotten that weapon, as most of the talented free agents have already been signed, but they also lost their top receiver in Steve Smith. So the offense seems to have taken a step backwards. On defense they were able to keep Greg Hardy, but the secondary did lose cornerback Captain Munnerlyn to the Minnesota Vikings and safety Mike Mitchell to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Carolina could be in trouble this season if they don't start moving on signing players.

Loser: Kansas City Chiefs
Sure Kansas City had a great year last year, making the playoffs and hanging in with Denver for the AFC West crown last year. But as the saying goes, success comes at a price. Kansas City lost a lot of talent this offseason, mostly in their line. Left tackle Branden Albert, right tackle Geoff Schwartz and guard Jon Asamoah each signed elsewhere. It is tough to lose three linemen and not feel the sting, any team would get hit hard losing talent like that. And to make matters worse, the Chiefs could not re-sign Dexter McCluster either and still have one of the tightest salary-cap budgets with less than $6.3 million to spend. So there isn't much room to work with to put a solid team together to try and regain that same success.

That's just after a week and a half, there is still more possible player movement to take place between now and the start of the season!