Free Agency Will Go On As Scheduled
Free agency is underway.
The NFL held meetings on Sunday to determine whether to push back the start of their new league year, which is Wednesday at 4 p.m., or proceed even with the threat of COVIDA-19 hanging over the world’s heads.
The league decided to go forth without postponing anything.
Not to be insensitive because there is still so much uncertainty that is leading to anxiety about what will happen next with the coronavirus, but a return to normalcy, if only a small dose of it, is something to which we can all cling. The NFLs’ decision to continue with free agency and the new league year gives us a brief escape.
The league has its reasons for doing marching bravely ahead, and normalcy may or may not be one of them, but the NFL probably looked at whether the containment of the disease will be any better in one or two weeks if they were to delay free agency and the league year and decided it might not.
A good indication the NFL was leaning this way came hours before the decision to proceed as planned was revealed around 6:30 p.m. Earlier on the day, free agent news began sprouting across the landscape.
One cornerback was removed from the market on Sunday when the Houston Texans signed Broncos free agent Bradley Roby to a three-year deal worth $36 million. Roby has nine career interceptions.
A quarterback came off the market as well, when the Titans signed Ryan Tannehill to a big deal, turning its back evidently on New England Patriots free agent Tom Brady, who is running out of options and could return to the Patriots and the safety of Bill Belichick after all.
The NFL, riding a crest of momentum after a new CBA was approved late Saturday night by a narrow 51-49 vote, will be the only sport that will be talked about these next couple of weeks as society adjusts to measures being put in place daily to help fight the spread of the coronavirus.
Free agency will have an entirely different look to it. There won’t be any visits from prospective free agents, and that is a disadvantage for both the team and the player since neither side will be able to get to know one another more intimately.
There is also the matter of physicals. Teams won’t be able to put a prospect through a battery of medical tests with their own medical personnel, and that could lead to some consternation for teams who are looking to pay out contracts that will be in the double digit millions for a single year.
“We've spent the whole (2019) season preparing for this offseason,” general manager Howie Roseman said on the team’s web site prior to the closing of the facility on Friday afternoon. “The preparation for the draft really started last May and the same for free agency, so that's our job.
"Technology is so great. Our IT (information technology) department and our video department do such a great job and that allows us to work from anywhere. Some of us will still have the opportunity to be here."
The Eagles are expected to come out firing for Cowboys free agent corner Byron Jones, who could command $17 to $19 million per year for the next three years.
Compared to Roby, Jones has two interceptions, but it will be Jones who gets the higher paycheck because, even though he and Roby are both 27, Jones offers position flexibility, able to play in the slot and at safety.
The Eagles will have plenty of holes, just like every team, and can only fill so many of them in free agency. The rest will have to come through the draft and the post-draft period.
"Our interest in getting everything right for September and as we've seen in the past, it's not just about the first day of free agency," said Roseman, again on the Eagles’ web site. "We're building the roster and looking for ways to improve, every day of the year. That doesn't change. We saw in the Super Bowl season of 2017 how we added to, for example, the running back room after the draft.
“We signed Corey Clement after the draft. We signed LeGarrette Blount in May and then we added Jay (Ajayi) during the season at the trade deadline. Those were our three running backs in the Super Bowl. You're always on the lookout for more talent."
