2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - NFC WEST

NFC WEST

Today we will talk about the NFC West, but please remember we will not be discussing this past weekends draft.



Entering his last year as the coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Mike Holmgren will be hoping to finish off with a winning season. If he is to do so, he will be doing it with a different look roster, one without MVP RB Shaun Alexander. Also in the lose column are WR D.J. Hackett and PK Josh Brown who was used to the swirling winds of the Seattle's Quest Field. Insert Olindo Mare who couldn't kick well in Miami's sun and New Orleans dome. Are you serious??? To replace Alexander they signed RB Julius Jones to a four year contract and T.J. Duckett who has plenty of travel stickers on his luggage as of late. At TE add Jeb Putzier, who was sometimes dangerous as a Bronco. They designanted CB Marcus Trufant as a francishe player who will now make 10 million this year.



The Arizona Cardinals finished 2nd in the division to the Seahawks and mostly thanks to Kurt Warner. Yup, who predicted that before last year. With Leinart hurt, Warner won some games. But lets get to the busiest team in the off-season. They re-signed 13 + players and added 6 others to their roster this off-season with no really big names to show for it. NONE. They did lose S Terrence Holt and WR Bryant Johnson though. If they are to make a run to the top of the division they will need for Leinart to stay healthy and for managment to deal Boldin and find a suitable replacment for if/when Larry Fitzgerald gets hurt.



Next is the San Francisco 49ers. Wow, who could guess that last year would have them drop so far. So what do you do, you add aging talent around a QB that is playing for his NFL life. WR's Bryant Johnson and Isaac Bruce are now in the bay area and should add some help to a receiving crew that was poor, but what does adding RB DeShaun Foster give them when you have Frank Gore? Depth? Experience? Stability? Maybe a little of all of those elements, but I don't get it. DB Allen Rossum and DE Justin Smith are in the mix now and re-signing CB Donald Strickland will help the defense a lot. Hi-Liting the loses are minor with QB Trent Dilfer and WR Darrell Jackson who forgot to show up in San Fran once he signed.



Now for the St. Louis Rams. Could a team have gone through so much trouble in one year with injuries. Believe it or not, if healthy, they have a pretty good team, but no-one remembers when that was. They lost Jeff Wilkins to retirement and my buddy Grandpa Raider (Marv) will be without a kicker this year as that was his favorite kicker and would even jump up rounds to take him. LOL. Replacing him is Josh Brown who will love kicking in the dome as apposed to Quest Field. Other than losing Isaac Bruce who was a Ram for 14 years, their loses are minor while adding QB Trent Green to back up Bulger and WR Reche Caldwell replace Bruce.

Comeback Thursday for the 8th and final part of this series with the AFC West.

2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - AFC SOUTH

Hello Everyone. Instead of discussing tomorrows draft, I am going to continue on the Round Up trail today. I will give a two part detailed breakdown defining the fantasy impact of the trades and picks of this weekends activities starting with the NFC on May 5 and AFC on May 8th.

AFC SOUTH

Today we are discussing the very tough AFC South. Between the four teams there were a total of 42 wins last year. That is an average of 10.5 wins per team, with all four team looking to win more than they did last year, and just might do it too.

The Indianapolis Colts won the division and this year will have to fight off the Jags who are clawing closer with every game they play. The Colts re-signed star TE Dallas Clark, OL Ryan Lija and S Matt Giordano. Although they lost DT Dan Klecko and TE Ben Utecht they have been active with signing a number of no name free agents to 1 year contracts. The positive news released today is that DE Dwight Freeney should be good to go for week 1.

The Jacksonville Jaguars gained a lot of respect last year with their massive size and strategic game plan. Their re-sign list is as massive as their line-up which tells me that the players and management are working together to get this job done. Although they have lost QB Quinn Gray, S Sammy Knight, DE Bobby McCray, WR Ernest Wilford and DT Marcus Stroud they will be just fine especially since they have improved their weak receiving group with bringing in WR's Troy Williamson and Jerry Porter. QB Cleo Lemon is the new back up for Garrard who has signed a seven year contract.

The Tennessee Titans have been in the news a lot this off-season mostly because of who else Pacman Jones who is now in Dallas. They also let go of a huge list of players and at the top of that list are RB Chris Brown, TE Ben Troupe, Antwan Odom and WR David Givens. Replacing some of their loses are CB/ST Chris Carr, TE Alge Crumpler, WR Justin McCareins and DE Jevon Kearse.

Last is the Houston Texans who made a number of re-signings including S Will Demps and WR Andre Davis. The list of players who will only to see the visitors locker room on their next visit to Houston is LB's Shaun Barber and Danny Clark, TE Jeb Putzier and WR Jerome Mathis. Their signings look good as they gave themselves some insurance at QB by signing Quinn Gray along with RB Chris Brown. If they are to get out of the basement they will need Andre Johnson and Matt Schaub to stay health and hope the other receivers can help out to free up stud Andre Johnson who was on pace to be the number 1 receiver in fantasy last year, even ahead of Randy Moss.

Upcoming Blogs

Tuesday April 29 - NFC WEST

Thursday May 1 - AFC WEST

Monday May 5 - NFC DRAFT RECAP

Thursday May 8 - AFC DRAFT RECAP

2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - NFC SOUTH

NFC SOUTH

Today's blog has us covering the ever changing division of the NFC South. Why I say this is because of the uncertainty of the strength of the teams within the division. Two years ago the Panthers were picked to win the super bowl and they were terrible while the Saints surprised all winning the division after a 3 and 13 season. But as everyone was expecting the Saints to make a push to the super bowl last year, Reggie Bush and company proved to everyone that Houston was right for taking Mario Williams 1st overall in the 2006 draft. And lets not forget what the Falcons have gone through in the last year.

Last year you had the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fight through the injury issues they struggled with in 06 and even last year to win the division. Not being satisfied with just making the playoffs they have decided to continue to stock pile players adding S Eugene Wilson, RB Warrick Dunn, TE Ben Troupe, WR Antonio Byrant and QB Brian Griese. They also resigned CB Sammy Davis and RB Michael Bennett while not losing anyone who might leave them weak in any position.

The 7 and 9 Carolina Panthers have also proved to be interested in changing their on field personnel as they have lost WR Keary Colbert, DT Kris Jenkins, QB David Carr, RB DeShaun Foster and DE Mike Rucker who has announced his retirement. Replacing some of they players won't be easy, but you will see DE Tyler Brayton, S Terrence Holt, LB Landon Johnson and WR's D.J. Hackett and Muhsin Muhammad try their best to bring the Panthers back to where Coach Fox wants them to be: the top of the NFC South.

Trying to stop them are the team I predict to reclaim the top of the Division, the New Orleans Saints. The Saints just keep upgrading on what is already a great roster, well offence and a weak defense. So what did Coach Payton do, sign CB's Aaron Glenn and Randall Gay, DE Bobby McCray and LB Jonathan Vilma to hopefully get the defence able to keep the points down so his explosive offence can win the games. Offensively they also improved by resigned TE Eric Johnson, RB Aaron Stecker and WR's David Patten and Terrance Copper who make up a great receiving crew. One other signing has QB Mark Brunell coming in to help with some of his 35 years of game experience. LOL, doesn't it seem like he has been around that long. Again, the loses the Saints face are minimal and shouldn't cost them at all.

Holding up the basement again for at least one more year is the Atlanta Falcons who will use this years draft to rebuild a depleted roster. Not knowing where to start with the shear mass of moves they have made I'll start with the signings. They re-signed QB's Joey Harrington and Chris Redman as well as signing free agents PK Jason Elam, RB Michael Turner among many others. Their loss column sounds more like a starting line up which includes CB DeAngelo Hall, RB Warrick Dunn, Qb Byron Leftwich, T Wayne Gandy, DT Rod Coleman, S Chris Crocker and TE's Alge Crumpler, Courtney Andeson and Dwayne Blakley.

Check back on Friday for our Pre Draft review right here at the fantasyfootballsearch.com

2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - AFC NORTH

Welcome to the off-season Super Bowl week, that being the NFL Draft Week. Be prepared for smoke screens and poker faces all week long with the climax happening on Saturday. Check right here on Friday to Fantasy Football Search for a Pre-Draft look at the pending fantasy impact players and the teams that can benefit if they take those players. Today we will continue with our off season round up of free agent signings and the trades that have been made. Before I do I want to also add Tony Richardson moving from Minnesota to the Jets as a free agent. This will help Thomas Jones and Leon Washington immensely as Tony has been helping the likes of Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson and Adrian Peterson put up their record numbers in the past.

AFC NORTH

The Pittsburgh Steelers will enter the 2008 season with Big Ben signed in for a 8 year 100 millions dollar contract. WOW; not bad for a guy who took his life and the franchise's for a Born to be Wild ride that set back the team one year of progress as his health was shaky the whole 2006 season. Other signings have RB Melwelde Moore coming from the Vikings and WR Nate Washington re-signing. The only notable lose is Alan Faneca who will be hard to replace.

The Browns finished at 10-6 but yet still missed the playoffs. After the moderate success of Derek Anderson they re-signed him to a 3 year contract and also re-signed Jamal Lewis. They signed WR Donte Stallworth from New England and DT Shaun Rogers who, if he toes the line will be some help to the defense. With no notable loses they should be well again, but do have a much harder schedule as they will have to play better in cold weather and on the road to make the playoffs. Also, they have the 7th hardest schedule this year, unlike last year when they played the 49ERS twice (5 wins), RAMS twice (3 wins), JETS (4 wins), RAIDERS (4 wins), DOLPHINS (1 win), RAVENS (5 wins), BENGALS twice (7 wins) and the BILLS (7 wins). That is a total of 11 games of teams against teams with less than 500 record. Good Luck this year boys.

Now for the Cincinnati Bengals. How do I start this any other way but with the Chad Johnson drama. He wants out and as of today the Bengals say NO WAY. They signed ex Raider and Patriot WR Doug Gabriel and Colt TE Ben Utecht along with DE Antwan Odom. While losing WR Chris Henry to a Life of Crime, they also lost DE Justin Smith and S Madieu Williams. Just today Odell Thurman has had his suspension lifted and now the question is what will happen after two years out of football.

The big question in this division is what is Baltimore going to look like without Steve McNair who has announced his retirement. The Ravens haven't done anything with the free agent market to help their roster and hasn't made a trade either, so it doesnt look much better.

Up Coming Blogs
Wednesday - NFC SOUTH
Friday - PRE-DRAFT REPORT
Monday - AFC SOUTH
Wednesday - Draft Re-cap
Friday - NFC WEST
Monday - AFC WEST
Friday - Overall Update

2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - NFC NORTH

NFC NORTH

Today we will talking about the most exciting division so far the NFC North. Why is that, well lets start with the Green bay Packers. What a run last year and how much excitement did Brett Favre bring to football not only in the last 17 years, but last year especially. But is he now holding the Packers hostage. Maybe a little. He says he might come back if Rodgers goes down. Please, if you might, then get into camp and be his back up. So now Aaron Rodgers who has gotten hurt in 2 of what 4 or 5 games in relief of Brett is now the starting QB. Can he do what no other QB has been able to do for Miami since Dan Marino retired? I don't think so, but he does have talent around him to help him through it. They have Donald Lee who burst on the scene last year allowing them to let go of Bubba Franks and don't forget about Ryan Grant. Their only signing is the re-signing of WR R. Martin who adds to a fun receiving corp.

Now for the team to win the division this year. The Minnesota Vikings. Yes, you hear me right. But I will tell you right now, if QB T. Jackson plays like he did in week 2 last year against the Lions he will have a short life in he NFL. They have been busy this off season in order to circle Adrian Peterson with more talent, and they have. They have made many signings on the Defense, trying to help their #1 rush defense by bettering their #32 pass defense. Sure they signed QB Gus Frerotte, but we will talk about WR. Bernard Berrian. I love this signing. Speed and a deep threat will force defenses to not plug 8 and sometimes 9 in the box. But again, can Jackson be a smart enough QB to get him the ball while using their fantastic run game. As I write this, today the Vikings are interview KC's Jared Allen, the NFL sack leader last year. If this defense needed anything it was a pass rusher and if they trade for him they will have addressed their every need even before the Draft next week. Their loses this off-season include Troy Williamson who might be better suited anywhere else, considering since being draft in the first round he has done NOTHING.

Did I hear that Kitna is predicting 10 wins again. Well they aren't playing the Bears 10 times so I don' think so. Their signings include RB Tatum Bell's re-signing and Dwight Smith at Safety. Their loses include RB Kevin Jones, DT Shaun Rogers and DE Kalimba Edwards. On the rumor mill, you have a trade being talked about sending Roy Williams to possibly Dallas.

Now for a sad story. The Bears of Chicago. It is so bad that now Brian Urlacher wants out. Yes, reported today is Mr. Chicago is asking for a trade and the Bears are considering it for many draft picks in mind. They did manage to re-sign Lance Briggs who said he would never play there again, twice. And don't forget about the re-signing of the QB duo of Orton and Grossman. LOL. Are you serious. Why? Now for their loses; Brian Griese and their top two receivers Berrian and Mushin Muhammad, while only getting Marty Booker who is back for his second try in Chicago and Brandon Llyod. they have downgraded there as well. They are destine to be in last place yet again.

Coming Monday April 18th, the AFC North.

2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - AFC EAST

AFC EAST

Today we will start with the AFC Champs New England Patriots. They have had a very active off-season, from continuing to be silent on spy gate, losing six defensive players including Asante Samuel and Eugene Wilson and of course the re-signings of Randy Moss & Jabar Gaffney to solidify Brady's bunch. Signing Tank Williams who played very sparingly in Minnesota last year shouldn't make a big difference to their defense which means this could be the toughest year for their Defence to recover from especially given their age. On offense their only lose was Donte Stallworth who might be better suited somewhere else anyway.

The Buffalo Bills will try to improve on a 7-9 record as they are hoping Trent Edwards is the answer at quarterback as they are still trying to unload J.P. Losman via a trade. Other than letting go of the aging Peerless Price and Anthony Thomas they have not made any fantasy related moves.

The Jets of NY are trying their best to find the magic they had in the 06 season, but will have to do it without Jonathan Vilma, Justin McCareins and Andre Dyson. Adding Alan Faneca & Kris Jenkins will help as well as adding Bubba Franks who has a new home after eight years in Green Bay and Jesse Chatman who had moderate success replacing Ronnie Brown last year in Miami.

Now for the Miami Dolphins; and I will try to be positive. I am positive that they are still regretting not picking Brady Quinn in last years draft as they had to go get Josh McCown who is in his 3rd home in as many years. They have added a huge list of players with the hi-lite being McCown and Tab Perry. WOW!!!! Now for who and how many they have lost. Zach Thomas is gone along with Marty Booker, Jesse Chatman, Cleo Lemon & Trent Green. Re-building is exactly what Parcells is doing, but the question now is how long will it take if he continues to use Non-Marques players. Now for the rumors, yes, they still have one good player who might go and that is Dancing Sensation Jason Taylor who might go for a second round draft choice.Please leave any comments or questions.

Coming Friday April 18th - NFC North

2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - NFC EAST

Hello everyone and Welcome to the off-season blog. For the next few weeks we will discuss all the trades and free agent signings that will impact the 2008 fantasy season and beyond.
For the present time The True Guru Todd Farino is handing off the ball to me Aj-Paul Pelletier. If you have listened to THE FANTASY FOOTBALL TRUE GURU SHOW I am the guy who gave it to you straight from the Gut. Well, that isn't just how I roll on the radio as my book (The Fantasy Football Playbook), articles and blogs do as well. I do my research, study the stats and then let my gut make the call.

NFC East

The Division Champs Dallas Cowboys who were also tied for the Conference lead let their fans down one more time in what would be now back to back playoff games. This has lead them to take action and try to improve on what is already a great roster. The most notable change was signing MLB Zach Thomas which will have very little fantasy impact. the most important move saw them let go of RB J. Jones and finally give the fans what they want with giving the feature back role to RB M. Barber for the 2008 season. On the rumor mill is the trade of CB Pacman Jones and the search for another prime time receiver, either Chad Johnson or Roy Williams could find themselves being that man.

The SUPER BOWL CHAMPS New York Giants are faced with the same challenges every NFL Champ has, signing their free agents which they did with RB D. Ward and PK L. Tynes. Unfortunately that lost five defensive players while only adding one. Offensively they signed QB D. Carr to back up Eli Manning and are now looking to move Shockey thanks to their success without his locker room cancer and need for the ball. Look for TE K. Boss who has shown he can be an NFL starter to be his replacement.

Now for the team to almost stay status quo; the Washington Redskins. In 07 they surprisingly made the playoffs even after starting QB Campbell went down. They have lost depth and resign other depth players while not making any notable changes to the starters. Their biggest loss could be losing Hall of Fame Coach Joe Gibbs and how will the team react after such an emotional year.

Holding up the rear in the division last year was the Philadelphia Eagles. if they are to improve they should start by winning more than 3 home games. Next complete the task of finding another weapon for McNabb than just RB B. Westbrook. What they have done is re-sign LJ Smith and the big signing of CB A. Samuel. Other than that, the search is still on. Rumors have Lito Shepard possibly moving as they have 3 pro bowl CB's which might help them attract the receiver Donavan has been calling for.

Coming April 16, the AFC WEST and the 18 & 1 Patriots