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By: Matt Morrison (@dynastyjerk)
Welcome back all. What an opening to free agency. I’m not sure if I’m more excited about the signings or the trades that have occurred over the past two weeks. I’m not going to claim that this is the most trades I’ve seen surrounding free agency, but it’s definitely the most big name trades in a long time. Between the time that you and I last spoke we had more.
Today, I was planning to start my article series “New Contract Spotlight” where I breakdown a single player and the contract that he recently signed. I will be pushing the start date for that series back a week as we have just had too many signings and trades to ignore. Let’s get started because I have a lot of players to get through.
Free Agent Signings & Trades
D.J. Moore (Signed with Carolina at 3 years – $61,884,000)
Moore was a player who was not previously on my radar as he had signed a fifth-year extension with the Panthers. He was slated to play the 2022 season on that fifth-year option, but a long term deal was agreed upon. I’m indifferent about Moore with this contract. I have little doubt that he will be a Top 20 wide receiver for the next few years, but is that worth a $20,000,000 cap hit? I’m not sure it is. Moore has been dropped in one of my Dynasty Owner leagues, and I don’t blame the owner one bit.
Deshaun Watson (Traded to Cleveland)
(Signed with Cleveland at 5 years – $230,000,000)
Big news surrounding Watson broke on March 18th. First, he was traded to the Cleveland Browns. He was traded with a 2024 6th round pick for a 2022 1st round pick, a 2022 4th round pick, a 2023 1st round pick, a 2023 3rd round pick, a 2024 1st round pick, and a 2024 4th round pick. This is a lot to give up for one player especially since the question on whether Watson will be suspended has not been answered yet. My assumption is that he will be suspended for somewhere between 4 – 8 games. Is that risk/reward worth more than 31 percent of your Dynasty Owner cap? The answer is up for each of you to decide.
JuJu Smith-Schuster (Signed with Kansas City at 1 year – $3,250,000)
This is my steal of the off-season right here. I cannot believe that the Chiefs were able to procure JuJu Smith-Schuster’s talents for a little more than three million dollars. Yes, this contract is laced with incentives that can make JuJu’s contract closer to 11 million dollars, but as we know those are far from guaranteed, and they don’t affect our game. The Chiefs got a steal here. In turn, Dynasty Owners are going to have a steal as well. Rostering JuJu for less than four million dollars per year on the Chiefs is unreal. I can’t promise how efficient JuJu will be this season, but I do know that he will be the number two target (behind Travis Kelce) for Patrick Mahomes to start the season. If you don’t have JuJu on your roster, I think the window to buy has slammed shut.
Robert Woods (Traded to Tennessee for a 2023 6th round pick)
This is pretty disappointing compensation for Woods. A 6th round pick next year for a player who could be the #1 on a handful of NFL teams…
At any rate, Woods will join A.J. Brown and Ryan Tannehill as a Titan. Remember that Woods tore his ACL in November and missed the rest of the season. There is news that he won’t be ready for Organized Team Activities (OTA’s). However, it is likely he will be ready to go by Week 1 of the regular season. I was disappointed to see that his roster percentage has fallen below 80% in Dynasty Owner. I would not be dropping him quite yet.
Matt Ryan (Traded to Indianapolis for a 2022 3rd round pick)
Matt Ryan has been traded from the Atlanta Falcons to the Indianapolis Colts. This move came on the heels of the Carson Wentz trade from the Colts to the Commanders. I think a change of scenery will be great for the 36-year old quarterback. He will join a team with budding young talent (Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman, Parris Campbell). Ryan still has some fuel left in the tank, and I think he will return to a Top 12 quarterback this season. This still won’t be enough to justify a $30,000,000 salary.
Marcus Mariota (Signed with Atlanta at 2 years – $18,750,000)
Marcus Mariota signing with the Falcons came on the heels of Matt Ryan being traded to the Colts. It’s amazing how one move can influence another when it comes to professional sports. It’s especially true in the NFL as it seems like a very fluid process. Mariota will come into this season as the likely starter for the Falcons. At less than $10,000,000 per year, he is one of the cheaper starting options at quarterback right now.
Jameis Winston (Signed with New Orleans at 2 years – $28,000,000)
Speaking of cheaper quarterbacks, Jameis fits that description. He re-signed with the Saints for $14,000,000 per year. I don’t see a path for him to reach a Top 8 quarterback ranking, but even a Top 12-15 finish should give some value for you. Think of Jameis as a perfect QB2.
Leonard Fournette (Signed with Tampa Bay at 3 years – $21,000,000)
Uncle Lenny is back in Tampa! Unfortunately for Fournette owners, Ronald Jones is also still there. Expect a similar type of season for both backs as Tom Brady will be returning. Fournette would be a buy for me, even at $7,000,000 per year.
Tyreek Hill (Traded to Miami)
(Signed with Miami at 4 years – $120,000,000)
Tyreek Hill has been traded to the Miami Dolphins. This trade took place on Wednesday and is easily the biggest of the week. This trade has implications not only for Hill but for many other players. This negatively affects Mahomes and Jaylen Waddle while it positively affects Tua Tagovailoa. Hill has to be rostered in every Dynasty Owner league as it’s possible he finishes as the WR1 at the end of the season. However, a $30,000,000 salary is also tops in the league for wide receivers.
Cordarrelle Patterson (Signed with Atlanta at 2 years – $10,500,000)
Patterson has re-signed with the Falcons. The hybrid running back/wide receiver looks to pick up right where he left off last year. He will now be without last year’s quarterback and Atlanta’s top wide receiver, Calvin Ridley. I expect another Top 10 performance by Patterson especially if he keeps his eligibility as a running back.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling (Signed with Kansas City at 3 years – $30,000,000)
MVS signed with the Kansas City Chiefs who were in desperate need of a WR2. As we already talked about, Tyreek Hill has been traded and JuJu Smith-Schuster will likely step in as the WR1. While Valdes-Scantling is nowhere near the wide receiver that Hill is, he does possess some elite speed, and will be a nice fill-in. MVS should be rostered in most Dynasty Owner leagues even with a $10,000,000 salary.
Quick Hitters
Like last week, there are a number of notable free agents who signed new contracts, but they didn’t exactly qualify for a full write up. These are those players, and I call them “Quick Hitters”.
- Ricky Seals-Jones (Signed with New York Giants at 1 year – $1,187,500)
- Hayden Hurst (Signed with Cincinnati at 1 year – $3,500,000)
- Austin Hooper (Signed with Tennessee at 1 year – $6,000,000)
All three of these three tight ends should be considered low end TE2s. Hooper’s contract doesn’t start until he is officially released by Cleveland, which is expected to happen after June 1st.
- Boston Scott (Signed with Philadelphia at 1 year – $1,750,000)
- James Washington (Signed with Dallas at 1 year – $1,187,500)
- Jacoby Brissett (Signed with Cleveland at 1 year – $4,650,000) – Brissett will be the backup for Deshaun Watson.
- Case Keenum (Traded to Buffalo) – Keenum will be the backup for Josh Allen.
- Robert Tonyan Jr. (Signed with Green Bay at 1 year – $3,750,000)
- Rashaad Penny (Signed with Seattle at 1 year – $5,750,000)
- Gerald Everett (Signed with Los Angeles Chargers at 2 years – $12,000,000)
- Matt Breida (Signed with New York Giants at 1 year – $1,187,500)
- Duke Johnson (Signed with Buffalo at 1 year – $1,272,500)
- Jamison Crowder (Signed with Buffalo at 1 year – $2,000,000)
- Zach Pascal (Signed with Philadelphia at 1 year – $1,500,000)
- Jeff Wilson Jr. (Signed with San Francisco: Details unknown)
That is all I have to talk about today. Next week, (as long as we don’t have many free agent signings) I will begin my article series “New Contract Spotlight” where I break down a single contract per week. These will all be big name players with big salary contracts. As always, thank you for reading. If there is any player that you want me to spend more time talking about, just message me on Twitter (@dynastyjerk) and let me know. I would appreciate it if you followed @Dynasty_Owner on Twitter as well as subscribed to Dynasty Owner on YouTube. Take care everyone and be safe.
TheJerk