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Offseason rating game Posted: Monday June 17, 2002 10:07 AM
Here's how I rate 32 NFL offseasons, 1 to 32 as of Monday morning ... 1. Tampa Bay. What did the Bucs need? Offense, plus a revived desperation to win that they'd lost under Tony Dungy. Jon Gruden gives them most of that. He'll get this team to score points. Most football people and pundits seem to like Michael Pittman, the in-and-out-of-trouble running back who came from Arizona as a cheap free agent, more than I do, but he is an every-down upgrade over Warrick Dunn. I love the Keenan McCardell signing. Absolutely love it. He and Keyshawn Johnson could both make the Pro Bowl. If Rob Johnson stays healthy (isn't that the beginning of every sentence in every preseason preview for every team Rob Johnson's ever played for?), he'll unseat Brad Johnson and be a good quarterback for this team. 2. Miami. Needed a running back. Got one of the league's 10 best in Ricky Williams. Needed offensive brain. Bought Norv Turner, one of the league's five best. Needed an eight-sack situation rusher to give them an alternative to Jason Taylor. Stole veteran rusher Rob Burnett, who will give them 25 quality snaps a game. Memo to NFL owners: Rick Spielman is not just Chris' unknown brother. He's a darned good personnel man who will make one heck of a GM. Soon. 3. Dallas. Lost no one of any value. Added a starting safety (Roy Williams) and center (Andre Gurode) in the draft, two front-seven players (La'Roi Glover and Kevin Hardy) and a starting tight end (Tony McGee) in free agency. That's five very, very good additions. The Cowboys caught up to the Giants this offseason.
4. Jacksonville. This pick might be ridiculous. I understand that. But Tom Coughlin has taken a horrible cap situation and, I think, has made the Jags a competitive team going forward, capped by his signing of defensive end Marco Coleman last week. When you lose a prime player like McCardell and have only pennies to spend, the way to spend them is to sign two decent No. 3-quality receivers, Patrick Johnson (Baltimore) and Bobby Shaw (Pittsburgh's great hands man). 5. Green Bay. The Pack will miss Bill Schroeder and Corey Bradford, gone to Detroit and Houston respectively. But they'll get one year out of nutjob Terry Glenn, plus the signing of defensive end Joe Johnson away from New Orleans is one of the top two or three free-agent acquisitions of this offseason. 6. Buffalo. Drew Bledsoe replaces Alex Van Pelt. Mike Williams and Trey Teague (who I'm not crazy about because he failed with the Broncos last year) upgrade the Bills at tackle. Tom Donahoe has fixed a horrible cap situation. Heck of an offseason, and it will show on the field in September. 7. Cleveland. William Green should be the back the Browns have needed. Earl Holmes is definitely the middle linebacker they've needed. Tim Couch prays that Andre Davis is the wideout he has needed. I'm skeptical. But the Browns did get better. And they now have one voice, a quality voice, in personnel matters with the forced canning of Dwight Clark. Butch Davis is the man, which he should be. 8. Pittsburgh. The Steelers lost an average of five free agents a year in the first seven years of the system, but now, with the stadium revenue from Heinz Field providing an influx of money to retain their good players, the Steelers have done a superb job with their roster management. Guard Alan Faneca and running back Amos Zereoue were the last two players to re-sign. They'd certainly have jumped ship five years ago if they were offered decent contracts elsewhere. 9. St. Louis. Paid to retain a good pass-rusher, Leonard Little. Stole a good fourth wideout and excellent returner, Terrence Wilkins, for a sixth-round pick from Indy. Lost Az Hakim and London Fletcher because they refused to overpay, which you have to do to stay good. Both losses could hurt. But realistically neither probably will. 10. Washington. Steve Spurrier. Marvin Lewis. Throw all the other refuse away, and those two names make the Redskins two wins better right now. I love how everyone's questioning whether Spurrier can adjust. Reminds me of 1989, when everyone questioned Jimmy Johnson. 11. New England. The Patriots did just what they did last offseason -- they dictated their wishes to the market rather than vice versa. This cost them Rob Burnett, because, in that case, they allowed the Dolphins to outbid them. But the formula worked well in 2001. Why change? They're vastly better at tight end (Daniel Graham, Christian Fauria), and signed the most underrated free agent of the year, wideout Donald Hayes from Carolina. 12. Indianapolis. The Colts lost patience with Jerome Pathon. I don't blame them, though I think he'll be productive in New Orleans. Qadry Ismail is the terminally underappreciated replacement, and I love this signing. Peyton Manning will love Ismail, who should catch 75 balls, score 10 touchdowns and be a late-round fantasy-picker's delight. Tony Dungy will be a very good coach for this team, and he should retool this organization's defense, a unit that over the past three years always seemed to make the wrong personnel decisions. The first right one was drafting Dwight Freeney in the first round. He'll be a consistent 13-sack player. 13. Houston. Where do you put the Texans? Everyone's new, and they'll certainly be the most competitive expansion team ever because of their decision to take on veteran players with some risk and with big salaries. What I don't like is that the Texans used all their bullets this year. They're scarcely in better cap shape now than some contenders. So while they should win six games, come see me in three years and tell me if they made the right decision on the Marcus Colemans and Allen Aldridges. 14. Chicago. The Bears didn't let Olin Kreutz or R.W. McQuarters or Warrick Holdman get away, and all were valuable members of a playoff team. But the thing this team did that will pay big dividends in November? Chicago signed Chris Chandler. For eight or 10 games, he can be a big-timer at a position that, on this team, sorely needs a big-timer. 15. San Francisco. Nothing flashy. Nothing Super. I didn't like the loss of guard Ray Brown, but it was neutralized by the signing of Ron Stone. They needed a physical DB and picked big corner Mike Rumph in the draft. I like him going against Isaac Bruce and David Boston, the big receivers he'll have to get used to playing in the new NFC West. And I still think they might get something out of Cade McNown. 16. Denver. I like the fact that the Broncos stole big-bodied Lional Dalton to key the inside rush and will move Trevor Pryce outside. But whether this team rebounds this year is solely dependent on Brian Griese, and he hasn't exactly had an exemplary offseason. I don't know what to make of this team, and I doubt Mike Shanahan does either. 17. Oakland. Rebounded nicely from the Gruden loss by getting four high picks and naming the well-respected and very smart Bill Callahan as head coach. I love the John Parrella signing to help them inside. But their improvement on the defensive line with Parrella was snuffed out when Regan Upshaw tore his ACL last week. Ouch. 18. New York Jets. Cap hell is coming. I guarantee that. But it's not coming this year because GM Terry Bradway did the smart thing and gave away tackle Ryan Young to Houston in the expansion draft under an agreement that saw the Texans also take the ridiculously overpaid Aaron Glenn and Marcus Coleman. The loss of guard Dave Szott, who played every snap in Washington last year, to an ACL injury is a killer. Donnie Abraham is an excellent import at corner, as is Larry Webster to plug the middle of the line. 19. Tennessee. Eddie George is healthy, which is the best offseason news the Titans have had. Tennessee hopes Albert Haynesworth takes some of the pressure off recently disappointing Jevon Kearse so he can go back to being a pass-rush force. Bangers Lance Schulters and Greg Comella will be excellent attitude players for Jeff Fisher. I think they should have paid to keep Jason Fisk, an underrated D-Line force, from flying off to San Diego. 20. Philadelphia. Drafted half of college football's eligible defensive backs. Maybe one can run the ball. Their most valuable acquisition of the offseason, what with Correll Buckhalter being lost for the year with an ACL injury, is probably Villanova superback Brian Westbrook. 21. Seattle. Got a lesser tight end than they'd planned for (Jerramy Stevens instead of Daniel Graham) and still don't have a pass-rusher anyone fears. But Mike Holmgren had the guts to say Trent Dilfer is better for this team right now than Matt Hasselbeck, which is why he signed Dilfer to be his starter. 22. Kansas City. Good: Getting Johnnie Morton to give Trent Green some deep help. A wash: Trading Victor Riley for Willie Roaf. At this stage of Roaf's career, this is probably no better than an even swap. Bad: Losing Donnie Edwards. Every Chiefs game I've seen in the last couple of years has featured Edwards making six or eight plays that really mattered. 23. Minnesota. In desperate need of defensive impact players, the Vikes responded by raiding the Dolphins' depth chart for linemen Kenny Mixon and Lorenzo Bromell. Nice players. Just nice. And Kailee Wong flew out the door to Houston. I'll be surprised if the defense is markedly better than the one that doomed Dennis Green. 24. San Diego. Overpaid ridiculously for Tim Dwight and Stephen Alexander. Stole Donnie Edwards. Shouldn't have let John Parrella go to the Raiders. Big loss there. Marty Schottenheimer is a good coach for this mix of vets and young players, and he'll be even better once he gives the ball to Drew Brees permanently. 25. Atlanta. Underrated signing in Allen Rossum, the nickel corner/returner. And I like giving the quarterback job to Michael Vick. But while the right arm was signing Warrick Dunn for way too much money, the left arm drafted Michigan State running back T.J. Duckett in the first round. Not exactly dumb and dumber, but why on God's green earth do you sign Dunn if you think there's any chance you'll take a back in the first round? 26. Detroit. Overpaid Az Hakim, who is not an every-down receiver, and left themselves lighter by $8.75 million on the cap next year by cutting Herman Moore and Charlie Batch. I have no idea how this team is going to solve its long-term problems. 27. Carolina. Big plus: Excitement and enthusiasm and scheme of head coach John Fox, who replaces human mannequin George Seifert. Big minus: The only difference-maker, even potentially, who comes in with Fox is Julius Peppers. You're excited about DeRon Jenkins? Lamar Smith? Didn't think so. 28. Arizona. You can't give Duane Starks a five-year, $23 million contract. You just can't. He's an above-average corner, not a great one. 29. Cincinnati. Another offseason goes by without fixing the front office. Another sub-.500 year on the horizon. 30. New Orleans. Ricky Williams, Joe Johnson, Willie Roaf and La'Roi Glover were four of the 10 best Saints in recent years, and they're gone. Now I understand the house-cleaning, for salary and team chemistry and coaching preference reasons. But these guys Jim Haslett has faith in -- Dale Carter, Victor Riley, Grady (Never Met A Whopper I Didn't Like) Jackson -- better play well or the Saints are going to live in .500ville for a while. 31. New York Giants. Love Jeremy Shockey. How can you not? But the Giants are diminished at every other offensive position because they lost good players (Ron Stone, Joe Jurevicius, Greg Comella) who were not replaced because of cap problems. There's a festering Strahan-Barber feud that threatens team chemistry. Michael Strahan, barring some serious diplomacy, might be entering his final season in New York. Not much to be positive about here, folks. 32. Baltimore. Fourteen starters (at least part-time) gone. None signed. Megastars grousing about contracts. Baltimore has all the makings of a team going in the toilet.
ESPN's Sean Salisbury might be the first athlete in history to have turned himself into a human billboard. To make a few bucks when he was a journeyman NFL quarterback a few years ago, Salisbury had a "NO FEAR" tattoo needled into his ankle. What does he think of the tattoo today? He's looking into having it removed.
1. I think, without question, that the most underwhelmed member of the Washington Redskins' 70-man 70th anniversary team is Brian Mitchell, the Eagles returner/backup back. Mitchell blames Washington owner Dan Snyder for his departure from Washington a couple of years ago, and he'll never forgive him. I saw Mitchell in Philly the other day and asked him about his appointment to the anniversary team. "Whoop-de-damn-do," Mitchell said, sneering. Now, understand that Mitchell loves Washington and the fans there. He just will never love the Redskins quite the same again as long as Snyder owns the franchise. 2. I think there must not a better value in sports than the New Jersey Jackals group deal at Yogi Berra Stadium right here on the campus of Montclair State University. My lovely wife Ann and I, coaches in our local league, took our team to the ballyard for the Elmira-New Jersey game Saturday night, and this is what we got for $12.50 per kid: reserved seat ticket just beyond third base, package of Jackals baseball cards, Jackals schedule magnet, Jackals bandanna, hot dog, soft drink, bag of chips, two innings of rain and postgame fireworks. 3. I think these are my personal thoughts of the week: a. Home opener Monday night, 6 o'clock, for the 10-and-under Montclair Sports Illlustrated Bears vs. Montville, at Mount Hebron Field on Bellevue Avenue in Upper Montclair. Be there. I guarantee you effort. And entertainment, unless the Bears coach screws it up. b. Montclair (N.J.) High Softball Note of the Week: Week 2, sophomore pitcher Mary Beth King's right arm held hostage. If you recall from last week's column, in the dusk of Montclair's state semifinal loss to West Milford, Mary Beth got plunked in the right forearm. Busted. This morning marks the 12th day in the autographed red cast, with at least a month left in Immobileville. Mary Beth is stunned that there isn't some drug or procedure or magic wand to make the whole bone-fusion process go faster. "There should be some other way for bones to heal," she said last night. "Shouldn't we be in a stage of technology where bones fuse easier? Think about it. If we can talk on computers and fax people and put people on the moon and explore Mars, can't we fuse my stupid arm back together? Science needs to get on the ball. What are they doing over there? I can't stand not being able to do my own hair!" c. Coffeenerdness: Seattle, I have to tell you that the white chocolate mocha, other than being ridiculously full of calories, is just too sickeningly sweet. Cut the white stuff in your formula and I'll buy it again. But not until then. d. Just saw Pay It Forward. I know I'm a year late with my review. And I know it's sappy, but it's got a great lesson and it stars Kevin Spacey. Well worth two hours of your time. e. I hear The Sopranos is coming back. In 2007. 4. I think the just-concluded NBA postseason tells me that unless someone drops an anvil on Shaquille O'Neal's foot next winter, no one's beating the Lakers anytime soon. 5. I think I hope Marco Coleman knows what he's getting himself into. Signing with the Coughlins this late in his career? I mean, you're going to go through that training camp and that in-season practice regimen. You think you're not going to have sincere regrets come October? 6. I think no offseason injury hurts a team more than Oakland losing defensive end Regan Upshaw for the year. What a killer. 7. I think these are my baseball thoughts of the week, me being such a sick fan: a. Does anyone out there know Luis Castillo is one game away from having the longest hitting streak in baseball, 32 games, in 15 years? b. Does anyone out there know Luis Castillo? c. There is no more clutch athlete in sports today -- not Robert Horry, not Brett Favre -- than Derek Jeter. I've never seen anything faze him. You don't beat the Yankees without putting a stake through this guy's heart. d. Derek Lowe, 11-2, 1.85 ERA. Tom Brady, Super Bowl MVP. I honestly can't tell you which I'd have considered more unlikely eight months ago. e. It's been a while since I've heard a better baseball telecast than Buck-McCarver on the Yanks-Mets Saturday. Boy, are they good. f. I think there's a very good chance that no player in recent history has had a month like the one Shawn Green is having. 8. I think Tiger Woods could use a rival. 9. I think we don't quite get the frenetic fan stuff that this World Cup brings to the rest of the world. A South Korean fan who said he wanted to do his part to help his team advance in the tournament doused himself with paint thinner and set himself ablaze the other day. Somehow, I can't imagine the Bleacher Bums self-immolating to help heat up Sammy Sosa's bat if he slumps. 10. I think I'm going on vacation at week's end. So I'll see you right back here, in this space, on July 22. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the
magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Monday Morning
Quarterback appears in this space -- no kidding -- on Monday mornings.
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