NFL Free Agency Day 5/6 Recap

Coming soon!

By the time Saturday had rolled around, most of the big names were off the board. The inevitable Kevin Kolb theft had been pulled, the unpredictable Nnamdi sweepstakes had wrapped up, and the Panthers had nearly outspent the U.S. government. Despite the lack of big names though, there were plenty of holes for teams to patch up. Let's run it back and examine the weekends handywork!

In case you my previous recaps, here they are:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

On to Day 5 and Day 6!

S Roman Harper re-signs with New Orleans

Given the amount of attention Quintin Mikell and Eric Weddle received this offseason, I'm surprised Roman Harper didn't get more play in the market. Harper is only 29 and is coming off two straight Pro Bowl selections. Personally, I wish Dallas would have aggressively pursued him to replace Gerald Sensa-crap. New Orleans secondary is one of their strongest units and they were wise to keep it intact.

LB Kevin Burnett signs with Miami

4YR $21MIL with $10MIL guaranteed is an awful lot of money for a LB who's only had one good year. And really, it wasn't even that good of a year. He's got some ability as a pass rusher, so maybe Miami took the plunge knowing most of the good pass rushers were off the board. At least, maybe that's what their telling themselves...because this signing is kinda bad.

DE Kenyon Coleman signs with Dallas

Yippee...

Vikings decide not to cut WR Bernard Berrian

Oh...now it makes sense why they didn't keep Sidney Rice! They still have Berrian! All is well in Viking land!

P Chris Kluwe sells #5 to McNabb for $5k to charity, 5 mentions of his almost assuredly awful band, and an ice cream cone

An ice cream cone? Really? What is this guy, five years old?

DE Vernon Gholston signs with Chicago

Here's an excerpt from Kevin Seifert's NFC North blog, "I just googled Gholston to find his career stats. The first suggestion was 'Vernon Gholston bust.' That tells you all you need to know. The No. 6 overall pick of the 2008 draft has no career sacks." Sounds great! Where can I find a jersey?!

DT Kelly Gregg signs with Kansas City

This is an extremely underrated signing and it could have big implications for the Chiefs defense. Gregg represents a MAJOR upgrade over Ron Edwards. He's getting older (35) but he's only one a one year deal and he still has the ability to occupy blockers and eat up space. KC has badly needed a solid nose tackle to solidify their defense and they finally have that guy. Remember, Gregg was a key cog on many great Ravens defenses. If he's good enough to take care of business in front of Ray Lewis and Co., then he can definitely help out the Chiefs.

CB Richard Marshall signs with Arizona

Arizona needed help in the secondary after donating Rodgers-Cromartie to the Eagles, and Marshall is a nice pick-up, especially on a small one year deal. He's started all 16 games the past two seasons for Carolina, and has shown an strong ability in coverage, totalling 7 INT's in that time. In addition to that, he's only 26. Depending on how things go, he could be a long term piece in their secondary.

LB Clint Session signs with Jacksonville and immediately rips Colts

I feel like a broken record here, but 5YR $29MIL with $11.5MIL guaranteed is just ridiculous. Look, Session is a nice player. He's young (27) and he's athletic. Great. But seriously, he played only 5 games last year, has 1.5 career sacks, and has never totalled more than 82 tackles. He's just a guy! I applaud Jacksonville's intent in locking up strong defensive players, but their execution is just horrendous. Spending bucket loads of money on non-playmaking linebackers like Session and Poz is foolish. I've said it before and I'll say it again...you can find linebackers anywhere! That's why the Colts ALWAYS let their linebackers walk in free agency! They know that you don't invest large chunks of your cap on replaceable parts. Poz and Session are nice players, but they're not taking Jacksonville anywhere and they'll end up being cap casualties down the road.

I almost forgot to mention the funniest part of this. After signing, Session declared that the Colts would no longer be a power anymore. Yeah. OK. Good luck with that Jacksonville.

Pete Carroll declares QB Tarvaris Jackson the new starter

Perhaps we should vote to lock out Pete Carroll? Seriously though, I don't think Pete Carroll is stupid. There must be something going on here...they must be tanking for Andrew Luck or something.

QB Peyton Manning signs his contract with Indianapolis

Surprise! A lot of people reported that Manning's contract situation was somehow keeping Indy at bay in the free agent market. Our good friend Nate Dunlevy from 18to88.com says differently, pointing out that Indy has a philosophy of building through the draft and not free agency. I'm inclined to believe him. It seems a bit far fetched to think the Colts front office would be so in the dark on the details of Mannings contract that they couldn't make other moves if they wanted to. Nate's right, the Colts don't dive into free agency too often. No reason to think this offseason would be any different.

T Jared Gaither does NOT sign with Oakland

I must have missed this when I wrote about Gaither's signing yesterday. Whoops. Apparently Gaither is still working through his back injury and Oakland did not feel comfortable going with him.

DT Cullen Jenkins signs with Philadelphia

I'm super excited about the Eagles investing $25MIL in an overrated 30 year old who fit best in a 3/4 scheme and has struggled through injuries the past two seasons! Wise use of money! Seriously though, Green Bay made very little attempt to bring him back and that tells me something. He had a flukey 7 sack season last year there is little reason to think he'll maintain that level of production as a tweener in a 4/3 scheme. Keep wasting Philly!

QB Trent Edwards signs with Oakland

Smart move by Edwards, as he's guaranteed a chance to start when Jason Campbell either a) sucks so bad that Oakland is forced to evacuate him from the homicidal Raider fans, or b) gets hurt. I'm betting on a combination of the two...followed by Edwards untimely death at the hands of an unruly Raider mob.

DE Ray Edwards proclaims himself the "missing piece" of the Falcons

Because his presence alone would have been worth the 100 points that Green Bay beat them by.

CB Nate Clements signs with Cincinnati

I'll give Cincy credit for this one, because I didn't think they would be able to come up with a viable solution to losing Johnathan Joseph. Clements never really was worth the massive 8YR $80MIL deal with San Francisco, but he's more than capable of being a good 2nd CB next to Leon Hall. Not that it changes anything...the Bengals still suck. As for San Francisco, what are they doing this offseason? They cut their best CB to save cap space....but for what? They were rumored to be involved Asomugha and others, but have come out empty handed. It really is sad to see a once proud franchise like the 49ers run like this. Jed York should be shot.

QB Vince Young signs with Philadelphia

You may be surprised, but I actually like this signing. The odds of Vick missing games this year is astronomically high. I don't know about you, but I highly doubt Mike Kaffka will be able to hold the fort if Vick is out for any appreciable amount of time. Vince Young has had plenty of issues in his career, but he's still very talented. I know it's weird to think of Mike Vick as a mentor, but the two have quite a bit in common. Perhaps Young can use his time in Philly as an opportunity to mature and learn how to be a real QB. Personally, I still think he has a future in the league.

HB Marion Barber, WR Roy Williams signs with Chicago

So apparently Chicago is just going to roll with a roster full of Cowboys rejects? That sounds like a great plan! In all honesty, and this will sound weird coming from me, I like the Roy Williams signing. Things started out badly in Dallas and Roy just wasn't up to the pressure of playing at home. Back in Detroit, he experienced a ton of success in Mike Martz's schemes. Perhaps they can catch lightning in a bottle?

DT Amobi Okoye signs with Chicago

Much like Gholston, Okoye was a high first round draft pick that never quite panned out. I know I made fun of Chicago for signing Gholston, but it actually makes a lot of sense to pick these two up. They're both under 25 and a second chance/change of scenery might do them wonders. Also, DL coach Rod Marinelli is one of the best in the game. Perhaps they strike it rich with one. At such a small financial cost, it's not much of a risk.

LB Barrett Ruud signs with Tennessee

Here's exactly why I hated the Posluszny signing. Barrett Ruud is almost the exact same player as Poz is...except Jacksonville could have had him at a low cost, one year deal. STOP GIVING LINEBACKERS GIANT CONTRACTS!!!

Even as I say that, I'm curious as to why Tampa Bay made no attempt to bring him back. He's been pretty good, and they have plenty of cap space. Wouldn't it have made sense to offer him a 3 year deal with most of the money up front?

WR Plaxico Burress signs with the Jets

Interesting...to say the least. They didn't give him a lot of money, so there isn't much risk. Actually, I kind of like this deal. They were wise not to overpay for Braylon Edwards, and even 50-75% of the old Plax can probably replicate what Braylon gave them anyways. I hate agreeing with Rex Ryan...

Eagles discuss putting Asante Samuel on the trade block

Dumb, dumb, dumb. Samuel is one of the best at making plays on the ball, which makes him perfect to pair with Nnamdi. Apparently Philly doesn't want to carry his contract along with Asomugha and Rodgers-Cromartie. Hey, here's an idea, DON'T WASTE ALL YOUR MONEY ON CRAPPY PLAYERS LIKE JASON BABIN AND CULLEN JENKINS. I hope Dallas trades for him, I really do.

LB Stephen Tulloch signs with Detroit

They only had to give him a 1YR $3.25MIL deal, which is an absolute steal for a young player like Tulloch. I would like to take this opportunity to once again rip on Jacksonville for spending all their money on non-franchise level linebackers. You could have just signed Ruud and Tulloch for a fraction of the cost of Session and Poz. But hey, I'm sure Session will look great in an LA uniform two years from now!

S Michael Huff re-signs with Oakland

Crap! I figured he would end up in Dallas! We need a safety!

LB Lofa Tatupu is released by Seattle

When healthy, Tatupu is one of the best MLB in the NFL. Of course, health has been a serious problem for him lately. Despite starting all 16 games last year, Tatupu battled through nagging injuries and struggled to return to his previous 1st Team All-Pro form. His best days might be behind him, but I'm still surprised Seattle pulled the plug. After spending big in free agency, it seemed like they legitimately thought they had a shot at repeating as NFC West champs. They did bring in some other options at LB, so perhaps they see Tatupu as being washed up. Still, some lucky team could strike gold on a short term contract. By the way, did I mention something about good MLB's always being available for cheap?

TE Todd Heap signs with Arizona

I love how Heap signed with Arizona while visiting with the Jets! YOU STICK IT TO REX RYAN!!! I'll be cheering for him all year long, just for this.

WR James Jones re-signs with Green Bay

This signing surprises me, but perhaps it shouldn't. I mean, Donald Driver can't play forever, can he? Jones has had his issues in the past, but Aaron Rodgers loves him and, of the Packers secondary receivers, he certainly is the most capable of stepping into Drivers shoes.

S Dawan Landry signs with Jacksonville

Yet another reason for me to mock Jacksonville. Why do they feel the need to invest so much money in low impact positions such as LB and S? $10.5MIL for Dawan Landry is just irresponsible given their other problems. Fact is, Landry is made to look better than he really is by the studs he played with in Baltimore. I wouldn't be surprised if he was one of the bigger free agent busts in this class. For whatever reason, the Jags are getting all kinds of media love for their signings, but giving big money to Session, Poz, and Landry does not make them a playoff contender...not even close.

RB Cedric Benson re-signs with Cincinnati

Benson left a lot of money on the table by being an idiot...also by not being that good of a RB. He gets a lot of hype for cracking the 1000 yard mark the past two seasons, but his low Y/A average and his total incompetence in the passing game makes him extremely overrated. If I were Cincinnati, I would have let Benson walk and given Bernard Scott a chance.

Washington trades for RB Tim Hightower

Watch out NFC East! Mike Shanahan has his guy now!

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As always, I'm probably missing some important moves. Forgive me. Tomorrow, I'll try to post Monday's recap. After that, I'll probably take a break on Thursday before posting my big Free Agent Award Show on Friday. Believe me, it will be riveting...