Quarterback maneuvering has largely defined NFL free agency to this point in the offseason.
Brock Osweiler found $37 million guaranteed with the Houston Texans. The Washington Redskins used the franchise tag for Kirk Cousins. The Cleveland Browns scooped up Robert Griffin III. The New York Jets engaged Ryan Fitzpatrick in a stare-down. The Philadelphia Eagles signed Chase Daniel, paid Sam Bradford and traded Mark Sanchez. Colin Kaepernick tried to force a trade from the San Francisco 49ers. Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants spent lavishly on their sagging defenses.
ESPN analysts Bill Polian, Louis Riddick, Field Yates and Mark Dominik joined me in making sense of the madness for our annual free agency report card. We handed out grades from 'A' to 'F' in assessing how teams fared while the big money was changing hands. Analysts disagreed over some of the grades, of course, so we averaged the results.
"There are often no good answers in free agency," Polian cautioned. "You can be damned if you do, damned if you don't -- especially if you are good." Unless you're the New England Patriots, who came away with one of our highest grades. Even Polian, one of free agency's biggest skeptics, thought the Patriots crushed this signing period.
The teams are listed in order from best grades to worst. To quickly find how your team fared, use the links below.
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN | CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND | JAC | KC | LA | MIA | MIN | NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | OAK | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | SEA | TB | TEN | WAS
