Grading the Fast And Frenzy Free Agency Period

Last week was madness with all the moves taking place and now it has started to slow down. Next week we will be playing our first pre-season game and we will be getting things running. We do not have all of our holes filled just yet, but we have filled in some of the gaps.

We made sure to keep continuity with our team by bringing back a lot of our pieces. This team could have gone through a lot of turnover but we made sure to bring the guys we needed back. Eric Weddle was a big priority in free agency and we offered him a huge contract to keep him around. We also kept players like Jeromey Clary, Jacques Cesaire, Scott Mruczkowski, Billy Volek, Randy McMichael, and Antwan Barnes.

Another player that is making his return is Vincent Jackson and this time we will have him for the whole season drama free. Having him on the offense with Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers will make this passing attack one of the best in the league. It will also help to have VJ out to block the edge for Ryan Mathews. Keeping VJ for another year will be HUGE.

For keeping our own unrestricted free agents, I would give us a B. We will be losing a couple of key players and one of them was a priority. Kevin Burnett signed on with the Miami Dolphins and we still have not filled his void. Malcom Floyd is still trying to figure out where he wants to play next year and it doesn’t seem like the Bolts have offered him enough money to stay. If M80 returns, this grade might be an A.

Other players that we lost are Darren Sproles, Stephen Cooper and Brandon Siler. These guys were all expected to move onto a new team and the priorities were in a different spot.

For the players that we have brought in from the outside:

Takeo Spikes will be a great addition to the defense. He will bring a toughness that the run defense did not have and he will bring that veteran leadership to the locker room. He may be a grizzled vet but he has plenty left in his tank.

Bob Sanders could be the biggest steal in free agency or he could be sitting on the sideline with another injury. Nobody really doubts his talents, we just don’t know if he will last the whole season. He was a game changer for the Indianapolis Colts when he was on the field and he can do the same for us, he just needs to stay healthy.

Travis LaBoy will add more pass rushing to the defense and will provide more depth at outside linebacker. He will be able to put pressure on the quarterback and also can fill in if Larry English goes down with an injury or just doesn’t live up to the hype.

It’s hard to grade out this part when the body of work is not complete. We still need to fill the spot that is going to be left by M80 and we also need to fill the spot left by Kevin Burnett. Without knowing who comes in to fill those roles, we will leave this grade as an INCOMPLETE.