ESPN: Re-grading every NFL team's 2018 offseason moves

[Risen Star]

They have us near the bottom of the league and last in the division.

It was a pretty epically awful offseason. Makes you stoked for this one.


http://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/sto...ading-every-nfl-team-2018-offseason-moves#dal


Dallas Cowboys
Re-grade: C | Offseason grade: C

The Cowboys tried to address their receiver situation in the offseason and might have been better off not winning a bidding war for Sammy Watkins. However, the team's failure to address the position adequately during the offseason proved costly when Dallas, desperate for an offensive spark, acquired Amari Cooper from Oakland for a first-round pick in late October.

Dallas' grade holds firm, however, because the team fared well with first-round pick Leighton Vander Esch. Other early draft choices also showed promise.

 

[Tussinman]

With a bunch of contracts coming up + no 1st round pick I don't think there will be any big surprises or flashes this offseason.

Luckily we don't need much flash. Travis Frederick coming back, Connor Williams putting on 10lbs, and keeping mostly everyone resigned is a pretty good off season to be honest. Add 1 or 2 mid tier free agents to help with depth and you got a good overall roster

 

[Fmart322]

How did the rest of the division fare in this?
Always curious to know how our competitors do.

 

[chagus]

Lol!

 

[JonesBoys]

With a bunch of contracts coming up + no 1st round pick I don't think there will be any big surprises or flashes this offseason.

Luckily we don't need much flash. Travis Frederick coming back, Connor Williams putting on 10lbs, and keeping mostly everyone resigned is a pretty good off season to be honest. Add 1 or 2 mid tier free agents to help with depth and you got a good overall roster

Explain to me how the Rams last year, already a playoff team, sign Gurley, Donald, Cooks to huge deals and then go get Suh, Talib, Peterson ect... in free agency? With 60 plus million why do we act like that’s only enough to resign our own playes but yet other teams pull it off? It’s a bunch of crap, if Dallas doesn’t go out and try to improve with free agency even if it’s only 1 or 2 year deals then I would really have to question the Jone’s commitment to winning. Just get by with a good enough and make billions I guess. There is absolutely no reason this team shouldn’t go for it over the next year or 2 while there are still some rookie deals. I mean what he hell was the point of Jerry saying they have to take advantage of Dak’s rookie contract and then turn around only to sit on their hands and do nothing significant??

 

[jazzcat22]

With a bunch of contracts coming up + no 1st round pick I don't think there will be any big surprises or flashes this offseason.

Luckily we don't need much flash. Travis Frederick coming back, Connor Williams putting on 10lbs, and keeping mostly everyone resigned is a pretty good off season to be honest. Add 1 or 2 mid tier free agents to help with depth and you got a good overall roster

Right, I don't see anything different than before as to any major signings or moves.
Look to keep their own players first, keep the continuity. Churn the roster with mid tier FA's and do not overpay. Keep our own for depth, and 5 of the FA's are starters. Try token as many as possible.

Then draft wisely as they have been. Well they must draft better on draft day 3 this year than last year.

The only high profile player I think they should go for, if the price is right, is ET. But do not overpay.
I think with him at one S position, and draft the other. And a true stud DT, do not ignore these two positions again. The D can be better.

Like every sport, the strength is in the middle. I do not understand why this team can't understand that concept.

 

[Risen Star]

How did the rest of the division fare in this?
Always curious to know how our competitors do.

Philadelphia Eagles
Re-grade: B- | Offseason grade: C+

The decision to keep backup quarterback Nick Foles for the 2018 season instead of trading him worked well for the Eagles, who wound up needing Foles -- and winning in the postseason with him -- for a second season.

The Eagles' original grade reflected concerns that team chemistry could suffer after Philadelphia moved on from players such as Vinny Curry, Brent Celek and Mychal Kendricks while welcoming veteran outsiders such as Michael Bennettand Haloti Ngata. Those concerns seemed justified when center Jason Kelceexpounded on the subject following the Eagles' slow start, but Philly righted itself and still won a playoff game.

Daryl Worley, released following his offseason DUI arrest, did not.

With second-round tight end Dallas Goedert (33 catches, 334 yards, four touchdowns) contributing, the Eagles did not suffer from trading their first-round pick to Baltimore. That move also helped the Eagles net fourth-round corner Avonte Maddox, plus a 2019 second-round choice.


New York Giants
Re-grade: B- | Offseason grade: C

The grade remains a middling one because the Giants had a chance to address their quarterback future and punted, for better or worse. Eli Manning's increased effectiveness over the season's second half was not enough for GM Dave Gettleman to publicly commit to him for 2019.

The grade does rise slightly because the Giants' draft looks strong and their decision to bypass quarterbacks Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen with the second overall pick has not yet proved to be as disastrous as critics think it could become.

While none of those quarterbacks has proved himself yet, Saquon Barkleyinstantly became a star for the Giants, overshadowing third-round picks B.J. Hill and Lorenzo Carter, who both ranked in the top 10 in sacks among rookies. Barkley led the league in yards from scrimmage and became the fourth player in league history with at least 1,300 yards rushing and 90 receptions.

Will Hernandez should also help stabilize the line in the future.


Washington Commanders
Re-grade: C+ | Offseason grade: B

The original grade did not cover the period years ago when Washington botched the Cousins negotiations. On the re-grade, we cannot hold Alex Smith's career-threatening injury against the Commanders. Their decision to sign Smith made sense under the circumstances.

Losing second-round running back Derrius Guice to a season-ending injury before Week 1 dealt another serious blow without reflecting negatively on the decision-making process.

The re-grade falls some because critics who said the Commanders should have drafted the more dynamic Derwin James over Daron Payne could be correct, even though Payne looks like a good player, and because free-agent receiving addition Paul Richardson (five years, $40 million) failed to produce before suffering his own season-ending injury in his first year with the team.

Adrian Peterson's late signing produced a 1,000-yard rushing season that exceeded all realistic expectations.

-

Eagles B-
Giants B-
Commanders C+
Cowboys C

 

[HungryLion]

Horrible in free agency, and good to very good in the draft has been the trend for quite a few years now.

I don’t anticipate that will change this year. Although I really hope they sign Earl Thomas.

 

[Creeper]

Look at the Cowboys take-aways every year. This defenses needs playmakers. They need an impact DT or at least a guy who can fight off a block from a quality OG some of the time. They need a safety better than Jeff Health who has the instincts of a tree stump. Heath made that one play against the Raiders last year and it made the Cowboys feel like maybe he could be the guy. Clearly, he wasn't. The question is, can they fill these needs in the draft. The answer is no, probably not, especially when you have no 1st round draft pick. Maybe they can get a safety with the 59th pick in the draft but that DT player they need is not on the team and somehow they have to find him. How much harm could it do to take a single shot at free agency. Didn;t they make a run at Sammy Watkins lasat year? So why not try to sign a DT?

 

[8FOR!3]

Seems so bias lol. Michael Gallup was a 3rd round pick and looks like a legit #2. Amari Cooper was essentially our next 1st round pick and he looks like a legit #1. Both of them produced in the Rams game we lost. Defense had a LOT of problems in previous years to the point to where we couldn't get a stop without Sean Lee on the field. Vander Esch has been electric. I think our team was much improved and really good this year. If I'm correct there's a good chance the Rams do to the Saints (who have a generational talent at QB) what they did to us. I think we absolutely got better and the only glaring weaknesses talent wise are DT/safety with TE as something we could be looking to upgrade.

 

[Alexander]

Before the risk for Cooper that thankfully paid off, it was a big fat F.

 

[Risen Star]

Seems so bias lol. Michael Gallup was a 3rd round pick and looks like a legit #2. Amari Cooper was essentially our next 1st round pick and he looks like a legit #1. Both of them produced in the Rams game we lost. Defense had a LOT of problems in previous years to the point to where we couldn't get a stop without Sean Lee on the field. Vander Esch has been electric. I think our team was much improved and really good this year. If I'm correct there's a good chance the Rams do to the Saints (who have a generational talent at QB) what they did to us. I think we absolutely got better and the only glaring weaknesses talent wise are DT/safety with TE as something we could be looking to upgrade.

The Amari Cooper traded didn't happen over the offseason. This is a grade for the moves made in the offseason.

 

[Alexander]

The Amari Cooper traded didn't happen over the offseason. This is a grade for the moves made in the offseason.

That does not matter.

Just wait until the draft grades roll in with Cooper considered part of it.

 

[Risen Star]

That does not matter.

Just wait until the draft grades roll in with Cooper considered part of it.

I think it's fair to include Cooper in this year's draft grade because we used a draft pick from this year to get him. But it's not fair to include him in a grade for last offseason. He wasn't acquired last offseason.

It really was a pretty horrific offseason. As they sat there smug like they knew better than everyone else. A C grade is too generous, IMO.

 

[xwalker]

They have us near the bottom of the league and last in the division.

It was a pretty epically awful offseason. Makes you stoked for this one.


http://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/sto...ading-every-nfl-team-2018-offseason-moves#dal


Dallas Cowboys
Re-grade: C | Offseason grade: C

The Cowboys tried to address their receiver situation in the offseason and might have been better off not winning a bidding war for Sammy Watkins. However, the team's failure to address the position adequately during the offseason proved costly when Dallas, desperate for an offensive spark, acquired Amari Cooper from Oakland for a first-round pick in late October.

Dallas' grade holds firm, however, because the team fared well with first-round pick Leighton Vander Esch. Other early draft choices also showed promise.

The in-season moves should be factored into any evaluation of personnel moves by teams.

The Cooper trade was not nearly as costly as some people claim.

For an easy comparison, consider Cooper vs drafting a WR in the 1st round of the 2019 draft.

At the time of the trade, the most likely scenario was that the Cowboys would be somewhere around 8-8 without Cooper and possibly better in 2018 with him on the team. That means the draft pick would likely be mid-1st and possibly in the twenties.

Cooper will be better in 2019 than a rookie WR and Cooper (age 24) is likely better long term than a mid 1st or lower WR considering that more 1st round WRs in recent years have disappointed more often than not.

That's translates to the only disadvantage of Cooper vs the draft pick being that it will cost more for Cooper over the next 4 seasons

Vander Esch at pick 19 got a contract for about 3M per year.

Sammy Watkins got 18M this past off-season as a free agent WR.

The Cowboys would have paid Watkins about 36M for 2018 and 2019. They'll pay Cooper about 15M for 2018 and 2019.

The Cowboys got a lot of bang for the buck from OC Joe Looney, DT Woods and OG Sua-Filo.s

They got 3 first year starters in the draft and their first 8 picks all made the team with only the 7th round RB being cut. Shultz and Armstrong played legit NFL snaps as rookies and WR Wilson impressed in training camp before being injured.


If somebody wants to criticize the Cowboys personnel moves, this was NOT the season to do it.

 

[Runwildboys]

Explain to me how the Rams last year, already a playoff team, sign Gurley, Donald, Cooks to huge deals and then go get Suh, Talib, Peterson ect... in free agency? With 60 plus million why do we act like that’s only enough to resign our own playes but yet other teams pull it off? It’s a bunch of crap, if Dallas doesn’t go out and try to improve with free agency even if it’s only 1 or 2 year deals then I would really have to question the Jone’s commitment to winning. Just get by with a good enough and make billions I guess. There is absolutely no reason this team shouldn’t go for it over the next year or 2 while there are still some rookie deals. I mean what he hell was the point of Jerry saying they have to take advantage of Dak’s rookie contract and then turn around only to sit on their hands and do nothing significant??

I think he overestimated the quality of the players we had.

 

[erod]

Amari Cooper, Leighton Vander Esch, Michael Gallup, Antuan Woods, Tavon Austin, Connor Williams, moving Byron Jones to corner, added Mike White as a development QB....

I'm sorry, but that's far better than a "C" with an already talented roster in place.

 

[atlantacowboy]

C baby! Right there in middle......the cowboys sweet spot.

 

[Risen Star]

When you have to include a midseason trade to an offseason grade you know you're desperate.

 

[lukin2006]

It was a terrible off-season. They need to do better in'19. We need a legit TE, slot receiver, Big bodied DT, Safety, O-line depth, a more consistent backup running back and how about a kicker who is consistent inside 40 yards, not a kicker who makes the rare 60 plus yarder, a punt returner and kick returner. And apparently, we need new athletic trainers who will bring all the required cleats to a road game.