Wild Start To 2014 NFL Free Agency

What a wild beginning of NFL free agency we had yesterday.

It was full of surprises with players making moves all across the nation. Some of the biggest winners of day 1 would definitely have to be the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos. Each team picked up major pieces to add to their defenses, which if you saw the Super Bowl last month you know that Denver really, really needs help on their defense.

Check below for a quick synopsis of few team's additions:

*UPDATE

LB Wesley Woodyard:

Former Denver Broncos LB Wesley Woodyard, who was a key piece to the Broncos since he first came undrafted in 2008, has signed a 4-year $16 million deal. He can play all LB positions but is best on the weak side. Expect a nice impact on the Titans defense immediately.

WR/KR Ted Ginn Jr:

Ted Ginn Jr will be on the move once again after spending a season in Carolina. He will be moving back to the NFC West to join the Arizona Cardinals (Ginn played for the 49ers from 2010-2012). This is a nice pickup in terms of the return game and he may even be able to work his way into the 3rd spot on the WR depth chart behind Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd.

RB Darren Sproles:

Darren Sproles was traded from the New Orleans Saints to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 5th round pick Thursday. This comes two days after the Saints were allegedly suppose to cut the RB but later backtracked and said that they would rather find a team to trade for the 10-year veteran. Sproles will make an immediate impact with coach Chip Kelly's style of offense. Being the best RB in the league in catches the last few years and making defenders pay every time he gets in the open field I see good things coming from this acquisition.

DE Justin Tuck:

Tuck has signed a 2-year $11 million deal and is leaving the New York Giants for the Oakland Raiders. A good move for veteran leadership on the Raiders defense. We will have to wait to see what else the Raiders plan on pulling off this offseason before you can get too excited for this addition, but it is a nice pick-up nonetheless.

CB Darrelle Revis:

Revis being added to the New England Patriots is the best deal of the offseason in my opinion. You could argue that Talib or Ware for the Broncos may be but what the Patriots will be capable of doing with Revis out their, who is a nice improvement over former patriot now bronco Talib, is going to be outstanding. **The Patriots are also bringing in Brandon Browner today so stay tuned (Could you imagine East Coast Legion of Boom!)

WR Eric Decker:

Eric Decker has finally been snatched up. Decker and the New York Jets have agreed on a 5-year $36.25 million deal with $15 million guaranteed. The Jets were desperately looking to add some WR's for 2nd year QB Geno Smith to throw to now that they dropped their best option WR Santonio Holmes and thats what they got when they picked up Decker who caught 309 more yards than the Jets top two receivers last season.

WR Golden Tate:

Golden Tate signed a 5-year deal that puts him alongside the best receiver in the game Calvin Johnson. Tate is moving to a pass happy offense after his first four years in Seattle's run based offense and should look to easily break 1,000 receiving yards in his first season with the Lions, especially with all the attention Johnson brings in on his side. Great addition to a Lions team that could flourish with the offense they have now.
 

Cleveland Browns:

Two of Cleveland's biggest free agent pick-ups would have to be the acquisition of S Donte (W)Hitner from the San Francisco 49ers and LB Karlos Dansby from the Arizona Cardinals. These free agent acquisitions add to an already stout defensive team in Cleveland that include the likes of CB Joe Haden and LB Paul Kruger. The Cleveland Browns were a QB away from making something out of last season and this year if they decide to roll with QB Brian Hoyer, who was actually pretty good up until his season ending injury, and bring someone around their star WR Josh Gordon I could see them doing some nice things on the field next season.

Key Losses: TJ Ward (Denver), D'Qwell Jackson (Indianapolis)

Denver Broncos:

The Denver Broncos made it a point to upgrade their defense this offseason and that is exactly what they did. When I learned of the signing of DB TJ Ward from the Cleveland Browns I saw exactly the direction the Broncos would be moving this offseason. Then the signing of CB Aqib Talib of the New England Patriots really caught me off guard only because I thought the Patriots would do everything they could to get Talib to stay. Now the rumors are that the Broncos are the favorite to bring in DE DeMarcus Ware, which would give them one of the nastiest defensive lines in the NFL *Correction the Denver Broncos just signed DE DeMarcus Ware to 3-year $30 million contract with $20 million guaranteed. That makes the Broncos, on paper at least, one of the nastiest defensive lines in the NFL with Ware and Von Miller along the outside and a guy whose nickname is "Pot Roast" to load up the middle. Their is still a lot to look forward to with the Broncos having 22 more free agents including the one of the star receivers in this years free agency Eric Decker.

Key Losses: Zane Beadles (Jacksonville)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The Buccaneers and new coach Lovie Smith are bringing the "D" to Tampa Bay, just as you would expect with coach Smith. The signings of DE Michael Johnson from the Cincinnati Bengals and DT Clinton McDonald showed where coach Smith's main focus was and that is the defensive line. The Bucs also brought in DB Alterraun Verner from the Tennessee Titans who should make an immediate impact, and if the Bucs do decide to send Darrelle Revis out of town (See the story here) then that would make Verner the top dog of the secondary. They also brought in TE Brandon Myers from the New York Giants who could help out this offense that last season wasn't as bad as their record would tell you. Expect a good year in a tough division for the Bucs next season. *UPDATE - The Bucs have signed QB Josh McCown who is coming off a great season as the backup for Jay Cutler and will be battling for the starting position with Mike Glennon.

Key Losses: Adam Hayward (Washington), Gabe Carimi (Atlanta)

Oakland Raiders:

The Oakland Raiders have the most cap space, somewhere close to $60 million for the next season, and will be making plenty of moves before the season begins. Their key acquisitions so far have been OT Austin Howard from the New York Jets as well as another OT Rodger Saffold from the St Louis Rams *UPDATE Rodger Saffold failed his physical and will be re-signing with the St Louis Rams. Obviously the Raiders seem to be more focused on fixing their horrendous offense but I am very skeptical with how things will pan out for the lowly franchise down in Oakland. They did decide to bring back RB Darren McFadden for a 1-year deal for a little of $4 million just see give the former 4th pick of the draft one last shot to prove himself. The also foolishly let their backup RB Rashad Jennings get away,as well as some key losses on defense as well, see below.

Key Losses: Lamarr Houston (Chicago), Jared Veldheer (Arizona), Rashad Jennings (New York Giants)

Their was a lot of movement in the first day of free agency and these where just some of the bigger stories of franchises trying to improve themselves for next season.

Some more bigger free agent moves around the league where:
 

DE Michael Bennett: 

Bennett seemed to be the biggest free agent this offseason and was looking to explore his options. The Seattle Seahawks were able to change his mind right before free agency begun on Tuesday and signed Bennett to a 4-year $28.5 million deal.

S Antoine Bethea: 

Maybe the Colts were deciding to go in another direction or couldn't afford to keep Bethea. Whatever the situation was he was picked up by the San Francisco 49ers and will be moving from a mediocre defense to one of the best in the league. The 49ers were in need of some help in their secondary after losing two starters from their Super Bowl campaign in the last two offseasons.

DE Greg Hardy: 

Greg Hardy was hit with the franchise tag from the Carolina Panthers and signed it almost immediately. I can't say I blame him seeing as how by signing he set himself up to make roughly $13.1 million next season. Hardy was suppose to be another coveted free agent once the new season began, like Michael Bennett, but was took off the market before it began, like Bennett.

S Jairus Byrd:

Jairus Byrd is out of Buffalo since they decided not to franchise tag him. Adding him to a Saints defense that is on the up only makes them that more dangerous. This is a great addition for the Saints. 

 
I will be updating this as more big names start falling into new homes so come back and check often for your latest updates!

Otherwise you can see whats going on with free agency using the Free-Agent Tracker on ESPN.com


Follow me on Twitter - @therealrikrok89
 

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