5 comments MMQB Review: Well, It Seems Peter King Has Free Agency All Figured Out Edition

We currently have 8 teams in our BotB Fantasy Baseball League and I'd like to have two more. If anyone wants to join then the ID is 69631 and the password is "eckstein."

Peter talked about Johnny Manziel and the n-word again last week in MMQB. It's hard to find topics to talk about in the doldrums of the NFL season before the NFL draft speculation heats up, but rather than shorten his MMQB and cut his personal thoughts, Peter decides that he would not cut out the very essence of what MMQB is really about...Peter himself. Because what could be more important than to know Peter's thoughts about the Oscars? This week Peter gives us a primer on free agency as well as hopefully tell us each player's mood when they accept their free agent deal (Golden Tate will demand a five year deal, while Mike Vick will reluctantly submit to only $4 million guaranteed), then Peter gives us a primer on free agency on the first page, talks a little bit about free agency for one page (oh yeah, that's all he talks about this week) and finally spends the majority of MMQB with what the people really want which are Peter's favorite quotes of the week and his own personal thoughts. After all, MMQB is about Peter and not about the NFL.

Ten things you should know about the NFL’s 22nd annual free market, which kicks off Tuesday at 4 p.m. (but which is already in full swing because of legal and illegal tampering):

Let's get this NFL-related stuff out of the way so Peter can talk about the more important things like his trip to England, warning about the dangers of caffeine, and imploring as many people as possible to go see "Gravity."

1. Cornerbacks are this year’s quarterbacks. When a pedestrian corner like Sam Shields of Green Bay gets four years and $39 million ($9.75 million a year for Sam Shields!), significantly better players at a vital position had their bargaining postures strengthened mightily. Specifically, Alterraun Verner, Vontae Davis, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Aqib Talib will be in the $8-million-plus neighborhood annually. Then there’s Tarell Brown of the 49ers on the next level, and Peanut Tillman and Captain Munnerlyn on the next (Tillman because of age). That’s seven quality starters, some better, on the hook.

Captain Munnerlyn isn't really a quality NFL starter. He's good, but really not great. He's a hell of a third cornerback and probably a borderline starter on a good day. He does tend to get pick-6's quite often, which is fortuitous, but he's better used as a joker-type corner that can blitz off the edge and in the slot. He's also like 5'5" and struggles to stick to bigger receivers. That's just my opinion of course after watching him his entire NFL career.

The Giants are pursuing Verner, but I can’t see them paying $10 million a year. Washington and New England want Talib; Washington might be more desperate to make a free-agent strike, and the Patriots won’t overpay.

Good, glad that's set. With the Top 10 of the NFL Draft already set, there's no much mystery left in this offseason anymore! Best just talk about England and any good movies Peter has seen lately.

2. Tackles will be paid. Ryan Tannehill, meet Brandon Albert. The Dolphins’ new left tackle is expected to be the laid-back Albert. Miami’s expected to blow the opposition out of the water again (remember Mike Wallace and his $13 million average that shocked the NFL last year?) with a deal averaging around $10-11 million. 

As always, the Dolphins appear to completely know what they are doing. Credit to them, they find a need they have and then go fill it. No credit to them, they often spend a lot of money to fill this need, and the organization seems to be a disaster.

That likely leaves Jared Veldheer to jump from Oakland to Arizona, and the Raiders to scramble on the rebound and do a deal with Rodger Saffold, who has missed 17 games due to injury in his four seasons with the Rams. 

There's no drama involved with this, Peter knows exactly what's going to be happening, huh? And Peter can't make it more clear than this, but Jeff Fisher and the Rams had nothing to do with Roger Saffold being injured over the past four seasons. It was the old regime that messed up with Saffold. The Rams are definitely turning it around very soon, so Jeff Fisher will lead the Rams to a winning record soon. Just be patient for another few years. Fisher will have a winning season soon, followed by a few seasons of 7-9 or 8-8.

3. Baltimore could get very lucky. The biggest beneficiary of the high-stakes left-tackle poker: the Ravens. They could get the player they’ve wanted to keep all along, Eugene Monroe, whom they acquired for two fourth-round picks in a mid-year trade with Jacksonville. Monroe is the consensus fourth man on the list for the other teams desperate for a left tackle. Tampa Bay, or a latecomer to the party, could settle for the unknown tackle with promise, Anthony Collins of the Bengals.

If the Ravens had just kept Anquan Boldin last year they wouldn't need a left tackle this offseason. Boldin could have played wide receiver and left tackle.

5. Jairus Byrd’s landing spot? A secret.

Thanks for the inside information, Peter. You have been very helpful. This is as opposed to the landing spot of Veldheer and other free agents which Peter already is very sure about.

He wants $9 million a year, and I can’t figure out who will pay a safety that much.

One of two things will happen. A team with a lot of cap room will pay Byrd this amount of money or he won't get $9 million per year. Thanks again for the information though. I realize all this talk about free agency is just killing time for the main point of this MMQB, which appears to be a travelogue on Peter's visit to England and Peter's favorite quotes and Tweets of the week.

6. Michael Vick should be in more demand than he is. I keep saying this, and few believe me: Vick’s a very good locker room guy now, a leader, and he’d be a good team guy whether or not he wins the starting job.

I think the problem is that if Vick wins the starting job then teams are scared about what that means for the quarterback position.

I think if Vick had been more accurate in his past two years in Philly (.581, .546), offensive coordinator Norv Turner could have been sold on him with the Vikings;

IF ONLY MIKE VICK WERE BETTER AT THE QUARTERBACK POSITION HE'D BEEN IN MORE DEMAND TO PLAY QUARTERBACK IN THE NFL!

The team that makes the most sense is the Jets, because they have no idea if Geno Smith is their quarterback of the future. Oakland makes sense because the Raiders have no idea what they have either.

I think it's obvious both teams have messes at the quarterback position right now. That's what they have. Of course, it's also March, so there is time to fix this.

I’ll give you a dark horse here: San Francisco. Let’s say Vick gets only lukewarm interest to start, or to compete for a starting job. If so, and if the Niners want more than a third-string insurance policy for Colin Kaepernick, Vick might be willing to go to try to win a Super Bowl ring.

I'm guessing Jim Harbaugh would watch Mike Vick workout, offer Vick a contract, and then deny he has any interest in signing Mike Vick to the 49ers roster. Or maybe Trent Baalke will just sign Vick and not even ask Harbaugh's opinion, since apparently that's a thing he would do. I'm surprised Peter didn't say the Patriots would sign Vick and then mumble something about the Patriot Way.

7. Running backs and receivers have fallen to earth with a thud. Used to be backs were sexy pickups in free agency. Now even the prominent ones get no love, mostly because of the way the game is being played and because teams figure they can find adequate ones in the middle or late rounds of the May draft. Knowshon Moreno, Donald Brown and probably Chris Johnson, with young speedster Ben Tate … expect all of them to be disappointed this week. 

Later in this offseason I expect there will be talk about how there were running backs that were a good value to be found in free agency this offseason. But right now, they are getting no love. I'm guessing Peter will be amazed at the output of Moreno/Tate/Johnson sometime in October when they sign an affordable free agent deal and one of them is on track for 1300 yards on the season.

In my mind, a great fit for Edelman would be Cleveland, which has money to spend and a hole at slot receiver. 

That's fantastic. Now all the Browns have to do is find Tom Brady to pass the ball to Edelman and he can put up another 1000 yard receiving season with 100 passes caught.

Cleveland could be in the mix for Eric Decker, who needs suitors.

Ditto, just substitute the word "Tom Brady" with "Peyton Manning." Also, it appears the Browns are trying to corner the market on white wide receivers. Is Kevin Walter available?

Finally, I think the receiver who will get more action than forecast is Golden Tate.

(Checks the forecast) It appears Tate is on pace for moderate-to-severe action, so I'm not sure if Peter is right or not. As Joe Morgan would say, it's too early to tell. If Golden Tate is going to get more action than forecast (checks forecast again) then I think Eric Decker will get more action than he deserves.

8. Michael Bennett is about to be very rich.

I'm rich, biatch!

Bennett, for the first time in his NFL career, played significant snaps (more than 350) inside for the Seahawks, and he helped Seattle win the Super Bowl. “I think I’ll be one of the most valuable players in free agency,’’ he said late in the year, and he was right. Now the Bears, with brother Martellus Bennett providing in-house recruiting, are interested, and Michael Bennett knows this could be his best shot at free-agency dough.

Or Bennett will just re-sign with the Seahawks, which is what happened.

I know Seattle can’t afford everything, with so many good young players on the cusp of second contracts. But if I’m John Schneider, I’m fighting like crazy to convince Bennett to stay.

Let's see, a guy who wants to get paid...can he be convinced to stay even though the Seahawks may not be able to offer as much money as another team? It worked. Does Schneider have naked pictures of Bennett or something? Actually, would Bennett even care if Schneider had naked pictures of him?

9. Best players to make money whom you don’t know well.

Don't tell your readers what they do and don't know well. It's unbecoming and presumptuous that your readers aren't educated on players who you wouldn't think they would know well.

DE Arthur Jones (Ravens), who should end up being a better long-term player than his former teammate, Paul Kruger, who was overpaid by the Browns last year

Yep, I know who Arthur. Brother of Chandler Jones and an MMA fighter that I don't know anything about, including his first name.

DT Paul Soliai (Dolphins), the best of a bad crop of defensive tackles and best nosetackle in the field

So is it a good thing to be the best of a bad crop of defensive tackles or is this like being the fastest runner at the retirement home (I mean, retirement community)? Isn't this sort of a backhanded compliment? Also, if Soliai is the best of a bad crop of defensive tackles and he is a player who will make money, then doesn't that mean he could be overpaid?

G/T Geoff Schwartz (Chiefs), versatile and underrated

(Checks official rating manual) Yes, it turns out Schwartz is rated as a 77 and he's really more of an 82. He is pretty underrated according to this official rating manual that doesn't exist.

Oh, and I can’t believe more teams, and more people, aren’t talking about wideout James Jones of the Packers. Great hands, and 17 touchdowns over the past two seasons.

Peter is a sucker for hands. I feel like hands are to Peter King like dental jokes are to Rick Reilly. Based on my sports analogies, if there were an SAT for sports I think I could get a 2400 on it. I don't even know what people talking about James Jones has to do with his free agent value. Maybe it's that NFL personnel guys aren't talking about him. How much money does Jones want? That could be the reason more "people" aren't talking about him.

10. First dominoes to fall: tackles. Too many deals too close to fruition.

I bet NFL teams are hoping these tackles aren't dominoes falling or else they won't do a good job of protecting that team's quarterback. Hey-O!

Should be a fun week. We’ll have some good stories at The MMQB this week. We’re following a key free-agent and the trends of the system, so check back through the week for our stories.

In the meantime, let's get to the important parts of this MMQB. Here are the Tweets of the Week and Quotes of the Week, along with stories about Peter's trip to England. I'm throwing out snark, but this MMQB is three pages long and two of those pages are the special sections that Peter has put together through the years, like Tweets of the Week and his travel note. It's getting to the point where the volume of "Things Peter Thinks He Thinks" and other notes that don't necessarily have to do with NFL news has overwhelmed the amount of NFL-related news Peter provides.

“Chris Johnson is at his best when he’s trying to prove everybody wrong. He’ll have that chance when the Titans release him and he’s back at the bottom. Then he’ll regain the selflessness and the work ethic he once showed.”
 
—Ian Rapoport of NFL Network on Sunday. 

This is one of the many reasons I like the NFL salary structure system. Only parts of a contract are guaranteed, so unlike the NBA or MLB, if a player gets his money and stops working or underachieves then he can be released and (potentially) owed the money guaranteed to him. I know the players don't like it necessarily, but I think it makes sense.

“Corners and offensive tackles, throw a party. Receivers and running backs, throw a funeral.”
 
—Anonymous AFC front-office man Sunday, in the midst of feeling out the free-agent market that appears to be on the verge of downsizing salaries to offensive skill players in a big way beginning Tuesday.

It's all cyclical. As soon as a powerful offensive team wins the Super Bowl then teams will be throwing money at receivers and running backs again and defensive players will once again go undervalued in free agency.

Common wisdom on the weekend that remade the Saints: New Orleans GM Mickey Loomis is making space to account for two bloated numbers—the absurdist $26.4-million cap number of Drew Brees (he takes up 19.8 percent of the Saints’ $133 million cap), and the contract they’re trying to create to keep tight end Jimmy Graham.

But hey, at least Brees is getting his, right? I like how Jimmy Graham complained on Twitter about the Saints getting rid of teammates he likes, but I didn't hear Graham volunteering to take a lesser deal or complaining that Brees was taking up almost 20% of the Saints cap. There is a salary cap and can't have it both ways. You want to get paid, teammates have to go. You want Drew Brees throwing you the football, teammates have to go. It's the reality of the situation unless Brees/Graham wants to take lesser money.

What makes the most sense with Graham is to split the difference—a la baseball arbitration—on a long-term contract between the tight end franchise number ($7.04 million) and the wide receiver franchise number ($12.32 million). This way, the Saints could still make Graham the highest-paid tight end ever, and the team wouldn’t have the drag, potentially, of losing a grievance and having Graham take up one 10th of the team’s cap with the wideout franchise number.

By splitting the difference, and making a contract for halfway between the tight end and wide receiver franchise numbers, the Saints could pay Graham $48.4-million over five years. Heck, let’s be nice: five years, $50 million … an average of $10 million a year, exactly $1 million a year higher than the biggest tight end contract ever—Rob Gronkowski’s deal with New England.

Maybe the Saints don't want Graham paid $10 million per year. And really, if the Saints are worried about Graham taking up 10% of the team's cap then I'm not sure what giving Graham $2 million less for five more years would fix. Graham still takes up a lot of the cap and now he's got a long-term deal. Maybe it makes sense to split the difference, but if Graham wants to be paid like a wideout then he may not agree to this deal.

The Raiders have to spend. I’ve written about this the past couple of weeks, but the Raiders illustrate the importance of the rule in the 2011 CBA about minimum spending. In the four seasons between 2013 and 2016, every team in the league has to spend at least 89 percent of its cap limit. So the Raiders must think about extending their own players and signing some from the outside so they account for most of that $65 million of space this year. That’s why Oakland, despite having a GM in Reggie McKenzie who’s not a big fan of throwing around millions that aren’t his, could be a big player this week.

The Raiders have a ton of money and have to spend that money. What could go wrong?

Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week

There's a picture beside this travel note of Peter outside "Humped Zebra Crossing." He's wearing an Oregon State hoodie because...well, um, just because I guess.

I was in England over the weekend, visiting my brother and his fine family, and meeting my great-nephew Thomas for the first time. Thomas and his mum (my niece Charlotte) and dad live in Lichfield, about two hours northwest of London, where the accompanying photo was snapped on an afternoon stroll.

I'm sure there's some soccer writer who was walking down the street at the same time and this soccer writer thought it was absurd that Peter was taking a picture in front of a street sign that said, "Humped Zebra Crossing" and took time in his weekly soccer column to mention how ridiculous this was. Then someone needs to forward this column to Peter. The karma would be wonderful. After all, Peter is the guy who didn't get why tourists in New York were taking pictures outside the Apple store, but he's proud to take a picture in front of a street sign while in England.

A Humped Zebra Crossing is a raised striped crosswalk in the road, designed for pedestrians to cross and slowing motorists to navigate

Riveting. Peter should take a picture in front of a sign like this.

At a small supermarket, I listened to the very polite self-service checkout voice praise the shopper for putting items properly in the bag after scanning them. At the end, the machine told the shopper, in a chipper and high-pitched voice: “Well done!”

Apparently Peter was visiting the part of England where conversation between computers and humans only exists to reinforce Hollywood stereotypes. Did the self-service checkout voice say "Cheerio!" after the customer paid?

I watched the Six Nations rugby game between England and Wales on TV Sunday. England 29, Wales 18. Mostly, I was clueless about it,

No matter the sport or the country, some things don't change with Peter. 

My brother Ken told me the history of the name “Twelvetrees.” That was his mother’s maiden name. His father was a tree surgeon. When they married, the father decided to use the mother’s name; good for business, he thought. And so when young Billy was born, he took his mother’s last name.

Well done!

Oh my. This is somehow more embarrassing than the Adieu Haiku.

“Wow unbelievable. Shocked and disappointed on everything that’s gone on this offseason.”
 
—@TheJimmyGraham, the New Orleans (for now) tight end, after news surfaced Friday that the Saints would likely rid themselves of Darren Sproles and Lance Moore to save money on the salary cap.

And where is some of that money going to Jimmy Graham? Why would the Saints need to free up some money again? Could it be because you want to be designated as the Saints' franchise player as a wide receiver and not a tight end? Could it be because the Saints want to work out a long-term deal with you? Jimmy Graham wins today's award for a lack of self-awareness.

“Rays manager Joe Maddon on Bucs new uniforms: ‘I’m not a big fan of the pewter. I’m anti-pewter. Pewter shouldn’t even be a color.’ ”
 
—@IKaufmanTBO, Ira Kaufman, pro football scribe for the Tampa Tribune, crossing over to baseball for a few minutes and getting the Spencer Tracy-ish manager of the crosstown Rays to opine on the new (and bizarre) Bucs uniforms.

And why wouldn't Peter refer to Maddon as "Spencer Tracy-ish"? I wonder if Peter thinks that Joe Girardi is "Jimmy Stewart-ish" or that Mike Scioscia and Bud Black are "the Laurel and Hardy of this generation"?

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think I’ll leave the automotive legacy to others, 

If Ford starred in movies then Peter would feel free to help define Ford's legacy on film. 

but when I think of William Clay Ford the football owner (he died Sunday of pneumonia, at 88), I think of two things: intense privacy (I never had a conversation with the man)

Maybe he just didn't like you Peter. I know, the thought this could be true is just unfathomable.

I hope when people think of the elder Ford, they think of his efforts to return Detroit to greatness, as Herculean a task as that has turned out to be.

They could also think of the lack of playoff wins and the fact he stuck with Matt Millen for a lot longer than he possibly should have. Or 0-16 could be remembered too. I'm sure Ford was a good guy (no snark here), but I'm not sure in terms of football he'll be remembered for his efforts to return Detroit to greatness more than his failed attempts to do this.

5. I think with Jared Allen certain to test the market and leave Minnesota, the Vikings had no choice but to do a deal with their other free-agent pass-rusher, Everson Griffen, who got an average of $8.5 million a year from the Vikings Sunday.

I get why the Vikings wanted to sign Griffen since they lost Jared Allen, but to say they had no choice to pay Griffen this amount of money is ridiculous. There are quite a few pass rushers available through free agency and in the draft. The Vikings had options, even if they chose to not pursue those options, they had them. It's just a lot of money for a guy who is getting paid based on potential to meet the contract he just signed.

That salary is inflated given what Griffen has accomplished in four seasons: 59 games, 17.5 sacks. Griffen is 26 and hasn’t earned that yet. Problem was, someone else would have paid him if the Vikings didn’t do a deal before free agency.

The fact the Vikings HAD to pay Griffen and another team would offer Griffen this same contract once he hit free agency aren't reasons to give this contract to Griffen. This is how teams make mistakes and end up regretting these mistakes. Maybe it works out, but Peter justifies this deal by saying, "The Vikings had to do something because they are going to lose Jared Allen and another team was going to overpay Griffen." Simply because another team was going to overpay Griffen didn't mean the Vikings had to beat them to the punch.

6. I think when Hakeem Nicks tells Josina Anderson of ESPN, “I want to go to a team where I’m the missing link,’’ I wonder if he knows how silly that sounds coming from a man with 109 catches and three touchdowns over the past two years.

Yeah, but Nicks has played well a few seasons before that when he wasn't injured. Therein lies the draw teams have to Nicks. It's not hard to understand.

7. I think when I hear that the Jets want to limit Geno Smith’s throws to something under 20 per game in 2014, I am dubious. Marty “Never Met a Throw He Didn’t Like” Mornhinweg is the offensive coordinator, after all. And throwing the ball, say, 18 times a game would mean a team would have something like a 2-to-1 run-pass ratio, which hasn’t been done in years by any team. I’m not buying it. If you want your quarterback to throw fewer 20 times a game, you don’t like your quarterback and ought to get another one.

I do agree, while noting Russell Wilson averaged 25 passes per game this year, which was the lowest of any NFL starter who played in all 16 games. I agree with Peter, but if a team has a good enough running game to where the quarterback could throw the ball 5 times less per game it doesn't mean the quarterback totally sucks. It could mean that of course. 

8. I think I don’t know what more you’d want Jared Allen to do than what he did for six years in Minnesota. He never missed a start. He averaged 14.3 sacks per year. He wasn’t a distraction. He played as hard as any pass-rusher in football. 

I don't think I asked Jared Allen to do any more than that. What the hell is Peter talking about here? Who hates Jared Allen and is saying he didn't do much for the Vikings over the last six seasons?

I will be amazed, with all this cap money available and pass-rushers so hard to find, if he gets shut out of the big-money market. He’s 31. He shows no signs of the end. Allen would be very high on my list.

I think he's probably pretty high on quite a few team's list. The problem is how much Allen wants in his first free agent contract other than for it to be "fair."

10. I think these are my non-NFL thoughts of the week:

Or as it will be known in three years, the sum total of Peter's weekly MMQB.

b. Two big differences in their lives from mine: You can see the sky vividly on a clear night, and the silence at night is just stunning.

Does the silence at night stun you into silence?

c. South By Southwest looks fun. To those who attend: Worthwhile to go one year?

When does U2 play SXSW again? That's all Peter wants to know.

f. If I haven’t told you already, go see “Gravity.” So many of those Best Oscar movies are so, so good. Other than the fact most movies are 10 to 20 percent too long, this is a great time for movies and to be a movie-goer.

It's really the golden period of movies, Peter thinks. There are at least 10 actors and actresses that are the greatest actor/actress of this generation making movies right now.

g. My next one: “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Looks terrific.

And when have previews ever lied? And when as a Wes Anderson movie ever felt really underwhelming? I'm looking at you Wes Anderson movie about a train in India that I found to be boring.

h. Geno Auriemma is 59. His UConn team is 33-0 and looks bound for a ninth national title under Auriemma, and he shows no signs of wanting to pack it in. He’s not appreciated enough around the country.

Well then. I'm glad Peter knows how much Auriemma is appreciated. Perhaps it's because he coaches women's basketball, which is a niche sport?

i. Coffeenerdness: Good job by Costa Coffee, the big coffee chain, in England, with the espresso. I like the place. When Starbucks is mobbed, the drinks suffer.

Dude, it's fucking coffee. Order it and drink it. It's not that hard. Every drink from Starbucks doesn't have to be a masterpiece.

I just have three visits to a Costa to compare, but the baristas seem to take their time regardless of attendance in-store. It shows.

"I have a small sample size to work with, but I'll come to a general conclusion about all of the baristas in a certain country regardless."

j. Good story in The Guardian on the dangers of caffeine.

The idea of Peter King linking an article about the dangers of caffeine in a column where he has extolled the virtues of caffeine for years now is just deliciously wonderful. I don't need caffeine after reading this sentence because the mere thought of Peter linking an article about the dangers of caffeine is enough to keep me up laughing.

l. My fantasy baseball draft is Tuesday. March 11! Too early. To say I haven’t studied much would be an understatement. Hope no one laughs when I pick Joe Foy.

If you have to study for a fantasy baseball draft you either are doing it wrong or you shouldn't be doing fantasy baseball for a year or two until you catch up with the player's names.

The Adieu Haiku

Mr. Detroit, gone.
Bill Ford loved cars, and his town.
City needed him.

I was hoping the Adieu Haiku had been left in England.