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FA Recap: NFC East

As free agency starts to slow down, it’s time to take inventory of last week’s craziness. The moves were fast and furious (and perhaps a bit premature), as a few teams were extremely aggressive in pursuit of turning around their fortunes while others took to free agency with constraint. Here’s a look at where we stand after a week of free agency:

Dallas Cowboys

FA-Recap-bryantKey Losses:
RB DeMarco Murray
DT Henry Melton
OT Jermey Parnell
LB Justin Durant
WR Dwayne Harris
LB Bruce Carter

Key Re-Signings:
WR Dez Bryant
OT Doug Free
OG Ronald Leary
WR Cole Beasley

Key Additions:
RB Darren McFadden
CB Corey White
LB Andrew Gachkar
FB Jed Collins
LB Jasper Brinkley
LB Keith Rivers
ED Greg Hardy

The Cowboys were fairly quiet the first week of free agency, but then made the headline of Week 2 with the signing of Greg Hardy. It may not go over well with the fan base, but players of with Hardy’s talent are rarely allowed to hit free agency and he’ll be a boon for the Cowboys' defense. His legal issues are well documented, but there shouldn’t be any question of his performance even after essentially taking 2014 off. Hardy graded in the Top 10 among 4-3 defensive ends his last two seasons and should be properly motivated on a one-year deal.

With Dez Bryant franchised, the Cowboys let the market shape up before going after DeMarco Murray and it ended with him heading to division-rival Philadelphia. Dallas’ philosophy of late would suggest they’re just fine with that. With all the investments they’ve made through the draft in offensive linemen, they believe they can get production out of almost any running back.

This philosophy held true this offseason when they prioritized Doug Free on a three-year, $15m deal. Free has been one of the best right tackles in football the past two seasons and been especially competent as a run blocker. The Cowboys also retained starting left guard Ronald Leary as an exclusive-right free agent to keep their starting line from a year ago intact.

To shape up the rest of the roster the Cowboys used the quantity over quality approach to improve their linebacker position. To replace Bruce Carter and Justin Durant they brought in Andrew Gachkar, Jasper Brinkley, and Keith Rivers. None was a starter last season, but they are more or less stopgaps until they can draft a true starter.

New York Giants

FA-Recap-pierre-paulKey Losses:
CB Walter Thurmond
S Antrel Rolle

Key Re-Signings:
DE Jason Pierre-Paul
FB Henry Hynoski
LB Mark Herzlich
CB Mike Harris
RB Chris Ogbonnaya
WR Kevin Ogletree
CB Chykie Brown
OG John Jerry

Key Additions:
LB J.T. Thomas
OT Marshall Newhouse
LB Jonathan Casillas
RB Shane Vereen
WR Dwayne Harris

You’d be hard pressed to find a less exciting free agent haul than the Giants signings to this point. Five new players worth a total of $20.3m guaranteed netted them zero impact starters. Shane Vereen figures to be the most influential addition, but he’ll likely be limited to the role of third-down and two-minute back.

The Giants also re-signed a handful of their own players, the most noteworthy being the franchising of Jason Pierre-Paul. After a down 2013, JPP was yet again on top of his game last season with a +16.9 overall grade. Grading positively against the run and the pass for all but one season of his career, the Giants couldn’t afford to lose his reliable impact along the defensive line.

If there is a silver lining for the Giants' free agency so far, it’s that the losses have been negligible. Antrel Rolle is coming off one of the worst grades of his career at -13.9 and Walter Thurmond played all of 67 snaps in a Giants uniform.

Philadelphia Eagles

FA-Recap-murrayKey Losses:
RB LeSean McCoy
OG Todd Herremans
S Nate Allen
OLB Trent Cole
TE James Casey
WR Jeremy Maclin
QB Nick Foles
CB Cary Williams
CB Bradley Fletcher

Key Re-Signings:
OLB Brandon Graham
QB Mark Sanchez 

Key Additions:
QB Sam Bradford
CB Byron Maxwell
RB DeMarco Murray
LB Kiko Alonso
RB Ryan Mathews
CB Walter Thurmond
LB Brad Jones

The Eagles were the premier story throughout the first week of free agency. No team shuffled more critical pieces to and away from their team than Philadelphia in a roller coaster ride with Chip Kelly now making the personnel decisions. We initially thought there couldn’t be a move bigger than shipping LeSean McCoy to Buffalo in exchange for Kiko Alonso, then they went ahead and dealt Nick Foles for the Rams’ Sam Bradford.

The former No. 1 overall pick was much maligned in St. Louis after injuries and inconsistent play plagued his five NFL seasons with the Rams. The Eagles are banking on clean bill of health and a change of scenery brings out the potential that has gone unrealized for Bradford. With Jeremy Maclin shipping off to Kansas City after the first positively-graded season since his rookie year, Bradford will once again have to make do without a strong complement of receivers.

Everyone was quick to jump to the conclusion that Kelly didn’t value the running back position after shipping away McCoy. Then he went out and dropped $26m in guaranteed money on two running backs with extensive injury histories. DeMarco Murray earned our second-highest run grade of any back last season and will fit in swimmingly with the Eagles' zone scheme. Ryan Mathews, on the other hand, has first-round pedigree, but has yet to have a season without a struggling offensive line and/or injury problems.

That brings us to the defensive side of the ball which was just as eventful. The Eagles kicked-off free agency by paying Byron Maxwell like a Top 5 corner in the NFL. While we don’t agree with that assessment after a -3.0 grade a year ago, the Eagles didn’t have many quality free agent options and were in dire need with the losses of Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher.

Even though they may have overpayed for Maxwell, the Eagles pulled off a coup in bringing Brandon Graham back for just $6.5m a year. We’ve never hid our fanhood of Graham who led all 3-4 outside linebackers in Pass Rushing Productivity last year at 17.7. He’s never played more than 524 snaps in a season, but Graham has been utterly dominant in those snaps and also shown well in the few games he was given starters playing time.

Washington Redskins

FA-Recap-knightonKey Losses:
OLB Brian Orakpo
S Ryan Clark
WR Leonard Hankerson
RB Roy Helu

Key Re-Signings:
QB Colt McCoy
TE Niles Paul
OT Tom Compton

Key Additions:
DI Stephen Paea
DI Terrance Knighton
DI Ricky Jean Francois
CB Chris Culliver
S Jeron Johnson

The Redskins have quietly put together one of the most impressive free agent hauls thus far. They addressed the serious needs on defense without breaking the bank. The crowning achievement of the class is the big defensive tackle from Denver, Terrance Knighton. For just $4m next season, Washington got a premier run stuffer to man the middle of a defense that has been in dire need of a true nose tackle for years now.

Along that defensive line they also added Ricky Jean-Francois and Stephen Paea. Jean-Francois signed a big contract in 2013 despite limited playing time and never quite produced anything more than average play. The thing is, average is a welcome addition to the Redskins' line. Paea isn’t much of a run defender, but he will bring value as a sub-package rusher as his 8.7 pass rushing productivity was fourth among defensive tackles a year ago.

They also addressed the corner position, which may have been even more of a need than defensive line last season. Chris Culliver was superb in his first year as a starter in San Francisco a year ago and looks to be the No. 1 corner in Washington. The limited starting time is a worry, but he always graded out well as a nickelback and is easily an upgrade.

The only disappointing free agency development for the Redskins is the departure of Brian Orakpo. The impact is mitigated by Trent Murphy’s breakthrough at the position, but Orakpo is a rare talent when healthy. The key there being the “when healthy” part as Orakpo has torn his same pectoral three times and was deemed too unreliable an option with a competent backup waiting in the wings.

 

Follow Mike on Twitter: @PFF_Mike

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