Teams Ready to Make an Impact
Let’s look at the five teams that have made the best moves of the offseason via trades or free agent signings:
N.Y. Jets: The Jets made a flurry of moves in an effort to cement themselves as a Super Bowl contender. They went out and added Antonio Cromartie and Jason Taylor on the defensive side of the ball. Cromartie provides the Jets with depth at the CB back position. If/once Revis returns to the team, Cromartie most likely will be the Nickel DB with the emergence of highly touted rookie Kyle Wilson. Taylor comes over from the Dolphins and immediately improves the Jets pass rush, even at his age.
On the offensive side of the ball LT and Santonio Holmes have been added. Holmes will miss the first few games of the season due to a suspension but once he returns he provides Sanchez with another threat out wide. Tomlinson, the future Hall of Famer, comes to a team that knocked the Chargers out of the playoffs last year. He doesn’t have many seasons left and he knows it, so he chose a team with Super Bowl aspirations. He will provide veteran leadership and the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, which we aren’t sure Shonn Green is capable of.
Miami Dolphins: Yup, that’s right. If you didn’t think the AFC East was one of the better divisions last season, well it’s even better this year. The Dolphins knew the two areas they needed help and went and got both of them. They traded for Brandon Marshall, the number 1 WR they haven’t had since the Clayton-Duper tandem. The guy is a freak. He is a deep threat and he is willing to go over the middle. The last three seasons he has had over 100 receptions in each.
On the defensive side of the ball they went out and signed Karlos Dansby to a contract. The LB provides veteran leadership, the ability to pass rush and cover that the Dolphins have been missing since Thomas left a few seasons ago. Not to mention Dansby is in the prime of his career.
Baltimore Ravens: Their problem over the years has been not enough talent at the WR position. That’s not a problem anymore, as they will roll out Anquan Boldin and Donte Stallworth to go with Mr. “Consistency” Mason. The explosiveness those two WR’s bring to the table and the quick development of Ray Rice as an elite RB make the Ravens offense very scary for the first time since arriving in Baltimore.
Chicago Bears: The Bears defense could return to an elite level this offseason. Urlacher will be fully healed and the Bears signed All-Pro DE Julius Peppers. When Peppers is happy, he plays his heart out. Now that he is getting paid, my guess is he is happy. Offensive lines are in trouble in the NFC North this year, look for Peppers to put up around 14 sacks.
On offense, Matt Forte struggled a bit last season. The 300 plus carries he had the year before and the weak offensive line might have had something to do with it, but he just seemed off. So the Bears went out and signed Chester Taylor to alleviate some of the pressure from Forte. With Mike Martz coming in as offensive coordinator, you can also expect some tricky packages where they will both be on the field at the same time.
Washington Redskins/Philadelphia Eagles: Only time will tell who won out on the Donovan McNabb trade. To me as it stands right now the Eagles are the winners because they got younger with Kolb in at QB and it might be better for that team going younger on Offense as a whole. The main key to this trade will be whether McNabb signs an extension in DC. With Favre being finished after this season, Arizona having questions at QB, and the Redskins offensive talent not getting any younger I’d be surprised if he stays in DC beyond this season. However if McNabb does sign the extension in DC, the Skins could be the winner.
