Whilst the legal tampering period was opening up, and Patriots Nation’s vision was on where will JC Jackson go (LA Chargers for 5 years at $82.5 million, with around $40 million guaranteed) not forgetting the whole, will the Patriots take a top wide receiver, part of my gaze was focused on what was happening in the tight end rooms.
And, I was rather interested to find many of the top free agent tight ends were re-signed or tagged by their original team. Now, I appreciate you might not be quite as interested as I in this, however, with the depth at the draft this year it may be quite significant that so many teams have stayed with their existing tight ends, even the rather cap strapped Dallas Cowboys tagged Dalton Schultz, but to be fair he is quite good, but I digress.
We all know that the tight end position is one of the tougher ones in the NFL to play, and to develop within. It is utilised in pretty much all the range of offensive plays, meaning the plate of those big 6 foot 4-5-6 guys can get rather full.
So, a quick league wide recap of who has gone and where in the tight end market:
Arizona maintained Zach Ertz for a further 3 years at $31.65 million. The Browns franchise tagged David Njoku, as did the Dolphins with Mike Gesicki. The Colts lost their long time tight end to retirement, and so the maintaining of Mo Alie-Cox on a 3 year $18 million deal wasn’t too surprising. They may have traded away their top quarterback, but the Seahawks kept Will Dissly on a 3 year $24 million deal. There was some tight endage shuffle as the aforementioned Seahawks obtained Noah Fant in one of the biggest trades the NFL has seen for a while. Evan Engram hopped over from New York (Giants) to Jacksonville on a 1 year $9 million deal and the other New York team, the Jets, pulled C.J Uzomah from Cincinnati on a 3 year $24 million deal.
Okay, so now I have done my public service in making sure you lovely Patriots fans are aware what has gone on in the world of tight endage, I am here to update you on the rest! Just call me Miss Unliiiiiiimited…
Moving swiftly on!
Unfortunately, it is with a heavy heart that I write Steady Teddy, Ted Karras, has gotten paid and is on route to Cincinnati on a 3 year $18 million deal. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am happy when a great player gets paid, but when it’s at the possible sacrifice of the offensive line, I’m sorry I can’t really be THAT happy.
The possibly, most obvious move, and perhaps the most hated by many Patriots fans so far this season, is the jetting off of cornerback JC Jackson to sunnier climates. The LA Chargers scooped him up on a long deal of 5 years at $82.5 million.
The Patriots did some quiet maintaining whilst big name wide receivers were moving around, some were having money practically thrown at them, in particular Jacksonville giving Christian Kirk a $72 million, possibly up to $84 million, 4 year deal, but as of yet the Patriots only receiver action was a second round restricted free agent tender on Jakobi Meyers.
The Patriots quarterback room maintains some stability with Brian Hoyer on a 2 year $4 million deal, as New England retains three fan favourites, and some grounding the team needs (in my humble opinion) during this rebuild, of Devin McCourty for 1 year at $9 million, Matthew Slater on a 1 year $2.6 million deal, and (thank goodness!) Nick Folk for 2 years at $5 million. James Ferentz has reportedly signed a contract with the Patriots but the terms have not yet been announced.
So there you have it you lovely lot, free agency frenzy so far… and it’s only Tuesday morning!
Thank you for the recap!