HOLBROOK NY- Baseball weather is finally here, just in time for Opening Day. Until then here’s today’s topics- NFL Free Agency, Giants Trade, Cole Injury
NFL Free Agency
QB Signings
The Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a 4-year $180 million contract. I’ve always been a fan of Cousins and I believe he’s often given a bad rep for being “unclutch.” However, Cousins is 36 and coming off a torn Achilles. This is a bold move for an Atlanta team that’s lacked competent QB play since the Matt Ryan days. While very risky, if Cousins can return to form off the injury, this Falcons team is very formidable in a weak NFC… A week after signing Russell Wilson, the Pittsburgh Steelers traded a 6th round pick to the Bears for Justin Fields. Fields is expected to backup Wilson at least to start the year. I love this for the Steelers. I fully expect Mike Tomlin to insert Fields as the starter fairly quickly. I don’t believe Wilson is completely washed-up, though. I think the pure upside and big-play ability that Fields possesses is enough to start him over Wilson and give the Steelers the boost on offense that they’ve lacked for many years.
RB Signings
Saquon Barkley signed a 3-year $37 million contract with the Eagles. As a Giants fan it will certainly be painful to see Saquon in Philadelphia. However, giving an injury-riddled RB $37 million isn’t ideal for a Giants roster that’s littered with holes. For the Eagles I don’t think this makes them markedly better… Josh Jacobs signed a 4-year $48 million contract with the Packers. This I don’t understand at all. Aaron Jones, who signed with the Vikings, was excellent down the stretch for Green Bay last year, yet the Packers decided to cut Jones and sign Jacobs, who by almost every metric is an inferior player to Jones… Tony Pollard signed with the Titans, I don’t have much to say about this one. The Titans are a bad organization that continues to make baffling decisions, starting with the firing of Mike Vrabel. Giving Pollard a big contract certainly doesn’t make this team any better… Finally, Derrick Henry signed with the Ravens on a 2-year deal. Henry shows flashes of his old self last year in Tennessee. I don’t think Henry is the same guy who could log 25-30 carries a game, but I think he’ll be extremely valuable to a Ravens team that’s struggled to get over the hump for several years now.
Giants Trade
The Giants traded for standout pass rusher Brian Burns. Burns is an elite addition that gives the Giants an excellent pass rush with Dexter Lawrence, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Bobby Okereke. This team still has tons of holes, specifically at receiver and O line and until they address that, I don’t think we can expect much from this team.
Cole Injury
Gerrit Cole is expected to be sidelined for 10-12 weeks with an elbow injury. This is obviously a disaster for the Yankees and I’m not sure this team has the depth at pitching to survive without Cole. Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery are still available should the Yankees look to outside the organization.
