Free Agent Auction Recap
The only thing that would have made the inaugural free agent auction better is having everyone in the same room so we could have watched Bpou and Abaum stare each other down during the whole Lynch saga.
The bidding wars for Marshawn were hyped and they did not disappoint. Most assumed both Brett and Mike had trades up their sleeves, but no one could have predicted the fashion in which it all went down. The rules were consulted, names were called, tears were choked back, and money was spent.
But Beast Mode was not the only player to be drafted. I’ll take a quick look at each team, who they added, and if it mattered.
Nick Sarlo & Mike Hark
Added: Carlos Henderson — $140 & Markus Wheaton $1
Much was made of a potential JuJu Smith-Schuster dropping, but flying under the radar was another rookie who was a cut victim. Carlos Henderson was drafted in the third round of our rookie draft, 17 spots behind JuJu. But according to DLF’s Rookie ADP, Henderson is being drafted at the end of the 2nd round now and only 10 spots behind JuJu.
Sarlo got the party started with a trade and then nominated and winning a bid on the new Cody Latimer. Thomas and Sanders are in their 30s and in the dynasty world that’s considered old even if they both easily have 3–5 years left. But if either is to fall off a cliff sooner, Henderson could see an immediate uptick in value. There’s also plenty of room for him to carve out a role as the third option in that passing offense. No one else has.
Billy Davis
The only relevant thing Billy did was get the war going between Abaum and BPou by putting Lynch up for grabs. He then disappeared. There’s a prequel gif for ya. Thanks for helping create enemies, much like Anakin.
Ian Crosby & Mike Baumhauer
Added: Adam Humphries $2
They weren’t very active. They didn’t have much of an impact.
Dan Marino
Added: Mason Crosby, $1
Moving on.
Andrew Bartell & Frank “Noodles” Venuto
Added: Jared Cook $2, Brandon Oliver $1, Trey Flowers $1
A large majority of the players added during the auction are unlikely to contribute anything meaningful. These three players are no exception. BUT, if you’re going to take $1-$2 chances on guys, Jared Cook and Brandon Oliver are good choices.
Jared Cook wanted to get paid after getting a little pump from playing with Aaron Rodgers for 10 games. Moving to Oakland should help him keep up production. Head now has two OAK TE and the one he paid $2 is the one likely to produce. In 2014 Mychal Rivera had over 100 targets as Derek Carr’s primary TE. Since then Clive Walford and Rivera have split duties, neither of them seeing more than 52 targets in a season. Collectively they are seeing about 100 targets. Jared Cook is clearly the best past catching TE on OAK roster and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him get 80+ targets. We, and by “we” I mean “I”, know that Carr doesn’t like to target Cooper in the red zone. Cook could get some of those targets.
We are barely one season removed from Melvin Gordon being forced into a timeshare and overshadowed in the red zone by Danny Woodhead. Last year Gordon took over the backfield for the Chargers. If that was by design, Brandon Oliver will only be useful if there’s an injury (not crazy to imagine that happening). If Gordon’s usage rate was inflated primarily due to injuries sustained to the other backs, Oliver could find himself a small role regardless of injury.
Well done Head!
Troy Altbaum
Added: Calvin Johnson $49
After trading much of his money away, Troy spent $49 of his $65 on a retired player.
Steve Calhoun
Added: Adam Vinatieri $1 & Jerrell Freeman $20
Calhoun’s biggest impact was wasting time. His second biggest impact was making Falcone spend $70 on a kicker. But more on that in a moment. Freeman should see some starts, but probably won’t have too big of an impact.
Dave Falcone
$70, or 50% of his budget, on a kicker. A position that was already occupied on his roster. A kicker who was on his roster a few short weeks ago.
He got Tajae Sharpe back for $11 after acquiring a first round pick for him and Duke Johnson earlier this off-season. That is overshadowed by the fact that TEN has added Eric Decker, Corey Davis, and Taywann Taylor. AND by the fact that Tajae Sharpe was involved in an assault this offseason. AND by the fact that HE SPENT $70 ON A KICKER HE ALREADY OWNED.
Cleve Bryan
Added: Caleb Sturgis $1
Michael Floyd, WR, FA $1
Mike Altbaum
Added: Marshawn Lynch $441, Shane Ray $3, Alex Collins $3, Brian Hill $1
Abaum has one of those tweener teams. Marshawn Lynch’s production is probably being a bit overhyped, but it should return some value. Was it worth it? There was the cost to acquire all of that money and now Abaum finds himself with a sworn enemy. How do you feel about that Mike?
Brett Poulton & Adam Milzy
Added: Jonathan Williams $101, Mitchell Trubisky $69, Navarro Bowman $48, Barry Church $13, Joe Flacco $5, Dion Lewis (via trade)
Left with only rage where he thought Marshawn Lynch would be, BPou was left rummaging through the free agent heap looking for something valuable.
Jonathan Williams and, to a lesser extent, Dion Lewis are low risk fliers. The same goes with the Mitchell Trubisky. If there’s a team that can wait to see if this guy develops, it’s BPou’s.
Dave Hallahan & Scott Lederer
Added: DeAngelo Henderson $62, Everson Griffen $40, Lance Dunbar $3, Jatavis Brown $1, Eric Swoope $1
Griffen is the most likely to have an impact this year. He had a not so great fantasy year last year, but is expected by man to make a jump this year.
I’ll take this time to pimp Eric Swoope. Every year fantasy footballers are left cursing the second TE in Indy. Dwayne Allen vultures TD from Colby Fleener. Jack Doyle vultures TD from Dwayne Allen. Well guess what suckers? Eric Swoope will be cursed at by year’s end.
