With NFL free agency now a few days old, some winners and losers have quickly emerged -- though this list promises to remain fairly fluid amid the league's ever-shifting landscape.
Winners
Olivier Vernon: Be honest, did you have any idea who he was a week ago? Initially hit with the Miami Dolphins' transition tag, which would have guaranteed Vernon $12.7 million in 2016, it was rescinded Wednesday morning after Miami signed DE Mario Williams. Nothing better could have happened to Vernon, whose market immediately exploded. A man who has 29 sacks in four seasons and has never been a Pro Bowler wound up with a five-year deal worth $85 million ($52.5 million of it guaranteed) from the New York Giants. That makes Vernon the highest-paid defensive end in league history. What J.J. Watt must be thinking.
Von Miller: He received an exclusive franchise tag that is guaranteed to pay him more than $14 million for 2016. But if Vernon is worth $17 million annually, what does a superstar Super Bowl MVP merit? Franchised Denver Broncos typically get long-term deals, and if that pattern holds, Miller will be uber wealthy by training camp.
Bill O'Brien: He doesn't get nearly enough credit for leading the Houston Texans to nine wins in each of his first two seasons while working with a Ryan Fitzpatrick/Case Keenum/Ryan Mallett/Tom Savage/Brian Hoyer/T.J. Yates/Brandon Weeden menagerie under center. But with Brock Osweiler now aboard, O'Brien might legitimately have his quarterback of the present and future. Factor in the addition of game-breaking RB Lamar Miller, and this offense may really be explosive, especially now that defenses have far more to focus on than blossoming WR DeAndre Hopkins.
Brock Osweiler: Those seven NFL starts were worth upward of $10 million apiece after he landed a pact worth $72 million from Houston. His average annual salary of $18 million is equal to Tony Romo's.
AFC South: The NFL's most pathetic division in recent years, the talent influx goes well beyond Osweiler and Miller. DeMarco Murray adds a sorely needed dimension to the Tennessee Titans, who will also improve by virtue of the draft's No. 1 pick (or whatever it fetches them in a trade). And the Jacksonville Jaguars, who will finally get 2015 first-round DE Dante Fowler on the field this season, at last found some upper-tier free agents to take their money in DE Malik Jackson, RB Chris Ivory and S Tashaun Gipson ... and it's a good bet GM Dave Caldwell isn't done spending.
Eli Manning: His close-but-no-cigar New York Giants should theoretically win more tight games -- and maybe some blowouts, too -- with Vernon, DT Damon Harrison and CB Janoris Jenkins bolstering the league’s worst defense while DE Jason Pierre-Paul and WR Victor Cruz were both retained. GM Jerry Reese, who's scrapping to keep his job, also has the resources to continue putting pieces around his quarterback.
Chase Daniel: In six NFL seasons, he's started twice. That didn't prevent the Philadelphia Eagles from giving him a three-year, $21 million contract -- incentives could drive the value higher -- which could make him the league's highest-paid backup (unless ex-Eagle Nick Foles remains a No. 2 in L.A.). And don't be surprised if Daniel emerges as the people's champ in Rocky's hometown. His familiarity with coach Doug Pederson's playbook certainly gives him a leg up on Sam Bradford if a competition for the No. 1 job materializes.
Losers
Cleveland Browns: They hired an innovative coach (Hue Jackson) and turned over the front office to executive VP of football operations Sashi Brown, who specialized in contract negotiations and salary cap management, and "Moneyball" practitioner Paul DePodesta. Apparently, the Browns' analytics are telling them to play the long game. Letting Gipson, T Mitchell Schwartz, C Alex Mack -- all Pro Bowl-caliber talents -- and speedy WR/KR Travis Benjamin leave via free agency should theoretically garner some valuable compensatory draft picks ... in 2017.
John Elway: He'd mapped it out so well, building a championship roster and dominant defense while squeezing everything that was left out of Peyton Manning before turning the reins over to heir apparent Osweiler. Then Osweiler left ... following Malik Jackson, Danny Trevathan and Manning out the door. The Broncos have never failed to win the AFC West during Elway's five-year tenure, but now his best-laid plans have been seriously disrupted. And don't forget, he's still got to pay Miller in addition to fixing his quarterback conundrum.
San Francisco 49ers: Does anyone want to stay here? (G Alex Boone didn't, and QB Colin Kaepernick apparently doesn't.) Does anyone want to join Chip Kelly's team, which is sitting on more than $60 million of unused cap space? The Niners could be playing second fiddle to the ascending Oakland Raiders in terms of Bay Area prominence for years to come.
Running backs: Doug Martin, arguably the NFL's second-best tailback in 2015 -- he was all-pro after all -- just signed a five-year contract that pays a bit more than $7 million annually. Ivory, who led the AFC in rushing last year, will make $6.5 million per season in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, defensive linemen -- Vernon and Malik Jackson -- are making two and three times as much, while a largely anonymous guard like Kelechi Osemele is now pulling down nearly $12 million a year. Even A.J. Green's unheralded former sidekicks, WRs Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, are making comparable bank to the top free-agent ballcarriers. If you're a young running back, take this advice: Switch positions.
Follow Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.
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