We Signed Dalvin

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https://twitter.com/i/status/1371676665156358144

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Walter Football Grade:

 Vikings sign DT Dalvin Tomlinson (2 years, $22 million; $32 million):     A+ Grade
This takes me back to the days when the Vikings had Kevin and Pat Williams, and then Sharrif Floyd and Linval Joseph. You can even go back to John Randle. It seems as though the Vikings should always have a dominant force on the defensive line, and Dalvin Tomlinson is the latest person in that pantheon.

Tomlinson is a monstrous run stuffer who can also get to the quarterback rather well for a 320-pound lineman. He's also just 27, so he'll be in his prime for both years of this contract. With that in mind, I love this move for the Vikings. They're getting a big-time talent on a contract that doesn't carry much risk because this is just a 2-year deal.

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It appears that if Tomlinson and Pierce can remain healthy, the D-line interior should be a big strength on the team. Now we have 'rumored' rift with Danielle Hunter to worry about.....its always something in Vikingland.

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I found some rather funny grades on Walter as well:

 Panthers sign OT Cameron Erving (2 years, $10 million; $6 million guaranteed):     O'BRIEN Grade
When grading the Pat Elflein signing, I wrote that the Vikings were laughing at the move because they waived Elflein in 2020. Now that the Panthers have signed Cameron Erving, I can say that numerous teams are laughing, namely every single franchise that has rostered Erving over the years.

Frankly, Erving is a bad player. He's a replacement-level talent. He has experience, but that doesn't matter because it's nothing but bad experience. He's not even a good backup because there's no upside.

With that in mind, there was no reason to pay Erving this sort of money. Any sort of guarantee is a mistake. Even six dollars - forget the million - would be too much. This signing deserves an F- grade. It's even worse than the Patriots' decision to overpay Jonnu Smith because Smith, at least, is a solid player.

 Panthers sign G Pat Elflein (3 years, $13.5 million; $6 million guaranteed): D Grade
The Vikings must be laughing at this contract. That's because they waived Elflein in the middle of the 2020 season. The Jets then picked up Elflein, who made six starts for his new team.

Elflein is a passable starter, but would be better off as a backup. With that in mind, this is an obvious overpay. I get that the Panthers desperately needed to retool their offensive line, but why overpay a below-average player like this? Had the Panthers been more patient, they could have obtained an equal lineman on a cheaper deal.


 Packers re-sign RB Aaron Jones (4 years, $48 million): C Grade
Aaron Jones is a tremendous talent, and he's only 26. Aaron Rodgers will be happy to have Jones around for four more years, or however long Rodgers remains in Green Bay.

That said, I can't get behind this signing. Giving big money to running backs, even great ones like Jones, often backfires. Also, this signing makes the A.J. Dillon second-round pick from last year seem futile. Dillon will be the No. 2 back with Jamaal Williams entering free agency, but the Packers could have gained some serious leverage by having their starting running back on a very cheap rookie deal. Instead, they'll be dedicating a big chunk of change to a position that is easily replaceable.

 Texans sign LB Christian Kirksey (1 year, $4.5 million): D+ Grade
One day after giving $3 million to the 28th-best free agent running back on the market, the Texans spent $4.5 million on the 32nd-ranked player in my NFL Free Agent Linebacker Rankings.

I'm not sure why the Texans are overpaying for scrubs in the pre-free agency period. Maybe they know something we don't, but it's more likely that they're overvaluing has-been scrubs for no reason. Christian Kirksey qualifies as such, as he's been a miserable defender in recent years after a positive start to his career. This is better than the Mark Ingram signing because Kirksey's career isn't over, but this deserves a bad grade regardless.

 Bears re-sign K Cairo Santos (5 years, $16 million): D Grade
Five years and $16 million seems like a lot for a kicker who has been cut five times since 2018. Cairo Santos was terrific last year, hitting 30-of-32 attempts, but before 2020, he hadn't converted better than 80 percent of his kicks since 2016. So, was 2020 a fluke, or the beginning of a new trend?

There's a chance Santos will continue to kick very well for the Bears, but there's an obvious downside. Santos could regress back to the mean, which will make this contract look extremely foolish. The Bears could have retained Santos or a similar kicker to a shorter, cheaper deal, so it's unclear why they gave him this sort of contract.

 Vikings sign DE Stephen Weatherly (1 year, $2.5 million): B- Grade
I gave the Panthers a "D" grade for signing Stephen Weatherly last offseason. Here's my reason:

This is a lot of money - 2 years, $12 million - for a guy I had ranked as my 30th defensive end in this year's free agency class. Weatherly, who has six sacks in the past two seasons, is a replacement-level player. There's no reason he should've gotten more than the veteran minimum, yet the Panthers have foolishly decided to give him $6 million per year for some unknown reason.

Weatherly lasted just one year. He recorded no sacks in nine games. However, he's still fairly young (27 in a few weeks) and can be a fine rotational player. He has played for Mike Zimmer for four years, so he can step in and just reprise his role without any sort of transition. At $2.5 million, he's somewhat of a bargain compared to what the Panthers gave him.

 Lions sign WR Tyrell Williams (1 year, $6.2 million): C+ Grade
The Lions are bound to lose at least one of Kenny Golladay or Marvin Jones this offseason. It's possible both could depart, thus the Lions had to find some receiving talent to serve as replacements.

Tyrell Williams is an OK addition. He has some upside with his deep ability, but he missed all of 2020 with a torn labrum and was ineffective the year before with foot problems. Williams is not reliable, and he's not even very good when healthy, but this signing doesn't carry too much risk

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great signing.  you get a guy who can stuff the run well and collapse the pocket. 

he and Pierce should do very well stopping the run game, while allowing for LBs to run clean.  Run clean towards the QB

sign a quality vet G (Taylor, Jackson, Lamp)
draft a OL and DE in the first 3 rounds (BPA)

trenches reloaded

best OL Kirk has had this year (great for dynamic weapons)
best DL since the early Zim days (great for LBs and improving young CBs)

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Last One: 

This guy from Walters does not like what the genius Bellycheat is doing:  

 Patriots sign WR Kendrick Bourne (3 years, $22.5 million): D+ Grade
Man, the Patriots cannot evaluate receiving talent. I understand this contract even less than the Nelson Agholor deal, and that one didn't make much sense either.

It's crazy that the Patriots spent nearly $50 million on two receivers today, yet they still have a big need at the position. Kendrick Bourne is just an OK player. He's versatile, but doesn't have much talent. He'll be a fine role player, but you shouldn't pay role players $22.5 million.

 Patriots sign WR Nelson Agholor (2 years, $26 million): C- Grade
You're seeing things correctly. Nelson Agholor just signed for the same term and total money as Yannick Ngakoue. Somehow, a mediocre receiver will be paid as much as one of the top edge rushers in the NFL. I don't understand either.

This isn't a terrible signing, but it's not very good either. Agholor thrived last year under Greg Olson's great coaching, but only after doing nothing in the NFL for the rest of his career besides dropping important passes. Agholor won't have Olson coaching him in New England, so I imagine he's due for some regression.

With that in mind, I can't go above a C- grade for this signing. The Patriots needed to upgrade their receiving corps, but they could have done much better than this.

 Patriots sign DE/OLB Matthew Judon (4 years, $56 million): C+ Grade
The Patriots are spending money like drunken sailors today. They've made some dubious signings, and while this one is much better than the Jonnu Smith move, it doesn't seem like a slam dunk either.

Matthew Judon has been a solid player for the Ravens, but never a great one. He has never logged more than 10 sacks in a single season, and Baltimore didn't view him as a great pass rusher because it traded for Yannick Ngakoue during the 2020 season. The Ravens also refused to give Judon the contract he wanted, which is telling, given that they're the team most familiar with him in the entire league. It's not like the Ravens missevaluate talent often, so why didn't they want to pay Judon the big bucks?

It could be that the Ravens knew Judon would be overpaid on the open market, like he was in this instance. Judon isn't very young either; he turns 29 soon, so he'll be spending the majority of this contract in his 30s, which is far from ideal.

In summary, I don't hate this signing. Judon will help the Patriots' pass rush, which was in need of an upgrade. However, this was an overpay, and there's a good chance the Patriots will regret this contract down the road.

 Patriots sign TE Jonnu Smith (4 years, $50 million; $31.25 million guaranteed): F Grade
It seems like every offseason, there's a team that greatly overpays for a tight end. The Browns were guilty of this last year when they gave Austin Hooper a 4-year, $44 million contract. The year before, the Lions gave Jesse James a 4-year, $25 million deal. The prior spring, the Bears handed Trey Burton a $32 million contract over four seasons. All of these signings have been utter failures.

Now, it's the Patriots' turn. This is a colossal overpay. Jonnu Smith is an athletic tight with upside, but he has never lived up to his potential. You can perhaps blame Ryan Tannehill for that, but it's not like the Patriots have a better passing quarterback. I'm sure Cam Newton will want to lean on Smith, but based on his past production, Smith is unlikely to be the sort of weapon that Greg Olsen was for Newton in Carolina.

I really hate this big tight end contracts. They never pan out unless the player in question is an elite tight end like Travis Kelce or George Kittle. Smith isn't close to being elite, so this signing deserves a failure grade.

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Adam Patrick

@Str8_Cash_Homey

·5h

New #Vikings DT Dalvin Tomlinson was a 3-time state champion wrestler as a high schooler in Georgia

He finished with a career record of 144-1

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Somewhat reminiscent of Williams Wall...

Even more reminiscent of Hicks and Schwartz in Chicago. 

Either way an upgrade over Covid season 

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I really like this signing. No Barmore in the 1st round now...hopefully they go OL with two of their first four picks

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This was a great signing to solidify the middle of the defense.  Typical Vikings FA signing, productive player in his prime looking for a 2nd contract...  didn't overpay like other teams are doing.

He should create a lot more pressure than Shamar at 3T and has the size and strength to stay on the field on 3rd downs when we pull Pierce in obvious passing situations.  This frees us up to bring back a versatile pass rusher like Odenigbo who can slide inside on passing downs or maybe take a guy like Rousseau who can rush inside and out.

BOOM