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Brandon Myers

Top 2017 Free Agents By Position 3.0: Offense

March 17th, 2017 at 12:19pm CST by Zachary Links

The initial wave of NFL free agency is now complete, and while many of the league’s top available players are now off the board, there are still plenty of quality options still on the open market.

Listed below are our rankings for the top 15 free agents at each offensive position. These rankings aren’t necessarily determined by the value of the contracts – or the amount of guaranteed money – that each player is expected to land in free agency. These are simply the players we like the most at each position, with both short- and long-term value taken into account.

Restricted and exclusive-rights free agents, as well as players who received the franchise tag, aren’t listed here, since the roadblocks in place to hinder another team from actually acquiring most of those players prevent them from being true free agents.

We’ll almost certainly be higher or lower on some free agents than you are, so feel free to weigh in below in our comments section to let us know which players we’ve got wrong.

Here’s our breakdown of the current top 15 free agents by offensive position for 2017:

Quarterback:

  1. Jay Cutler
  2. Chase Daniel
  3. Ryan Fitzpatrick
  4. Colin Kaepernick
  5. Josh McCown
  6. Robert Griffin III
  7. Case Keenum
  8. Matt McGloin
  9. Mark Sanchez
  10. Christian Ponder
  11. Blaine Gabbert
  12. Ryan Nassib
  13. Shaun Hill
  14. Kellen Moore
  15. Austin Davis

Tony Romo is not a free agent…at least not yet. If the Cowboys do not find a suitable trade and release him, you’ll find him at the top of this list.

Laugh if you must, but Cutler is far and away the best quarterback available on the open market. While most of this year’s QB-needy teams are done with their free agent shopping, the Jets are still searching for their 2017 starter and no one would make more sense for them than Cutler. He’s not all that far removed from playing solid football and he’s a logical transitional option for the Jets until they can isolate a better, younger option for 2018. Jay Cutler (Vertical)

Kaepernick’s reps wisely told the press that he will be standing for the National Anthem this year. Still, Kaepernick is an outspoken guy who wants to use his platform to discuss hot button issues, so there’s no guarantee that the media circus around him will cease. Jets owner Woody Johnson loves seeing his team on the back pages of the New York tabloids, but even he has to have more sense than to entertain Kaepernick. McCown, who has been contact with the team, would be an okay choice if they can’t get something done with Cutler. Chase Daniel could be an option too, but there isn’t much game film on him.

Needless to say, the No. 3 ranked player on this list isn’t an option in New York.

Running back:

  1. Adrian Peterson
  2. LeGarrette Blount
  3. Jamaal Charles
  4. Rashad Jennings
  5. Tim Hightower
  6. DeAngelo Williams
  7. Chris Johnson
  8. Christine Michael
  9. Benny Cunningham
  10. Bobby Rainey
  11. Brandon Bolden
  12. Denard Robinson
  13. James Starks
  14. Matt Asiata
  15. Kenjon Barner

Honorable mention: DuJuan Harris, Antonio Andrews, Khiry Robinson

Adrian Peterson (vertical)The Vikings have moved on and Peterson will not be back in Minnesota. Where he goes from here is anyone’s guess. When Peterson’s option was declined by the Vikings earlier this month, there were tons of stories (likely sourced by Peterson’s camp) about interest from a litany of contenders. Since then, each team – through anonymous sources – has denied being in the mix for the veteran. It would be easy to doubt Peterson at this juncture, but he has come back from serious injuries multiple times in his career and he is only one year removed from his stellar 2015 campaign. He gets the top spot over the bruising Blount as well as Charles, who hasn’t been healthy in a long while.

Jennings was brought to New York with the idea that he would be the team’s workhorse. Unfortunately, two of his three seasons with the G-Men were marred by injury. Jennings is currently putting his agility to good use on Dancing With The Stars and it remains to be seen how committed he is to football. After that, we have a trio of vets (Hightower, Williams, CJ2K) who could still advance the ball in limited spurts.

In case you’re wondering – Mike Gillislee is not listed here because he is a restricted free agent.

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Buccaneers Down To 53 Man Roster

September 2nd, 2016 at 11:27am CST by Zachary Links

The Buccaneers have trimmed down to 53 with more than 24 hours to go before the deadline. According to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, the following players have been dropped from the roster: "<strong

Among the cuts, Vitale’s is one of the most surprising. The Bucs are planning on carrying five tight ends, yet the sixth-round pick out of Northwestern apparently did not show enough to make the cut. The Bucs will have Cameron Brate, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Luke Stocker, Brandon Myers, and UDFA Alan Cross on the roster to open up the season instead. Myers and Cross were both considered to be on the bubble somewhat, but they have impressed Dirk Koetter & Co. to the point where they are going to carry five tight ends and bounce a sixth-round pick in order to keep both of them. Myers was inactive for the Bucs’ final five games of 2015 as a healthy scratch.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NFC Notes: Eagles, Bolden, Buccaneers, Raji

July 23rd, 2016 at 11:59am CST by Ben Levine

Some assorted notes from around the NFC…

  • After having worked under Andy Reid for several years, Doug Pederson is now in full control as the head coach of the Eagles. Reid had guided the Eagles to the playoffs during his second season as head coach in Philly, but Pederson believes he inherited a better team than his mentor. “This team today is better than that team,” Pederson told Jeff McLane of Philly.com. “I just think that we’re in a better position.”
  • Safety Omar Bolden was released by the Bears yesterday, but Troy Renck of Denver7 ABC tweets that the 27-year-old “will land on his feet.” Renck notes that the former Broncos draft pick could wind up in Denver, and he adds that his release from the Bears was due to the team’s “logjam” at defensive back.
  • If Buccaneers offensive lineman Gosder Cherilus proves to be nothing more than a backup to Demar Dotson, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times could see the team letting go of him and his $4.5MM salary. Other veterans who could find themselves on the hot seat include offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith, defensive end George Johnson, tight end Brandon Myers, and safety Major Wright.
  • The Packers had offered B.J. Raji a “lucrative” contract, indicating that they expected him to play a major role on their 2016 squad. However, as ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky writes, the defensive lineman’s one-year hiatus from the NFL suddenly changed the organization’s offseason plans.

 

Extra Points: L. Williams, Giants, Zumwalt

June 26th, 2016 at 12:45pm CST by Rory Parks

Jets defensive lineman Leonard Williams was one of the more impressive rookies in the league in 2015, and with a full professional season under his belt, he says he is ready to take his game to the next level. Said Williams, “I know the playbook now, so I don’t have to think as much when I’m out there, I can just play. It’s less pressure now that I’m not a rookie anymore, and I don’t have to have that tag or label on me. It’s just been more comfortable overall this year” (article via Kaylee Pofahl of The New York Post).

After racking up 63 tackles and three sacks last season, Williams indicated that he has put a special emphasis on his pass rush during offseason workouts in an effort to become a more complete player. As Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com writes, Williams and defensive line cohort Sheldon Richardson are two big reasons why New York has not made more of an effort to sign Muhammad Wilkerson to a long-term deal.

Now let’s take a look at some more links from around the league:

  • Mark Herzlich, despite being a former undrafted free agent who is neither a star nor a starter, has defied the odds and has played five seasons in the NFL, all with the Giants, with season number six right around the corner. He is by all accounts a good person whose battle with cancer has been inspirational and, thus far, successful, but his on-field contributions have been fairly limited. However, even though one of Herzlich’s biggest fans in former head coach Tom Coughlin is gone, he still has plenty of supporters, including team president and co-owner John Mara. As Paul Schwartz of The New York Post writes, Herzlich has simply made himself exceedingly popular both on and off the field, and therefore difficult to cut. There is something to be said for positive influences in a locker room, and Herzlich’s contributions in that regard have allowed him to carve out a surprising NFL career.
  • Giants wide receiver Roger Lewis, who signed with the club as a UDFA this year, was charged with two counts of raping a girl, with whom he had prior sexual relations, when he was 18. He ultimately was acquitted of one of the charges and pleaded down another for an admission he lied to police during the investigation, and he now has the opportunity to live out his NFL dream, despite not hearing his name called on draft weekend. He has draft-worthy ability, but teams likely shied away from him as a result of the not-too-distant criminal charges, as Matt Schneldman of The New York Post writes. As a UDFA on a team loaded with wide receiver talent, Lewis has a major uphill battle to make Big Blue’s roster, but at this point he is playing with house money and is simply grateful for the chance to play and to further remove himself from his troubled past. He has shown flashes in offseason workouts and could get a chance with another club if he is unable to land a spot with the Giants.
  • Jordan Zumwalt, the Steelers‘ sixth-round pick in 2014, spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons on injured reserve with a hip injury, and the hip surgery that ended his 2015 campaign before it started took over five hours to complete and included a brutal recovery/rehabilitation period. Now hopefully healthy, Zumwalt has been working exclusively at inside linebacker in offseason workouts, as Ray Fittipaldo of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, and he still has a chance to make the club in that role as the Steelers seek to replace Sean Spence and Terence Garvin. The odds, however, remain stacked against him.
  • Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune looks at five veteran Buccaneers who could be on the roster bubble, a list headlined by tight end Brandon Myers and right tackle Gosder Cherilus.

Buccaneers Restructure Brandon Myers’ Contract

December 27th, 2014 at 12:33pm CST by Ben Levine

The Buccaneers have done a bit of salary cap management this morning, as Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune reports (via Twitter) that the team has restructured the contract of tight end Brandon Myers. As Cummings notes, more Bucs players could soon follow suit since “many want to stay.”

Myers hasn’t come close to matching his production with the Raiders in 2012, when he caught 79 passes for 806 yards and four touchdowns. In two seasons since, Myers has compiled only 65 catches for 691 yards and four touchdowns with the Giants and Bucs. Despite the lack of production, Myers has still earned 429 snaps this season, splitting time with fellow tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins.

In March, Myers signed a two-year deal with Tampa Bay worth $4MM. This came only a year after he signed a one-year, $2.25MM deal with the Giants.

Giants Void Contracts Of Myers, Webster

February 7th, 2014 at 8:17pm CST by Zachary Links

On Friday, tight end Brandon Myers and cornerback Corey Webster saw their deals automatically voided, writes Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News. The two deals were terminated at 3pm CT earlier today.

Myers inked a four-year deal with the Giants last season with three voidable years while Webster had one voidable year remaining on his contract. Myers, 29 in September, made a name for himself in 2012 with the Raiders by hauling in 79 receptions for 806 yards, including a brilliant 14 catch, 130 yard, and one touchdown showing against the Bears late in the season. However, he didn’t do much for Big Blue, recording 47 catches for 522 yards and a pivotal missed ball against those same Bears that dropped the Giants to 0-6.

Webster, 32 in March, appeared in just four games thanks to injuries and would have been largely out-of-action anyway after being leapfrogged by Trumaine McBride on the depth chart. Webster was once a top player at his position but he’s a couple of years away from when he was a feared CB. Ultimately, the Giants had little reason to retain either player.

Cutting ties with Myers and Webster helps to add to the Giants’ projected $13.7MM in cap space. However, the Giants have a lot of work to do after an embarrassing 2013. The Giants have to rebuild offensive line, find playmakers to possibly supplant Hakeem Nicks and David Wilson, and bolster one of the league’s weakest defenses.