Auction, IFL, Jai, Nils Mutant

2018 IFL FREE AGENT AUCTION PREVIEW – AFC PT. 1

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First off, a big THANK YOU to Nils to dedicating time and effort to team up and produce the series of articles again! 

There is a HUGE difference in free agency this season compared to last year. The AFC had an estimated $322m in available cap space in 2017. However, this season, there’s an estimated $716m in spending money. Excluding rookies, there are approximately 1,000 free agents, seeking a roster spot in the AFC. We should see plenty of bids to go around! 

Approach: We pulled the roster data on June 15th (8pm MST). Our goals were to:

  • Estimate roster spots and cap space
  • Assess team needs
  • Assess potential free agency options. However, the focus this year will be highlighting key positions of need instead of potential landing spots for players.  We received too many requests to not identify players this off-season.

This article will concentrate on the AFC East.

Before we get to the 2018 preview, let’s take a quick look at the 2017 free agent auction. It’s not surprising to see RB, WR, and LB leading the way in money spent and players acquired at those positions. It was interesting to see seven QBs signing contracts for a paltry total of $11.6m. Additionally, you can see who the big spenders were last year. I bet someone had to hold Decker’s hair as he threw up, selecting 9 veterans….

Below were the top-10, highest paid players from the AFC’s 2017 FA auction:

  • Marshawn Lynch – $13m
  • Isaiah Crowell –  $12m
  • Vince Williams,  $8.719m
  • Melvin Ingram – $8.1m
  • Reshad Jones – $7.125m
  • Adrian Peterson – $7m
  • DeVante Parker – $7m
  • Frank Gore – $6.125m
  • Cameron Meredith – $5.250m
  • Antoine Bethea – $4.519m

If you’d like to read the articles from 2017, they can be found at:

AFC Capital for Free Agency

Below, you can see how the money is divided up by division and how the free agency pool is split.

 

AFC East

Miami Dolphins. 34 active players, $41.157m ($26.38m in 2017) available for FA.

Finished 2017 with a 10-6 record (#2 in AFC East), 3,644 total points.  

  • 2017 Recap – The Dolphins acquired 16 players for a cool $25.656m last off-season. None of the free agents signed last season remain with the Dolphins.
  • Offense – Brad is sitting pretty with a very potent starting 5. Things get muddy when you look at QB and depth though. He’s going to run into bye week troubles in week 8 as 3 starters are out and week 9 has 1 starter and his main backup out. Brad will need to grab a high floor QB in the auction, as well as hope that he can land some solid BYE week starters/injury depth on discounted contracts.
  • Defense – It’s a bit unreal that Brad has this defense when you consider how strong his offense already is. He has weekly starters at almost every position already. Depth is a sneaky problem for Brad here as well. He manages to avoid major BYE week issues, but he has no bye week starters at any position.
  • Special Teams – Solid HC, Rookie K, Solid Punter, Below average Off.
  • Strengths – Brad always has a major advantage in that he’s a very capable GM. He’s good in most aspects and his team reflects this. In a perfect world where nobody gets injured, you could sign Brad up for the Conference Championship today. Bottom line, his starting lineup on offense and defense can rival anybody in the league.
  • Weaknesses – Underestimating James Bond. But aside from that, depth, depth and more depth. Brad is not equipped to handle an injury anywhere. He has what should be the handcuffs for Zeke and Burfict, but aside from that it’s awfully lonely at the top. QB is a short term concern, but Brad couldn’t have picked a better year to have this weakness considering the abundance of suitors in free agency.
  • Analysis – He heads into the auction requiring starters only at QB and possibly S (and CB but let’s be real, they’re CBs). Furthermore, he has the cap to get the players he wants. His biggest hurdle will be filling out his depth on a budget as he lacks depth everywhere. He’ll have to be smart and stretch his remaining cap out wisely once he signs his QB. Bottom line – The Dolphins somehow managed to put together a better team than he had at this time last year.

Potential free agent target positions

  • STARTERS
    • QB
    • K
    • CB
    • S
    • Team OFF
  • DEPTH
    • RB
    • WR
    • TE
    • DT
    • DE
    • LB
    • S

Buffalo Bills. 42 active players, $48.325m ($15.43m in 2017) available for FA.

Finished 2017 with a 8-8 record (#3 in AFC East), 3,584 total points.  

  • 2017 Recap – The Bills acquired 5 players for a measly $3.780m last off-season. Three players signed from last season still remain on the team: Jeff Locke, Teddy Bridgewater, and Travis Benjamin. However, Teddy may be cut when rosters are reduced.
  • Offense – Travis….. what happened? Ingram and Hunter Henry have DP’d our good friend and Training Camps haven’t even started. Howard, Doyle and Rudolph are everything Travis has right now. Luckily, he has 48M to spend in the auction, but he’s going to need to be very very smart. Bilal Powell is his only player that can even be considered a depth piece, no BYE week starters. I am really hoping Travis has a bomb defense, because right now he needs that money to fix that offense.
  • Defense – Thankfully, it’s much better on this side of the ball. Linval, Campbell, Casey and Golden make a formidable D-Line. LBs need some work. Anzelone has some upside and is a solid depth piece, but I wouldn’t want to rely on him as a starter considering the musical chairs they play on that Saints defense. Von, McKinney and Houston are solid starters but nothing to write home about. Poyer is an elite S with Jefferson a solid starter and McLeod is decent backup with big game upside. Week 10 will prove to be difficult with 3 projected starters on BYE.
  • Special Teams – Solid HC, great K, needs a P, average Off.
  • Strengths – The only thing Travis has going for him is that Brees is consistently a top QB. He also can lean a bit on his D-Line, but there’s not many positives. This team looked a lot different before the Ingram Suspension and Hunter Henry sticking his leg in a wood chipper. 
  • Weaknesses – A major dilemma for Travis is that Mark and Brad are so strong as GMs. He does not have much room to make mistakes and two of his top players going down may be an insurmountable task. He lacks starters and depth on offense as well as at LB.
  • Analysis – Travis needs to pull a rabbit out of his ass! I am almost inclined to recommend Travis start selling assets and building up his team for the future. While not impossible, the road he has to traverse to catch Brad and Mark is perilous. Travis needs to be flawless for the rest of the off-season if he does intend to stick it out, but it may be time to swallow that pride. Bottom line – 2018 may be the year the Bills fall to 4th in the division…

Potential FA Targets Positions

  • STARTERS
    • RB/WR/TE
    • LB
    • CB
    • P
  • DEPTH
    • RB/WR/TE
    • DT
    • LB

New England Patriots. 27 active players, $32.383m ($33.19m in 2017) available for FA.

Finished 2017 with a 10-6 record (#1 in AFC East), 3,659 total points.

  • 2017 Recap – The Patriots acquired 24 players for $32.570m last off-season. Two of the players signed from last season remain with the Patriots: Barry Church and MIA OFF.
  • Offense – It still amazes me that Mark was able to put this together. Even if Gurley and Kamara do come back to earth a bit, Mark has the firepower to have the best offense in the league. 4 stud RBs means there won’t be a week where he isn’t rolling out a 3 RB lineup. Mark will also be in the market for a QB and I suspect money is not an issue. Mark will be wise to add some depth at WR/TE and hope Christian Kirk clicks sooner rather than later.
  • Defense – The only real hole to speak of is DT. Not a major issue, but I’m sure it will be addressed nonetheless. Watt will be key for Mark as he will need him to at least show flashes of his former self to justify that contract. Mark does need depth at all positions on defense, similar to his aquatic rival. Week 10 will be rough as he has 3 defensive starters on BYE.
  • Special Teams – Average HC, Solid K, Needs P, Average Off.
  • Strengths – Well, we’ve all seen James Bond, and Mark truly is the Bond of the IFL. Smooth talking, intelligent and daring. He’s active in all aspects and will get better in the auction as well as through waivers and trades. The best stable of RBs in the league is his signature move and I only wish to see how he will acquire the 1.01 next year for whatever RB is dominating the rookie boards.
  • Weaknesses – Depth everywhere beside RB. Obviously the lack of QB. Really not much to discuss here.
  • Analysis – An obvious favorite, Mark is going to be a name we’re discussing in the postseason. It’s amazing to have both Brad and Mark in the same division. It’s an amazing rivalry and these two teams are built to go to absolute fucking war this year. Bottom Line – The winner of this feud may very well be the IFL champion this year.

Potential FA Targets Positions

  • STARTERS
    • QB
    • HC
    • P
    • DT
  • DEPTH
    • QB
    • RB/WR
    • DE
    • LB
    • S

New York Jets. 45 active players, $74.284m ($7.83m in 2017) available for FA.

Finished 2017 with a 6-10 record (#4 in AFC East), 3,147 total points.

  • 2017 Recap – The Jets acquired 7 players for $5.890m last off-season. Only Desmond Trufant remains with the Jets.
  • Offense – Poor Cory. It’s not his fault. He has some solid pieces to build around and he did have a decent draft, but he was truly thrown into the Lion’s den by ending up in a division with 2 of the top teams in the league. He should focus on some high upside players who may be a year away. He has a ton of cap and could go big in hopes of being  a competitive team this year, but I don’t think that’s what we will see.
  • Defense – Seeing 6 DT’s when you start looking at a team is never a good thing. IMO, that’s 3 wasted roster spots at least, but again, not entirely his fault. DE’s are solid, but very thin at LB. solid depth at S. With his cap he could put together a solid defense, but again it may be best to focus on players that could pay off more down the road, or at least players that won’t be losing value over the next few years.
  • Special Teams – Needs HC, P, Off. Solid K.
  • Strengths – It’s tough to talk about this with such a fresh owner. If there’s anything I can say it’s that he has some mighty big balls to take on that team and so far has shown to have thick skin. I hope to start hearing even more from him through slack and interviews so we can better understand our new member of the family.
  • Weaknesses – Again I cannot say much here, not enough to go off of. Speaking on a team level, he is dwarfed by two giants at the moment. Lots of cap invested at QB, but I feel he has some sort of plan.
  • Analysis – Inheriting a team devoid of any care or love, Cory has an immense task ahead of him. I feel he has had a solid start to his tenure, with some minor bumps along the way, but he shows promise. Bottom line – the journey is a long one. Hopefully, the Jets fly down the right path.

Potential FA Target Positions

  • STARTERS
    • RB/WR/TE
    • LB
    • HC
    • P
    • Team OFF
  • DEPTH
    • RB/WR/TE
    • LB

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