The first week of 2020 NFL free agency was one of the craziest periods we have seen in the league in quite some time, and thank God for that, as the rest of the sports world is currently on life support.
There were a lot of good moves, some bad moves and some moves that weren't made at all (hint, hint).
Let's examine the five biggest losers of free agency thus far:
The Jets had a ton of holes entering free agency, so expecting them to fill all of them was pretty unrealistic. But a legitimate argument can be made that they haven't done a good job addressing any of their issues.
The biggest problem New York had was along its offensive line, and the first move it made to try and rectify it was signing backup lineman George Fant to a three-year, $30 million deal.
Yes, the Jets also went out and picked up Connor McGovern, which was a solid signing, but it just feels like Gang Green picked up scraps rather than actually doing anything of significance.
New York also has serious needs at wide receiver and cornerback. It hasn't inked a single wide out thus far (at this point, the Jets pretty much have to re-sign Robby Anderson), and in spite of there being numerous good cornerbacks on the market, New York's solution has been re-signing Brian Poole and landing Pierre Desir, both on one-year contracts. That was with corners such as James Bradberry, Byron Jones and Logan Ryan available. Heck, Darius Slay was up for trade, too.
At least the Jets brought back Jordan Jenkins, but man; this has not been a great offseason for Gang Green.
To preface this, there is still plenty of time for Jadeveon Clowney to sign somewhere, but I certainly don't think he expected his market to drag like this.
Here is the problem: there seems to be pretty big disconnect between what Clowney feels he is worth and what the rest of the NFL thinks he is worth.
Clowney is seeking Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald money (so around $20 million annually), but at this point, it doesn't appear that anyone is willing to come near that.
Ultimately, Clowney may need to settle for a one-year deal to return to the Seattle Seahawks and then test his market again next offseason, but barring a drastic change in his production in 2020, I'm not sure next spring would be any different for the pass rusher.
Think about this: Clowney logged just three sacks this past season, and since entering the league in 2014, he has never posted a double-digit sack campaign.
So why does he think he should be getting paid like Mack and Donald again?
Clowney is definitely a good player, and someone will pick him up. But he isn't going to get what he wants.
3. Running backs
Todd Gurley was cut. Devonta Freeman is still searching for a new home. Derrick Henry was franchise tagged. Melvin Gordon didn't get nearly what he thought he would. Christian McCaffrey's name has been floated around in trade rumors.
This is the state of the NFL running back in 2020, and you know what the most frightening part of it is? All of the players I mentioned above are 28 or younger.
The harsh reality is that the shelf life of an NFL halfback is short, and these days, the position is not even valued nearly as much as it was a decade ago.
At this point, elite running backs are almost considered luxuries rather than necessities. You really don't need a great halfback to win in this league, which the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs have proven each of the last two years.
As a matter of fact, the last time a team with a top-tier back actually won a Super Bowl was probably when Marshawn Lynch and the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos back in February 2014.
2. New England Patriots
The Patriots let Tom Brady get away, and unless they are dead set on Jarrett Stidham, it doesn't seem like they had much of a contingency plan.
Not only that, but it may not even matter who New England trots out under center next season with the receiving corps the club currently has.
The Pats had one of the worst groups of receivers and tight ends in the NFL in 2019, and they have done virtually nothing to address the issue thus far this offseason.
Of course, the Patriots can always look to the draft to add talent, but they tried that last spring with N'Keal Harry, and look how that turned out.
New England hasn't really done much of anything this offseason other than irritate its fanbase.
I never thought I would one day be listing the Pats on a group of losers, but nevertheless, here we are.
The Texans traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals over a week ago, and I'm still not entirely sure what they were trying to accomplish.
It would be one thing if Houston got a haul of draft picks, but it didn't. Instead, it got back the declining David Johnson (with his bad contract) and a second-round pick. The two sides also swapped fourth-rounders.
So, essentially, the Texans did the Cardinals a favor.
What the heck is going on here?
Hopkins is just 27 years old and is a top-three wide receiver in the NFL. He was also basically the only reliable weapon that Deshaun Watson had.
Now, Houston is left with a terrible offensive line, a non-existent rushing attack and a group of receivers that is largely injury-prone and isn't even that good when healthy.
The Texans have won the AFC South in four of the last five years, but I think we can safely say that Houston will not be winning the division in 2020. As a matter of fact, there seems to be a good chance that the Texans finish in the cellar.
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