As expected, teams didn’t waste any time making a splash on Day 1 of the 2012 NFL free agency period. (Funny how so many deals get done minutes after the opening of free agency when teams and players aren’t supposed to talk to each other until then.) While the receivers stole the show on Tuesday, the biggest name on the market is still without a home. Below are quick-hit observations from the first day of the NFL free agency period.

1. The Bears and Brandon Marshall are a perfect marriage (at least for now).
Most of the speculation involving the Bears the past 24 hours was centered on Mario Williams. But it was another big name acquisition that rookie general manager Phil Emery had his eye on. The Bears have been without a prototypical l No. 1 receiver for decades but Marshall will change all of that. From what I’ve read, Marshall deeply respects Jay Cutler and the feeling is mutual. Cutler targeted Marshall early and often while in Denver and as long as the latter can keep his head on straight, this trade should benefit the Bears greatly. And while some Chicago fans were clamoring for Emery to sign Vincent Jackson, the Bears’ faithful have to be ecstatic about landing Marshall instead. As for the Dolphins, two third-round picks are nice but Miami is now left with Davone Bess, Brian Hartline and Clyde Gats as its top three receivers. The Dolphins lacked offensive talent coming into the offseason and today they just sent their top playmaker to Chicago. While they may have parted with a headache, they just created another need for themselves in the process.

2. The Redskins overpaid for Garcon, but they’ve upgraded their receiver corps nonetheless.
The Daniel Snyder-led Redskins have been overpaying free agents for the better part of a decade. So when I read that they gave Pierre Garcon a five-year, $42.5 million contract it was hardly surprising. There’s no doubt they overpaid for Garcon’s services, but at least the fit is good. The former Colt is very good after the catch, which certainly suits head coach Mike Shanahan’s West Coast offense. Along with Garcon, the Skins also added Josh Morgan and Eddie Royal, so a team that desperately needed more playmakers on offense has come out of the gates strong this offseason. Robert Griffin III should sleep easy tonight knowing that his future receiving corps just got dramatically better over the last 24 hours.

3. It’s good to see the Glazer Family spend some of the Bucs’ cap money.
Two years ago the Buccaneers won 10 games and nearly qualified for the playoffs mostly because of a weak schedule. So the Glazer Family decided that they weren’t going to spend money last offseason in order to improve a young team that still needed to be tweaked. (Oh sorry, unless you want to consider the six-year, $19.5 million contract they gave free agent punter Michael Koenen.) This year, however, the Bucs made a statement by signing Vincent Jackson on day one of free agency. Even though Jackson could be limited in new head coach Greg Schiano’s run-heavy offense, at least Tampa Bay is actually trying to make improvements to its roster. When healthy and you know, playing, Jackson is a multi-faceted receiver. He’s a deep threat, he has great hands, he runs excellent routes, and he blocks extremely well. He’s the complete package and while $26 million in guaranteed money is steep, at least the Glazers finally cracked open that checkbook of theirs.

4. I can’t see Mario Williams winding up in Buffalo.
If I were Mario Williams I would go on as many visits as were offered to me. Premier edge rushers aren’t exactly available down aisle three at Wal-Mart, so he might as well make the most of the opportunity that he’s been given. Thus, there’s no reason not to go to Buffalo and listen to what the Bills have to offer. Apparently they’re willing to pay him as the top defensive player in the league, which is obviously great for Williams. But at the end of the day I just can’t see Williams signing with a team that’s not a contender. Sure Buffalo came out of the gates hot last year and maybe Williams would be their missing piece. But Ryan Fitzpatrick eventually cooled off and the team’s play fell off a cliff. There’s no doubt that Williams would improve their chances greatly, but there has to be another team willing to pay his asking price. Granted, he may have to take less to go to a contender but at least he would have a legitimate shot at reaching a Super Bowl. With the Patriots in the same division as the Bills, I just don’t see Buffalo contending for a playoff spot soon.
UPDATE: As I was saying, Mario Williams is a perfect fit for Buffalo.

5. Weren’t the Colts rebuilding?
I have no idea what the Indianapolis Colts are doing these days. Last year proved how devoid of overall talent they had when Peyton Manning didn’t play a snap and the team fell apart. And with Peyton off to destinations unknown, the Colts have a long ways to go before being respectable again. After cleaning house last week by parting ways with players like Manning, Dallas Clark, Joseph Addai and Gary Brackett, I thought the team was going to start over with a massive rebuilding project this offseason. Instead, they re-upped with 31-year-old Robert Mathis on a lucrative deal and today signed Reggie Wayne to a three-year, $17.5 million contract. Mathis, and to a lesser extent, Wayne, are still productive players but I’m just not sure what the Colts’ game plan is here. Are they rebuilding or are they just trying to hold onto the past in any way they can?

It really doesn’t need to be said but I’ll go ahead and say it anyway: Robert Griffin III better damn be worth it.

Trade three first-round picks and a second-round selection for a Hall of Fame, Super Bowl-winning quarterback and nobody will say squat. In fact, when it’s all said and done that team may even be referred to as fearless, gutsy and innovative.

Trade three first-round picks and a second rounder for a Ryan Leaf or Akili Smith-type career and fans, the media, and the football gods themselves will never let you hear the end of it.

In the cover of the night, the Redskins acquired the No. 2 overall pick from the Rams in exchange for not one, not two, but three first-round picks and their 2012 second-round selection. People were so caught off guard by the announcement that even the league’s personal network had to use Charles Davis to talk about the trade in the middle of an Arena Football League game. True story.

Unless the Colts pull a fast one and select RGIII instead of Andrew Luck, Griffin will be a Washington Redskin come April 26. It’s the type of move we’ve come to expect of the Redskins, who have even been known to overpay at Wal-Mart. It’s a little surprising that Mike Shanahan signed off on the deal but then again, when a head coach with control of the football operations wants a player, nothing will get in his way.

As head honcho for the Falcons back in 1999, Dan Reeves once traded a first-round pick to move up in the second round so he could select a blocking tight end in Mississippi State’s Reggie Kelly. That first-round pick wound up being Jamal Lewis, whom the Ravens selected with the fifth overall pick in 2000.

Ironically, that same year Mike Ditka traded all of the Saints’ picks in that 1999 draft plus their first-round selection in 2000 to the Redskins in order to move up to select Ricky Williams. Needless to say, neither Williams nor Ditka lasted very long in New Orleans.

Granted, maybe Daniel Snyder or GM Bruce Allen was at the forefront of this trade for the Redskins. But seeing as how Shanahan has the final say in Washington these days, I’m willing to bet that he was the one who essentially upped the ante to push the deal through. And at least from the Redskins’ point of view, good thing he did because apparently the Browns were also willing to offer the Rams three first-round picks in order to move up to select the dynamic Griffin.

So now we wait. We wait to see if this will all be worth it for the Redskins in the end. If Griffin wins just one Super Bowl then the price will be justified. He certainly has the talent to succeed and considering he’s a bright kid with a ton of charisma and high character, you don’t have to squint very hard to see that he can be the face of a NFL franchise. Seeing as how head coaches are equipped with built-in egos that tell them they can polish any stone into a diamond, Shanahan probably isn’t sweating parting with four potential starters for a player like Griffin either.

That said, he and the Redskins will find it awfully difficult in the upcoming years to build a competitive team around RGIII. A team doesn’t find itself drafting in the top 10 by accident. Washington has a ton of holes and one day we may look back on this trade and deem it a failure not because of Griffin, but because the Skins didn’t have the resources to surround him with enough weapons.

But for now, the Redskins finally have a franchise quarterback for the first time in decades. For now, we wait until Shanahan and RGIII have an opportunity to make the Redskins look either fearless or incredibly stupid.

When the Cleveland Browns traded the No. 6 overall pick in last year’s NFL draft, they received quite the haul from the Atlanta Falcons (who used that pick to select Alabama wideout Julio Jones). And now the Browns seem unwilling to part with one of the key pieces from that deal in order to move up in this year’s draft.

According to a report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Redskins continue to be the “frontrunner” to acquire the Rams’ No. 2 overall pick. That’s apparently because the Browns are unwilling to part with the No. 22 overall pick, which they acquired from the Falcons last year in the Jones trade. (Cleveland also owns the No. 4 overall pick this year.)

The Redskins are reportedly willing to part with both their 2012 and 2013 first-round picks in order to move up to the No. 2 spot, but don’t want to trade their second-rounder.

A deal with the Dolphins, meanwhile, appears to be “dead in the water” according to the Post-Dispatch. After losing out to St. Louis in the Jeff Fisher sweepstakes, Miami isn’t too eager to make any deals with the Rams. The Seahawks aren’t a realistic trade partner either, as the Rams don’t want to deal with the prospect of facing Robert Griffin III twice a year from here on out.

Thus, it appears as though the Rams’ best two options remain the Browns and the Redskins. And if Washington were willing to part with two first-round picks, it would behoove St. Louis to make a deal with the Skins. But per the above report, Washington’s unwillingness to part with its second-rounder is “unacceptable” to the Rams, so you get the feeling that this storyline will only get more intriguing the closer we get to April’s draft.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the Rams have already had discussions with multiple teams about the No. 2 overall pick, which they’ve decided to trade.

According to sources, the Rams already have had trade discussions with the Cleveland Browns (No. 4), Washington Redskins (No. 6) and Miami Dolphins (No. 8), each of whom is scheduled to pick in the top eight in April’s draft.

The Rams, who already have quarterback and 2010 top pick Sam Bradford, also have discussed a potential trade with teams outside the top 10, according to a source, but it will be challenging for one to surrender enough compensation to vault to the second overall pick.

Schefter says the Rams are seeking a deal similar to what the Chargers got in exchange for Eli Manning in 2004. San Diego selected Manning with the top overall pick and in exchange received two first-round picks, a third-round pick and a fifth-round choice.

Considering the team that would be trading with the Rams would likely take either Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III, it’s entirely realistic that St. Louis could land a haul like the one the Chargers did back in ’04. It just depends on which team they decide to trade with.

According to the 2012 NFL Draft trade value chart, the No. 2 overall pick is worth 2,600 points. So in theory, the Browns could trade the No. 4 overall pick (1,800), the No. 37th overall pick (530), and the No. 68th overall pick (250) and get pretty close to that 2,600. (Although again, I’m just saying this in theory. Cleveland could trade away its first and third this year, plus a second and sixth next year if it didn’t want to part with most of its 2012 draft.)

The Rams-Browns trade connection makes the most sense in my eyes. The Browns could acquire their quarterback in the future by moving up to the No. 2 spot and they would still have the first-round pick that they acquired from Atlanta last year. Thus, even though they could potentially part with two middle-round picks this year, they still have a chance to land to two impact players in the first round. Or, they could always parlay that second first-round pick (No. 22 overall) into a couple of mid-round selections if they wanted to trade down in efforts to recoup the picks they gave to the Rams.

The Rams, meanwhile, could move down two spots and still have an opportunity to select wide receiver Justin Blackmon with the No. 4 overall pick. Assuming St. Louis wants Blackmon and Minnesota doesn’t take him at No. 3, by trading the No. 2 overall pick the Rams could essentially still land the player they want and acquire more picks in the process. It’s a win-win situation for Jeff Fisher and Co, who have a golden opportunity to re-stock a St. Louis roster that is severely devoid of talent.

Every Sunday throughout the 2011 NFL season I’ll compile quick-hit reactions from the day that was in football. I vow to always overreact, side with sensationalism over rationalism, and draw conclusions based on small sample sizes instead of cold, hard facts. It’s the only way I know how to write…

– It’s ironic really. Three weeks ago every NFL talking head said that if the Packers could get past the Lions in Detroit and the Giants in New York that they’d probably go undefeated. And after Green Bay mopped the floor with Oakland last Sunday, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the Pack would finish 16-0. Then the Chiefs, led by a chewed up and spit out Kyle Orton, go out and pull off the upset of the year by knocking off Green Bay, 19-14. Everyone will analyze this game to death but there’s not much to dissect. The strength of Kansas City, its defense, once again stepped up and played incredibly well. Aaron Rodgers, on the other hand, did not as the usually explosive Green Bay offense fizzled for the first time all year. Romeo Crennel didn’t pan out as a head coach but there’s no doubt the man knows how to run a defense. He put together a scheme today that will be studied, picked apart and emulated by every defensive coordinator that may face the Packers down the road. To hold Rodgers and Green Bay to just 14 points is truly remarkable.

Read the rest of this entry »