NFL Free Agency
The NFL free agency has just begun and there are many top-tier free agents. This year’s free agency has two very interesting storylines for one team. Both wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le’veon Bell have requested for trades. Le’veon Bell has been released after sitting out all of last year. However, Antonio Brown is still waiting to be traded to another team. Some of the players that have been franchise tagged are Jadeveon Clowney (Houston Texan), Demarcus Lawrence (Dallas Cowboys), and Frank Clark (Seattle Seahawks). The franchise tag is a mechanism that allows a team to a one year offer to a player. So far there have been many surprises during the free agency. One of them comes from the Baltimore Ravens as they released their 6-time Pro-bowl safety, Eric Weddle. Another surprise is inside linebacker being Mark Barron being released by the Los Angeles Rams. Now that free agency has been going on for about a week there have been many impacting changes so far. The first team to make a move was the Los Angeles Rams who signed safety Eric Weddle just a few days after he was released. This signing will help bolster the Rams defense after the departure of safety Lamarcus Joyner who decided to sign with the Oakland Raiders. The Rams were also able to re-sign edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr to a one year deal. Defensive end Trey Flowers agreed to a 5-year deal worth $90 million with the Detroit Lions who also signed Flowers’ former teammate, wide receiver Danny Amendola. In somewhat of a surprise the Green Bay Packers have been involved in this year’s free agency. The Packers signed three key defensive players so far in, Adrian Amos (safety), Preston Smith (inside linebacker), and Za’darius Smith (linebacker). Another team that made quite a splash in free agency was the New York Jets. The Jets were able to sign pro-bowler running back Le’veon Bell to a 4 year $53 million contract and veteran linebacker C.J Mosley to a 5 year $85 million contract. The Jets were very close to signing pro-bowl linebacker Anthony Barr as well, however, Barr backed out of the deal and decided to re-sign with the Minnesota Vikings. Some other notable free agents that landed with a new team are safety Tyrann Mathieu (Chiefs), safety Earl Thomas (Ravens), Landon Collins (Redskins), quarterback Nick Foles (Jaguars), and offensive tackle Trent Brown (Raiders). In addition to these signings, there have also been two major trades. Wide receiver Antonio Brown was traded to the Oakland Raiders from for a fourth round and sixth round pick. The other trade was the New York Giants trading superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr to the Cleveland Browns. The free agency is just beginning and is going to be crazy as teams try to rebuild and get stronger.
If you would like to see the full free agency tracker click on the link below:

Luke Mendez is an eighth grader is Mrs Bello's 8B class. He likes to play football, water polo, soccer, and run track and cross country. He likes to go...