Mathew Bery: The 2024 Spring Signing Period Reviewed
Ok, for starters, grading every team’s Spring Signing Period moves is partially for fun, but also partially so that all of the franchises can get a big picture view of what everyone else is doing – that gives you info on your competition, but should also give you strategy ideas to tuck into your back pocket.
STOP, no, don’t skip ahead to check your grade, keep reading.
Next, let’s get this out of the way, I’ve graded each franchises without benefit of knowing what they’re strategy may be, so my assessment of their moves could be way off base. Again, remember it’s all in fun, so if you end up with a poor grade, always remember that I may not know what in the hell I’m talking about. Also, my value of a player could be entirely different than the franchise’s GM or coach’s value or outlook for that player, and who’s to say who’s right? We’re probably both wrong.
Now, finally, my grading system: I gave each team a C to start, and then added and subtracted up and down the scale based on moves they made that I liked or didn’t like. Sometimes I liked or disliked a move that it moved them a whole letter grade, sometimes just a + or a -. Yes, very scientific, I know. But wait, there’s more. Once all grades were finalized, I had too many teams clustered with A’s and high B’s, and where’s the fun in that. So, I took all the C grades and moved them down to Ds (sorry guys), and I took all the B grades and spread them out between C and B grades, and I took all the A grades and spread them out between B and A. It’s sort of like I graded on a curve, but backwards, so that franchises did worse based on how good other franchises did.
Did everyone understand that? Makes perfect sense, right? Ok, here we go…
Without further ado, here are my grades for the 2024 Spring Signing moves for each AFFL franchise, ranked worst to first
Showboats – Definitely the most active and aggressive franchise in Spring Signing this year after San Quintin came away as the League #2 last season. Active and aggressive, but not necessarily productive. They had some great acquisitions and signings of young players – Bryce Young, EJ Speed, Treylon Burkes, Chase Brown – for what could be really good deals if the players pan out, but it’s a lot invested in maybes – and not even good maybes. Of the 4 trades they made, I score it as 1 win, 1 loss, and 2 draws for the Showboats. I also don’t really like the tag on Warner or that they left Watt hung out to dry as an RFA. All of that and a whopping $140 million in dead money accumulated. I DO really like the way they’ve used their taxi squad, though, each of the 4 moves make very good sense and moves them up a whole letter grade. Grade: D-
Blitz – Despite having the dead money space for it, BC missed out on a chance to restructure the considerable buckets of money they’ll owe to Hurts and CMC next year, and some of their signings – Anderson at LB and Dotson at WR – are a bit of a reach, but I like the tag on Devonte Adams and the Diablo Devine signing for just $8 million a year (one of the top 20 signings of this spring), but they failed to address Rhamandre Stevenson, Khalif Raymond, and Daxton Hill – who they could’ve signed for less than $20 mil each. Grade: D
Bandits – I feel like they nailed it on their defensive moves – signing Adebo, Hutchinson, and Garrett to good deals all around. I feel equally that they missed the mark on offense, paying Carr $60 million and tying up a couple of contract years, and also waiving FA’s Lockett and Hopkins. Hopkins scored 240+ points last season and will likely produce in the same range this season, while Lockett scored 200, but I’m predicting him north of 300 points this season, and each of those weekly starters could’ve been signed for about $20 million. They’ve produced good reserves for the auction though, soI added a plus to their score. Grade: D+
Panthers – Jefferson was early and aggressive in Spring Signing, and seemed to be setting up their contracts’ future salary schedules strategically with each other. I like the planning. They signed Pickens and Ridley on offense, Al-Shaair, Tremaine Edmunds and Trevon Walker on defense, all at or below market value and and invested dead money to pay those down even further. They took on $90 million in dead money – aggressive, but not overly so, I like that, and I really like the move to taxi Purdy to developmental instead of active, but the move to put Jahmyr Gibbs onto Taxi-B only makes sense because of the Panthers’ salary costs. I don’t like the tag move on Josie Jewel, if they had used it on Murray, instead, they could have kept Gibbs active and signed Khalil Mack at $19.5m. The Panthers would’ve been the first A+ I gave, but passing on The Great Khalil at that price, even at his age, and keeping Gibbs on taxi instead of utilizing the production knocks Jefferson’s final score down a whole letter and a half. Grade: C-
Wranglers – It seems Italy entered Spring Signing intent on keeping as much of their 2-time champion roster together as possible, and willing to pay for it. I really like ALL of their Taxi moves, bringing Dalton Kinkaid up and taking advantage of Rodgers and Milano’s low salaries to shield them with Active Taxi. They signed expensive deals with AJ Brown, Amon Ra St Brown, Nick Bosa, and Jaquin Brisker, and I like all the signings, but they were all very expensive. Squeezing in a few more deals, and I’m seeing Italy still $30-50 million over the cut cap after factoring in obvious cuts and their franchise tag held in reserve. I would assume they’ll find that by moving money around or trading, but they’ve already got $130 million in dead money, meaning money’s going to be very tight for them this season, especially if they have to take hits for contract cuts. Despite the look of the roster they have now, the budget restrictions they’re going to have are big and I don’t see how they don’t lose money or trade value in some of these players between now and crossing the cut cap. Otherwise a strong Spring Signing, though. Grade: C
Generals – Prince George locked down their whole offense – Kamara, and receivers Reed, Aiyuk, and Doubs – all at good prices and I really like the move to take advantage of Richardson’s injury price to tag him. They send Goff to auction as a UFA, had they been able to move him in trade, anything in return would’ve been a net gain – I think he makes more sense than Stafford going to Pittsburgh. They have very little dead money, but nothing in cut cap space to spend in the auction; they could’ve jumped to an even A if they had paid some of those contracts up front to get $40 or $50 million to spend at auction. Overall they had a solid Spring Signing, kept all of their talent, but didn’t markedly improve their position within their tier. Grade C+
Raiders – New Orleans was aggressive in paying down current and future commitments and in lining up a lot of talent to bring across the Cut Cap – I like that, but I think it was too aggressive, taking on a whopping $130 million in dead money. I like the move to tag Cousins at QB, but the Taysom Hill to taxi move was expensive and is going to unnecessarily cost them. Dontayvion Wicks to taxi, on the other hand, was smart, I think. They shield him cheaply and if he breaks out can still sign him cheaply next year. Good signings on Njoku, AJ Cole (at punter) and Kenneth Walker, below market value on all of them, but just barely, while they reached a little with the Lavonte David. Acquiring Thielen and Budda Baker via trade might have been the most significant set of moves to raise the roster’s overall power rating. But that dead money…keeps them out of the top half of my list. Grade: C+
Gold – SoCal didn’t have a lot of contract work to be done, but took care of business. I like the hard pass on extending Allen, and I like the move to sign Goedert to just 2 seasons at the market price of $18m. I’ve gone back and forth on the move to Tag Love and taxi Geno Smith. Tagging Love I think is perfect, but Geno to Taxi-A gives me pause; he’s a great back-up/weekly fill-in to have in your back pocket, but it’s an expensive price – they’ll end up paying $40 million dollars for him if they fully activate him, have already paid $30 (that’s Geno Smith). Ultimately, they have the money for it, so it’s not a bad move, per se, so I scored it neutral. I would’ve liked to have seen them take on a little more dead money to pay down some of Kelce’s salary to give them a little auction spending money. Grade: B-
Maulers – I like the signings all around, I don’t see any reaches or overpays, and I like the trade to acquire Stafford. With just $20 million in dead money and their tag in reserve, and the presumed future cut to Kenny Pickett, they can spend a little in the auction. But I don’t like the short extensions on Godwin, Conner, and Fuller, particularly when they could’ve been locked down longer term for cheaper. That keeps them out of A territory. Grade: B
Breakers – Baker Mayfield is winning nobody any championships, but at $10 million a year he’s one of the best signings through all of Spring Signing. Bicton signed the talent they had at good deals without reaching anywhere, and leaving themselves lots of spending power at auction. I really like using the Tag on an expensive Derrick Henry in his RFA season, also. If I’m going to be picky before giving out a perfect score, I have to ding them for not signing Stout at punter, #3 in the league, could’ve locked him down for $10 million. Otherwise… Grade: B
Renegades – Settling the Tua/Stroud QB situation was the priority, and I like the way Delaware handled it. It makes sense to let Tua ride out his RFA season under Captain protections, and to secure the $22m dollar price tag on Stroud. I like the Tag on Parsons too, and they signed Smith-Njiba for just $14 million a year (!!!). The Addison deal – 2 years at $22 million a piece – makes sense, but 5 years for DT Will Anderson is a mighty big gamble, and combined with 5 years at $30 million for Laporta tarnished their final score in my little imaginary scorebook. Grade B+
Express – If you’re holding a 5, 7, Jack, Queen, and King, there’s not much to think about, all you can really do is throw out the 5 and 7 and hope for the best. Winston-Salem has found themselves in a similar position this spring; managing their roster by riding the only real options they had. Losing Jefferson will be a huge blow, and nothing they could do about it. Other than Jefferson, they locked up what they needed to, but, by luck of the draw, were not able to do it as cheaply as they might have liked. Josh Allen gets an RFA re-signing, but he obviously wasn’t going to come cheap, and the only option for signing Breece Hall was also an expensive, market value deal. They caught a break on Foyesade, and Kamren Curl with below market deals, but their $30 and $20m, plus Hall and Allen saw them forced to spend $120 million for just those 4 key players. Tagging Greenlaw was a good move, but with only $60 million in dead money, I would’ve liked to have seen them give themselves some auction budget with a few bonuses on those big contracts, otherwise, an almost perfect spring. Grade: B+
Federals – Surprisingly, Ohio made very few moves, but made them count. I like not offering extensions to linebackers Holcomb and Logan Wilson; I like the tag on Quincy Williams at reduced price, although, I’m torn, thinking they maybe should have used it to protect Hockenson in his RFA season. They signed safeties Adams and Metellus and running back Kyren Williams at tremendously good deals; All that, and they’re in step to come up a few hundred K under the Cut Cap; Signing Pitre as a 4th safety under contract leaves me scratching my head, though and I would’ve liked to see them sign Flowers rather than go the active taxi route. I’m being ticky-tacky, but between that and hanging Hockenson out to dry, the tics and tacs add up. Grade: A-
Invaders – Sliding into the #8 spot last season for their first trip to the post season, Wisconsin got one slippery hand on the playoff monkey bars. This Spring Signing period was an important opportunity for them to get a better grip and start to pull themselves into the annual playoff tier. They brought Kwity Paye up from Taxi (at just $11m), signed Michael Pittman to 3 years at just $9 million, and Achane at $25m. Linebacker Alex Singleton gets the Tag, I like that move, too. They used Up-Front bonuses smartly, and have their commitments lined up right at the Cut Cap. But I don’t like the pass on Bobby Wagner. I get it, he’s old and expensive ($31m), but I would’ve rather take that than the $17m on Christian Kirk. The balance could’ve been found in dead money. Otherwise, would’ve been perfect. Grade: A
Bulls – Lean and mean seems to be the strategy in Tracy. Not just with their contract activity, but they’re carrying just 14 players on their roster. Old school. They took care of extending Kupp at the amazing price of just $16 million. I like the signings of Bland and Mostert at below market prices, and also the length of those contracts – 5 and 2 years – as the perfect example of knowing what you’ve got in a player vs price. They only have $5 million in dead money, so I could find fault with them not paying down Dak’s $45 million due, but with their Franchise Tag in reserve, they didn’t really need to. They’ve got some of the most available money for the auction of any team and are going to be dangerous. Grade: A+
Stars – I like the decisions not to extend Ezekiel Elliot and Jordan Poyer – know when to cut bait – and the trade with the Showboats – giving up Kittle for Edwards – was a lateral move for San Quintin, but a slight advantage for Guatemala. Signing Trey McBride and Zamir White to incredibly cheap deals combined with getting Metcalf at market value (look for him to have a resurgent year) all benefited the Stars offense well, and on defense the addition of TJ Edwards and Robert Spillane rounds out a formidable linebacker group. Sending QB Will Levis to Taxi-B is also a great decision. Taking on about a hundred million in dead money might ordinarily make me ding them out of a top score, but they have a Recovery cap this year, so greater dead money tolerance, so I think it was a really perfect balance of what they payed down on the future, and the with other moves for the Stars taken together, they get the 100 and the bonus question. Grade: A++