Back To Football

Hip hip hooray!! The NFL has officially been back for about a week and a half now. Thank God the 130-something-day lockout is over. Last week the free agency frenzy was bananas! Moves were being made left and right in a matter of minutes.

Later today at 4 p.m. eastern time the new league year will officially begin. That means free agents and traded players will now be able to practice with their new teams. I have a lot of questions about whether these moves will work out this season. So with that said, let's dive in and begin to analyze.

The rich seem to get richer in the NFL. One of the teams that made excellent free agent moves was the New England Patriots. They were able to trade for defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. The crazy thing is that they gave up late draft picks in order to bring those guys in. Haynesworth and Ochocinco have a lot to prove which will be a nightmare for their opponents.

One of the quiet teams during this offseason was the New Orleans Saints. They had a disappointing ending to their season, but they've made great moves through free agency and the draft. New Orleans signed defensive tackles Shaun Rogers and Aubrayo Franklin. With those two in the middle they should be able to stop the run. I also love the fact that they drafted Alabama running back Mark Ingram.

During the playoffs, the team that knocked out the Saints was the Seattle Seahawks. Pete Carroll and the Seahawks have been active throughout free agency. They picked up quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, wide receiver Sidney Rice, and tight end Zach Miller. In terms of talent, I love the fact that they picked up Rice and Miller. The problem I have with this is there seems to be no direction for the Hawks. They have no quarterback which is a problem.

A team that may give the Seahawks problems is the Arizona Cardinals. The big splash they made this offseason was trading corner back Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round pick to the Eagles for quarterback Kevin Kolb. They believe that Kolb is their quarterback of the future. I have a lot of questions about Kolb, and to be honest I think the Cardinals will regret giving up a Pro-Bowl corner back and a second-round pick. Arizona is crossing their collevtive fingers that it works.

This leads me to the Philadelphia Eagles. The "winners" of the free agency frenzy made a ton of high-profile moves. The one that takes the cake is the big contract they gave corner back Nnamdi Asomugha. In Philly it's Super Bowl or bust this season. The Eagles also picked up defensive end Jason Babin and running back Ronnie Brown. They have a ton of talent, but I'm skeptical whether they can live up to the hype. All I know is that it's going to be interesting following the Eagles all season long.

The Down To The Wire Sports Blog is just getting warmed up. Next week look out for my five bold statements about the 2011 season. Later in the month I'll be breaking down how these new acquisitions have looked during the preseason. I'll also be breaking down the entire NFL regular season schedule and predicting who I think will win each division and ultimately who will win the Super Bowl. It's an exciting time of the year and I'm just glad that America's favorite sport is back in business.