[Chief Rum]

Day Three

Big Signings

DT Chad Eaton signs with the Chiefs The Seahawks take another blow on the line, and the Chiefs' defense adds another piece. Eaton, the #10 DT, moves from Seattle to Kansas City for a $2.77 M/3-year deal. The Seahawks have now lost three players on defense altogether (DE King and CB Williams are the others), while the Chiefs have now added Emmons and Eaton to a defense that already has last year's DPOY. The Chiefs were the only team with an offer for Eaton.

ILB Randall Godfrey signs with the Browns Well, now we have a true shocker. And the Seahawks horrible free agent offseason continues, as they now have as many top defensive players lost from their defense as the Pats do. Godfrey was the top inside linebacker available, and if the rankings are to be believed, the most skilled inside linebacker in the game. And he signs with...Cleveland? Wow! It looks like one of the worst teams in the league is ponying up. Good for them. Godfrey signed a $32.42 M/4-year deal to leave Seattle. In another one of the mystifying things about this free agency, Godfrey was not receiving attention from any other teams (not that he did badly, thank you, Agent Herb Mayes).

S Jerome Woods signs with the Buccs The Chiefs have been winners so far in this free agency, but not this time. They get tagged with their first loss of the offseason, when #6 S Woods hightails it for Florida and a $3.41 M/3-year deal from Tampa Bay. Of course, the Chiefs didn't even fight it. They didn't have an offer in on Woods. Cincy and Oakland both had offeres in on Woods, but the Buccs offered the most money by a decent bit.

TE Jason Dunn signs with the Bills The Chiefs get tagged again, but considering Dunn was just a backup to the top tight end int he game in Tony Gonzalez, it seems unlikely they will really miss him. Like Woods, they didn't even maike an offer for Dunn, the #1 TE available in free agency. For Dunn, of courwse, it's a great move, as he finally gets to be an unquestioned #1 TE for the Bills. He signed a $7.11/4-year deal with Buffalo, turning down a $5.39/3-year offer from the Skins that was technically richer per annum.

T Walter Jones signs with the Cowboys It's official now. Seattle is heads and tails above everyone else for worst free agency so far. For all their defensive losses, Jones was probably the biggest free agent they had. In landing Jones, the Cowboys make a very significant addition, and their offseason, with Jones and Kearse is shaping up very well. Jones got quite a deal ($39.26/4 years), considering once again he had no offers on the table from any other team, including the Seahawks. That is afeather in the cap of Ian Gowins, his agent.

CB Dexter McCleon signs with the Cards Here we make our first big signing, although I suppose it is relative, as it pails in comparison to some of the other signings already in the bag. The Chiefs lose another one here from their secondary, and we get a guy we can feel confident in handing our open corner spot to. McCleon, the #7 free agent CB, actually even outperforms Starks, so he becomes our top corner. He signed a nice cheap deal, too, at just a $2 M/2-year deal. No one else made an offer to McCleon.

G Marco Rivera signs with the Lions The Lions lost a lot of players to free agency, but not a single one of those players has yet signed with anyone. So they are ahead of the game in landing #6 G Rivera from the Packers. Rivera signed for a pretty hefty $8.36/3-year package. As often seems to happen when a player gets more than you expect him to, there was no competition for Rivera's services, even from Green Bay.

WR James Thrash signs with the Jags As if the Jaguars needed more offense, they became the second team to sign a wide receiver in this class. Thrash, who played for the Eagles last year, is the #4 WR, making him the highest-ranking receiver yet signed (above Keyshawn Johnson with Green Bay). Thrash signed for $4.51 M/4 years, taking the Jags' offer over a lesser contract offer from the Lions. As with the defenders they have lost, the Eagles made no effort to retain Thrash.

CB Chris McAllister signs with the Rams For the most part, the singings involving the NFC West have been for players going out of the division. This is a key signing of the opposite sort, and with the same kind of impact as King signing witht he Niners had. The Rams had one of the worst pass defenses in the league, and that fact probably had a lot to do with their Super Bowl loss to the Steelers. McAllister, the #3 CB and the best left on the market, si exactly what the Rams need. He is young and top notch and coming off of a great season with Baltimore. He signed a $35.69 M/6-year deal, which probably won out over offers from Denver and Philly because it had the sixth year tacked on. Poor Philadelphia continues to have a horrible free agency.

G Jamar Nesbit signs with the Chiefs The Jags' offense isn't going to improve by signing excess wide receivers over starting guards. They lost a key lineman today when the Chiefs signed Nesbit, the #8 free agent G. The Chiefs signed Nesbit to a nice, long contract for $14.50 M/5 years. It's a bit rich, but he's solid. The Jags will miss him, even if they (nor anyone else) bothered to offer him.

NOTES FROM DAY THREE

I have said it enough in the capsules, but this has been a bad offseason so far for the Hawks, Pats and Eagles. At least the Pats didn't lose anyone today.

For the Cards, we're still looking pretty good. With top offers on most of our targets. With John Tait still liking another offer better and with Hill as much a project as a starter for 2004, we decided to go after another tackle. We decided to put in an offer on Damion McIntosh, another developing tackle who has the skills to start immediately and has much higher upside than Hill.

CR