[Chief Rum]

Running In Place

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

Roster Strength +/-: +2.9

Key Players Lost: QB Doug Flutie, C Cory Raymer, G Bob Hallen, T Damion McIntosh, T Vaughn Parker, DE Ray Lee Johnson, DT Jason Fisk

Key Players Signed: RB Corey Dillon, T Jason Matthews, ILB Al Wilson, OLB Jeff Gooch

Comments: Well, my system gives the Chargers a slightly positive outlook on free agency so far, but I am finding it hard to be otimistic about a free agency in which a team lsoes four line starters, and only brings in one mediocre replacememnt. But then again, this was the team that had those problems and yet didn't have a line position listed as a need, so maybe htey are indeed deep enough to handle it. There is no doubting they have upgraded themselves at LB, where Wilson is one of the best and Gooch a decent enough addition as well. The defensive gains of that could be countered, though, by the loss of Fisk and Johnson on the defensive line. Dillon is a nice addition from a depth perspective, but the money might have been better spent with Tomlinson already on the roster.

NEW YORK JETS

Roster Strength +/-: +2.5

Key Players Lost: QB Vinny Testaverde (ret), RB Curtis Martin, WR Wayne Chrebet, WR Santana Moss, G Dave Szott, DT Chester McGlockton, OLB Mo Lewis, CB Ray Mickens, CB Donnie Abraham

Key Players Signed: RB Trung Canidate, WR Jerry Rice, T Orlando Pace, DT Warren Sapp, CB Fernando Bryant

Comments: The Jets get some positive out of this out of the sheer star power of the guys they brought in, but the losses they suffered in free agency, and just the overall weakness of the team overall makes this an uncertain honor at best. Sapp and Bryant were two of the best defenders available, but the Jets lost two competent corners, and McGlockton, the player Sapp is replacing, was their best free agent loss, so the gain of landing Sapp is smaller by comparison. Furthewrmore, they didn';t sing a replacement for Lewis, one of their best defenders. On offense, they did the amazing and signed dominating T Pace. But they at best stayed the same and likely got worse but replacing Martin, Moss and Chrebet with Rice and Canidate, and they don't have a replacement for Testaverde--and in this league, Pennington isn't all he's made out to be in real life.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Roster Strength +/-: +1.3

Key Players Lost: QB Mark Brunell, TE Kyle Brady, WR Jermaine Lewis, WR J.J. Stokes, C Brad Meester, G Jamar Nesbit, T Maurice Williams, OLB Keith Mitchell, OLB Danny Clark, CB Fernando Bryant, CB James Trapp, SS Donovan Darius

Key Players Signed: WR James Thrash, C Kevin Flynn, G Kevin Donnalley, T Todd Wade, OLB Henri Crockett, CB Corey Fuller, CB Ray Mickens, S Tyrone Carter

Comments: The Jags get a slightly positive free agency out of this, although it's obviously too close to call at this point. They did well to replace their line, which was hard hit by free agency. Flynn is one of the league's best centers, and Donnalley is a tested veteran with good all-around skills. Wade isn't as good as Williams, but he is also solid. The Jags didn't do so well in the secondary, though, where they were also hard hit. They did get the bodies at least, with a starter quality corner in Mickens, a solid safety in Carter and a decent second corner in Fuller. The problem is that those guys are replacing Bryant and Darius, two fo the best int he league at their position, and Trapp, who is at least as good as Fuller. Crockett was a decent save at linebacker to replace Mitchell and Clark, but they need more there, too. Neither Lewis nor Stokes were world-beaters, so Thrash is an upgrade there, and Brunell was the backup at QB. The loss of Brady could hurt, though. The Jags did some things--but I am not sure it's enough.

GREEN BAY PACKERS

Roster Strength +/-: +0.8

Key Players Lost: TE Wesley Walls (ret), WR Robert Ferguson, WR Antonio Freeman, WR Donald Driver, G Marco Rivera, DT Gilbert Brown, OLN Na'il Diggs, OLB Hannibal Navies, CB Bryant Westbrook, FS Michael Hawthorne

Key Players Signed: WR Keyshawn Johnson, G Damien Woody, OLB Barrett Green, OLB Adrian Ross, CB James Trapp, S Izell Reese

Comments: The Packers look to be the very definition of standing still in this free agency. They have a replacement for most of their departed free agents, but few were better or even much worse than those they replaced. And on a team that didn't get into the playoffs in a bad division, that's not a good thing. Johnson was a solid get for this class, but they are going to need more receiving help to replace three of their top four receivers and a tight end. At guard, Woody is a passable player, but Rivera was better. Green and Ross are younger, developing linebackers and they should step in well for the Pack on the outside. But Diggs was a very solid player himself. Trapp and Reese are better than the guys they replace, but not by much. And the Packers did not sign a replacement for Brown.

BALTIMORE RAVENS

Roster Strength +/-: +0.1

Key Players Lost: WR Travis Taylor, C Mike Flynn, DT Kelly Gregg, OLB Cornell Brown, ILB Edgerton Hartwell, ILB Bernardo Harris, CB Chris McCallister, CB Corey Fuller, CB Tommy Knight, SS Tyrone Carter

Key Players Signed: RB Michael Pittman, WR Tai Streets, C Rich Braham, DE Kenny Mixon, DT Ted Washington, DT Shaun Rogers, DT Henry Ford, OLB Eric Barton, CB Bobby Taylor, CB Jason Webster

Comments: The Ravens should be proud of having been able to reach even this point. They supplied a lot of quality free agents to this class, and they needed to sign a lot of players to even begin to approach breaking even. Will the new mix of players work as well as the last group? Only time will tell. Two of the keys for the offense that aren't even listed there was the re-signing of WR Marcus Robinson and T Orlando Brown. Those two players are very key, especially in light of the departure of Taylor from the receivers corp, and Flynn from the line. Streets and Braham probably come in a little worse than those two, but their overall play isn't much worse, so the Ravens should still be solid on offense. The defensive line was a weak part of the Ravens' defense last season, so this free agency has them doing a very solid job of building it up. Washignton was one of the best quality DT's out there, and Mixon is a solid get at DE. They also added a lot of depth there. They lost far more at linebacker than they gained in just Barton, but this free agency might key a switch to a 4-3, for which the Ravens are already well-suited (Boulware, Lewis and now Barton would be the backers). Neither Taylor nor Webster is as good as the departed McCallister, but it's probably true that they together are better than McCallister and fellow departed starter Fuller. So in that you could also have a significant upgrade. There was plenty to talk about in this "average" free agency.

DENVER BRONCOS

Roster Strength +/-: -1.2

Key Players Lost: FB Patrick Hape, DT Darrius Holland, ILB Al Wilson, OLB Ian Gold, CB Lenny Walls

Key Players Signed: TE Kyle Brady, CB Andre Dyson, S Keion Carpenter

Comments: How shocking is this? The Broncos lose two of the best linebackers in the league, and two other defensive starters besides, only sing three total players--and finishes just below the break-even point. Go figure. Only thing I know is, they haven't signed anyone at the lienbacker position, so they lost a lot there. Dyson and Carpenter only improve the secondary slightly, and the Broncos didn't sign anyone to replace Holland or Hape. Brady was a solid signing at tight end, but the Broncos are always trong there anyway. I think time will show this to be a worse free agency for this team than it appears.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Roster Strength +/-: -1.9

Key Players Lost: TE Jason Dunn, WR Dante' Hall, WR Eddie Kennison, WR Johnnie Morton, T John Tait, DE Eric Hicks, DT John Browning, ILB Mike Maslowski, CB William Bartee, CB Dexter McCleon, CB Eric Warfield, FS Jerome Woods, SS Greg Wesley

Key Players Signed: WR Antonio Freeman, G Jamar Nesbit, DT Chad Eaton, OLB Carlos Emmons, CB David Macklin, CB Walt Harris

Comments: The Chiefs started out really strong, and it looked like they were going to make a big impact in free agency. But then they kinda limped to the end, and all the free agents they had let go started filtering away and making their take look worse and worse by comparison. So I am not surprised to see that they have fallen a bit. The loss of Dunn is small, because he was a backup to the best tight end in the game in Tony Gonzalez, and Nesbit is as solid a guard as Tait was a tackle, so the Chiefs are fairly even or unhurt there. But for all his skills, Freeman can't replace an entire receivers corp by himself, and that's where things stand right now. On defense, Eaton was a nice signing at DT, but he is just a replacement for Browning, and Hicks wasn't replaced at all (although, to be fair, he was just a pass-rush specialist). The tremendous gain of Emmons, one of the best linebackers in free agency, is countered by the loss of Maslowski in the middle. And the worst area for the Chiefs was in the secondary. Macklin and Harris are okay, but the threesome of corners the Chiefs lost are probably better, particularly McCleon. And they signed no one to replace either of their departed starting safeties. Ouch!

MIAMI DOLPHINS

Roster Strength +/-: -2.9

Key Players Lost: RB Charlie Rogers, G Jamie Nails, G Todd Perry, T Mark Dixon, T Todd Wade, DE Rob Burnett, DE Jay Williams, DT Jeff Zgonina, CB Terrell Buckley, FS Shawn Wooden

Key Players Signed: None

Comments: Obviously, when you have losses like this and you don't have the cap room to make a single offer, it's going to be a bad free agency. The amazing thing is that the Dolphins had enough left over in reserves to not rate that big of a fall. A lot of that, of course, was simply the fact that they didn't really lose any stars. The place where they are hurt worst is on the line, where they lost four of their five starters. That will be difficult to deal with. But none of the other spots hit--even the defensive line-- was really hit hard enought o cause more than depth problems.

CR