Defense Wins Championships, And Defenders Are Winning NFL Free Agency

Defense wins championships.

Through the unofficial start of NFL free agency, general managers are putting their money where their mouth is in terms of that tried-and-true cliché.

As of Wednesday morning, 26 players had agreed to change teams with contracts averaging at least $10 million per season. Seventeen of those players are defenders, with five off-the-ball linebackers, four edge rushers, four defensive linemen and four cornerbacks.

Of the other eight, three are quarterbacks – with Tom Brady landing in Tampa Bay, Philip Rivers in Indianapolis and Teddy Bridgewater in Carolina. Four are offensive linemen – the guys charged with keeping those defenders away from the ball-carrier and the quarterback upright.

Aside from the quarterbacks, only one skill-position player has signed a big contract with another team: tight end Austin Hooper went from Atlanta to Cleveland. That’s it. Through almost 48 hours of free agency, there hasn’t been a single receiver or running back that changed teams with a $10 million-per-year contract. In fact, only two receivers have changed teams – Houston grabbed Randall Cobb from Dallas for three years and $27 million and New England made a budget signing by signing Damiere Byrd away from Arizona. Only one running back has a landing spot, with Jordan Howard going from Philadelphia to Miami for two years and $10 million.

The receiver and running back groups were among the worst in free agency, anyway. At running back, Tennessee used the franchise tag on workhorse Derrick Henry. That left the Chargers’ Melvin Gordon – who had a fruitless holdout last summer – as the top player on the market. Atlanta’s release of Devonta Freeman bolstered a market that otherwise featured journeyman Carlos Hyde, who had a nice bounce-back season with Houston, pass-catching Chris Thompson of Washington and Lamar Miller, who missed all of last season with Houston with a torn ACL.

At receiver, Dallas retained Amari Cooper with a five-year, $100 million and Cincinnati used the franchise tag on oft-injured A.J. Green. That left past-his-prime Emmanuel Sanders of San Francisco and two-big play threats, the Jets’ Robby Anderson and Tampa Bay’s Breshad Perriman, as the best on the market. The weakness of the free-agent market, and the overwhelming depth of the draft class, no doubt are playing a role in the lack of movement.

As for team spending, Miami has lapped the field. According to Spotrac, the Dolphins have spent $230.1 million in signing eight free agents. That’s more than the next two teams, Cleveland ($102.0 million) and Detroit ($98.1 million), combined.

Will all that spending matter? Here’s what history says.