Richard Seymour: A Valuable Free Agent Addition in Today’s NFL

Richard Seymour should have the pick of many teams after June 1st.

It is often noted that today’s NFL is a passing league. With eight of the top 10 seasons for individual passing yards coming in the last five years, it’s impossible to argue against that claim. However, even though it is a passing league and offenses need to have a good quarterback to win games, balance on both sides of the ball is as important as ever.

When you look at the final four teams who competed for this year’s Super Bowl, each were able to run and pass the ball with different approaches. The New England Patriots unbalanced defenses with their plethora of weapons, the Baltimore Ravens have a pair of excellent running-backs and a strong offensive line, the San Francisco 49ers had the best offensive line in the league and a stable of runners in various forms and the Atlanta Falcons used their passing threat to set up the running game.

Yet, ultimately the two teams who made the Super Bowl are considered defense-first units. Led by Justin Smith and Haloti Ngata, the Ravens and 49ers ranked 12th and second in the league in points allowed during the regular season respectively. Smith and Ngata are singled out for very important reasons. Ngata wasn’t fully healthy during the regular season, which was a big reason that the Ravens fell to 12th overall in points allowed per game, while Smith wasn’t healthy in the post-season, when the 49ers’ defensive output dropped notably compared to when he was 100 percent.

NFL Draft 2013: Kenny Vaccaro is Everything that the New Orleans Saints Need at Safety

Kenny Vaccaro is going to be a great pick for some team, fans in New Orleans are hoping that team will be the Saints.

In four days, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will step towards the podium at Radio City Music Hall in New York to announce that the New Orleans Saints will draft….

And that is where the story ends for now.

For the first time since 2009, the Saints will be picking within the top 20 of the NFL draft. Last time they landed current starting free safety Malcolm Jenkins and this time the secondary appears to be the priority once again. Top tier talents such as cornerback Desmond Trufant, safety Kenny Vaccaro, safety Jonathan Cyprien and outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo will all be tantalizing prospects for the Saints in the middle of the first round.

Undoubtedly, the Saints’ most prized target is Texas safety Vaccaro though.

According to esteemed draft analyst Sigmund Bloom,the 22-year-old defensive back has the potential to be one of the best safeties in the league. For the New Orleans Saints, a team that ranked 31st in points allowed last season giving up 28.4 per game, Vaccaro could fill a massive need. The Saints fired Steve Spagnuolo after a desperately disappointing season, replacing him with former Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, but in reality, the Saints’ biggest issue last year was their lack of talent rather than their coaching.

Darrelle Revis Trade: Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets Pull off Rare Win-Win Trade with Superstar CB

Darrelle Revis has found his new home.

After months of speculation, ex-New York Jets’ cornerback Darrelle Revis was finally traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers today. Both clubs confirmed the deal quickly after Revis’ agent confirmed that his client and the Buccaneers had agreed on a new contract. A contract that proved to be startling for many reasons.

Not only is Revis receiving $96 million over the next six seasons, a historic sum for a defensive back, the Buccaneers owe him no guaranteed money. Revis has an injury guarantee, but if he was cut today, the Buccaneers wouldn’t have to suffer through cap penalties. That may seem like an insult to the Jets, who couldn’t even fathom paying Revis that kind of money, but in reality it wouldn’t have mattered because the Jets could never have afforded to give Revis $16 million per season.

For financial reasons and because Revis is coming off of a torn ACL, the Jets did an excellent job to get a top-15 pick in this year’s draft and a conditional pick in next year’s. If Revis is still on the Buccaneers’ roster on the fourth day of the 2014 season, the Buccaneers will owe the Jets a third round pick. If he is released before then, the Jets will only receive a fourth round pick. Those picks are invaluable to the Jets, as are the financial benefits, but ending this saga and sending away a player who is an impending distraction from day-to-day allows the Jets to move on and focus fully on their future.

Unbalancing NFL Defenses: A Conceptual Analysis of the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints

Mark Ingram may not be the star he was expected to be coming out of Alabama, but his presence on the roster alone points to what the Saints want to do.

In today’s offensively inclined National Football League, ever minor advantage is explored by coachings and even those tiny details can become massive in the grand scheme of unlocking the opposition. Because of the variety of schemes and differing skill-sets of players, the complexity of today’s game is always expanding while approaches are variable and evolutionary rather than predetermined and acquired.

Two of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL have been the leading charges in the race towards greater offensive efficiency, the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots.

Since the 2006 season, both teams have combined for nine top five finishes in scoring offense and five first overall finishes. Neither team has dropped lower than 11th in total scoring and never once during that time did both teams finish outside of the top five.

In today’s league that is a phenomenal achievement. It is the combination of high quality coaching, quarterbacks who wear capes and magicians at the skill-positions. What really separates these two offenses however, is their ability to keep defenses off balance and dictate the game to them.