Our final installment of 13 Free Agents Who Aren’t Going Anywhere comes with just three listings. The “13” number was arbitrary. I didn’t start there and find 13 guys. Instead I looked at the free agent lists of every team and made a determination on whether or not any of these guys will change uniforms next season. I came up with 13, but the fact is the actual list will probably be much longer. Teams like to keep their own guys if they can. You put the work in developing and coaching up a guy in your system, you don’t want to lose him and you sure as hell don’t want to fight to replace him.
You can read Part One here. And Part Two here.
11. Antonio Gates, TE, San Diego Chargers
2015: 56 catches, 630 yards, five touchdowns
Gates had to sit out four games this season with a substance abuse suspension that probably had more to do with some crazy energy drink than any legitimate PED. This man is on a freight train to Canton and if he wants to, he could pretty much walk onto any team in the league and play out his final three-to-four-year contract. Here’s what I know. Philip Rivers doesn’t want him to do that and neither do the Chargers. Frankly, Gates probably doesn’t either. Antonio has a sweet retirement in San Diego on the horizon as a heroic and beloved figure and one final contract with the team will seal that deal for good.
12. Doug Martin, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2015: 288 carries, 1.402 yards, 4.9 yards per carry, six touchdowns, 33 catches, 271 yards and one touchdown
After two straight injury-riddled seasons Martin picked the right time to return to form. His numbers this season were outstanding as he retook the starting job in Tampa and became an important safety valve in the Bucs offense, helping rookie quarterback Jameis Winston develop into a legitimate NFL quarterback along the way. The Bucs might try to factor in his injury issues when they negotiate, but they can’t let Martin hit the open market. If anything, this year proved that the running back’s value in the NFL is on the rise. Martin is about to cash in.
13. Kirk Cousins, QB, Washington Redskins
2015: 69.8 completion percentage, 4,166 yards, 29 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, five rushing touchdowns
I’m sure that Cousins was the first name you looked for when you saw these articles pop up and you weren’t wrong to look for him. Cousins picked exactly the worst time, as far as the Redskins are concerned, to show that he might, and I do mean “might,” be able to play quarterback consistently in the NFL. Along the way he’s helped run Robert Griffin III out of town, ensured at least one more season of Jay Gruden as a head coach, and helped the Redskins reach the playoffs thanks to a fluke season where both Tony Romo and Dez Bryant went down for the Dallas Cowboys, Tom Coughlin helped his own team the New York Giants choke away nine fourth-quarter leads and Chip Kelly trade away an entire playoff team that had won 20 games over two years. Trust that these stars will not align again.
When you hear and read pundits talking up the Redskins as an up-and-coming team, one that will compete for the NFC East again next season, I want you to remember everything I just wrote. This is a 5-11 team that, through complete luck, finished 9-7 and was immediately tossed from the playoffs as they should have been. There is no Washington dynasty on the horizon. So that’s why Cousins’ 2015-16 season is kind of a disaster. The Redskins will have to pay real money to keep him and have no idea what they have.
Now, I’m sure some of you look at those numbers (and they’re great numbers) and saying, how do they lie? They don’t. They’re outstanding. But let me show you another set of numbers; 65.6 completion percentage, 3,200 yards passing, 20 touchdowns, five interceptions, 815 yards rushing, seven touchdowns.
That was Robert Griffin III’s 2012. The Redskins are putting him on a bus with an overloaded suitcase right now. One year of success does not a career make. For whatever reason a quarterback can catch fire and then go down the tubes just as fast, for a variety of reasons. Cousins may never put up these kind of numbers again. We won’t know until it happens.
The bad thing for Cousins could be that he is this good, plays well next season and the team still goes 6-10 or 7-9 because that’s really where they are. And he’ll get the blame. He’ll just have to look at his bank statement for consolation.
