NFL Free Agency by the Numbers; 5 Days into Free Agency

By my account, there were 521 NFL Free Agents available at the start of the NFL Year on February 29, 2008. As of today, March 4, 2008, 135 of those players have been signed to contracts. There are about 1700 active players at any given time on NFL rosters.

Of the 11 franchised Free Agents, 10 will be back with the team that franchised him. Just after midnight on February 29, the Browns traded a second round pick to Green Bay for Corey Williams. Cleveland signed Williams to a 6-year, $38 Million contract with $16.3 Million in guarantees.

Of those 521 free agents, 96 were straight up released from their old team. While most of those players have not signed on elsewhere, 13 have and 1 of those 13 has re-signed with his previous team: Antoine Cash has re-signed with the Buccaneers. Cash was not tendered a contract as a restricted free agent meaning he was technically released.

There were 75 Restricted Free Agents on the market, of which 7 have been signed and all of whom have been signed by their previous team. A Restricted Free Agent is an NFL player who is not under contract, but has only three years of NFL experience. The signing period for restricted free agents begins at the start of the league year and concludes on April 15. Assuming the players' previous team has made a Qualifying Offer, that team has a right of first refusal in the event another team offers that player a contract. The player may negotiate with other teams and receive an offer, however the previous team may agree to the offer that the player has received in order to retain his services.

The remaining free agents are Unrestricted Free Agents, all 339 of them. An Unrestricted Free Agent is a player who is not under contract with any team and who may sign a contract with any NFL team. The team letting them walk gets no compensation. A player becomes a UFA if he gets cut, or if his contract expires with at least four years of NFL experience

UFAs are free to sign with any club through July 22 or the first scheduled day of the first NFL training camp, whichever is later. On July 23, their exclusive rights will revert to their original club if that club made a June 1 tender at the veteran minimum to the player.

Of the 339 UFA's, 104 have been signed - 30%. The most active position? Linebacker with 18 signed. There have been 13 wide outs signed. Of course, there were 71 linebackers available; the most by position. 47 Wide Receivers were available, right behind cornerbacks at 50.

The most active teams in signing free agents this year? The Dolphins have signed 8, but the 49ers, Panthers, and Saints have all signed 9. The Jaguars, Buccaneers, and Patriots have signed 7. 31 of 32 teams have signed players. The Packers have signed no one, although they do have the Browns second round for Corey Williams. Of course, it would make sense that the Panthers have signed so many - they have 32 free agents this year, 24 of whom are UFA. The Chargers have but 8 in total. The NFL average this year is just over 16.

REFERENCE:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/fa?&action=login&appRedirect=
http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnfl%2ffa

http://football.calsci.com/FreeAgency.html