NFL Winners & Losers from Friday's Signings/Trades

The Saints pulled off perhaps the biggest deal of the day, by swapping a fourth-round pick for one of the better young linebackers in the league. Jonathon Vilma will be only twenty-six years old when next season begins and has already recorded a season with over one-hundred and seventy tackles. This was a low-risk, high-reward move by the Saints.

Loser: Brady Quinn

Quinn went from the Browns' starter to backup once again in a matter of twenty-four hours. By the end of yesterday, it looked as if Cleveland would let starting quarterback Derek Anderson go and hand the reins over to Brady. Instead, they caved in and gave Derek a multiyear deal that should have Quinn riding the pine for at least one more year.

Winner: Asante Samuel

He might not have gotten the total amount of money Nate Clements got last year, but Samuel did get pretty much the same annual salary. His fifty-seven million dollar deal, twenty of which is guaranteed, makes him one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the game. And after coming out of New England, that amount has to seem astonishingly high to him.

Loser: Detroit Lions

Shaun Rogers was thought by many to be the one piece to the Lions puzzle that was already in place. But a so-so 2007 campaign saw Rogers publicly denounced for his perceived laziness and lack of work ethic. Whether that is true or not is moot. What is fact is that the Lions just traded one of the best defensive players in the NFL to another team.

Winner: Tommy Kelly

A player that many haven't even heard of, Kelly was made the highest-paid defensive tackle in the league by the Oakland Raiders with a fifty-million dollar deal. Not bad for a player who struggled through injuries and only played in seven games last year. But hey, Warren Sapp says he's good.

Loser: Minnesota Vikings

When the Minnesota Vikings traded Randy Moss to the Oakland Raiders, they got the seventh pick in the NFL draft and selected Troy Williamson. Unfortunately, their effort to immediately replace Moss never paid off and the Vikings traded away the inconsistent Williamson to the Jaguars on Friday.

Winner: Javon Walker

After demanding his way out of Green Bay, Walker became unhappy once again in Denver and asked, in not as many words, to be let out of his contract. On Friday, he got his wish as the team released him. Now Javon can find any team that he likes. Maybe that will stop his complaining?

Loser: Cincinnati Bengals

After thinking that they had a deal with Detroit to acquire Shaun Rogers, the Bengals' deal fell through and Rogers went, instead, to the team's division rivals, the Cleveland Browns. Ouch. The Bengals had better hope that quarterback Carson Palmer isn't too upset that he will be fending off Rogers instead of calling him teammate.

Winner: Cornerbacks in the NFL Draft

Now that Philadelphia signed Asante Samuel, a number of teams drafting high need cornerbacks and will most likely use their selections on one. This is good news for NCAA athletes who are coming into the league at that position. Higher draft status means more in terms of money and signing bonuses.

Loser: New England Patriots

The hits keep coming for the Pats, don't they? Samuel might be overpaid as an Eagle now, but he was arguably the best secondary defensive player the Patriots had and was just entering his prime at the age of twenty-seven. In addition, the team still hasn't resigned Randy Moss and continues to age with each passing season. Still, it is hard to imagine the Patriots staying losers for very long in the summer.