The Projected "Booms" from NFL Free Agency

The early days of free agency have brought some key players into some key roles on some key teams this off-season. As per usual though, not every free agent signing will work out. In fact, more than a fair share of these players will not live up to the very hype being written about them in newspapers across the country right now.

It's quite early in the NFL free agency period, but already there have been more than enough trades and acquisitions to put quite a few teams on the road for disappointment this season. As the old adage says, where's there's a boom, there will be bust.

Here are my "BOOMS" of the free agency period after the initial weekend of signings:

Michael Turner, Running Back, Signed with the Atlanta Falcons:

I love this addition by the Atlanta Falcons. Turner was an underused back in San Diego; although, you can't really fault them for not using him all that much with LaDainian Tomlinson on the roster. However, that just gives Turner a longer shelf-life, and rids of some of the uncertainty most teams encounter when signing a free agent back. In most cases where a running back is coveted on the free agent market, it comes after a huge season. In this case, however, the thing that made Tuner highly coveted was his consistency in backing up LaDainian over a period of 4 years. Thus, this is a signing based off of four years of hard work, grit, and consistency, and it comes without the baggage of having a ton of miles on those legs of his. There is no doubt that the Falcons will be reaping the rewards from this acquisition.

Derek Anderson, Quarterback, Signed with the Cleveland Browns:

For a second there, it really looked like the Browns were about to let this guy go. But there was no way they could afford to do it. Although, you have to question how they CAN afford to do it since they are now paying him Tom Brady-like money, but that's a topic for another day. The fact of the matter is, this is a great signing, because it's a re-signing. Bringing Anderson back means that at the very least the Browns will have another formidable offensive season, and they will be in contention for a playoff spot, once again.

Allen Faneca, Guard, Signed with the New York Jets:

Having learned from the great New England Patriots themselves, the Jets have plenty of cap room and they decided to use some of it on one of the best guards in football. In fact, they used a lot of that cap room on Faneca, as they made him the highest paid guard in NFL history. That said, he's worth every penny. If you have ever heard of the term "road-grader," this is the man that it derived from. Faneca was the best offensive lineman on a Steelers offensive line that paved the way for Willie Parker and Jerome Bettis over the past several seasons. Now he'll be doing that for RB Thomas Jones, and that will make a big difference in the running game of the Jets, which struggled mightily last season.