A couple weeks into free agency it’s time to take a look at the impact the signings so far have had on the fantasy football landscape. Some of them – the Randy Moss re-signing, for instance – are pretty straightforward. But a few of the deals will have ramifications beyond the signees themselves.
1. Randy Moss re-signs: Moss’ three-year deal with New England ensures the return of the most potent combo in NFL history. Moss broke the touchdown reception record and QB Tom Brady set a new bar for touchdown passes during the Patriots perfect season. The Pats also re-upped with third receiver Jabar Gaffney. So while a repeat of 2007 is unlikely this group will still be a fantasy force.

2. Jets find blockers for Jones: The New York Jets traded a disgruntled Pete Kendall before last season and the offense never recovered. Running back Thomas Jones still rushed for 1,119 yards, but had just one rushing touchdown and a 3.6 yard average. The Jets signed road-grating guard Alan Faneca, who will more than fill Kendall’s spot. They also added T Damien Woody and FB Tony Richardson, the latter of whom has blocked for Adrian Peterson and Larry Johnson during monster break-out seasons. Expect much better from Jones this season and perhaps improvement from Chad Pennington and the Jets’ receivers as well.

3. Rams answering the Bell: Steven Jackson struggled in 2007 primarily due to his own injuries. But the Rams offensive line also was in shambles all season and three of its starters finished the season on injured reserve. Signing the 295 pound Jacob Bell away from Tennessee to a six-year deal helps solve those problems. He played left guard last year and has 46 career starts. The Rams likely overpaid for him a bit and they probably need another lineman to guard against the aging of Orlando Pace, Bell should provide some stability while opening holes for Jackson. He also improves the standing of QB Marc Bulger, who missed four games due to injury last year and threw 15 interceptions to just 11 touchdowns. While I like the Bell signing I don’t like the loss of Isaac Bruce. He’s on his last legs, but still filled the number two role well and I don’t see anyone on the current roster capable of taking his spot. Drew Bennett isn’t horrible, but he generally misses two or three games per season and I like him better in the number three role.

4. Berrian the opposition: The Minnesota Vikings overpaid for Bernard Berrian but finding a deep threat that could actually catch the ball was the team’s greatest need this off-season. While I believe the Vikings didn’t use Troy Williamson right – primarily using him as a deep threat rather than getting the ball into his hands on some short passes where he could break tackles and use his speed, it’s not a good sign when you’re wide open and balls consistently hit you in the hands or face before falling to the turf. Tarvaris Jackson is still far from a star-quality quarterback. But if he can hit Berrian deep once in awhile it’ll open up the run game for Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor and in weeks where the team plays weak defensive backs the signing could make Jackson a sneaky fill-in during bye-weeks.

5. Stallworth moves to Cleveland: I love most of what the Cleveland Browns have done this off-season, the only exception being the trade of underrated cornerback Leigh Bodden. Stallworth has been inconsistent throughout his career but he’s a big play receiver. He moves Joe Jurevicius, coming off a 50-catch season, to the number three receiver role where his size will create mismatches. Last year the Browns made huge strides, but the new Jurevicius role was filled less-than-ably by Tim Carter and others. Stallworth will team with Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow to continue building an even bigger-play offense that I think will make the playoffs in 08. The trio will also allow fantasy owners to cash in come Christmas time.

Honorable mentions:
Michael Turner signing with Atlanta creates a somewhat 2007 Viking-like situation where the team has two solid running backs, mediocre wide receivers and a cluster of a quarterback situation. The Falcons will probably give both Turner and Jerious Norwood plenty of carries given that they’ll likely be trying to shorten games, keep the defense fresh and not rely on Chris Redman to win games. If Boston College QB Matt Ryan isn’t available when they select in the draft next month I think they should grab T Jake Long to further assist their backs.

Alge Crumpler would have been better served, in my opinion, signing with Seattle. There he would have paired with Matt Hasselbeck and three capable wide receivers to form a monster receiving tandem. In Tennessee he becomes Vince Young’s top target. But Young isn’t that much better a passer than Michael Vick was while Crumpler was in Atlanta. So Crumpler’s numbers won’t spike like they could have. That said he’s still a solid tight end pick.

While the Seahawks weren’t able to land Crumpler they did grab T.J. Duckett. I don’t expect Duckett to have a huge role, as Maurice Morris and Shaun Alexander will still take most of the carries. Duckett does reduce the fantasy value of both his colleagues, however, as the veteran Michigan State back will likely steal short yardage runs and possibly goal-line carries as well. This move makes Alexander a risky pick.