Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Wild opening week for NFL business season

Ap

NEW YORK – Maybe everyone should have known from the way the Super Bowl ended that the beginning of the NFL’s business season would be wild.

Chip Kelly made one stunning move after another. The normally free-spending Cowboys let DeMarco Murray, the league’s top offensive player, walk – to Kelly and division rival Philadelphia.

Three players retired in their primes. The Colts loaded up on veterans, a clear message they believe 2015 is their year to make super things happen.

Then the Jets brought back the two key players from their outstanding secondary under Rex Ryan. But wait, Ryan is now in Buffalo, remaking the Bills’ roster. And the Dolphins added Ndamukong Suh. All three teams want to mount some sort of challenge to the Patriots.

Things should slow down now, although who really knows given the frantic nature of this week?

“This is a process that goes all the way through until the trading deadline stops,” said Broncos boss John Elway. “It’s a process. It just slows down.”

Some observations on all that frenzied action:

Playing all his chips: Giving Kelly the keys to the kingdom in Philly after he won his power struggle with GM Howie Roseman led to the kind of bartering rarely seen in the NFL. Kelly fully believes in the offensive system he brought from Oregon and has gone 20-12 in his two regular seasons with the Eagles. His vision of the players he wants is undeterred by cost – QB Sam Bradford brings a $16.58 million cap hit; RB Murray will get $42 million over five years.

All-in in Indy: The Colts have a budding superstar quarterback in Andrew Luck. They have a strong coaching staff led by Chuck Pagano and have systematically rebuilt the roster since Peyton Manning left.

After making the playoffs the last three years and advancing one step further each time, they believe a Super Bowl trip is their 2015 destiny. So GM Ryan Grigson has surrounded Luck and some of his younger regulars with a slew of veterans.

Luck gets a Hall of Fame-caliber receiver in Andre Johnson, and a workhouse runner in Frank Gore. They also brought in safety Mike Adams, linebacker Trent Cole, defensive end Kendall Langford and guard Todd Herremans.

Out of here: Perennial Pro Bowl LB Patrick Willis left millions on the table in departing the 49ers after a Hall of Fame quality eight pro seasons. Steelers free agent LB Jason Worilds likely would have gotten a very nice contract somewhere. And QB Jake Locker’s upside at age 26 was enchanting.

Each of them felt they either weren’t healthy enough or passionate enough to keep going.

How ‘bout them non-spending Cowboys?: Owner Jerry Jones has never met a talented, high-priced free agent he wasn’t enamored of. Yet, in great part due to the clear-headed persuasiveness of his son, team COO Stephen Jones, the Cowboys have been quiet. They kept All-Pro WR Dez Bryant, their top priority, but that deal and previous contracts put them in salary cap purgatory. Stephen Jones seems determined to get the Cowboys out of it.