Free Agency - Day 3 Round Up

Not as much activity around the league today as there was yesterday. But the Broncos got stuck into it and have signed our very first free agent of the year! Drum roll.....Mike Adams! Yes the safety from the Browns. Here is his bio below:

Safety

Height: 5-11 Weight: 200 Age: 30
Birth Date: March 24, 1981
Birth Place: Paterson, NJ
Experience: 8 years
College: Delaware
High School: Passaic County Technical Institute [Wayne, NJ]

Michael Carl "Mike" Adams (born March 24, 1981 in Paterson, New Jersey) is now an American football safety for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Delaware.

Adams has also played for the Cleveland Browns.

Adams attended Passaic County Technical Institute in Wayne, New Jersey before going on to the University of Delaware. At Delaware, he played 43 times with 23 starts. During his college career he made 213 tackles and 11 interceptions. He earned second-team All-Atlantic 10 honors as a senior; however, he was undrafted in the 2004 NFL Draft.

Career Stats:

Season	Team			Tackles					Interceptions						Fumbles
		G	GS	Comb	Total	Ast	Sck	SFTY	PDef	Int	Yds	Avg	Lng	TDs	FF
2011	Cleveland Browns	16	16	64	44	20	0.0	--	6	3	33	11.0	29	0	1
2010	Cleveland Browns	15	2	45	39	6	1.0	--	6	2	51	25.5	26	0	0
2009	Cleveland Browns	16	9	69	58	11	1.0	--	8	--	--	0.0	--	--	0
2008	Cleveland Browns	14	5	44	36	8	0.0	--	2	2	18	9.0	18	0	0
2007	Cleveland Browns	15	0	29	27	2	1.0	--	1	--	--	0.0	--	--	0
2006	San Francisco 49ers	16	8	64	54	10	0.0	--	3	--	--	0.0	--	--	0
2005	San Francisco 49ers	14	10	74	57	17	1.0	0	5	4	36	9.0	40T	1	1
2004	San Francisco 49ers	8	0	9	5	4	0.0	--	0	1	0	0.0	0	0	0
TOTAL				398	320	78	4.0	0	31	12	138	--	40	1	2

Adams visited the Broncos' Dove Valley complex earlier in the day and decided he was done traveling.

"It was a no-brainer not to take any more visits and stay," Adams said.

Adams, 31, played free safety for the Browns this past season, but the 5-foot-11, 200-pounder also lined up at cornerback at times and played extensively in the Browns' nickel (five defensive backs) and dime (six defensive backs) packages in his five-year tenure with the team.

He finished the year with 64 tackles, three interceptions and a forced fumble.

By PFF's measure, Adams graded out at +1.5 overall (-4.4 run, -0.7 pass, +5.6 coverage, +1 penalty) with 47 tackles, 10 assists, six missed tackles, and nine stops.

A quick breakdown of Adams:

- Has very good tackling form, had zero missed tackles in coverage
- Quarterbacks who throw at him have a QB rating of 51.2
- Only 52.4% of passes thrown his way are caught
- Only allowed 1 touchdown last season
- Only allows 5.3 yards after the catch, 9th among safeties
- Only allows a reception once every 36 snaps

So pretty much he is the perfect Cover 2 safety:

- Doesn't give up big plays
- Doesn't miss tackles
- Is solid in man and zone coverage

Adams played three seasons with the 49ers before going to Cleveland.

My opinion is this is a solid value pick up. He is that veteran presence we needed in the secondary. What does this mean for Dawkins I do not know but Adams plays the Free Safety spot so Dawkins could continue to play Strong Safety. The issue for me becomes that I don't want these two older guys playing every snap this year. We need to be grooming Carter and Rahim by getting them involved. If Dawkins doesn't come back Carter will/should be the starter.

Adams is more of a coverage specialist than a box player, and that fits nicely with what the Broncos need. Offenses have been gaining big advantages by flexing TEs, and Safeties who can cover are at a premium. Adams isn’t going to single-handedly shut down Rob Gronkowski, but he’ll hold his own in coverage most of the time.

I thought it was interesting to note Adams's game logs, which you can see here. Looking at the numbers he has his better games against the better opponents, does that mean he gets picked on? Or does he rise to the occasion? Time will tell but he has been brought in to mentor the young guys.

Broncos News

Former Seahawks Pro Bowl cornerback Marcus Trufant is scheduled to visit the Denver Broncos on Friday.
TEN and DEN have interest in pass rusher John Abraham. Manning decision and M Williams delay has caused a lag for him
Joe Mays visited the Saints, Colts next on his list.
Brady Quinn will visit the Jets tomorrow
WR Eddie Royal agreed to terms with the Chargers. See ya Royal, good luck.
Free-agent LB Jameel McClain is visiting DenverFriday, according to a league source. McClain broke into the league with the Ravens in 2008 and played four seasons in Baltimore, notching 201 tackles and 4.5 sacks. He first saw regular time as a starter in 2010, starting 15 games. He started every game last season.

Trades

None today.

Signings

Saints land replacement for Carl Nicks, sign Ben Grubbs to a five-year, $36 million deal, including $10 million signing bonus.
Cleveland signed former Browns DE Frostee Rucker
Dallas signed ex-Jets S Brodney Pool.
S Brandon Merriweather agrees to 2yr/$6M deal with Skins
Juqua Parker agrees to terms with the Browns 1yr, max of $3M
Dallas added LB Dan Connor.
Tennessee has reportedly signed G Steve Hutchinson to a 3-yr. contract
Giants sign former Redskin S Chris Horton to a 1-yr. deal
Chicago Bears signed KR/WR Eric Weems for 3 year, $4.2M.
The Dolphins agreed to terms with LB Jamaal Westerman
TE Kevin Boss gets a 3-yr, $9 Million deal from the Chiefs
Buffalo signs DE Mario Williams for 6-years, $96 Million w/ $50 Million Gtd

Resigning

Browns re-signed DB Dimitri Patterson.
Steve Slaton stays with Dolphins on one-year deal
Browns have re-signed TE Alex Smith & OL Oniel Cousins
New England Patriots and C Dan Connolly have agreed to terms.

Release

49ers announced they have released CB Shawntae Spencer.

Visiting

49ers hosting OG Geoff Schwartz. Easy upgrade at RG, best available should Mathis sign in Baltimore.

Rumors

Mike Holmgren claims Browns made offer for No. 2 pick every bit as good as Washington. Claims relationship between Rams and Redskins was the difference. He said, "I’m not sure anything we offered would have been good enough."
Vic Lombardi is hearing that Brian Dawkins still wants to play but hasn't made a decision yet about 2012.

Manning

No news from the Manning camp today, which could mean one of two things. That he is taking his time to make a decision, personally I think in a situation like this you already know what you are going to do so a decision isn't hard to make. Therefore it comes down to the contract. Looks like a bidding war has started for his services, the Titans should probably win that you would think but the Broncos may do something dumb. If we pay over 20 mil a season for him I will not be happy. Also I get the feeling Manning is stalling, maybe the team he wants to sign with hasn't made a move yet?

Looks like the Broncos are starting to get active and are selectively pursing solid free agents. If we get Abraham and McClain tomorrow I would be a happy camper ~ Aussie.