One name on PFT’s All-Unemployed Team sticks out like a sore thumb:
John Abraham.
With Dwight Freeney joining San Diego on Saturday, Abraham is the best pass rusher left on the market. His primary skill is a valuable one, and I would suspect someone is going to ante up to get him in the fold. The 35-year-old Abraham wants to be a full-time starter, which is the big hang-up keeping a player who had 10 sacks in 2012 from landing a new gig.
However, Abraham’s leverage is not hurt with organized team practice activities (OTAs) getting into full swing around the league. Perhaps a team doesn’t like what it is seeing from its defensive ends in workouts, or perhaps an injury occurs. Melvin Ingram’s torn ACL early in OTAs suddenly put the Chargers in real need of pass-rush help.
Enter Freeney, and exit one of the best players left in free agency.
Now we wait to see what happens with Abraham. Similarly, it will be interesting to see where another solid veteran defensive end, Israel Idonije, lands. Idonije, who recorded 7.5 sacks for the Bears in 2012, is a recent addition to the All-Unemployed Team. Another new member is Bradie James, who notched 77 tackles for Houston last season. He replaces Karlos Dansby, who signed with Arizona.
Finally, the special teams portion of the All-Unemployed lineup has a new look with punter Chris Kluwe and returner Josh Cribbs moving on to Oakland. Mat McBriar, last of Philadelphia, takes over for Kluwe, while Stefan Logan replaces Cribbs. Logan most recently played for Detroit.
We will continue to update the team as needed. And with so much activity this week, another departure or two wouldn’t be surprising.
Then again, we’re almost two-thirds through spring and John Abraham is still unsigned. And we didn’t see that coming.