Cody Schoeler’s 2023 NFL West Day 3 Free-Agent Tracker

Commentary and analysis on the the top deals for NFC West and AFC West teams

Posted on March 16, 2023


  By Cody Schoeler, SuperWest Sports

Day Three of 2023 NFL free-agency deals are in.

Signings and trades began being finalized beginning Wednesday, the official start of the League’s new year.

You can catch up on each day’s top signings and re-signings among NFL west conferences teams in these trackers. (See Day One here and Day Two here.)

Below you’ll find their new and former teams along with the length and value of their deals and my assessed grade.


Chiefs sign defensive end Charles Omenihu (2 years, $20M)

Former Team: 49ers

Omenihu
Kansas City is experiencing some turnover on the defensive line. The Chiefs have cut defensive end Frank Clark and have resigned just one (Tershawn Wharton) of their four free agents on the d-line.

Bringing in Omenihu was a smart move that will make some of those losses upfront hurt much less. He split his first four seasons between Houston and San Francisco, recording a career-high 4.5 sacks in 2022.

Omenihu was always going to command a decent contract on the open market because of his youth (25 years old) and upside. The Chiefs are hoping to unlock the best version of the pass rusher.

Omenihu will benefit from playing with defensive tackle Chris Jones, who is one of the best defensive players in the league, and defensive end George Karlaftis, who played very well as a rookie last season.

Omenihu may not be a double-digit sack player but if he can provide solid play on the edge and provide some pressure, then this will be a good deal for the Chiefs, although there is the risk he doesn’t live up to the money.

Grade: B


Broncos sign cornerback Tremon Smith (2 years, $5.5M)

Former Team: Texans

Smith
It’s hard to knock a signing that’s this cheap, but that doesn’t mean the Broncos hit it out of the park with Smith.

The corner will be joining his fifth team in six seasons, which is never a good sign. What is a positive, though, is that Smith is coming off his best season.

He spent the last two years in Houston and set career-highs basically across the board in 2022.

The Broncos don’t need Smith to be a star, they have Patrick Surtain for that at corner, and they may not even need him to be anything more than depth.

But Smith is an intriguing player with some potential upside, which makes this a smart signing for the Broncos.

Grade: B+


Broncos sign fullback Michael Burton (1 year $1.3M)

Former Team: Chiefs

Fullback is a weird position in today’s NFL considering the fact that about half the teams don’t even use one anymore.

But Denver went out and got a good one in Burton, who was a part of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run. Even for a fullback, the Broncos got a good deal, paying Burton just the 12th-most at the position.

A new head coach in Denver will bring a new offensive scheme, which may call for a fullback, so getting one of the better ones available is a good move.

With that being said, it’s nearly impossible to get a grade higher than a C for signing a fullback.

Grade: C




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