Dwight Freeney was one of the most talked about free agents this off-season. A highly accomplished defensive lineman, Freeney has made quite a career terrorizing quarterbacks for the Indianapolis Colts. The 33 year-old sack master has racked up 107.5 sacks in just 11 seasons. So why then did the seven-time Pro Bowler’s free agent journey take so long to come to and end? Freeney attributes the lack of initial interest to factors having little to do with his age and playing ability.
“I basically think the owners got together and decided not to spend cash on free agents,” Freeney told Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com. “I definitely think that’s part of it. I think the owners made a pact. I think they all decided not to spend money.”
In essence, Freeney is accusing the owners of colluding against free agents on the market. In previous free agent periods, teams have dished out big bucks for free agents that haven’t quite been up to Freeney’s caliber.
“It takes one team to start things going,” said Freeney, “but what was strange was initially, there was not one team.”
Luckily for Freeney, there was one team that had interest—the San Diego Chargers. The new-look Chargers still valued the former Colt enough to give him a two-year deal worth $8.75 million.
The NFL did not offer any comment on the matter, but is denying the charges of collusion.
However, the NFL Player’s Association has expressed concerns on the matter. Executive Director DeMaurice Smith has sent memos to player agents asking them to notify the union if they have any proof or incident of collusion has arisen.
Smith’s email, obtained by ESPNDallas.com, read: “We have heard reports of a concern that teams are working in concert to ‘peg,’ ‘rig’ or ‘set’ market prices on player contracts. If you believe or have information that the teams have been colluding during this free-agency period, you have a responsibility as an agent of the NFLPA to come forward and share that information with us.”
One player agent, who chose to remain anonymous, made a statement to CBS Sports that will only serve to add fuel to the fire. “I’ve been in this business for several decades and there was never an offseason like this. Never,” the agent said.
Sentiments echoed by Freeney.
“What you saw [in free agency] were guys getting small deals,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything like it. There was a lot of take-it-or-leave-it from teams. It was crazy. Even a guy like [Elvis] Dumervil didn’t make as much money as he should have. He’s in his prime.”
Using figures from last year’s free agency period, there is plenty of evidence to support Freeney’s claim of gross under-payment. Below is a list of deals signed for some key and not-so-key free agents.
- Laurent Robinson, an average receiver in the NFL, had one decent season in Dallas that led to a lucrative $32 million deal over 5 years in Jacksonville.
- Matt Flynn, aka the backup quarterback extraordinaire, received a three-year, $26 million deal with Seattle last season…to sit on the bench.
- Robert Mathis, Freeney’s teammate in Indy, got a big payday in 2012. At just one year younger than Freeney, Mathis commanded four years and $36 million from the Colts. It is worth mentioning that Mathis has roughly 16.5 sacks less than Freeney—a number equal to about three seasons of average production.
- Frostee Rucker’s deal is perhaps the most insulting to a guy of Freeney’s caliber. The unknown D-lineman for the Bengals jumped to rival Cleveland for $20 million in 2012. For his career, Rucker has amassed a whopping 11 sacks since coming into the league in 2007.
Freeney is satisfied to be with the Chargers and will be playing to prove to the owners of the 31 other NFL teams that they were wrong not to take a chance on him.
As Freeney put it, “I’m going to make all of them regret it.”
