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First and foremost I'm going to get Randy Moss out of the way. He's due to be an unrestricted free agent. There's not much analysis as far as Moss goes. If you want to pry him out of New England you're probably going to have to pay him a staggering amount of money. The talent is pretty much unquestionable, he's the best there is.
Adam Schefter had some news on guys that could be looking to get traded this offseason. Chad Johnson and Javon Walker.
First, like I did a few weeks ago, Schefter questions whether the Bengals are at all interested in trading Johnson.
Cincinnati sounds far less open to dealing its wide receiver than Denver.
Since last season, when the grumblings about Johnson's future first began, the Bengals have been adamant about refusing to trade the receiver who set the franchise record this season for receiving yardage.
However, a showdown is looming in Cincinnati, where few of the Bengals are happy with the way this past season went and some, including Johnson, could opt to seek their exit.
The fact is that the Bengals disappointing season can be traced directly to it's 9th worst in the NFL defense. Their offense, for the most part, did its job. Unless Johnson is totally unhappy and forces his way out, it's hard to see how he'll be gone when everyone in the organization says they want him back.
Javon Walker is another story.
Now Denver will seek to find a new home for Walker
Back when Denver traded for Walker, some reports said the Eagles were so close to a deal for him that they actually had him in town for physical... Walker has said he wants out of Denver and almost certainly will be available for less than what the Broncos paid for him. It wouldn't be a bad move, but Walker isn't exactly the bonfide pro bowl #1 WR that everyone seems to want. He's missed 23 games over the past 3 years and that's a real concern. He's also really only had 2 maybe 3 years that were really impressive. In 03(his 2nd year) he caught 41 passes along with 9 TDs(a lot like Reggie Brown in 2006). The next year he really broke out with 89 catches for almost 1,400 yards and 12 TDs. He was injured in the first game of the 2005 season but went to Denver the next year & caught 69 passes for almost 1,1000 yards and 8 TDs. Last year played just 8 games and caught 29 balls and no touchdowns.
There's no doubt that a WR corps of a healthy Walker/Curtis/Brown is better than Curtis/Brown/Avant or Baskett or Lewis... and at 6'3 Walker would provide the first real imposing physical presence we've had at WR since "the player" was here. Plus, having played in Green Bay and Denver he's been in the west coast offense his whole career. There'd be little to no learning curve and his upside is impressive. Frankly if we could add Walker for something like a 4th round pick and keep LJ Smith I think the offense would look pretty good.
It should be noted that Javon Walker has apologized for saying he wanted to leave and The Mile High Report thinks Javon will be back in Denver next year.
As for free agent WRs, any of these guys interest you?
Jerry Porter is probably the one guy that would raise eyebrows, but a quick peek at Porter's stats shows that he's not really any more productive than the guys we already have here. That said... he is very quick and he can stretch a defense, plus he's been stuck in some very poor offenses. Porter doesn't excite me all that much, but like I said with Walker... Our WR corps would be improved with him. The selling point of Porter over Walker is that we wouldn't have to trade for him and he'd play for less money than Walker.
The only other free agent WR option likely to make a real impact next year is Chicago's Bernard Berrian. Berrian is a speedy deep threat that doesn't have great size. He's also looking for huge money. He already turned down an extension from the Bears with $8 million in guaranteed money and recently hired none other than Drew Rosenhaus as his new agent. Berrian is looking to get #1 WR money despite never really having #1 production. This year was the best of his career and he had less receptions, less yards, and less TDs than Kevin Curtis. No thanks.