The NFL has seemingly squashed a year’s worth of news stories into the past week - player signings have been happening at a frenzied pace since free agency began on Thursday.
There is still plenty of business to be done in the coming weeks and some very famous names remain on the open market, including former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and former Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.
But things have settled down enough to take a look at this year's free agency winners and losers.
The winners…
New England Patriots
Don't look now but the best just got even better, and it was not really through free agency. Sure, the signing of Stephon Gilmore adds genuine quality at the cornerback position and that was a free agent signing. But the rest of New England's moves saw them prey on the rest of the league's frailties and problems in a series of shrewd trades.
Wide receiver Brandin Cooks was unsettled at New Orleans but has potential No 1 receiver skills and boasts scary speed. Dwayne Allen is a mismatch tight end who was deemed surplus to requirements in Indianapolis and should be a nice foil for Rob Gronkowski. Kony Ealy has plenty of potential that was rarely shown in his time as a defensive end with the Carolina Panthers but the Patriots can always point to his three-sack break-out game in Super Bowl 50.
Jacksonville Jaguars
I know this is hard to imagine, but the Jacksonville Jaguars - who have thrown more than $540 million at free agents in the past two years - have won the early part of the off-season… again!
The perennially under-achieving Jags need to turn some headline signings into wins, for sure. But for now we can only judge their efforts to bolster the squad, and the signings of defensive end Calais Campbell (Arizona), cornerback A.J. Buoye (Houston) and safety Barry Church (Dallas) have to be applauded. A good, young defence got even better and allows more freedom to upgrade the offence via the NFL Draft.
Cleveland Browns
I give the Browns credit for thinking outside the box in the Brock Osweiler trade, but essentially paying $16 million to acquire a second-round draft choice in 2018 is a bit rich for me. My opinion on that will change if the Browns parlay that pick into a trade for a quarterback they really like but, until that happens, it will be a bit of a head-scratcher.
I also think the Browns could have worked a bit harder to keep wide receiver Terrelle Pryor in the building. You're happy to essentially part with $16 million for a player you have no intention of keeping but not to re-sign one of your hardest workers in 2016.
That said, this team did get a lot better in the opening days of free agency. The signing of wide receiver Kenny Britt somewhat off-sets the loss of Pryor but the big moves were made up front with the signings of offensive linemen Kevin Zeitler (Cincinnati) and J.C. Tretter (Green Bay). Team those two with future Hall of Famer Joe Thomas and the recently re-signed Joel Bitonio and the Browns addresses a major area of need.
The losers…
Washington Redskins
Let's recap the last few days for the Washington Redskins, who I have felt were a team on the rise for the last couple of seasons. They lose star wide receivers Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson to free agency, as well as key defensive lineman Chris Baker, they fire general manager Scott McCloughan and throw some significant mud in his direction during the parting, and back-to-back 4,000-yard passer Kirk Cousins reportedly tells the team he wants to be traded.
The Redskins stopped the bleeding a little bit with the free agency signing of Pryor from the Browns and they added some defensive muscle by grabbing Terrell McClain (Dallas), Stacy McGee (Oakland) and D.J. Swearinger (Arizona) but they are giving every impression of being a team in disarray from top to bottom.
Big-name players
The NFL - particularly around the opening of free agency - does not respect reputations. That has proven to be the case for several very famous players such as running backs Peterson and Jamaal Charles, and quarterbacks Cutler and Colin Kaepernick.
It has been nothing but tumbleweeds blowing in the wind for those guys since the opening of free agency, although Peterson and Charles have received nibbles of interest from the Seattle Seahawks. The lack of interest reminds us that this game is brutally about production and not name recognition. That said, I am surprised that as of Monday lunchtime, New England Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower is still on the market.
Brock Osweiler
The NFL is a cold, cold business. This time last year, Osweiler was basking in the glory of signing a four-year deal with the Houston Texans worth a cool $72 million. Fast forward to 2017 and he is nothing more than a piece of tradable meat and a pawn in the roster-building game of the Cleveland Browns.
Osweiler was traded from Houston to Cleveland with neither team showing any interest in him whatsoever. He was just a piece of the puzzle and zero consideration was given to his personal feelings or on-field development. Now, I make it a habit never to feel sorry for a millionaire and this has all come about due to Brock's own failings on the field - but it serves to remind us just how ruthless NFL teams can be when it comes to their dealings with players.