Minnesota officially got their man and traded for Kansas City DE Jared Allen. Kansas City's fans might feel fine about the deal after Allen ended his tenure with the team on a sour note, but Minnesota got a good deal. It's a lot of money, over $30 million guaranteed, but he's the NFL sack leader. He is a major difference maker on any defense, but fills a huge need in Minnesota where they have no depth at defensive end and little pass rush. Plus at age 26, he's in his prime, and should be a great player over the next three years. The draft choice compensation turned out to be rather weak. The 1st round pick is 17th overall and clearly a solid pick to acquire, but the two 3rd round picks are the 73rd and 82nd picks overall. Kansas City will be lucky to find a quality starter with those 3rd round picks. Then they swapped 6th round picks for some reason. Unfortunately that is a very good move for Minnesota. Plus Minnesota still has their 2nd round pick, 47th overall, to add some offensive line depth.
I was horrified when it was reported that the Packers are talking with free agent QB Daunte Culpepper but I've talked myself off the ledge. This is not 2004 anymore and he's not a viable NFL starter anymore, but he's o.k. as a backup. If you're grading on a curve, the Packers could do a lot worse. Miami signed QB Josh McCown to backup QB John Beck and McCown was a lot worse last season in the same Oakland offense as Culpepper. Still they can find a quarterback better than Culpepper in the draft this weekend.