Analyzing and grading all the signings

The real story of the first week of free agency has generally not been free agency.

Its been the trades. Russell Wilson from Seattle to Denver, Davante Adams from Green Bay to Las Vegas, Matt Ryan from Atlanta to Indianapolis, and Deshaun Watson from Houston to Cleveland.

That said, there have been all kinds of signings and re-signings, from great to sneaky-good to terrible, and we analyzed and graded as many as possible in our Week 1 free-agency tracker.

But as there’s still all kinds of talent left on the open market — perhaps the trades delayed things this season — and with that in mind, it’s time to get rolling with analysis and grades of the signings and re-signings happening in Week 2 of the new league year.

Marcus Mariota to the Atlanta Falcons: A

(Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)

Mariota was more of a Wildcat quarterback and a pure runner for the Raiders last season; he ran the ball 13 times for 87 yards and a touchdown, while completing one of two passes for four yards. He completed 17 of 28 passes for 226 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in 2020, and he hasn’t had a substantive season as a starting quarterback since 2018 with the Titans, so this two-year, $18.75 million deal with the Falcons isn’t going to make a blip on the radar.

It will as we get ready for the 2022 season, because after the Matt Ryan trade, it’s quite possible that Mariota will be the Falcons’ starting quarterback. On perhaps the NFL’s worst team from a talent perspective.

The question then becomes, what does Marcus Mariota have left in the tank? Mariota was selected second overall in the 2015 draft out of Oregon by the Titans, and he never really lived up to that, but when you go back to his 2020 reps with the Raiders, there are some throws that defy his invisible status over the last few seasons. Moving to your left as a right-handed quarterback and making a bang-on throw under pressure and against your own physical momentum is something we’d expect from…