Club Fantasy – 2017 Free Agent Preview – Kenny Britt

By The Hudsonian, Joshua Hudson

Fantasy football is over. Or is it? Because I see it as the beginning. The beginning of the start of your season. Now is where you get the edge on your league mates. If you know all the ins and outs of who goes where – from players to coordinators and position coaches – you’re priming yourself for a trip to your fantasy playoffs in the upcoming season.

First comes free agency, then comes the draft. Sounds like the start of a fantasy addict’s nursery rhyme, but I digress. There will be plenty of content coming your way from Club Fantasy on this year’s draft class, but first, we start with NFL free agency.

This series will cover offensive players, as they have the most impact in fantasy circles and we at Club Fantasy don’t play individual defensive players, or IDPs as the kids call it these days.

Next up on the free agent preview list: Rams wide receiver Kenny Britt.

Kenny Britt, a first round draft choice in 2009, enjoyed arguably the best season of his career in 2016, topping 1,000 yards receiving for the first time. He did all this with veteran Case Keenum and rookie Jared Goff at quarterback, two guys who led the Los Angeles Rams to a 5-11 record. Talk about making the best of a bad situation.

Britt hits the free agent market with several top receiving targets available. Couple that with his enigmatic history and things may not be so bright for Britt. The Rams aren’t exactly flush with cap space, especially now that they’ve placed the franchise tag on DB Trumaine Johnson for a guaranteed $17 million and change. If Britt is looking for a $10 million plus a year deal, he likely prices himself out of Los Angeles.

Is Britt worth that kind of money? His track record would say no. During his first five years in the league, all with Tennessee, he never once 800 receiving yards and only once caught more than four touchdowns – nine in 2010. After his first 1,000 yards season, in his eighth season no less, one could wonder if he has apexed talent-wise. Has he finally matured? Was he more a product of great coaching?

With so much of the league flush with salary cap room, Britt could approach $10 million annually, especially since he’s only 28 years old. Let’s see who in the league might decide to give Britt a nice raise.

Philadelphia Eagles

Here we go again with the Eagles. They’re desperate for help along the outside. Britt has great size at 6’3″ and 223 pounds, but the real connection here is new Eagles wide receiver coach Mike Groh. See, I brought Groh up in my argument for why the Eagles might sign Alshon Jeffrey, and you know who else Groh coached? That’s right. Britt. Last year as a matter of fact. With the Rams. When Britt had arguably his best season with pathetic quarterbacks throwing him the ball.

Britt will come cheaper than Jeffrey, and likely less years on a contract. The Eagles could look Britt’s way for those exact reasons.

Chicago Bears

The Bears chose not to put the franchise tag on star receiver Alshon Jeffrey, thus leaving a void at the position if Jeffrey leaves in free agency to the highest bidder. Britt could be a nice alternative to pair with oft-injured Kevin White. Britt could be a nice target for whoever is slinging the rock in Chicago come next season.

San Francisco 49ers

Cap room galore and a need at wide receiver. I doubt Britt signs without knowing who would be throwing him the football, but I feel he will be one of the second wave signings, thus giving the 49ers time to fill the quarterback position. Money talks people!

The Verdict

Of all the free agents I’ve written about thus far, Britt is one I honestly have no idea where he would go. If Jeff Fisher were a head coach somewhere, I’d point to that team. But he’s not an NFL head coach anymore, so there goes that idea.

Gun to my head? I’ll say Chicago. I think they want to spend big on their defense and find plug ins on offense. Final answer.