After two days of rumors and trades, Thursday marked the first day that teams can legally get other teams' players to sign on the dotted line. It also saw some teams do everything they could to clear space for later signings and acquisitions. Here are some of the more intriguing names to head for greener, or at least newer, pastures as the NFL's free agent period kicks off in earnest:
Brock Osweiler (Browns): With Osweiler's free agent deal last season looking more and more like a terrible mistake, the Texans found a way to pawn him off on the QB-hungry Browns, at the cost of a second round pick (as in, Houston had to give up a 2018 second rounder to get rid of him). This clears the decks for the Texans to bring in Tony Romo (who has yet to officially part ways with Dallas), and could also spell the end of Robert Griffin's ill-fated tenure in Cleveland. Osweiler's fantasy outlook doesn't improve much with the Browns, assuming they don't flip him to someone else, but DeAndre Hopkins has to be excited by the possibility of taking Dez Bryant's spot at the end of Romo's passes.
Mike Glennon (Bears): Jay Cutler is D-O-N-E done in Chicago, but apparently the Bears learned nothing from what happened with Osweiler in Houston last year and went looking for their own tall and skinny backup QB to overpay. Glennon had a decent TD:INT (29:15 in 19 games) prior to Jameis Winston's arrival in Tampa, but he's never posted a YPA over 7.0, which isn't a good sign for his potential success as the starter in Chicago. There's also the question of who he'd be throwing the ball to, as...
Alshon Jeffery (Eagles): ...bolted for Philadelphia on a one-year, $14 million "prove-it" deal. The 27-year-old has played only 21 games total over the last two seasons, but pro-rate his performance over those two years to 16 games, and he's got 81 catches for 1,240 yards. If Jeffery can stay healthy, Carson Wentz will have an impressive pair of targets available at WR this season in Jordan Matthews and the former Bear.
DeSean Jackson (Buccaneers): The Bucs made a big upgrade at their Jackson position, replacing the broken-down Vincent with deep threat DeSean. The former Washington wideout turned 30 in December but is still hotter than a pepper sprout, having topped 1,000 yards in three of the last four seasons and 10.0 YPT in all four, and he'll make a much better complement to Mike Evans on the outside for Winston. Tampa could sneakily have one of the better passing games in the league in 2017.
Ted Ginn (Saints): Brandin Cooks was rumored to be on the trading block, and bringing in Ginn could certainly be taken as a strong sign Cooks is headed out of New Orleans. Ginn is 31 but is coming off two of the best seasons of his career, and he could mesh nicely with Drew Brees and the Saints' quick-strike offense, especially if he subs right into Cooks' current role.
Kenny Britt (Browns): Britt turned his first career 1,000-yard season into four years and $32.5 million from Cleveland as the replacement for Terrelle Pryor. Second year WR Corey Coleman should be the Browns' top downfield option in 2017, but Britt gives whoever the team's QB will be a bigger, more physical target as well. He's also proven to be fairly sturdy -- after developing an injury-prone reputation with the Titans early in his career, he missed only one game in three seasons with the Rams.
Robert Woods (Rams): Replacing Britt in Los Angeles will likely be Woods, who's never managed to pull down 700 yards in a season yet somehow might be getting a contract bigger than Britt's. Go figure. He also doesn't provide the size that Britt did, leaving the Rams' receiving corps rather smurf-like with Woods (6-foot-0) lined up with Tavon Austin (5-foot-8), Pharoh Cooper (5-foot-11) and others. Maybe they're trying to call back to the franchise's Greatest Show on Turf days, but Jared Goff didn't look much like Kurt Warner last year.
IDP Quick Hits: Edge rusher Chandler Jones is staying in Arizona on a five-year deal "worth" more than $16 million a season, but that leaves no room in the Cardinals' budget for Calais Campbell, who'll head to the Jaguars. ... Tony Jefferson is another Arizona cap casualty, heading to the Ravens to join Eric Weddle in an impressive-on-paper safety duo. Former Colt and 49er Antoine Bethea will replace him in the Cards' secondary. ... Jacksonville also signed hard-hitting safety Barry Church away from the Cowboys and cornerback A.J. Bouye from the Texans, giving Jalen Ramsey plenty of help on the back end. The man Church is replacing, Johnathan Cyprien, will head to the Titans. ... Kiko Alonso received a first-round tender from the Dolphins and will be staying put. ... A.J. Klein, Luke Kuechly's understudy at middle linebacker in Carolina, heads to the Saints for a possible starting role and some 2017 sleeper potential. .. Former Texans safety Quintin Demps will take his 18 career INTs, including six last season, to the Bears. ... Cornerback Stephon Gilmore will stay in the AFC East, jumping from the Bills to the Super Bowl champion Patriots. ... DT Nick Fairley signed a four-year deal to remain in New Orleans.
Omens and Portents: Kirk Cousins has asked Washington owner Dan Snyder to trade him if the team's not interested in signing him to a long-term deal. Good luck with that, Kirk. ... Lost in the shuffle of all the free agent deals is the announcement from the league that Kenneth Dixon will be suspended for four games for a PED violation. That might push the Ravens to take a running back in the fourth round for the fourth straight draft (Dixon in '16, Javorius Allen in '15, Lorenzo Taliaferro in '14). Wait, who are we kidding. They would have done that anyway.