Haynesworth is the big catch so far

What better time to talk football than late February, early March, eh?

The NFL's new year is five days old, and the first wave of moves hasn't even ended, but it's already been an interesting lead up to the 2009 season.

The Giants and Redskins went on the offensive to get a whole lot better defensively. The Chiefs picked up a franchise quarterback for less than anyone would have imagined. And Denver's wunkerkind Josh McDaniels learned the hard way that if a 32-year-old rookie head coach is going to talk about trading the thin-skinned Jay Cutler, then said coach had better not fail to trade the thin-skinned Jay Cutler.

Here's a look back at the first four days of the NFL's new year:

The winners

Redskins: Let's not overthink this. The best player available in free agency -- hands down -- was Titans All-Pro defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Washington got him for a record $41 million guaranteed. The Redskins also picked up a decent starter in former Bills guard Derrick Dockery.

Giants: New York was in the running for Haynesworth right up to about the time Redskins owner Daniel Snyder cleared the $100 million mark in total compensation. Giants General Manager Jerry Reese turned the loss of one great defender into three very good ones in outside linebacker Michael Boley, tackle Rocky Bernard and end Chris Canty. Boley is 26 and can play on the weak or strong side. Canty is 26 and gives the Giants yet another big man who can rush from end or tackle. Bernard will be 30 in April, but he won't be expected to play a lot of snaps with Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield also on the roster. And, oh yeah, the guaranteed money doled out for Canty, Boley and Bernard is about $10 million less than Washington paid for Haynesworth.

Chiefs: Raise your hand if you thought anyone could get New England's Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel for a second-round draft pick? The only guy who thought that was Scott Pioli. Fortunately for the Chiefs, Pioli recently became their general manager after a nine-year run in New England. The Chiefs got better at starting quarterback (Cassel), backup quarterback (Tyler Thigpen), outside linebacker (Vrabel) and locker room leadership (Vrabel).

However ...

Making the Chiefs a winner doesn't mean the Patriots were a loser in this deal. The Patriots cleared about $17 million in cap space while getting the 34th overall pick for a backup quarterback and a linebacker who will be 34 in August. The Patriots had about $27 million tied up in Cassel and Tom Brady. They had no intention of paying Cassel the $14 million franchise tender. They franchised him with the intention of getting the best trade possible early in free agency. Obviously, this was the best deal on the table. It's a lot better than letting Cassel walk away as an unrestricted free agent.

New England will find and train another backup QB, just like it did when it drafted the unknown Cassel in the seventh round in 2005. Cassel wasn't even a starter at Southern California. And he almost didn't make the Patriots roster last season.

The losers

Ravens: The Ravens lost the best young center (Jason Brown, 25) and outside linebacker (Scott) in free agency. And then there's the stress of seeing the face of the franchise (Ray Lewis) still on the open market.

Best unsung move

Texans: Houston signed Cardinals defensive end Antonio Smith, giving them a dangerous combination of Smith and Mario Williams coming off the ends. At $12.5 million guaranteed, Smith comes relatively cheap for a 27-year-old defensive end with a good track record in 39 career starts.