This is a great signing by Jeff Ireland, given that the Cleveland Browns reportedly offered Grimes a multi-year deal, and it is believed that the Falcons also wanted to keep Grimes, whom they had franchise-tagged in 2012. Prior to his Achilles injury in 2012, Grimes had a breakout year in 2010, being named to the ProBowl, and he was ranked the 10th best CB in the NFL by ProFootball Focus that year. In 2011, Grimes actually improved enough to be ranked the 3rd best CB. I don’t think this move takes CB off the board in the first round, especially since it's just a 1-year deal, and Grimes is still rehabbing his Achilles. However, it does make our depth chart at CB less of a disaster. There's always the chance he's not fully healthy in 2013, but our risk is minimal given that it's just a 1-year deal, and even while rehabbing, he was the best CB still available in free agency. His deal has $5 million in base money ($2.25 million signing bonus and $750,000 of salary guaranteed), plus $500,000 in per-game roster bonuses. If he doesn't look healthy by the end of pre-season, he can be cut at a $3 million cap hit (not too bad). If we like him, and he plays all 16 games, he earns $5.5 million (less than Sean Smith is getting from the Chiefs). Low-risk, high reward.

This is a contract typical for a backup defensive tackle. By comparison, Tony McDaniel, the former Dolphins backup defensive tackle who just signed with the Seattle Seahawks, previously played under a $3 million per year deal. Per Adam Caplan, 3-4 teams were trying to sign Martin.

St. Louis has outs after 2013 and after 2014.