NFL free agency is fun to think about in terms of winners and losers. We have absolutely no idea how the moves made in March will look in September, let alone two or three years down the road. All we can do is trust the process. A few teams have crushed the first day of the “legal tampering period.”
NFL Free Agency Winners: Day 1
One day, it looks like the Buccaneers could sink into irrelevance, and the very next, they look like the Super Bowl favorite in the NFC. The Chargers are going all-in on Justin Herbert’s rookie deal. Dallas won by getting a deal done before the market exposed itself. That market was the wide receivers and tight ends. And even though Jacksonville might be misspending money, they’re surrounding Trevor Lawrence with some talent.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers were arguably the biggest winners in free agency. Nobody has had a better 24 hours than Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht. After sitting around the house for a month, Tom Brady decided to burn down Twitter by announcing he was un-retiring. From there, it should surprise no one that Ryan Jensen agreed to remain a Buccaneer during Monday’s early stages.
After the cornerback floodgates opened with J.C. Jackson’s deal, a pact to keep Carlton Davis in Tampa Bay quickly materialized. The team already had a solid roster and is poised to make another run in 2022 in a questionable NFC.
The 49ers will be starting a second-year QB in 2022. The Seahawks lost Russell Wilson. Davante Adams won’t play on the franchise tag, and the Packers are in a sticky salary cap situation. The NFC East is the NFC East.
Los Angeles Chargers
It doesn’t necessarily count as a free agency move because it was a trade that happened before the NFL’s legal tampering period. However, the trade for Khalil Mack still feels like part of the overall all-in approach the Chargers are taking this offseason.
In doing everything possible to maximize Herbert’s rookie deal, they’ve re-signed Mike Williams, traded for Mack, and agreed to terms with Jackson on a surprisingly team-friendly deal worth just $16.5 million in average annual value. Not only did they get the most talented cornerback in the market, but they also got him at a price well under what was projected.
Wide receivers and tight ends
Christian Kirk’s $18 million AAV should be all we need to know about the insanity of the wide receiver market. However, he’s far from the only NFL free agency winner among the pass catchers. Mike Williams’ $20 million deal wasn’t as egregious, but it was still a big chunk of change given he’s the second-best receiver on the Chargers. Even the mandatory former Dallas Cowboy Cedrick Wilson got in on the action at a $7.6 million AAV after being the team’s WR4 for the entirety of his career so far.
The ridiculousness began with the Panthers re-signing Ian Thomas to a deal worth $5.7 million annually. Then, things got weird on the first day of NFL free agency. Evan Engram got a fully guaranteed one-year, $9 million deal from Jacksonville. Mo Alie-Cox got three years and $18 million from the Colts. Meanwhile, Will Dissly will make $8 million per year.
That should make the next NFL free agency winner happy.
Dallas Cowboys
Hate is a strong word, but Cowboys fans HATE how Dallas handles free agency dating back to their last big outside free agency deal, Brandon Carr. That was in 2012. Now, they just sit back and let it come to them.
However, they did re-sign Michael Gallup to a five-year, $62 million deal that gives them an easy out after just two seasons. The deal itself just seems sufficient. But when you consider Gallup has had a 1,100-yard season while playing just 14 games and a receiver with zero 1,000-yard seasons (Kirk) now makes $18 million annually, that’s a win for Dallas.
And with the tight end market inflated, maybe the prudent move all along was to tag Dalton Schultz. That doesn’t mean they should even consider a long-term extension, especially with the market. It should allow them to draft his eventual replacement in April.
Trevor Lawrence
Listen, we can all sit back and have a big belly laugh over the Kirk free agency contract, but there’s no denying that Trent Baalke and the Jaguars front office are trying to help their young quarterback.
Brandon Scherff is an outstanding signing. The right guard is a legitimate All-Pro talent when healthy. Health is an issue for him, but that’s a calculated risk the Jaguars were willing to take.
Then Jacksonville started adding weapons, and they probably won’t stop with the two they agreed to terms with. Kirk was overpaid. There’s no denying that. But he still brings a valuable asset to the Jaguars that they didn’t have last season — a receiver that can separate.
Engram was an interesting signing, as well. He should operate well as a big slot in Doug Pederson’s offense.
Looking for our free agent losers?
The first few hours of the NFL’s legal tampering period were wild. While some teams overpaid to upgrade their rosters, others sat on their hands and did very little. Meanwhile, some of the top players on the market still remain unsigned. Here’s our story on the 5 biggest losers of Day 1 in free agency.