Breaking down a (boring) week of free agency
Amid the flurry of roster moves this past week at the start of NFL free agency, and the 24-hour coverage in newspapers, on websites, radio, and TV, I couldn’t help but chuckle and agree with my friend Aaron Schatz, formerly of Football Outsiders and now with FTN Fantasy.
“I feel a little weird being so quiet on here about free agency moves,” Schatz posted on Twitter/X, “but the truth is that most free agent signings do not move the needle to any degree that matches the amount of attention they get.”
There were a few moves I would consider major — Kirk Cousins heading to the Falcons, Saquon Barkley joining the Eagles, Christian Wilkins getting a massive deal from the Raiders, and the Panthers trading Brian Burns to the Giants — but otherwise it’s hard to get too excited about most of these signings. It was a light year for the glory positions — quarterback, wide receiver, and pass rusher — and of the few elite players available, most re-signed with their teams.
Still, dozens of players still changed teams, and hundreds of millions of dollars were awarded in contracts. Teams also started revealing their plans for the season. Let’s take a look at the top stories from the first week of free agency:
■ Panthers first-time general manager Dan Morgan and head coach Dave Canales are not off to the best start. They traded Burns to the Giants for essentially a 2024 second-round pick and 2025 fifth-round pick, a return that is but a fraction of the offer the Panthers had from the Rams at the 2022 trade deadline — two first-round picks plus a second-rounder.
Burns was eating up $21 million of cap space, but there was no time constraint for the Panthers to trade him. They should have held out for more.
“I don’t understand why Carolina would trade Burns for a 2nd and 5th round pick,” tweeted former Jets and Dolphins GM Mike Tannenbaum. “Either pay him on the tag for a year, or at least get a first-round pick for a 26year-old who has 46 career sacks.”
This is the same franchise (but different front office) that didn’t get a firstround pick for Christian McCaffrey, either. And gave up two No. 1s, two No. 2s, and D.J. Moore last year for the right to draft Bryce Young. Owner Dave Tepper is burning assets left and right.
■ The Panthers, coming off a 2-15 season, did a lot of work this past week, probably because they don’t have a first-round pick. They signed three new starters on defense, but most notably traded for Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson and doled out $80 million fully guaranteed to two guards, Robert Hunt ($53 million) and Damien Lewis ($27 million). The message is clear: No more excuses for Young.
■ It’s a good year to be a guard. In addition to the two big deals in Carolina, the Rams gave guards Jonah Jackson and Kevin Dotson $25 million and $24 million fully guaranteed, respectively. Mike Onwenu, a guard/tackle, got $35 million guaranteed from the Patriots, and Jon Runyan got $17 million from the Giants.
■ Speaking of trades that don’t make sense, the Commanders traded Sam Howell plus fourth- and sixth-round picks to the Seahawks for third- and fifth-round picks. I understand wanting to clear the decks at quarterback as the Commanders prepare to draft one at No. 2 (looking like Jayden Daniels), but I don’t understand why the Commanders dumped Howell for nothing.
Though his record was 4-13 last year and the stats weren’t great, he was playing in a dysfunctional situation, he started all 17 games, and displayed good athleticism and a live arm. Don’t be surprised if Howell ends up pushing Geno Smith for the Seahawks’ starting job.
■ Jim Harbaugh is wasting little time making his imprint on the Chargers, most notably dumping almost their entire offense. The Chargers let running back Austin Ekeler sign with the Commanders, let tight end Gerald Everett sign with the Bears, released receiver Mike Williams, and traded receiver Keenan Allen to the Bears. Justin Herbert’s top weapons now are receivers Quentin Johnston, last year’s firstrounder, and Joshua Palmer, and tight ends Will Dissly and Donald Parham.
The Chargers also persuaded Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack to take pay cuts in order to stay.
■ My favorite signings of the week: Cousins to the Falcons; pass rusher Danielle Hunter to the Texans; receiver Darnell Mooney to the Falcons; linebacker Patrick Queen to the Steelers; Wilkins to the Raiders; tight end Jonnu Smith to the Dolphins; and Barkley to the Eagles.
■ Most cash received in the first year of their new deals: Cousins $62.5 million, Burns $43.5 million, Chiefs DT Chris Jones $31.35 million, Ravens DT Justin Madubuike $31 million, and Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield $30 million.
■ In the AFC East, the Dolphins are remaking their defense, with CB Xavien Howard, OLB Emmanuel Ogbah ,LB Jerome Baker, and Wilkins out, and OLB Shaq Barrett ,CB Kendall Fuller, and S Jordan Poyer in. The Jets have been quiet, other than beefing up their offensive and defensive lines with RT Morgan Moses ,G John Simpson, and DTs Javon Kinlaw and Leki Fotu.
■ Texans GM Nick Caserio, coming off a 10-7 season, did a lot of work in free agency after building through the draft the last three years. He re-signed Dalton Schultz to the largest tight end contract of the offseason, with $23.5 million guaranteed over two years. The Texans fortified the run game with Joe Mixon. And I love the additions to the defense, with a new elite pass rusher in Hunter ($48 million guaranteed), a hard-nosed linebacker in Azeez AlShaair ($21.5 million), and a really underrated player in defensive tackle Denico Autry ($10.5 million), who not only is coming off a career high 11½ sacks, but has blocked a remarkable 11 kicks in his 10-year career (six extra points, four field goals, and a punt).
■ Derrick Henry likely joined a list of distinguished Titans to finish their careers in Baltimore, following in the footsteps of quarterback Steve McNair and cornerback Samari Rolle.
The Titans chose Tony Pollard over bringing Henry back at age 30, but Henry has always been built differently from most running backs (6 feet 3 inches, 247 pounds), and here’s betting he makes a big impact in the Ravens’ backfield next to Lamar Jackson.
■ The wide receiver market has mostly been a dud, likely because it’s supposed to be a deep year for receivers in the draft. Calvin Ridley got the one big deal, $50 million guaranteed over two years in Tennessee. Gabe Davis got two years and $24 million guaranteed in Jacksonville, and Curtis Samuel and Mooney signed nice deals with Buffalo and Atlanta, respectively. The list of receivers still available is nothing to write home about: Mike Williams, Hunter Renfrow, Tyler Boyd, Michael Thomas, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Odell Beckham, Allen Robinson, DJ Chark, and Mecole Hardman.
■ The Giants’ signing of quarterback Drew Lock didn’t generate much conversation outside of New York, but this was an interesting one. While Daniel Jones is making $36 million guaranteed in 2024, it’s the last guaranteed year of his contract, and it doesn’t appear that the Giants are promising him his starting job. Lock has 23 career starts for Denver and Seattle, and Giants coach Brian Daboll is clearly feeling the heat after a 6-11 season.
“They basically sold him on the opportunity to compete to be the starter, and he felt like it was the right opportunity,” Seahawks GM John Schneider said on 710 Seattle Sports. “He looked at Baker Mayfield’s opportunity last year and felt like this could be something similar.”
BEST IS YET TO COME? Will trade lead to a bigger deal?
The biggest move of the week may not have been a signing but rather a trade between the Vikings and Texans. And it could have big implications in New England.
The Texans on Friday agreed to send the No. 23 pick to the Vikings for No. 42 this year, next year’s secondrounder, plus a late-round pick swap. The Vikings need a quarterback after losing Kirk Cousins, and now have picks 11 and 23 this year as ammunition to trade up for one of the top prospects.
The Bears won’t be a trade partner at No. 1, as they will take Caleb Williams. The Commanders clearly are taking a quarterback at No. 2, likely Jayden Daniels. Which leaves the Patriots at No. 3.
They certainly need a quarterback, and are all teed up to draft North Carolina’s Drake Maye. But the stars seem to be aligning for the Patriots and Vikings to consummate a huge trade.
In February, Minneapolis TV reporter Darren Wolfson reported on a podcast that the Vikings “planted the seed” with the Patriots at January’s Senior Bowl for a trade of No. 3. And guess who coached Maye in high school? Vikings QB coach Josh McCown, who coached at Charlotte’s Myers Park High in 2019 when Maye was a junior starter.
On top of that, a league source I trust — someone who told me the Vikings wanted Sam Darnold, and the Falcons were hot on Cousins, and the Browns wanted Jameis Winston — told me this past week, prior to the Vikings’ trade, that he thinks the Patriots may trade No. 3. The rationale is that Jacoby Brissett might be able to get the Patriots through the season, and the Patriots have so many holes to fill — quarterback, receiver, left tackle, and tight end on offense alone — that they need the haul of draft picks that No. 3 could bring in a trade. I’m not reporting that it’s going to happen, but I’ve got my eyebrow raised.
The Patriots would obviously get picks 11 and 23 from the Vikings, and shouldn’t listen to any offer that doesn’t also include the Vikings’ 2025 firstrounder. In 2021, the 49ers traded three first-round picks plus a thirdrounder to move up from No. 12 to 3 to draft Trey Lance.
Given the number of teams in the hunt for quarterbacks — the Broncos at No. 12 and Raiders at No. 13 each desperately need one — the Patriots would be crazy if they didn’t consider trading No. 3 for at least three-first round picks. They could still draft a quarterback later in the draft — anywhere from No. 23 to the middle rounds — and set themselves up with extra premium draft picks over multiple years.
The risk is that Maye becomes a superstar elsewhere. But the Patriots’ roster is in such bad shape that getting a haul for No. 3 may be worth the risk.
ETC. Cowboys stay on the sideline
The Cowboys’ offseason has gotten off to an underwhelming start. They let Tony Pollard leave for Tennessee, lost two other starters to Washington, and their only moves have been re-signing their long snapper, a depth cornerback, and veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks.
This inaction is nothing new for the Cowboys. Ranked as the most valuable sports franchise in the world by Forbes ($9 billion and counting), the Cowboys have been shockingly cheap in free agency over the last decade.
They certainly pay big money to their own players, but haven’t signed a significant free agent from another team since 2012, when they gave cornerback Brandon Carr a five-year, $50 million deal with $25 million guaranteed.
Since then, it has been all backups and minimum-salary guys, with their biggest signing being a three-year, $18 million deal in 2020 for Gerald McCoy,
who never played a down.
“We don’t define ‘all-in’ by what you spend in free agency,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said Thursday. “It’s keeping the core together.”
Playing by new rules?
The 32 owners will be meeting in Orlando starting next Sunday for their annual league meeting, and will have a handful of rules proposals to vote on. The competition committee will be proposing changes to the kickoff and outlawing the hip-drop tackle, but teams are also free to submit proposals, with the vote of 24 owners necessary to adopt them as rules.
Some of the highlights from the teams’ proposals:
■ The Eagles once again propose that teams be allowed a fourth-and-20 alternative to the onside kick, with the play coming from the team’s 20-yard line. This has yet to gain much traction with other owners.
■ The Colts want a coach or replay official to be able to challenge a penalty inside two minutes of each half.
■ The Bills want the ability to make a practice squad quarterback the emergency third quarterback without having to elevate him to the 53-man roster.
■ The Steelers want to move the trade deadline to the Tuesday after Week 9; the Browns, Lions, Jets, Eagles, 49ers and Commanders want to move it to after Week 10 (it’s currently after Week 8).
■ For the second straight year, the Eagles want game clocks to show tenths of a second in the final 60 seconds of each half.
Extra points
Aaron Donald has been flirting with retirement the past couple of years, and he finally made the move Friday, announcing he is done after 10 seasons, all with the Rams. There isn’t much he didn’t accomplish — Defensive Rookie of the Year (2014), three-time Defensive Player of the Year (2017, 2018, 2020), eight-time first-team All-Pro, 10-time Pro Bowler, and Super Bowl champion. Donald, 32, is walking away despite being named All-Pro in 2023 (though it may have been more reputation-based), and is leaving $30 million of fully guaranteed salary on the table, which we don’t see often. Assuming he doesn’t come back, Donald is a lock for the Hall of Fame in 2029 and may go down as the greatest defensive tackle in NFL history . . . It will be interesting to see if the Giants and Vikings pursue tampering charges after a few people inadvertently blabbed. Penn State’s James Franklin, Saquon Barkley’s coach in college, let it slip in a news conference that Eagles GM Howie Roseman was involved in a sales pitch to Barkley before the negotiating period began. And Kirk Cousins said in his introductory news conference that he spoke with the Falcons’ trainer before he was allowed to, and that tight end Kyle Pitts was recruiting him for a few weeks. Tampering charges are rarely pursued, but the Giants and Vikings can push the issue if they want . . . Lost amid this past week’s hubbub was Aaron Rodgers suggesting he could play “two or three or four more years.” The obvious message to the Jets: “Don’t you dare draft a quarterback this year.” . . . Mike Vrabel finally emerged Friday, taking a job as a consultant for the Browns. It’s still shocking to me that he doesn’t have a head coaching job in 2024 . . . Jon Gruden is now working as an adviser for the Milano Seamen of the European League of Football . . . Good context by The Athletic’s Paul Dehner about the trade request by Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, who got the franchise tag — right tackle Jonah Williams, who requested a trade last year, and safety Jessie Bates, who skipped the entire offseason after getting the franchise tag in 2022, both eventually reported to the Bengals and played well that season.