NFL FREE AGENCY RECAP

The NFL free agency period is really important for teams to retain players or sign them from other teams with a certain amount of money each year. This period can make or break a team’s future based on how much (or how little) of an impact these free agents make with their new teams.  

WHAT TEAMS WON FREE AGENCY?

Jack Taylor: “The Bears won FA since they addressed the o-line which they needed most and traded for 2 offensive lineman including 4x all-pro Joe Thuney, and signed center Drew Dalman to fill the center position which has been an issue in the past years.”

Me: The Broncos won FA since they made their defense even better by adding Dre Greenlaw and Hufanga from the 49ers on cheap deals and can help this defense ceiling even higher. The addition of Tight End Evan Engram was also a great move by giving Bo Nix that “safety blanket” he didn’t have last year.

Starting off with the signings for the most important position…Quarterback. This year’s quarterback pool was not the greatest for team’s to look for, but the Seahawks and Jets got their QB for the next couple of years by the Seahawks signing Sam Darnold for 3 years 100.5 million dollars and Justin Fields signing a 2 year 40 million dollar contract with the Jets. Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston both went to the NY Giants and will be a QB competition this year for the starting spot. 

WHAT TEAMS LOST FREE AGENCY

Jack Taylor: “The 49ers dismantled most of their team and really have no young talent left so basically they are starting from scratch.”

Me: The Cowboys lost FA since they made no good moves and just signed players to short-term deals and let players go from their roster last season, a key on was Rico Dowdle who was 1,000 rusher last season.

Some other big signings included the Patriots adding more stars to their team by adding defensive tackle Milton Williams for 4 years, adding star Cornerback Carlton Davis for 3 years, and adding Wide Receiver Stefon Diggs for 3 years to give Drake Maye more help on the offensive side. More teams who made a splash in free agency were the Vikings and the Bears. The Bears added offensive lineman All-Pro Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson from trades and Drew Dalman from free agency, to make their line better and the Vikings buffed up the offensive and defensive line by adding guards Will Fries and Ryan Kelly and added defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Johnathan Allen. 

WHAT WAS THE MOST SHOCKING SIGNING/TRADE

Jack Taylor: “Myles Garrett signing was shocking since he requested a trade from the Browns months before and then resigned with them.”

Me: Most shocking signing/trade was Geno Smith to the Raiders since the Raiders are in rebuild mode and Smith is an older Quarterback who is ok, but won’t get them in “win now mode”. I was surprised after the trade they extended him for two more years and paid him way too much by giving him $42.75 million a year.

There were also some shocking signings by Milton Williams getting out of the Carolina deal to go sign with the Patriots, and another one was Chris Godwin taking 20 million dollars less to stay with Tampa Bay instead of signing with the Patriots. Najee Harris to the Chargers was shocking also since they let go of J.K. Dobbins who was a Comeback Player of the Year nominee with 900 rushing yards in 13 games. 

This NFL Free Agency did have some chaos and a lot of teams made moves to try to make their team better, but they will have another chance to make their team better in this year’s upcoming draft.