Best Free Agency Moves

At the conclusion of the first day, teams often get worked up about what their team did or didn’t (Dallas Cowboys) do in free agency. But the truth is that free agency moves continuously happen through the actual season.

Needless to say that tons of moves, and probably the only players that people care about did find a new home on the first or second day of free agency.

Here are team grades and rankings on who I think is leading this seasons signings so far, as well as thoughts on what else to do leading into the draft. As you’ll find out, i’m just going to cover the organizations who made “big” moves or were trending on Twitter/X.

Atlanta Falcons: C-

Additions: Kirk Cousins (4yr/$180M), Darnell Mooney (3yr/$39M)

One thing that was clear from previous seasons is that the Falcons did need a quarterback. However, a 4-year deal for a 35 year old Kirk Cousins doesn’t seem like the best option for Atlanta. Especially considering Cousins just recovered from an ACL tear that caused him to miss the remainder of last season. The concern is not Cousins abilities or lack of, but the hefty time-period they signed Cousins to.

Pittsburgh Steelers: A

Additions: Russell Wilson (1yr/$1.2M), Patrick Queen (3yr/$41M)

The Steelers have had absolutely abysmal quarterback play lately and are adding a veteran guy who genuinely wants to win and has Super Bowl experience on the league minimum — it doesn’t get much better than that. Then the best part is that they added another star to their defense with Patrick Queen.

Minnesota Vikings: C

Additions: Aaron Jones (1yr/$7M)

Minnesota adding Jones just adds more talent to an already star studded offense. Perhaps the most dangerous wide receiver core in the NFL will just need to grab their future quarterback with the 5th pick in this years NFL Draft.

Houston Texans: A+ (Biased).

Additions: Joe Mixon (1yr/$5.75M), Danielle Hunter (2yr/$49M), Azeez-Al Shaair (3yr/$34M)

Joe Mixon was the NFL’s 5th leading rusher last season and was on his way out of Cincinnati as one of the last available top-tier backs left in free agency. The Texans lost last years starting back (Singletary) and made the best move they could make without overpaying. This allowed the Texans to make a big splash defensively signing Shaair and Hunter.

Baltimore Ravens & Philadelphia Eagles: A+

Both teams essentially made the same move to me and will be treated the same. Both have 100% Super Bowl expectations (especially the Ravens). Adding Saquan should elevate the Eagles even more and the same goes for Derrick Henry and the Ravens. Both teams were already towards the top.

Players like Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Zach Moss, Gus Edwards, Austin Ekeler, and Gabe Davis, moving to mid-tier, at best, organizations doesn’t excite me as much as these other signings. Can’t wait to see what each team is going to look like and how much this running back market will change within the next year.