The NFL is such a strong business that even a month after the Super Bowl, the end of the season there have been not one but two events for diehard fans to keep invested in.
One is something I really can’t pay attention to but to many is one of the highlights of the year is the Draft Combine in Indianapolis. I listen to enough football podcasts to get the general gist, and don’t watch a bunch of guys running drills measured in milliseconds.
But the second thing that kicked off is the start of free agency. While many big name players re-signed with their original teams, were franchise tagged (meaning they automatically get signed for a lucrative one-year deal) or never got to free agency at all, there were some rather big names that did and swapped teams.
It would be a fools errand to try and capture ALL the movement in free agency, so instead I tried to put together my thoughts of the bigger contracts (two years minimum) where someone changed teams. Plenty of big names re-signed with their teams but it’s the switching of teams that is so fascinating to so many of us.
And of course, despite the huge splashes at the beginning of free agency (including the idiotic “legal tampering period”), there are still plenty of big names out there. They are less likely to garner HUGE contracts, which typically are the result of a bidding war, but plenty of big names are still without a job for now, so the below will change. That said, I wanted to take a lookee-loo. Below are the multi-year deals I cared about, where the players changed teams.
There are a few takeaways - the Panthers CLEARLY wanted to shore up their interior offensive line, giving almost $90,000,000 guaranteed to two guys named Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis (not that one) to play guard for them.
The other is that Kirk Cousins may be a good QB but he’s a literal genius in terms of using the market in his favor.
He’s won exactly one playoff game in his life, by the way.
I will say that the best possible outcome of all of this is that national sportswriters will REALLY have to stretch to link Cousins to the 49ers again. So, there’s that.
Christian Wilkins is another guy who got a huge bag and many casual football fans might not even know who he is. A staunch DT, he’s an example proving that the salary cap is real. The Dolphins COULD have franchise tagged him and kept him for a year but honestly couldn’t afford that $20,000,000+ for the 2024 season. A long-term deal could have worked, because they can play salary cap math and defer the cap hit to later in the deal (aka, the entire way the Saints handle every contract), but that meant Wilkins had to hit free agency, when folks like the Raiders made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
The other thing that I’m reminded of each year is how “funny'“ the money is that gets announced. Even the years are not real, either. That’s because the NFL insiders like Adam Schefter and Ian Rapaport get their information directly from agents, who have a vested interest in making it look like as good of a deal as possible. And it still shocks me every year.
Look at LB Patrick Queen signing with the Steelers - he was a fairly average linebacker in Baltimore until the Ravens traded for Roquan Smith, and then Queen shined. The team hadn’t exercised their 5th year option on Queen, allowing him to hit free agency. The announced deal was a three year deal for $41,000,000 - but, upon further review, only $13,840,000 is guaranteed. That seems much more reasonable for a guy who might not be a game changer.
In fact, a lot of signings are announced and the guaranteed money isn’t called out. This should be a signal that it’s VERY low. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson may have signed a three year deal worth over $30,000,000 with the Eagles, but with no guaranteed numbers public, my guess is that this is very much a one-year deal.
Many fans react very aggressively to signings, good or bad - I saw many comments after the 49ers signed two EDGE defenders about why aren’t they going after offensive linemen? I’d note two things - one, look at the cost of interior linemen here. That’s not in the 49ers budget. And Offensive Tackle is actually a bigger need, and you’ll note there isn’t a single one here. The good guys rarely leave (though Tyron Smith is available, he’s likely asking for way more money than the 49ers can afford.)
There will be deals later in free agency, where smart teams shop - as well as the NFL Draft, where I hope and pray the team prioritizes both offensive line and defensive back. This is a draft rich in both of those positions and the 49ers know it. It’s a process, and a fun one.
Here's hoping Aaron Rodgers signs with RFK, although it's more likely they take Ventura in the draft.