The NFL free agency and trading period happened while I was on the road; so, let me catch up with some comments on the signings and trades. Lots of players on the move …
- Davante Adams WR: Signed with the Rams for 2 years and $46M. Adams and Matthew Stafford should make the Rams offense formidable.
- Jonathan Allen DT: Signed with the Vikes for 3 years and $60M. Good addition by the Vikes.
- Josh Allen QB: Extended by the Bills for 6 years at $330M and worth every penny of the deal.
- Saquon Barkley RB: Extended by the Eagles – – naturally.
- Zach Baun LB: Resigned by the Eagles for 3 years and $51M. He had an outstanding year for the Eagles in 2024.
- Mekhi Beckton OL: Signed with the Chargers for 2 years and $20M. Becton played well for the Eagles last year; his career has been haunted by injuries but stayed healthy in 2024.
- Joey Bosa DE: Signed by the Bills to a 1-year deal at $12.5M. If he can avoid injury, this is a great signing; the problem is that Bosa seems always to be injured.
- JaMar Chase WR: Resigned by the Bengals for 4 years and $161M. Excellent WR no doubt about that.
- Maxx Crosby DE: Resigned by the Raiders for 3 years and $106M. Frankly, that looks like a bargain to me …
- Drew Dalman C: Signed by the Bears for 3 years at $42M. The Bears revamped their offensive line in this player movement period.
- Sam Darnold QB: Signed with the Seahawks for 3 years at $100M.His first 16 games in 2024 were excellent; his final 2 games in 2024 were duds.
- Stefon Diggs WR: Signed by the Pats for 3 years and $69M. Diggs represents a serious upgrade at the WR position for the Pats.
- Evan Engram TE: Resigned by the Broncos for 2 years and $23M. Only played 9 games in 2024 but caught 114 passes in 2023.
- Myles Garrett DE: Extended by the Browns for 4 years at $160M after saying he wanted to be traded to a place where he could win a Super Bowl. Money talks …
- Chris Godwin WR: Resigned with the Bucs for 3 years and $66M. This is a smart move by the Bucs.
- Dre Greenlaw LB: Signed by the Broncos for 3 years at $35M. Only played 2 games in 2024 due to Achilles tendon injury.
- Javon Hargrave DT: Signed by the Vikes for 2 years at $30M. With the addition of Jonathan Allen, the Vikes have revamped the interior of their D-Line in this signing period.
- Najee Harris RB: Signed with the Chargers for 1 year and $5.2M. Harris is the kind of RB that Jim Harbaugh likes.
- Tee Higgins WR: Signed by the Bengals for 4 years and $115M. Excellent WR, but Bengals have now devoted almost $70M a year to 2 WRs. …
- DeAndre Hopkins WR: Signed by the Ravens to a 1-year deal worth $10M. He is getting long in the tooth, but he gives Lamar Jackson a sure-handed target.
- Ed Ingram OL: Traded to the Texans where offensive line help is necessary.
- Jonah Jackson OL: Traded to the Bears where the need for offensive line upgrading is essential.
- Aaron Jones RB: Resigned with the Vikes for 2 years and $20M. Looks like a good deal for both parties.
- Daniel Jones QB: Signed with the Colts for 1 year at $14M. He will start the year as the backup QB and then take over once Anthony Richardson gets injured yet again.
- Javon Kinlaw DT: Signed by the Commanders for 3 years and $45M. Presumably, he is there to replace Jonathan Allen who signed with the Vikes.
- Cooper Kupp WR; Signed with the Seahawks for 3 years and $45M. Can’t decide if the Seahawks got a bargain here or not.
- DeMarcus Lawrence DE: Signed with the Seahawks for 3 years and $42M. This will be his 12th season in the NFL after the first 11 years in Dallas.
- Khalil Mack DE: Resigned by the Chargers for 1 year and $18M. Mack is on the downslope of his career, which explains the terms of this deal.
- Jake Matthews OT: Signed a 2-year contract extension with the Falcons. Matthews has been in the league since 2014 and has not missed a game since his rookie season.
- DK Metcalf WR: Traded to the Steelers. He and George Pickens will be a tough combo to cover – – if the Steelers find someone to throw the ball at them.
- Gardner Minshew QB: Signed with the Chiefs to a 1-year deal.
- Raheem Mostert RB: Signed by the Raiders to a 1-year deal for $2.1M. Raiders’ running game needs help and Mostert at this price looks like an excellent signing.
- Larry Ogunjobi DT: Signed by the Bills to a 1-year deal at $10M. The Bills added defensive depth with this move.
- Aseez Ojulari LB: Signed by the Eagles to a 1-year deal at $4M. Last year the Eagles signed a free agent from the Giants who turned out to be an All-Pro. Can history repeat itself here?
- Kenny Pickett QB: Traded to the Browns. Might he be their starter in 2025?
- Hassan Reddick LB: Signed with the Bucs for 1 year at $14M. At least he won’t hold out for half of the 2025 season …
- Greg Rousseau DE: Extended by the Bills for 4 years at $80M. He was an important part of the Bills’ improved defense last season.
- Mason Rudolph QB: Signed with the Steelers for 2 years and $8M. Is he going to be their starter?
- Cooper Rush QB: Signed by the Ravens as a backup for Lamar Jackson. He showed his value as a backup last year with the Cowboys.
- Deebo Samuel WR: Traded to the Commanders. He can be either an exciting playmaker or a royal pain in the ass – – or both. Stay tuned …
- Darius Slay CB: Signed with the Steelers for 1 year and $10M. This could be Slay’s final season, but he was plenty competent in 2024.
- Darius Slayton WR: Resigned with the Giants for 3 years and $36M. That is about the same contract it would have taken the Giants to retain Saquon Barkley last year.
- Geno Smith QB: Traded to the Raiders; he should be their starting QB absent the need for a leg amputation.
- Robert Spillane LB: Signed by the Pats for 3 years and $37M. This looks like a significant upgrade at LB for the Pats and a significant loss for the Raiders.
- Ronnie Stanley OT: Signed a 2-year extension with the Ravens. He is the best OL on the team.
- Derrick Stingley Jr. CB: Signed by the Texans for 3 years at 49M.
- Josh Sweat: DE Signed with the Cardinals for 4 years and $76.4M. After his great performance in the Super Bowl for the Eagles, he cashed in nicely. Cards’ head coach, Jonathan Gannon was Sweat’s defensive coordinator in Philly in the past.
- Dorian Thompson-Robinson QB: Traded to the Eagles. Can he beat out Tanner McKee for the backup QB position?
- Joe Thuney OL: Traded to the Bears for more offensive line help.
- Laremy Tunsil OT: Traded to the Commanders. The OL needed help, and Tunsil will provide some help.
- Bobby Wagner LB: Resigned by the Commanders to a 1-year deal worth $10M. Given his production and his leadership, this is a stone-cold bargain for the Commanders.
- Milton Williams DT: Signed by the Pats for 4 years and $104M. Williams had a good year with the Eagles and performed well in the Super Bowl; he cashed in here.
- Russell Wilson QB: Signed with the Giants for 1 year and $21M. Presumably, he will start at QB.
- Jameis Winston QB: Signed with the Giants for 2 years at $8M. Presumably, he will be the backup QB – – but remember that “Tommy Cutlets” is still on the roster …
- Chase Young DE: Resigned with the Saints for 3 years and $51M. This seems like a huge overpayment by the Saints to me.
- Bailey Zappe QB: Signed by the Chiefs to a 1-year deal.
That list represents less than 20% of the player movement since the end of the 2024 season but I do have a couple of observations regarding this subset:
- In the trade that sent Laremy Tunsil to the Commanders, the Texans got a total of 4 draft picks over the next two seasons. However, in 2024, Texans’ QB, CJ Stroud led a harried life in the passing game; so, I wonder why trading away a solid LT made sense for the Texans.
- Sam Darnold will arrive in Seattle to find DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett gone from the roster. Those are big subtractions …
- The Raiders signing of Raheem Mostert to a short-term deal acknowledges that 32-year-old RBs often see their performance go south very quickly.
- The Bears added three offensive linemen in this round of player shuffling. Perhaps the arrival of offensive-minded head coach, Ben Johnson, pressed the Front Office there to find some protection for their franchise QB?
- With Mason Rudolph returning to the Steelers, at least he will not need a lot of help deciding where to live in the Pittsburgh area.
Finally, since today has been about changes of venue for lots of NFL players, let me close with this note from humorist Dave Barry:
“And so by the fifteenth century, on October 8, the Europeans were looking for a new place to try to get to, and they came up with a new concept: the West.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………