And just like that, NFL free agency is over!
Well, not really. It actually starts on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET — but as ESPN’s Adam Schefter rightfully bemoaned earlier this week, let’s just start calling the legal negotiation period (which began Monday) the real opening of free agency. Almost all of the significant dust has settled on major movers and new deals.
I like to hand out awards after the early parts of every free agent period. These aren’t awards for biggest winners (your favorite team, surely) and biggest losers (the team that stole your favorite free agent targets, surely). My colleague Bill Barnwell hit all those on Tuesday. This is for the sillier stuff. The Market Buster Award. The Friendship Award. The Arch Manning Seat Warmer Award.
Intrigued? I sure hope so.
Jump to an award for …
Edge rush class | Titans | Linderbaum
Evans | Brissett | Z. Johnson | Crosby trade
B. Cook and Likely | Falcons
The Dominoes Award: edge rushers
The Panthers got beat out at the 11th hour on Milton Williams during last year’s free agency; that was not going to happen again. This time, they got their ex-Eagles defensive lineman, signing Jaelan Phillips to a jaw-dropping four-year, $120 million deal with $80 million guaranteed.
By average per year (APY), Phillips is the eight-highest-paid edge rusher in football. He’s the 11th-highest-paid defensive player overall and the 18th-highest-paid non-quarterback. His $80 million in guarantees ranks ninth among all pass rushers, too. This is one of the bigger contracts — and, accordingly, bigger shocks — of the cycle. ESPN’s Dan Graziano had Phillips forecast for $92 million over four years — an APY of $23 million, not $30 million.
After Phillips’ deal came through, the rest of the edge market followed. Odafe Oweh signed a four-year, $100 million deal with the Commanders ($25 million per year), well above the Graziano projection of $19 million annually. After Oweh was Boye Mafe, who left the Seahawks and joined the Bengals on a three-year, $60 million deal — $4 million more annually than our projection.
Even on an ever-growing cap, these deals are staggering. Mafe was a rotational player for Seattle, often seeing the fourth-most snaps at the position behind DeMarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu and Derick Hall. Mafe had a nine-sack season in 2023 as a starter and fell out of favor in the Mike Macdonald era, so there’s certainly reason for optimism. I don’t dislike the move for the Bengals at all.
But Mafe, who is already 27, got the same APY that Greg Rousseau (Bills) and George Karlaftis (Chiefs) got on their extensions despite being three years younger with comparable production. The belief is that Mafe’s great pressure numbers will stay sticky and lead to increased sack totals in an expanded role, which is the sort of inevitable bet acquiring teams have to make in free agency.
Of course, this is how it works. Karlaftis and Rousseau signed with their home teams on early extensions; Mafe, meanwhile, had plenty of suitors. Karlaftis and Rousseau got much bigger guarantees; Mafe, as is typically the case with the Bengals, didn’t get nearly the same security.
But the numbers are impressive across the board. Oweh was a rotational player even with the Chargers, who acquired him at the trade deadline. He played only 50% of the snaps in Los Angeles, seeing the field after Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu. His profile as a disruptive first-step pass rusher is more certain than Mafe’s outlook — he has had a sack rate of 2.6% and 2.4% over the past two seasons, and had a blistering 12.3% pressure rate in 2025 — but his capacity in an every-down role is rightfully in question.
Among 141 edge rushers with significant snaps last season, Oweh was 130th in run stop win rate. Such a ranking isn’t prohibitive to returning value. Star Broncos speed rush Nik Bonitto is 140th, and he is making $26.5 million per year on his extension. Oweh is just below him at $25 million annually. But Bonitto is the pinnacle of the speed rusher mountain, with a 3.8% sack rate in each of the past two seasons and a combined 13.0% pressure rate. Oweh is at 2.5% and 9.9%, respectively. He needs to maintain his Chargers form — and even improve a bit beyond it — for his value to reach Bonitto’s level.
And lastly, there’s Phillips. He is, without question, an excellent player. Of the three edges who signed big contracts, he was the first and the most notable because he isn’t a rotational or backup player. Phillips was an every-down snap getter for the Dolphins and immediately became the same in Philadelphia after a deadline deal. He had 403 snaps to Jalyx Hunt‘s 334 and Nolan Smith Jr.’s 296 after the deadline, playing as the big end that allowed those two to win with speed and space opposite him. Phillips had a lower pressure rate (15.5%) and sack rate (0.9%) in Philadelphia than both Hunt and Smith once he arrived, but it was his reliable pocket pushing that unlocked the two smaller rushers.
— Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) March 10, 2026
Phillips is a consistent pressure player and has been since he entered the league. He is not, however, a sack artist. Too many of his pressures come because he goes through the opposing tackle instead of beating him cleanly around the corner, and as such, he can’t come to balance at the passer. His 8.5-sack season as a rookie is his best single-season mark, though missed time in 2023 (Achilles tear) and 2024 (ACL tear) robbed him of potentially superior seasons.
If we look on a per-rush basis, Phillips’ career pressure rate of 10.6% shares good company. Brian Burns and Maxx Crosby had pressure rates of 10.8% through their age-26 season; Trey Hendrickson and T.J. Watt were at 10.6% and 10.5%, respectively. Phillips’ sack rate of 2.0% is far lower than his pressure performance would indicate. It’s fair to expect, even if he remains more of a pocket breaker who creates sacks for others, that a double-digit sack season is in his imminent future (assuming he stays healthy).
Still, first pressures that become cleanup sacks are valuable, and the Panthers desperately needed that reliable winner who could also contribute to their floundering run defense. Phillips should unlock better play from promising rookies Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen, much as he did for Hunt and Smith.
With all of that said, $30 million is $30 million. Philips got more than Bonitto, Burns and Josh Hines-Allen — all players who have produced double-digit sack seasons and, critically, are not missing time with major injuries. Phillips belongs in that tier of pass rushers when healthy, but his health is a substantial risk that I thought would bring him in below that level of deals. Instead, he came in well above — and while we don’t have precise contract details yet, it sounds like he had to sacrifice nothing in terms of guaranteed money.
Because Phillips’ deal was signed before Oweh’s and Mafe’s, it’s fair to assume that the Panthers’ desperation to not miss out on their big free agent target yanked the market up into unexpected heights. Graziano was nails on many other projections, including Khalil Mack‘s one-year, $18 million deal to return to the Chargers … which was reported before Phillips’ contract. The lack of a Hendrickson deal also stands out. Schefter reported on Tuesday morning that Hendrickson wants a deal in the Danielle Hunter to Phillips range: between $30 million and $40 million annually.
The second tier of edge rusher contracts has been in an unhealthy spot for years now. Before Phillips, Oweh and Mafe shook up the market, the deals for Montez Sweat ($24.5 million per year) and Rashan Gary ($24 million per year) stood out as oversize. With three more deals tossed into the mix, there’s a chance that the second tier really starts to collapse, as teams refuse to pay inflated figures for less-than-elite production.
But until then: Go get your money, starting edge rushers. Teams are desperate for your help.
0:48
Panthers add Jaelan Phillips to the defense
David Newton reports on the Panthers agreeing to a four-year deal with Jaelan Phillips.
Free agency is always a time to celebrate the power of friendship. As coaches move from one team to another, their favorite players follow them. Better still, we see the reunions of close pals who have drifted apart over the years. The NFL is a league of connections, and those connections are strongest during offseason movement.
Look at the spider web of relationships spun in Tennessee, where the Titans were one of the biggest spenders in early free agency. They spent $63 million on defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers, whose career blossomed with the Jets under then-head coach Robert Saleh, who is now the head coach of the Titans. They spent $78 million on wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, who spent his entire rookie contract in New York under Brian Daboll, who is now the offensive coordinator for the Titans. And Daboll also attracted tight end Daniel Bellinger (three years, $24 million), interior offensive lineman Austin Schlottmann (two years, $9 million) and cornerback Cor’Dale Flott (three years, $45 million) from his old haunt in New York.
The only big contract the Titans have had that wasn’t a direct connection to the new coaching staff was for former Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor … and even then, Taylor is a local guy. He grew up in Manchester, Tennessee, about an hour outside of Nashville, and played his college ball with the Volunteers. It’s safe to say he has some friends in the area.
It’s easy to clown on friendship, as the league often suffers from its lack of cross-pollination and experimentation. But for a rebuilding team like the Titans, friendship is a viable path to competency.
Last year’s winner of “The Friendship Award” was the Commanders, and they did not benefit from the bond of companionship. They retained many of their internal veterans and made big moves for players like Deebo Samuel and Javon Kinlaw, who had previously played for GM Adam Peters’ teams. The injury bug bit Washington badly last season, but the play of aging veterans like Samuel and Bobby Wagner also contributed to the letdown season.
But that was coach Dan Quinn and Peters’ second offseason with the Commanders. In their first offseason, friendship quickly revitalized the roster. Washington brought in Wagner, Tyler Biadasz, Dante Fowler Jr. and Dorance Armstrong. Vets who know the playbook do more than just hit the ground running; they help install culture.
Of course, when a team signs four free agents from the Daboll-era Giants, it’s worth asking about the quality of the culture. But I believe in the power of friendship as a short-term salve for the Titans. We’ll worry about 2027’s problems in 2027.
Yes, $27 million per year. 27! Twenty. Seven.
When the Raiders signed Linderbaum to a three-year, $81 million deal Monday, they reset the center market in a way that markets simply don’t get reset in the NFL. The then-biggest deal at center was Creed Humphrey‘s deal at $18 million per year. Linderbaum’s $27 million per year represents a 50% increase at the top. Unfathomable.
Here’s a current look at the biggest contract at every position in the NFL by APY and what a new contract would have to hit in order to create a proportional increase to the “Linderbaum Leap” (copyright Ben Solak 2026, nobody else is allowed to use that without my written consent).
Think about this: A team would have to pay an edge rusher $70 million or a running back over $30 million or a defensive tackle almost $50 million to get a proportionate jump. I only included kicker at the bottom because it might actually happen this year; Brandon Aubrey‘s negotiations with the Cowboys could get him around $10 million per year, which would be a 50% increase over Ka’imi Fairbairn‘s newly minted $6.5 million-per-year deal.
It’s very easy to look at the Raiders, who entered the period with over $100 million in cap space, and shrug at the Linderbaum deal. Why not sign him for whatever exorbitant figure ensured he took his services to Las Vegas and nowhere else? (This, of course, was a much easier argument to make before Maxx Crosby’s $30 million cap hit was suddenly catapulted back onto the Raiders’ cap when the Ravens failed his physical and backed out of the trade. But it’s the best Las Vegas knew at the time!)
This perspective is fine, but it doesn’t change the fact that $27 million is an enormous number. Linderbaum is the sixth-highest-paid offensive lineman in all of football on this deal — below only four left tackles and one right tackle. We’ve simply never seen an interior offensive lineman valued like this.
It’s interesting to try to figure out when Linderbaum’s deal will get beat. The league’s best centers on rookie contracts are Zach Frazier (Pittsburgh) and Graham Barton (Buccaneers). Both were drafted in 2024 and are extension eligible after the upcoming season. Barton has a fifth-year option of team control; Frazier will be a free agent in 2028. We’ll know how the Linderbaum deal has fallen for the Raiders by then, but if it goes well, more teams might be willing to pay their centers more than their guards — and close to their tackles.
It’s a trend to watch. But who knows what’s really going to happen. We’re in uncharted waters here — $27 million worth of uncharted waters.
The ‘No, don’t get closer to the electrical substation!’ Award: Mike Evans
I promised myself I wouldn’t do electrical substation bits. I don’t want to encourage ridiculous theories. But when a 32-year-old receiver with a bad hamstring leaves the team he thought he’d play for until he retired to join the most injury-prone team in football … well, I’m not a tall man. I can’t say no to low-hanging fruit.
In a world in which injuries don’t exist, Evans to the 49ers is my favorite move of free agency so far. Even if we removed the value on the contract — reportedly a three-year, $42 million deal worth up to $60.4 million but with only $16.3 million in guarantees — I still think the fit is tremendous. He brings a profile of elite contested-catch/red zone production that coach Kyle Shanahan has never had in San Francisco. Evans can immediately step into Jauan Jennings‘ valuable role as a third-down box-out specialist to move the sticks and even far exceed it with his downfield prowess. He is a much better route runner than ever given credit for and will feast on the intermediate in-breaking routes that Shanahan loves so dearly.
1:28
Schefter: Mike Evans is veteran presence 49ers were looking for
Adam Schefter tells Pat McAfee how Mike Evans ended up signing with the 49ers.
Sadly, injuries do exist, and they introduce risk into the move. But with so little guaranteed money, the 49ers aren’t financially overcommitted if Evans misses time in 2026. They already have a few players to whom they want to pepper receiving volume (Ricky Pearsall, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey), so they don’t need to overwork Evans, which should help him stay healthy. And, of course, the Niners are no more or less likely to suffer an injury-riddled season given their proximity to electromagnetic fields.
The only thing to dislike about this move is that Evans is no longer a Buccaneer. The fact that his contract with the 49ers is so team friendly is a clear sign that he wanted out of Tampa Bay. Why exactly he wanted out of Tampa Bay — and why exactly he chose his new team — is the subject of much speculation. It’d be a brutal look for the Buccaneers if his motivation was to join a true contender, and he elected to go to the toughest division in the league instead of staying in the weakest. It’d be a brutal look for Baker Mayfield if he wanted a quarterback upgrade and went to Brock Purdy. And it’d be a brutal look for Todd Bowles if he was simply exhausted with the current messaging.
It’s likely a combination of all three. I admire how well the Buccaneers did him on the way out, lauding him with organization statements of gratitude even as he evidently chose another team over them. I, like all NFL fans (save for some Falcons and Saints and Panthers haters), will be sad to see Evans suit up for another team come September.
The Cardinals were one of many teams to enter the free agent period with a moderate to severe quarterback need. Determined to release Kyler Murray and start the next era of Cardinals football, Arizona was willing to take a big dead cap hit in 2026. Would it look for immediate relief in the form of Malik Willis or Tua Tagovailoa? Would new head coach Mike LaFleur lure Rams backup Jimmy Garoppolo to Arizona for one last chance to start in a familiar system?
As it turns out, the Cardinals signed Gardner Minshew. And not just Minshew, the longtime spot starter who has floated from the Eagles to the Colts and the Raiders to the Chiefs. They signed Minshew, the longtime spot starter who has floated from the Eagles to the Colts and the Raiders to the Chiefs off a season-ending leg injury!
This is a perfectly feeble effort at the quarterback position. Brissett will start and Minshew will back up in Arizona, as the Cardinals clearly turn their eyes to the young quarterbacks of the 2027 draft class, headlined by Manning, the rising junior at Texas. Though Manning was eligible for the 2026 class, he elected to return to school after an up-and-down season. It’s widely expected that, on sheer talent alone, he will be the top QB selected in 2027. And if someone (Dante Moore from Oregon? LaNorris Sellers from South Carolina?) outperforms and displaces him, all the better.
Arizona had a decent amount of cap entering the free agent period but largely made short-term deals for players like RB Tyler Allgeier (two years, $12.25 million), WR Kendrick Bourne (two years, $11.5 million), DT Roy Lopez (two years, $11.5 million) and G Isaac Seumalo (three years, $31.5 million). This approach is cautious but not explicitly tanking — the Cardinals spent a lot in 2025 free agency and have a fairly solid roster outside of the quarterback position. They just look like a team in an awkward waiting period under center.
But other teams in similar limbo behaved differently. The Jets, another strong contender for a quarterback atop the 2027 draft, traded for Geno Smith as a more legitimate option to passable play in 2026 than either Brissett or Minshew. The Dolphins, who are enduring a much larger dead cap hit for Tagovailoa than Arizona is for Murray, still signed Willis to a three-year deal. The Cards will enter the 2026 season with either the 31st- or 32nd-best quarterback room and thank their lucky stars that the Browns are sharing that cellar space with them.
The 1,001st Annual Classic Overpay Award: Zion Johnson
It was a year for overpays, as the ballooning cap has kept top-tier talents from ever hitting free agency, which means only second- and third-tier talents are available, and the bad teams have even more cap space to entice them to sign. I’ve already covered players like Mafe, Oweh, Linderbaum and Phillips, all of whom came in multiple millions above my expectations.
But the “Annual Classic Overpay Award” is for that one deal that looks like a big deal now but will become a small deal when football is actually played. Last year’s winner, Dayo Odeyingbo, had one sack through eight games with the Bears in the first year of his $16 million APY deal before he got hurt. (He won “The 1,000th Annual Classic Overpay Award,” hence this being 1,001.) This is the nature of free agency: The most frequent outcome on big deals is big swings and big misses.
This year, my award goes to Johnson with the Browns. The Browns needed new starters across their offensive line but came in at the top of the active guard market by signing Johnson to a three-year, $49.5 million deal ($16.5 million APY). Plenty of guards (and even tackles) agreed to lower figures. Guard Alijah Vera-Tucker signed for $14 million per year; tackle Jermaine Eluemunor signed for $13 million per year; and T/G Braden Smith signed for $10 million per year, as did guard John Simpson and center Tyler Biadasz. The Lions got Cade Mays for $8.3 million.
Johnson’s deal did not preclude the Browns from participating elsewhere, as they got Elgton Jenkins — a C/G swing player — from the Packers at two years and $24 million. But it was surprising to see them atop all interior deals, and doubly so for Johnson. A four-year starter with the Chargers, Johnson never blossomed into an above-average starter despite his above-average traits. He struggles mightily with stunts, twists and blitzes in pass protection. Even on a straight rush, power gives him trouble, and he is more of a neutral player in the running game than a real road grader.
Johnson was always going to get a sizable deal because of his age (only 26), durability and athletic profile. But the Browns shouldn’t have been the team to give it to him; they are not a guard away. The most likely outcome here is that Johnson can’t elevate the shaky offensive line play around him (just as he struggled to do in Los Angeles), and the Browns continue to have pass protection issues across the board.
The Don’t Cry Because It’s Over Award: Maxx Crosby to the Ravens
What are your favorite memories from the four days of Crosby’s Ravens tenure? I particularly liked his heartfelt, 13-minute goodbye video to the Raiders fan base. It was very moving.
Anyway, Crosby is a Raider again. For how long? Who knows. The Raiders spent a ton of money in free agency but they still have enough cap space to enter the new league year with Crosby’s contract on the books, should they fail to trade him by 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Crosby’s base salary in 2027 will become fully guaranteed on Friday, the third day of the new league year, but that doesn’t change the tradability of his contract at all; the acquiring team will still be on the hook for his 2027 base salary.
I’d wager the Raiders end up finding a suitor for Crosby fairly quickly (by the end of the week), and that the deal is built more on 2027 draft capital than 2026 picks. That will allow the acquiring team to attach conditions, like playtime and performance. Think a 2027 second-rounder that can become a 2027 first-rounder if Crosby plays over 60% of the snaps and has at least 10 sacks. The Raiders still get their big return, and the acquiring team gets some protection from Crosby’s questionably healthy knee.
Of course, fewer teams will be in the market, as many would-be suitors have already spent 2026 cap space on free agents when they believed they had missed out on Crosby altogether. The league’s instant reaction to the news seems to be frustration with the Ravens, and rightfully so. The Crosby deal changed the nature of free agency, not just for the Raiders and Ravens, but for all interested teams.
But there’s no use crying over spilled milk … even though it has somehow miraculously returned to the bottle.
One of my favorite conceits of free agency is when one deal is in clear relation to another deal. You know what I’m talking about: Trey McBride‘s deal is worth $19 million per year, and George Kittle’s deal is worth $19.1 million. Derek Stingley Jr.’s deal is worth $30 million per year, and Sauce Gardner‘s is worth $30.1 million. Anything to be called “highest paid” for a few months.
It isn’t always for the honor of being the highest paid. In this year’s free agent safety class, there were two players of similar age and similar value hitting the market simultaneously: the Seahawks’ Coby Bryant and the Chiefs’ Cook. I liked Bryant a little better, but they have similar skill sets and upside. Who would be the top guy?
Well, Bryant signed first. Around 1:30 p.m. ET on Monday, insiders began reporting that Bryant was signing with the Bears. He is a great fit for the Dennis Allen defense, and he’d be joining Chicago on a three-year, $40 million deal. I loved the signing.
Then, at roughly 3:30 p.m. ET, insiders began reporting on Cook’s deal with the Bengals. Another nice fit: Cook is an uber-reliable tackler, and the Bengals were the worst team last season for missed tackles. And look at those contract details. Cook signed for three years and … $40.25 million. Yes, $250,000 more than Bryant. Over the same three-year period, Bryant is making $13.3 million per year, and Cook is making $13.4 million.
This tickles me. But it is how business is done. Perhaps a little more intentionally petty is the contract to which the Giants signed Likely. Long the TE2 in Baltimore, Likely has been considered a breakout candidate as a receiving tight end for years, but he simply could never break past Mark Andrews in the starting rotation. As the Ravens negotiated with both Likely and Andrews last season, they landed on extending Andrews — at 30 years old — on a three-year, $39.3 million extension. That’s an impressive payday for a tight end on the wrong side of 30 who doesn’t block much.
With Andrews secured, Likely hit free agency. He joined his old Ravens coach John Harbaugh in New York. The Giants didn’t have a huge need at tight end, as Theo Johnson is a good developmental player. But Likely fits nicely into the Travis Kelce role for Matt Nagy’s offense, and Harbaugh is intimately familiar with Likely’s game. But what sort of deal would a young flex tight end get to prove his ability as an every-down, high-volume receiver?
Three years, $40 million. Yes, $700,000 more than Andrews.
Likely is five years younger than Andrews, but this is still a silly contract. Likely has never had more than 500 receiving yards in a season and doesn’t bring much as a blocker. He wouldn’t have been valued this highly by another team in the league. But it was evidently important for someone in the Likely-Harbaugh marriage that he got just a hair more than Andrews did. And now, we watch the next three seasons and see who looks smarter.
Most Likely to Flip Door Hinges and Handles in the Facilities: Atlanta Falcons
In honor of the Falcons’ signing of Tua Tagovailoa and subsequently having a left-handed quarterback room of Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr., I was going to type this section with my left hand. And then I remembered that I use my left hand for half of all typing anyway.
Not as funny of a bit, unfortunately. Maybe I’ll sign my name at the end of the article left-handed and try not to smudge any of the ink.
