Inside: A dramatic first week of free agency is behind us, with plenty of regime-defining moves to discuss. Let’s focus on the biggest upgrades.
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Free agency risers
📈 Typically bad defenses. The 37-year-old Demario Davis remains one of the NFL’s best run-stopping linebackers. A locker-room leader, he should improve a Jets defense, the team that drafted him, that was among the league’s worst across the past two seasons:
At least two other teams on that chart could also benefit from expensive starts to free agency:
The Commanders handed out $236 million in contracts, per Spotrac, with six of their seven biggest signings on defense. They also hired Brian Flores’ protégé, Daronte Jones, to lead this new-look unit. It’ll emphasize length, speed and hunting takeaways, all traits of their star addition, former Chargers edge Odafe Oweh.
A whopping 85 percent of the Panthers‘ $193 million spend went to two defensive players: edge Jaelan Phillips and linebacker Devin Lloyd. Ranking No. 2 and 3, respectively, on our top 150 free agents list, they’ll both be just 27 years old in Week 1. Well done.
And while we saw a more frugal approach from the Jets ($77 million), the additions of Davis and several other culture-setters should be bolstered by the draft, where they are one of four teams with multiple first-round picks:
📈 The Chiefs offense. Travis Kelce returns for year 14, but it’s 25-year-old running back Kenneth Walker III who can unlock Kansas City’s attack. An elite interior runner with home-run speed, Super Bowl MVP Walker will force defenses to respect both the Chiefs’ rushing and passing games for the first time in years.
It’s not hyperbole to compare this to when Philadelphia signed Barkley, since Patrick Mahomes has never had an 1,000-yard rusher. Walker’s already made a strong first impression on teammates. Kansas City also has two first-round picks.
📈 Some of the NFL’s worst teams. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Chiefs recaptured their form. But the Titans, Giants or Raiders in the postseason? Could happen, actually.
Since 2023, no team has lost more games than those three. Each is hoping its version of the 2025 Patriots strategy — new coach, rookie-contract quarterback and reinforcements via free agency — changes that.
- Robert Saleh’s Titans got new uniforms and celebrated with the league’s biggest spending spree ($302 million committed). They added three of the top-20 free agents and brought back receiver Calvin Ridley on a reworked contract. Who they’ll take at No. 4 remains a mystery, but they need playmakers.
- Klint Kubiak and the Raiders sit second in free-agency spending. Sharing a division with the Chiefs, Chargers and Broncos makes a playoff appearance unlikely, but the expected pick of Fernando Mendoza, some savvy signings and the presumed return of an angry Maxx Crosby mean Vegas could be much improved.
- John Harbaugh’s Giants spent the eighth-most money in free agency while addressing several needs. Four former Ravens followed Harbaugh to New York, including breakout-candidate tight end Isaiah Likely. This team was shockingly quiet along the interiors of both lines, a dangerous strategy.
📈 Centers. All five of the free-agent centers in our top 150 were quickly snapped up, plus the Bears traded a fifth-round pick for center Garrett Bradbury after Drew Dalman’s surprise retirement.
The Bills re-signed Connor McGovern, our No. 2 center (who celebrated with pizza for reporters), while the Lions had a sneaky-strong signing in No. 3 Cade Mays. The Panthers, Chargers and Browns also added centers.
Then there’s the $27 million average salary that the Raiders gave Tyler Linderbaum, 50 percent above the next highest-paid center. That’s equivalent to Dak Prescott’s $60 million being eclipsed by a $90 million quarterback. Stunning.
📈 Packers. They lost their depth in free agency, but dividends will come in the form of compensatory picks, as Green Bay projects to receive four in 2027.
Add the fourth-round pick the Packers received in the Rashan Gary trade, and they exited last week with five extra draft picks — including three fourth-rounders. They have plenty of sensible free-agency additions, too.
📈 Lying. Even without mentioning failed physicals, we’ve heard plenty of tall tales recently. None made me laugh more than the aforementioned Demario Davis’ quote on the Jets’ website about heading back to New York.
💬 “Once my agents let me know the Jets were an option, it was a no-brainer.”
That must be a first. Here’s what a more candid Brett Favre said after joining the Jets in 2008: “To a certain degree, I don’t know what I got myself into.”
As for the biggest riser …
Rams are going for it
The toughest playoff opponent for each of the past two Super Bowl champions? The Rams.
Los Angeles fell 13 yards shy of beating the Eagles in the divisional round in 2024 and lost by four to Seattle in the NFC Championship Game in 2025. Both exploited weaknesses in the Rams defense, with Saquon Barkley gashing it in 2024 and Sam Darnold attacking its outside cornerbacks last season.
So general manager Les Snead went to work. After addressing the run defense last year, he spent the early part of this offseason transforming the secondary into a strength by adding a pair of solid corners in Trent McDuffie (No. 12 in PFF’s rankings) and Jaylen Watson (No. 17), former teammates in Kansas City.
The timing is perfect. Los Angeles hosts the Super Bowl this year. The players from the Rams’ transformative draft classes in 2023 and 2024 are still on rookie deals, but due extensions over the next two years. It might be 38-year-old Matthew Stafford’s last hurrah.
And now the league’s best offense is pairing with a defense that doesn’t have an obvious weakness. The Rams also hold Atlanta’s No. 13 pick, and could even add another All-Pro receiver. (More below.) Life is good for the 2026 Super Bowl favorites, but scary for everyone else.
They sit firmly within the All-In Tier in Jourdan Rodrigue’s story on what all 32 teams’ free-agency actions tell us about their championship windows or lack thereof. Her tiers are strictly based on competitive timelines, not team quality (in this chart, I also included each team’s ranking in BetMGM’s Super Bowl odds):
As a Bengals fan, I winced upon seeing them in the same category as Miami. Joe Burrow’s support system will lead this newsletter’s free-agency fallers (coming Thursday), though today we’re staying positive.
What Dianna’s Hearing: A.J. Brown move coming?
Despite chatter late last week surrounding his status, Brown remains on Philadelphia’s roster for now. I still believe he has played his last down as an Eagle.
Two teams, the Rams and Patriots, pushed hard to acquire the three-time Pro Bowler. But Eagles general manager Howie Roseman hung onto Brown for the time being, also re-signing Dallas Goedert to a one-year deal after postponing the tight end’s void date a second time.
So, what does it all mean?
In the grand scheme of Philly’s void-year-riddled cap puzzle, trading Brown after June 1 makes more financial sense. Interest remains in the 28-year-old, and I expect trade buzz to likely heat up in earnest again closer to June.
Back to you, Jacob.
Extra Points
👀 Doug Flutie‘s magic is captured in this must-read story from Dan Pompei, unlocked for you today. “I think,” Mike Ditka said in 1986, “the little guy is pretty special.” It took four teams and two countries for Flutie to prove himself.
📊 Seattle resets. What did the Super Bowl champ do in free agency to counter the division-rival Rams and 49ers? Nothing flashy, but all purposeful.
📓 Team needs. We have the biggest remaining needs for every NFL team. Everyone needs trench help.
🤝 QB competition. The Falcons plan to have Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. compete. Tagovailoa has a literal leg up for now, as Penix is rehabbing a season-ending ACL tear from Week 11 last year.
▶️ Friday’s most-clicked: The Bears got cheated by the NFL, according to 95 percent of the 16,977 of you who voted in this newsletter’s survey. “This situation may not meet the exact letter of the rule, but it 100% meets the INTENT of the rule. The NFL should honor that,” wrote reader Jeremiah.
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