Breaking down some of the splash NFL Free Agency signings we saw in the first 24 hours of the NFL Free Agency cycle.

NFL Free Agency may be my favorite time of the year as a die hard football fan. Especially the first couple of days. Endless opportunities as you enter the “non” tampering period. Every player is available for you. In fact, odds are your favorite team is probably going to get all the important players! All the Reddit theories you read were based in fact and you will get all the free agent WRs and Edges at discounts.

Things never turn out how you expect but it doesn’t take away from the excitement of the NFL Free Agency cycle. Lets take a look at some of the major signings and how that will effect your favorite NFL teams.

Malik Willis to the Miami Dolphins – 3 years, $67.5M

Malik Willis fan here, and as a result you can bet that I love this landing spot for Willis. My understanding (I am kinda dumb) is that this deal will boil down to a 2 year $45M deal when it’s all said and done but there is a genuine belief inside that building that Malik Willis can be the guy. Best case scenario the Dolphins got a cheap franchise quarterback that they can quickly extend. Worse case scenario they have little long term financial ties to the man and will more than likely find themselves with an early pick in a QB heavy draft next year.

Mike Evans to the San Francisco 49ers – 3 years, $42.4M

Devastating for all Tampa fans out there I am sure, but very necessary. The WR room in Tampa may have been the most crowded in the League. Evans, Egbuka, McMillian, Godwin, Shepard, it’s the type of room you build in Madden. They have more than enough mouths to fill in from Evans departure. Evans also will land in an offense where he is the alpha receiver, filling in for would-be WR1 Ayuik whom I’d imagine is driving circles around the facility as I type this. Its a win-win. Evans got a pretty cheap contract here but I would imagine playing for a contender was more important than the money at this point in his career.

Tyler Linderbaum to the Las Vegas Raiders – 3 years, $81M

Holy shit what a fat bag for a fat and powerful man. $27M per year absolutely crushes the next highest paid Center in Creed Humphrey who signed a 4 year $72M contract in August 2024. We have also seen other solid starting centers get paid this free agency at HALF the price (see McGovern with the Bills and Cade Mays with the Lions). If are paying $10M more than the second highest contract for that position in the NFL, it’s probably a bad contract. And it gives me no pleasure in saying that. I understand Free Agency is going to result in premiums getting paid. I understand Linderbaum had many other suiters. I understand when you are a crap team you gotta add a little extra sauce to bring quality players in. Hell, I even understand wanting to give your rookie QB a pro bowl caliber center for development purposes. But at that price tag, to me, it is simply bad roster construction…

Kenneth Walker III to the Kansas City Chiefs – 3 years, $45M

Obviously a great player going to a historically great team is always a good look. Some might say the contract is too high, but I am not one of those people. I always felt like Zach Charbonnet was taking away some of Walkers shine, I think Walker earned that contract. For me, the biggest question that has come from this signing is who is in the Jeremiyah Love market going into the draft next month? I had the Chiefs circled as a stopper for Love’s draft stock at 9. Now, a premium player may have no suitors and fall deep into the teens of the draft if he isn’t taken by the Cardinals or the Titans in the top 5.

Alec Pierce to the Indianapolis Colts – 4 years, $114M

Hugeeee bag to keep a very fun piece home in Indianapolis. I would expect to see Piece have a higher target amount in 2026 given the contract, so I am excited to see how his role evolves heading into the next season. We also saw Pittman get moved to Pittsburgh as a result of this signing. Compensation included late round pick swaps. Pittman in Pittsburgh. Some things just make sense. I think both these WRs benefit from the deal. Pittman is going to have a premier role on the boundary across from Metcalf and like I mentioned earlier, I think you will see Pierce’s target count go up with this contract. Following the money usually works out when attempting to determine who will be target leaders and offensive contributors heading into the regular season.

Boye Mafe to the Cincinnati Bengals – 3 years, $60M

Kind of an interesting player here. Very highly sought out edge rusher lands with a team that is desperate for defensive help. I would be foolish to say the Bengals singing a DE/OLB was a poor decision. They need all the help they can get with the presumed departure of Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart looking like a big time miss from last years draft. But here’s the thing; Mafe had two sacks last year and 31 total tackles. That is not great impact from a player who participated in all 17 games last years. I’d chalk this up as a bit of an overpay right now. But again, congrats to the Bengals on having a defensive player. Y’all need it.

Zion Johnson to the Cleveland Browns – 3 years, $49.5M

Its never a bad idea to get an offensive lineman, especially one at the caliber that Zion Johnson is. An immediate upgrade for a position that badly needed upgrading. Don’t look now, but the Browns are starting to dig their way out of the Watson fiasco/cap hell situation they put themselves in. They had a phenomenal draft last year, have the best defensive player in the league in Myles Garrett, just added a premier guard, and have many other young contributing pieces that I don’t have the time to dig into here. They don’t have the sexy positions figured out, Wide Receiver and Quarterback, but there are a lot of pieces to look forward to. It may not be the Browns year next year, but 2027 could be something for these guys if they keep it up.

Wan’Dale Robinson to the Tennessee Titans – 4 years, $78M

Tired: Robinson has had a generally underwhelming career prior to last year and was a key contributor on a losing team that got the current Offensive Coordinator of the Tennessee Titans fired.

Wired: Wan’Dale has a great name and that’s good for vibes and you should also be helping your second year QB, who threw to nobody last year, as much as humanly possible. In fact, they should consider going WR with a top 50 pick next month to compliment Robinson who, again, has an awesome name. Great to see bad teams try to make roster upgrades. Good for the Titans!

John Franklin-Myers to the Tennessee Titans – 3 years, $63M

Holy bag. Huge purse for JFM who is coming off of a 7.5 sack season. He should be a great compliment to Jermaine Johnson, who was acquired via a trade a couple weeks ago. But for a man who has never eclipsed 8 sacks it seems like an expensive price. Nonetheless! I salute you Titans for coming out swinging in free agency. You gotta make plays! First Robinson and now JFM, you can wrap a nice little bow on this first day of free agency.

Cordale Flott to the Tennessee Titans – 3 years, $45M

Oh okay I thought we were done but I guess not. The Titans and the Raiders are going buck wild NFL Free Agency day 1. This is a good piece as well, a guy who’s been a starter in New York getting a nice paycheck in a state that won’t tax him on it. Happy for my boy. Taxes stink (not a political piece hoping we can all agree being taxed less would be cool) (maybe tax the billionaires more (this isn’t a political piece at all)). But yeah, a starting corner going to a team that needs a starting corner. Great marriage here. Feather in the cap to end the Titans day here.

Alontae Taylor to the Tennessee Titans – 3 years, $60M

Biblical level Greed. What the hell guys let someone else get a player. You did not need TWO nickel corners and you certainly didn’t need to pay them a combined $105M. That’s nuts. But they are both great players! Taylor is 4th in the NFL in pass breakups since 2022. I will be watching with great interest in how the titans split these two corners up. Someone seemingly must move inside. Unless they want to have the highest paid dime corner in the league.

I will say this about the Titans to wrap it up, I think its a bit cooky to sign both these guys but I trust Saleh in a big way. I don’t think he has a bad defense during his time in Tennessee. Whatever he is building, I am sure it is well thought out.