It’s the end of the week with many of the biggest names in the market at new homes. Some teams made great moves while others just opened the door for questioning. Now, I feel it's my duty to distinguish who I believe are winners and losers following NFL free agency.
Winner, Denver Broncos: It's always a tell-tale sign of what an organization will do when they have a rookie quarterback under contract and how much advantage they’ll take of it. The Broncos came away with some big signings with the most notable being former 49ers Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw then former Jaguar Evan Engram. Head coach Sean Payton has always had an affinity for tight ends and will likely find a way to scheme Engram open, who is second for tight ends in receptions over the past three years with 234. Hufanga and Greenlaw both add dominating presences on the defensive side of the ball, but also come in with concerns regarding injuries. Although the two saw limited time this past season due to significant injuries, the deals themselves were not grandiose that would be a cause of concern later down the line. The Broncos do lose leading rusher Javonte Williams, but then again, he only rushed for 513 yards and four touchdowns. The running back class in this upcoming draft is deep enough to where they can find a new guy on the second and third day of the draft.
Loser, San Francisco 49ers: The reason the 49ers are here is not because of any moves they made themselves, it was the lack thereof. Brock Purdy is set to be on the receiving end of a lucrative quarterback deal which has meant the 49ers have to take themselves out of the running to allocate money to him. They lose the previously mentioned Hufunga and Greenlaw, in addition to Javon Hargraves, Kyle Juszczyk, Leonard Floyd, Maliek Collins, Charvarius Ward and Deebo Samuels (who was traded before the start of free agency). Granted they still have some of their big names in Nick Bosa, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey but they had most of those guys last year and still finished 6-11.
Winner, Chicago Bears: I don’t know if there is a team who has had a better offseason up until this point than the Bears.They have their new head honcho Ben Johnson, who has taken no time to improve the most glaring weakness that plagued the team last year — the offensive line. Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson join the group via trade while center Drew Dalman joins via a three-year deal. Caleb Williams might actually have time to breathe in the pocket rather than worry about who’s going to sack him next. I also thought their moves regarding the defensive front deserve recognition, long-time Falcon Grady Jarrett joins the team to provide them a presence in the interior while former Colt Doya Odeyingbo joins the team coming off the edge. The NFC North might be, or is, the most competitive division in all of the NFL. The Bears were the little brother amongst the others, but now seem to have adequate footing and a positive trajectory to possibly make a push.
Loser, Houston Texans: Not necessarily the Texans as a whole, but more specifically CJ Stroud got the short end of the stick looking back through free agency. The offensive line was average to maybe just slightly above average, at best. Now, below average will be probably the best few words to describe the offensive line. Kenyon Green was traded to the Eagles for Chauncey Gardner-Johnson while Laremy Tunsil finds a new home with the Commander. Arguably the worst-case scenario for Stroud, who already hit a sophomore slump last year with the team. In addition to what he lost as far as protection goes, the pass-catching situation doesn’t show much promise either. Nico Collins is still there which is big, but Tank Dell will more than likely not see the field after a gruesome injury last year and Stefon Diggs is also already out the door searching for a new home himself.
Winner, Minnesota Vikings: I had my questions regarding the possible resigning of Sam Darnold, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was probably best to move on. Which the Vikings did, and now that means the money Darnold would have received to go to other places. The main focus was both sides of the line, defensive and offensive, the most notable being Hargraves and Jonathan Allen to beef up the interior. Both of those guys are in the later stages of their careers but still have the capabilities to be game-changers in the Brian Flores defensive scheme. On the offensive front, a pair of Colts Ryan Kelley and Will Fries join the team to beef up the offense and give now second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy some guys to help him breathe.
Other teams made moves that deserve recognition while others I still have my doubts about. However, after the first couple of days of free agency those were some of the most notable things that stood out to me.
Samuel Higgs is the sports editor for The Outlook.
