2026 NFC NFL Free Agency Grades: Kyler Murray earns the Vikings an A

The first week of free agency is in the books. With the legal tampering period giving teams free rein to start free agency early, most of the big names have found new homes. Now that the first few waves are behind us, this is how each team grades out from free agency and any recent trades.

Arizona Cardinals: C-

To be fair to the Cardinals, I’m not sure what they could have done to drastically improve their team in free agency. The Kyler Murray experiment finally reached its disappointing conclusion in 2025 and they chose not to chase a long-term starter to replace him in free agency. Now they‘re heading into the season with Jacoby Brissett as their QB1 and Gardner Minshew as his backup. Kudos to them for admitting defeat this early and playing for a 2027 draft. They signed just two other contracts worth $12 million or more: Tyler Allgeier and Kendrick Bourne. Having already renegotiated James Conners’ deal to keep him in-house, it’s hard to make sense of the Allgeier signing. Bourne is a solid depth wideout, but nothing more.

Atlanta Falcons: C+

As of right now, the Falcons’ biggest signing by contract value goes to Jahan Dotson, on a two-year, $17 million contract. Since 2022, Dotson’s .8 yards per route run and .1 targets per route run both rank dead last among wideouts with at least 1,000 routes. Olamide Zaccheaus doesn’t bring much more to the table either. Tua Tagovailoa should be their most impactful signing, even if he doesn’t cost the most. Because of offset language in his contract, Tua is all but free for the Falcons. With Michael Penix recovering from a knee injury, Tagovailoa could be in line for a handful of starts to open the year. Tua’s time as a long-term starter appears to be at an end, but he’s a great backup option, especially when his salary is the veteran minimum.

Carolina Panthers: B-

Carolina made two big signings, both on defense. The first was Jaelan Phillips, who landed a four-year, $120 million contract. With a career-high in sacks at 8.5—which came all the way back in 2021—this looks like an egregious overpay on the surface. The advanced metrics like Phillips more than his raw sack totals. Pro Football Focus charted him with an 18.8 percent pass-rush win rate in 2025. That ranked eighth among EDGE defenders. They graded him as the No. 21 EDGE in pass-rush situations. This likely is an overpay, but that tends to be the case with free agents at premium positions. Devin Lloyd was their other big-ticket free agent, and this one feels like a value. At $15 million per year, Lloyd is tied for fourth in average linebacker salary. PFF graded him as their No. 3 linebacker last year. Lloyd was a havoc-creator in 2025, stealing five interceptions—one of which was a 99-yard house call—to go along with 1.5 sacks and a recovered fumble.

Chicago Bears: A

As expected, the Bears primarily addressed defense in free agency, signing safety Coby Bryant and linebacker Devin Bush to three-year deals worth $40 million and $30 million respectively. Bryant, a former fourth-round pick in Seattle, slowly earned more work every year with the Seahawks. He took the field for 95 percent of their defensive snaps in his 15 games last year. Bush similarly took a while to find his footing in the NFL. He was an abject disaster on his rookie contract in Pittsburgh and things didn’t get much better during his one-year stint in Seattle. Things finally clicked in Cleveland and PFF graded him as their No. 4 linebacker. Bush held the same rank in coverage grade among linebackers, which is a massive improvement over his coverage acumen in previous seasons. It’s possible Bush’s ascendance in Celveland won’t be replicated in Chicago. At $10 million a year, it’s worth a shot.

These moves alone wouldn’t warrant an A- grade, especially with the Bears still having a serious need at EDGE. Returning a second-round pick for DJ Moore, however, puts their grade over the top. Moore was coming off a career-worst year in most metrics and was a potential cut candidate heading into the offseason. The Bears held on to him and eventually squeezed a Day Two pick out of a receiver-deprived Bills team. It’s hard to make a better trade than that.

Dallas Cowboys: B-

The Cowboys barely registered a pulse in free agency, with safety Jaen Thompson as their only addition for more than $5 million in total. A former fifth-round pick, Thompson has been a near every-down player for the Cardinals over the past five seasons. It isn’t the flashiest move, but Dallas paid a starting-caliber safety starting safety money. The Cowboys didn’t do much in free agency because Jerry Jones was busy working the phones. He made three trades, all on the defensive side of the ball, in the opening days of the new league year.

• Acquired EDGE Rashan Gary from the Packers for a 2027 fourth-round pick
• Traded DT Osa Odighizuwa to the 49ers for a 2026 third-round pick
• Traded DT Solomon Thomas to the Titans for a swap of 2026 seventh-round picks

Gary signed a massive extension with Green Bay a few years back and has failed to live up to the hype, totaling 7.5 sacks in each of his past two seasons. He agreed to a revised deal in Dallas that pays him $32 million over two years. Odighizuwa was in a similar spot in Dallas. He signed a four-year deal last offseason, only to be replaced by Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams via trades. Thomas was a cut candidate who instead reunites with Robert Saleh in Tennessee for a negligible upgrade in draft capital.

Jerry shuffled some of the deck chairs on the Titanic that is his defense, but he also gained some draft capital and converted an excess of DT talent into a solid EDGE defender. It was mostly busy work for the owner/GM, but you could do worse in one offseason.

Detroit Lions: B

The Lions began their offseason by parting ways with multiple starting offensive linemen in left tackle Taylor Decker and center Graham Glasgow. Neither player was the linchpin of the offense, but they left a team built through the trenches severely undermanned in that area. Former Panthers center Cade Mays joined the team on a three-year, $25 million contract. PFF graded Mays as their No. 24 center last year and their No. 16 center in the previous season. Their other two additions, Larry Borom and Juice Scruggs, profile as backups.

Scruggs came from Houston as a throw-in piece of the David Montgomery trade. The Lions netted a fourth-round pick for a running back whose role and play were on the decline for multiple years. They replaced him with Isiah Pacheco, whom you could probably say the same things about. He, on the other hand, will only cost them $1.8 million. The offensive line additions have been underwhelming, but Brad Holmes deserves credit for how he managed the running back position.

Green Bay Packers: B-

The Packers have returned to their typical trend of not being a flashy team in the offseason. They signed DT Javon Hargrave to a two-year, $23 million contract. Hargrave only totaled 3.5 sacks with Minnesota last year, but PFF charted him with the 10th-best pass-rush win rate among defensive tackles in true pass-rush sets. They also shored up their secondary with Benjamin St-Juste on a two-year, $10 million deal. St-Juste didn't amount to much on his rookie deal in Washington. He did, however, earn a top-10 coverage grade last year while playing a rotational role with the Chargers. I like the upside of this bet for just $10 million. As previously mentioned, they also moved on from Rashan Gary. A fourth-round return isn’t bad, but it was to correct the initial mistake of extending him.

Los Angeles Rams: C

The Rams’ secondary was gutted in free agency, with nearly 1,500 defensive snaps at cornerback alone retiring, signing elsewhere, or remaining unsigned. They addressed this by trading the No. 29 pick, 2026 fifth and sixth-round picks, and a 2027 third-rounder for Chiefs corner Trent McDuffie. They then signed McDuffie to a four-year, $124 million extension. McDuffie is a certified star. With that being said, I’m never a fan of paying a king’s ransom in draft capital for the right to pay a king’s ransom in cap space. After landing McDuffie, the Rams reunited him with Jaylen Watson on a three-year deal. Watson is battle-tested as McDuffie’s CB2. If it ain’t broke, etc., etc. I like the ideas here, but the McDuffie price is simply too high for my taste.

Minnesota Vikings: A

Minnesota’s offseason comes down to one player: Kyler Murray. The former Cardinal was released by Arizona at the start of the new league year. By that time, enough of the quarterback dominoes had fallen to all but guarantee Minnesota as his landing spot. Because of offset language in his Arizona contract, he will be playing for the veteran minimum this year. Murray wasn’t great last year, but he wasn’t terrible either. He ranked 22nd in EPA per play (min. 200 plays), sandwiching him between Justin Herbert and Michael Penix. Murray finished 13th in EPA per play in the previous season. Even as his career has petered out, he has still been an average or above-average quarterback in the spreadsheets. Now he goes to a team with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson, plus Kevin O’Connell calling the plays. All for the lowest contract a team can offer?

New Orleans Saints: C+

Credit to the Saints, no cans were kicked down the road this year. No void decades were added to contracts. They have yet to mortgage their future to move up in the draft. After years of making ill-advised, win-now decisions that inevitably put them in a bind in future offseasons, they have finally found a reset. On the other hand, is Travis Etienne really a top-10 running back? He inked a four-year, $52 million deal in NOLA. Etienne ranked 30th in yards after contact and 33rd in rush yards over expected. He did, however, have a breakaway rate double that of Alvin Kamara, whose contract was reworked in a way that sets him up to be off the team before the season. David Edwards, their other marquee signing, might do even more for the run game. ESPN’s player tracking data had him with the 10th-highest run-block win rate among all guards. He’s barely making top-10 money among just left guards.

New York Giants: C-

As the Harbaughs tend to do, John got busy signing guys who had previously played for him as soon as free agency started. Isaiah Likely is the most notable of the group, but Harbaugh also brought his fullback and punter from Baltimore on multi-year deals. Likely is coming off a disaster season which began with a broken bone in his foot during training camp and never course-corrected. His numbers plummeted to 27 grabs for 307 and one score. Likely appeared to be on the precipice of a breakout for years. I love him as a high-upside flyer, but a $40 million deal is a lot more than flyer material.

Harbaugh bolstered his defense with Tremaine Edmunds and Greg Newsome. Edmunds is coming off a career year, but I can’t shake the feeling that Devin Bush for $2 million less per season or Devin Lloyd for $3 million more were both better deals. Newsome’s deal is worth “up to” $10 million, which means the base value could be significantly lower. Still only 26 years old, the hope will be that Newsome can regain his early-career form in New York.

Philadelphia Eagles: C

Extending Jordan Davis was a layup for GM Howie Roseman. Davis was known was one of the league’s best run-stuffers heading into 2025. He then notched a career-high 4.5 sacks. Beyond that, Philly has done next to nothing. Their only other transaction of note is the signing of Riq Woolen. Pro Football Focus graded him as an above-average corner in each of his first three seasons before a letdown in 2025. No one does a reclamation project better than Howie. Don’t be surprised if Woolen becomes the latest defender to break out after joining the Eagles.

San Francisco 49ers: A-

I know that Mike Evans is old and couldn’t stay healthy in 2025 en route to the worst year of his career. I hear you. On the other hand, no player was more consistent over the decade before 2025 than Evans, with his 1,000-yard season streak ending at 11. He also had double-digit touchdown totals in four of his previous five seasons heading into last year. Before incentives, the 49ers are paying him less than Seattle is paying two of their wide receivers, neither of whom is Jaxon Smith-Njigba. At $14.1 million per year, the 49ers got Evans for a steal. San Francisco also brought back linebacker Dre Greenlaw. His elite play toward the end of his first 49ers stint earned him a three-year deal in Denver. Injuries chopped up his 2025 season and the Broncos cut bait after one year. It worked the first time in SF. For $7.5 million over one year, why not run it back?

Seattle Seahawks: D+

The Seahawks clearly think they were at fault for Rashid Shaheed’s slow start in Seattle. I generally buy that, but not at a $51 million price tag, especially with Klint Kubiak, whose New Orleans connection with Shaheed was the impetus for him joining Seattle, now coaching the Raiders. If you’re going to keep him in the fold, hanging on to Cooper Kupp, who finished 2025 outside the top 50 wideouts in yards per route run, doesn’t make sense. Speaking of moves that don’t make sense in conjunction with each other, I don’t mind that they let Ken Walker go. Walker’s per-year salary in Kansas City trails only that of Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Christian McCaffrey. I do not, however, understand Seattle failing to make a push for another running back. Rico Dowdle, Chris Rodriguez, and Keaton Mitchell all signed affordable, two-year deals that Seattle could have matched. Instead, they got Emanuel Wilson for $2.1 million.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: C-

Either the Bucs have no faith in Bucky Irving or they simply don’t appreciate how great he was as a rookie. They signed Kenneth Gianwell to a two-year, $14 million and tendered Sean Tucker after initial reports suggested they wouldn’t. It is absolutely “fantasy in bio” coded to say they would be better off spending elsewhere and letting Bucky cook. I also believe that statement to be correct. Keeping with the “fantasy in bio” theme, Cade Otton at $10 million per year cannot be an optimal use of cap space. Otton ranked 37th in yards per route run last year. He contributes plenty as a blocker by snap count, but Pro Football Focus has never assigned him particularly high marks in that area. His backup, Payne Durham, on the other hand, was PFF’s top graded tight end in run support. The Bucs didn’t dole out any egregious contracts. I simply think they could have self-scouted better.

Washington Commanders: C-

Washington opened free agency with what felt like a pair of blunders. They chose not to tender RFA Chris Rodriguez, who immediately got a two-year, $10 million deal with the Jags. The Commanders also released center Tyler Biadasz, who commanded $30 million over three years on the open market.

With the money they saved, Washington landed EDGE Odafe Oweh on a four-year, $100 million contract. Oweh tallied 7.5 sacks—all of which came after he was traded to LA five weeks—with a top-20 win rate. Oweh is making top-15 money at his position and hasn’t quite hit that level yet, but that is a pretty standard free agent markup these days. Unlike most of my other NFC teams, the Commanders were flush with cap space and attacked free agency with volume. Rachaad White joined on a $2 million deal. As boring as fantasy managers find him, that’s a sharp deal for a veteran who can handle his business in pass pro and grind out some tough yards. Chig Okonkwo was more expensive at $30 million over three years, but he has been one of the best YAC producers in the league since being drafted. He could create some easy yards that Washington was unable to manufacture for Jayden Daniels in 2025. Among their many other moves were an extension for one of the best tackles in Laremy Tunsil and the addition of Leo Chenal, a premier run-stuffing linebacker.