No shocker here, but the offseason has already gotten off to quite a busy start… We have seen a number of teams super active in free agency trying to position themselves for a big 2024 NFL season.
Unfortunately, not all of these efforts will pay off—because while some teams seem to have made all the right moves—there are also quite a few NFL teams out there that have made some highly questionable moves in free agency that could set them back heading into next year and beyond.
Let’s take a look at five NFL teams who were winners in free agency so far— and the five biggest losers!
Winner – Atlanta Falcons
After a frustrating 2023 campaign, the Atlanta Falcons came out firing in 2024 free agency. Not only did they say no to Bill Belichick as their new head coach, instead opting to hire Raheem Morris as the 19th head coach in team history, but they’ve also been very active filling some key holes on their roster.
The most important acquisition is without a doubt the Kirk Cousins signing.
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If you watched the Falcons at all last year, credit to you for enduring one of the most frustrating teams the league had to offer. Not only did their scheme completely limit the production of their talented skill players, but so did the horrendous play under center—something they are hoping Cousins will rectify.
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Sure… Kirk is one of the more controversial figures in the league—in the sense that his true value is a hotly debated subject amongst the talking heads in the media, but regardless of whether he’s a top 10 QB or not—he is undeniably an improvement from what the Falcons have had at quarterback since parting ways with an aging Matt Ryan.
Atlanta did well to fill some critical holes around him too—bringing in Darnell Mooney as wide receiver 2 across from Drake London—and fellow wideout Ray-Ray McCloud has a low-cost burner option.
This Falcons offense should look a whole lot different by the time the season rolls around!
Losers – Denver Broncos
Granted, we all expected the Denver Broncos to be a little bit quiet this offseason considering that they are up against it with the cap implications of parting ways with Russell Wilson… but still—this has been a tough look for the execs in the Mile High City.
Beyond the quarterback position… they have really struggled to plug any of the holes that plagued them on the offensive side of the ball. Signing Matt Peart to the offensive line after he flamed out with the New York Giants and adding receiver Josh Reynolds from Detroit as a substitute for the departed Jerry Jeudy does not inspire a lot of confidence.
They are also rolling the dice on Brandon Jones at safety instead of paying Justin Simmons, which is a serious gamble. Denver is looking like a big-time loser thus far in free agency.
Winner – Philadelphia Eagles
Granted, a lot of this prediction is contingent on the Eagles’ star quarterback rounding back into form after a tough finish to the 2023 season…
But the Eagles have done well to navigate what could’ve been a super tumultuous offseason with the retirements of Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox, two lynchpins in the organization’s success over the years.
The other loss that hurt was running back D’Andre Swift, who signed with the Chicago Bears, but Philly was quick to level up at the position by signing Saquon Barkley away from the rival Giants.
The Eagles were also keen to bolster their defensive line, signing edge rusher Bryce Huff to a three-year deal after he recorded 10 sacks for the Jets in 2023—as well as their secondary by bringing CJ Gardner-Johnson back into the fold on a three-year contract.
Look for Philadelphia to be back with a vengeance in 2024.
Losers – New York Giants
The moves that the Mara Family has made during 2024 free agency have not done much to inspire hope in a fan base that is desperate for a light at the end of the tunnel.
That said—the trade acquisition of Brian Burns should be big for New York… but we are talking strictly about free agency—and, to us, New York missed the mark thus far.
Signing Drew Lock isn’t exactly going to solve their issues in the quarterback room.
And Isaiah McKenzie is a serviceable wide receiver, but not a great one—and the Giants are in dire need of a true number one option, not another third option.
Credit to the Giants for trying to improve their o-line, which was a massive pain point in 2023… but we aren’t confident that the likes of Aaron Stinnie, Auston Schlottmann, and Matt Nelson are going to move the needle.
All in all, a tough showing from the brass in New York thus far.
Winners – Kansas City Chiefs
What’s the old saying? The rich get richer?
Well—that is exactly what it looks like is happening in Kansas City, as the back-to-back Super Bowl champs are already reloading their roster with fresh new talent to try and arm Patrick Mahomes with what he needs to achieve the elusive three-peat.
In addition to securing the resigning of the cornerstone of their defense, d-tackle Chris Jones and Drue Tranquill, they also added some much-needed depth on the offensive side of the ball. Kansas City inked Irv Smith Jr. away from the Cincinnati Bengals, who should add another talented option at tight end to help spell Travis Kelce—and they were able to bring in former Cardinals wide receiver Marquise Brown at a discount, signing him to a two-year $14 million dollar deal.
Brown has had a 1,000-yard season and three 700-yard seasons across his career. And his down year in ’23 can surely be attributed to the chaos under center in the desert with Kyler Murray sidelined.
Look for Brown to emerge as a game-changer for Kansas City this season, as the Chiefs look like early winners in NFL free agency.
Losers – Dallas Cowboys
Would you believe it if I told you that another offseason came around… and once again… Jerry Jones has declared that the Dallas Cowboys are “all in” on winning the Super Bowl in 2024.
That old-timer is really starting to look like the boy who cried wolf in that regard—because the Cowboys have done little to back that claim thus far through free agency.
They lost their starting running back in Tony Pollard and the cornerstone of their o-line in Tyron Smith, who set sail for New York to join Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets.
Takk McKinley is a nice player—who should be serviceable on their defensive line, but he isn’t a large enough threat to draw attention away from Micah Parsons like the move was intended to do.
Admittedly, Dallas had its hands tied heading into this offseason as they ranked 27th in the league in salary cap space, which forced Jones and Co. to have a tight wallet… but that said—you can’t run around claiming you are all in and that this is the year that Super Bowls glory returns to the big D when you have a start to free agency like this!
Winner – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had a couple of high-profile departures with the likes of Shaq Barrett and Devin White leaving for the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles respectively, they did retain the two keys to the engine on offense in quarterback Baker Mayfield, who proved to be a successful reclamation project last year, and more importantly, their franchise player, wide receiver Mike Evans, who surely had a ton of enticing offers to take his talents elsewhere.
On the defensive side of the ball, they were able to retain safety Antoine Winfield Jr. with the Franchise tag—and added depth to the secondary with the re-addition of Jordan Whitehead, who won a Super Bowl with Tampa in 2020, then cashed in on a nice two year with the Jets.
Most importantly, Tampa Bay took significant measures to bolster their offensive line by signing Ben Bredeson and Sua Opeta, which should give Mayfield significantly more time to throw—and help support the run game.
Tampa Bay should be very competitive in the NFC South once again and might even be able to sneak a deep playoff run in if the other contenders in the NFC aren’t careful!
Losers – Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers have not so quietly become one of the biggest dumpster fires in the NFL today. It starts at the very top of the organization with their still relatively new psycho owner, David Tepper—and the ripples of dysfunction have trickled down through the hierarchy.
The chaos that Tepper has brought to Charlotte has manifested in a number of toxic ways, as we saw last season… and the team’s approach to the 2024 NFL free agency is no exception.
Never mind the decision to release safety Vonn Bell, horrendous sell-low play that they ran with one of their franchise players, Brian Burns, trading him for a fraction of the value they should’ve gotten—and realistically could’ve gotten last year when talks of moving Burns first materialized.
The moves that they have made this offseason should spell big trouble for this franchise.
Even the Panthers’ “winning-first” decisions they made like bringing in a notable free agent in Jadeveon Clowney, were highly questionable.
Clowney is over a decade into his NFL career and, well, let’s just say it is fairly well-established that he isn’t exactly a high-motor kind of guy. I don’t know what Carolina thinks it is going to get out of him on a mercenary deal when the team is likely going to be terrible.
The Panthers also seemed to opt out of bringing in high-caliber replacements for any of the key players who departed this offseason, which strongly implies that the franchise will be entering yet another dreaded rebuilding phase. Yes, they have to rebuild through the draft, but man, was this a tough start to the offseason for Carolina.
Winners – Green Bay Packers
After a shockingly solid late-season push to the playoffs—and a hilarious win over Dak Prescott, Mike McCarthy and the rest of Jerry Jones’s Dallas Cowboys in 2023-2024, Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have signaled they see themselves as legitimate contenders in the NFC.
The most high-profile acquisition that they have made in free agency thus far was bringing in former Las Vegas Raiders All-Pro running back, Josh Jacobs, who is just one year removed from leading the league in rushing, to replace their longtime feature back, Aaron Jones.
It should be fascinating to see what kind of year that Jacobs has played off Jordan Love, who has proven his ability to run a super effective play action passing game thus far in his young career.
The Green Bay Packers have made a couple of other significant moves in the 2024 NFL free agency, notably bringing in safety Xavier McKinney to bolster their defensive backfield, which was a sore spot for them in an otherwise promising season last year.
Losers – Pittsburgh Steelers
It is strange to see one of the NFL crown jewel franchises, like the Pittsburgh Steelers, floundering around as they have been in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era.
Their problems started with the reach for Kenny Pickett. The lack of stability at the quarterback position has created issues that have left Pittsburgh straddling mediocrity.
That said, the Steelers have managed to be very active thus far through 2024 NFL free agency, making several key acquisitions—in addition to some trades, most notably bringing former Bears first-round pick Justin Fields into town to reshape their roster. The Fields move, however, was puzzling… not just because they’ll have to make a decision on his fifth-year option with a very limited sample size, but also because of their other big acquisition… The signing of former Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Russell Wilson after his embarrassing flameout in Denver.
I don’t know about you, but I see some serious locker room issues incoming in the Steel City, especially with Tomlin announcing that it is essentially Wilson’s job to lose heading into the year.
The rest of the Steelers’ moves weren’t quite as high-risk as the Wilson signing, but they didn’t exactly garner any excitement either. They brought in former Rams WR Van Jefferson
They did at least re-sign DT Montravius Adams and S Miles Killebrew, among others, to strengthen that inconsistent defense unit they built around T.J. Watt, but it is safe to say that the Steelers are a loser at this point in the 2024 offseason.
