NFL free agency playbook: 10 rules to follow, including bargain QBs, paying RBs and avoiding the WR wall
CBSN
If you think you've got NFL free agency figured out, then read my 10 rules and think again!
Roughly four billion dollars will be spent in free agency this offseason, which amounts to the GDP of a small country. It's an absurd amount when you consider how much of a crapshoot NFL free agency is.
Take the Seahawks and Vikings for example. Both ranked top five in free agent spending last offseason but went in opposite directions this season because of their decision on Sam Darnold. It was hard to blame Minnesota at the time for moving off Darnold after his last two games of 2024.
Or look at the NFC South. The Saints and Falcons spent exorbitant amounts on Derek Carr (four-yeal deal worth $160 million) and Kirk Cousins (four-yeal deal worth $180 million) in free agency in the last three years. Meanwhile, it's Baker Mayfield who is still standing in the division after signing a one-year deal for a miniscule $4 million with the Buccaneers in 2023.
Albert Haynesworth (2010 Washington) and Ndamukong Suh (2014 Dolphins) both signed for $100+ million in free agency and ended up being among the biggest busts, ever.
Free agency is fool's gold. It doesn't make sense but I'm going to try to make sense of it with 10 rules to follow. I sprinkled in some facts about trades, extensions and the draft because it all blends together into one offseason smorgasbord. Let's have some fun with it!
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