NFL free agency's best bargains: Kyler, Tua among top 10 value deals

Sticker shock cuts both ways in NFL free agency. With plenty of high-priced deals flying around, these 10 players stand out as the best bargains.

In NFL free agency, sticker shock can cut both ways.

The league's open forum for spending inevitably lends itself to market-setting deals, with players who weren't seen as priorities by their former teams earning deals that put them well ahead of their peers. But for as much handwringing as high-priced contracts can produce, March is also the time when teams can score deep discounts with veterans at certain positions of need. That again held true during the last week, when several meaningful contributors struck entirely reasonable deals following the first wave of free agency.

With the first week wrapped up, here are the 10 best value signings so far in free agency:

Landing even a league-average quarterback on a massively cost-controlled contract can confer a roster-building advantage unmatched elsewhere in the NFL. Chasing that payoff, however, has led to dicey moves in the draft for several teams, including the Vikings. But as Minnesota attempted to retreat from its previous commitment to J.J. McCarthy, the organization might have found a short-term solution with an approximation of its earlier vision.

Yes, Murray is only signed for one year. But this move allows the Vikings to get off the McCarthy roller-coaster, which spent too much time hovering barely above the ground to provide anyone aboard actual enjoyment. Despite shortcomings that traced almost exclusively back to the issues behind center - the offense ranked 29th in expected points added per dropback, according to Next Gen Stats - Minnesota salvaged a 9-8 record and has a playoff-capable roster. Murray hasn't met the outsized expectations he was saddled with as the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, but his aptitude has likely been overlooked amid more pervasive problems in Arizona. It's rare to find a figure in free agency capable of elevating a team's floor and ceiling, but the Vikings managed to do so with Murray - and all for the veteran minimum.