NFL free agent contracts can’t officially be signed until Wednesday, but by Monday evening most of the biggest names on the market already had new homes and contracts in place.
The biggest takeaway from this free agency cycle was just how aggressive and willing teams were to pay top dollar (or beyond) for solid if not spectacular players who will need to greatly outperform their level to this point to justify the investment.
The Top NFL Free Agent Decisions That Make Sense
The biggest splashes aren’t always the best when it comes to building NFL rosters.
With that said, these are our five favorite free agent signings so far.
1. San Francisco 49ers Sign WR Mike Evans
Smart, savvy franchises make smart, savvy moves.
That’s what the 49ers did in adding a proven veteran like Evans.
Evans’ contract with San Francisco was initially reported at three years and $60.4 million. Subsequent reports have framed it as three years for $42.4 million with $16.3 million guaranteed and further incentives.
Honestly, either way we like this move, but if the latter numbers are indeed the clear picture then it’s a highly favorable deal for the 49ers.
Why would anyone assume that Evans is suddenly a different player after one outlier season undermined by a hamstring injury and then broken collarbone?
Sure, he turns 33 years old this summer, but he’s always stayed in peak shape and had 11 straight seasons of 1,000 yards prior to last year. He had 74 catches for 1,004 and 11 TDs in just 14 games in 2024. In his first game back from the broken collarbone last December, Evans ripped off 6 catches for 132 yards.
By that point of the season, Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield was mired in a prolonged slump and the entire offense was struggling, so Evans subsequent games were modest.
But there’s no reason to think he won’t bounce back with a big season (if healthy) in San Francisco, where he’ll be even more of a primary target along young talent Ricky Pearsall with Jauan Jennings expected to leave as a free agent and star tight end George Kittle facing a long recovery from a torn Achilles sustained in January.
The 49ers needed to prioritize giving QB Brock Purdy a proven veteran target, and likely they not only checked that box but landed a star-level game-changer in the 6-foot-5 potential future Hall-of-Famer Evans.
2. Carolina Panthers Sign LB Devin Lloyd
The Panthers are going to make both our good and bad list from free agency. They certainly made headlines by investing aggressively in upgrading their defense, signing Lloyd and edge rusher Jaelan Phillips among others.
But those deals couldn’t have been any different.
Carolina gave Phillips a four-year, $120-million contract with $80 million guaranteed to an edge rusher with 28 career sacks in five seasons who has never had more than 8.5 in a season — way back in his rookie year and which he’s yet to match. We’ll save full thoughts on that for the appropriate time.
The signing of Lloyd, however, looks like a bargain as Carolina reeled in the second-team AP All-Pro selection for three years and $45 million with $25 million guaranteed.
Sure, edge rushers simply cost more than off-ball linebackers, but it’s quite possible Lloyd ends up providing more value to the Panthers than Phillips.
After opening his NFL career with three straight seasons of at least 113 tackles but with questions about his ability to hold up in pass coverage, Lloyd showed new dimension in a new defense last year with Jacksonville Jaguars coordinator Anthony Campanile. Lloyd ended up with 81 tackles and 6 tackles for loss in 15 games, but he broke out for a career-high 5 interceptions (including a 99-yard touchdown return) and 7 passes defended.
It was a foregone conclusion the Jaguars would lose Lloyd after being unable/unwilling to pay the costly franchise tag rate, but that was with the assumption that he would cost even more in free agency with a report by NFL insider Albert Breer that Lloyd and his agent were seeking $20 million a year. Instead, Lloyd landed at the bottom of his market value, essentially.
3. Miami Dolphins Sign QB Malik Willis
The challenge with paying a quarterback more than $50 million to go away and eating around $99 million in dead salary cap money the next two years, as the Miami Dolphins are doing in releasing Tua Tagovailoa, is finding a way to competitively address the position.
Well, the Dolphins may have threaded that needle just fine in signing free agent QB Malik Willis to a relatively reasonable deal at three years and $67.5 million (with $45 million guaranteed). By quarterback rates, as crazy and unrestrained as the market has become, that’s good value.
That is, IF Willis shows he can replicate his small sample size in Green Bay over a full season.
That’s a gamble, sure, but it’s a gamble with real upside. What else was Miami going to do given its salary cap crunch?
Yes, Willis was a bust in Tennessee as a third-round pick who didn’t show much in three starts and was dealt away after two years to the Packers for a late draft pick. But it can’t be ignored what Willis did with his opportunities in Green Bay, completing 78.7% of his passes for 972 yards, 6 TDs and 0 INTs while rushing for 261 yards and 3 TDs over three starts and other relief appearances.
He was especially impressive in his lone start late last season, completing 18 of 21 passes for 288 yards and a TD and rushing for 60 yards and 2 TDs in a loss to the Ravens.
Willis may well have just needed the extra development time at the NFL level after being drafted out of Liberty.
This signing is nothing but upside for Miami, which is rebuilding a large portion of its roster under new leadership. If in a couple years, the rest of the team is in place to compete and Willis hasn’t proven to be the answer, the Dolphins can move in a different direction with minimal penalty.
Or, they could have hit on a total steal.
4. New York Giants Sign LB Tremaine Edmunds
Tremaine Edmunds is as steady as they come at linebacker in the NFL. He’s had at least 100 tackles in all eight seasons of his career, between the Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears.
Limited to 13 games last season due to injury, he still managed 112 tackles, matched a career-high with 4 interceptions and had 9 passes defended overall.
The Bears released him heading into the final year of a four-year, $72 million deal, seeking to free up salary cap space. The New York Giants capitalized, signing Edmunds for three years and $36 million ($23.7 million guaranteed).
For as long as he’s been around the league, Edmunds is just about to turn 28 years old and is squarely in his prime. He’ll be a solid centerpiece to the Giants’ defense in coach John Harbaugh’s first season.
5. Cheap Free Agent Starting Quarterbacks
We’d prefer for this spot just to say “____ signs QB Kyler Murray” as that is going to ultimately be the steal of this free agent cycle when the Minnesota Vikings, ahem, when some team signs a freshly motivated Murray following his release from the Arizona Cardinals.
Because that team is going to get Murray on a veteran’s minimum contract for 2026 with the Cardinals on the hook for all of his guaranteed money, unless a fresh extension is worked. (And if he’d signed by now, he’d be No. 1 on this list, knocking everyone else down.)
But as of this writing Murray hasn’t officially landed.
So for now, to our own stunned surprise, we’ll put Tua Tagovailoa here, as he signed on with the Atlanta Falcons for one year and $1.3 million and will likely provide an immediate upgrade at starting QB over injured and underwhelming third-year QB Michael Penix Jr.
Would we want to give Tagovailoa a big contract or long-term investment. No, no we sure would not. But for one year with no salary cap liability needing a transitionary upgrade for a team — and especially offense — built to win immediately that barely missed the playoffs last year, that’s a heckuva value add.
Tagovailoa isn’t the worst QB in the league. He’s probably somewhere in the 15-20 range of the rankings, but he walks into a prime situation with stud RB Bijan Robinson, excellent WR Drake London and talented TE Kyle Pitts coming off a career year.
Tagovailoa could revive his own value and career in one season in Atlanta while giving the Falcons a competent bridge to a better long-term option (as long as they don’t get duped into giving him a massive extension).
The former No. 5 overall pick did lead the NFL in passing yards as recently as 2023 (4,624 yards, 29 TDs and 14 INTs) before regressing the last two years. It’s often amazing what a change of scenery can do.
