Seven months ago, the free agency frenzy ruled the NFL news cycle. Names changed teams, dollar figures were thrown about and trades were consummated. Then we waited to see if any of it would mean anything.
Now, in Week 6 of the 2024 season, we have a clearer picture of which transaction-wire items have made a real difference on the field. As the trade deadline — yet another chance for teams to swap talent — approaches in early November, this seemed like a good time to look back over the offseason acquisitions and pick out 10 that look the best so far.
Acquired via: Two-year, $16 million contract.
Watch Henry knife through the Bills’ defense, setting the tone for a Week 4 victory that reestablished the Ravens as an AFC power. Cue up Henry rumbling 51 yards to set up a game-winning kick in overtime against the Bengals this past Sunday. Now imagine how much you would pay for that kind of impact. Does $8 million per year seem reasonable? What if you knew that average ranked eighth among players at his position — and 284th among all NFL players (per Over The Cap) in 2024? Back in March, it might have seemed a bit risky to shell out for a running back who just turned 30, but there is no question now that Baltimore is getting its money’s worth. Leading the league in rushing through Week 5, “King Henry” helped steady the ship after a rocky start to the season, firming up the Ravens’ identity as a ground-dominant force and giving Lamar Jackson space to resume his MVP-caliber play from 2023. Could a less-costly running back have accomplished all that? I don’t know, but Eric DeCosta should feel pretty good about this one.
Acquired via: One-year, $10 million contract.
For most of his career, Darnold has been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Any hints of ability he showed with the Jets were swallowed up by chaos and a lack of roster support, a pattern that continued after his trade to the Panthers. Maybe the universe is giving him his karmic reward now, because it doesn’t seem like Darnold could be in a better place at a better time than Minnesota under Kevin O’Connell in 2024. Darnold’s not being asked to make up for a bottom-of-the-barrel defense. He doesn’t have to attempt moving the ball with an over-the-hill back or a talent-deficient receiving corps. How refreshing it must be to throw passes to Justin Jefferson, then watch Brian Flores make the other QB wish he were someplace else.
OK, so Darnold was not at his best in Week 5’s win over the Jets, failing to top 6 yards per attempt and getting shut out of the end zone for the first time all season. And he’s obviously not carrying the load in an offense built around Jefferson and fellow offseason addition Aaron Jones. Still, the 27-year-old QB is having the season of his life, registering a career-high passer rating (103.4) with a TD-to-INT ratio of 11:4. And had he not been there when rookie J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury in August, Minnesota almost certainly would not have romped to a 5-0 start.
Acquired via: Three-year, $37.75 million contract.
What are running backs worth? Versions of this question have hovered around Barkley’s professional career from the beginning. Should the Giants have drafted him No. 2 overall? He led the NFL in scrimmage yards as a rookie but also missed 25 games in his six seasons with the team, including most of 2020. Should he have been extended after being tagged and playing on a (negotiated) one-year deal in 2023? New York was apparently ready to spend its resources elsewhere, and I’m not even sure that was the wrong choice, given where the franchise stood. Were the Eagles right to hand him $12.6 million per year this offseason?
I understand focusing on more abstract ways to judge contracts in the gossipy, drama-fueled days of the offseason; I get why players might want to hold fast to a certain number or salary ranking in negotiations, or why a team might want to shave a dollar here or there. Now, though, one figure really sticks out to me: 1.5 percent. That is the share of Philly’s cap spending that Barkley’s cap figure ($3.8 million) will take up in 2024, per Over The Cap. He’s generated five of the team’s nine offensive touchdowns, including a 65-yard jaunt in the Eagles’ crucial Week 3 win over the Saints. With A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith missing time to injury, Barkley’s been one of the sole sources of juice on offense. And while this team has issues, I’m not sure they could have necessarily been solved by dispersing Barkley’s salary to players at other positions. In fact, one could argue Barkley kept the Eagles from falling into the cellar in the tenuous early weeks of the season. So right now, in early October, the deal the Eagles gave Barkley seems like a fair one to me.
Acquired via: Four-year, $67 million contract.
If you know a skeptic of free agency — someone who thinks the only way to build a true winner is by savvily drafting and developing players over time — point them to the Packers. Once famously allergic to spending on the open market, they dove in with gusto this year, inking a stud on offense (Josh Jacobs) and defense (McKinney). I guess sometimes team-building is just as easy as paying the right price for a ball-hawking dynamo. The Packers have not ranked higher than eighth in takeaways in any of Matt LaFleur’s previous five seasons, but through five weeks so far this year, they’re pacing the NFL with 14, fueled largely by McKinney’s league-leading five picks (plus one fumble recovery). In terms of making a strong first impression, you can’t really do better than becoming the first player in the Super Bowl era to notch at least one interception in each of your initial five games with a new team.
Watching McKinney hoover up anything that comes his way, whether it’s a bad pass or a contested catch, it’s easy to understand why coordinator Jeff Hafley has such strong feelings about him. According to Next Gen Stats, McKinney’s been targeted seven times, and he’s allowed just one reception, good for a passer rating of 0.0 and a completion percentage over expectation of -42.4. With the head start he’s built up, McKinney has a chance to be the first Packers player to lead the NFL in picks since Charles Woodson (who did it twice, in 2009 and 2011) — a vintage home-run signing whose success with the franchise could, by the way, serve as another data point in our imaginary debate over the merits of free agency.
Acquired via: Four year, $180 million contract.
Cousins was not going to make this list until Thursday night of Week 5. Never exceptionally mobile, Cousins hasn’t really been moving at all this year, coming off last season’s Achilles tear; according to Next Gen Stats, he’s averaging 4.1 scramble yards per dropback, the least of anyone with 100-plus pass attempts this season and his lowest mark since 2016. But he’s being protected, carrying a lower pressure rate (33.5 percent) than he did in any of his six previous seasons with the Vikings, with a decent sack rate of 5.3 percent. Maybe those clean pockets are helping him get more comfortable. For the first four weeks of the season, he was a reasonably steady hand, if not necessarily the driving force behind Atlanta’s .500 record. In Week 5’s win over the Buccaneers, though, he made some 45 Million Dollar Man magic, distributing the ball with ease en route to a career-high 509 yards and four TDs. If Cousins continues to elevate the Falcons, pushing them into playoff contention while giving rookie Michael Penix Jr. time to develop for the future, he has a chance to make their seemingly redundant QB plan look smart.
Acquired via: Four-year, $76 million contract.
Like the Commanders, the Vikings have ridden a healthy infusion of offseason talent to a winning record. Darnold got the nod over Aaron Jones to represent Minnesota’s offense; figuring out whom to highlight from Brian Flores’ defense was a tougher task. Blake Cashman leads the team in tackles and is tied for first in passes defensed. Andrew Van Ginkel does everything (19 tackles, including three for loss, and two pick-sixes). Stephon Gilmore helped hold off the Jets last week. I’m rolling with Greenard because he ranks fifth in the NFL in pressures (26) and boasts one of the faster average get-offs (0.78 seconds) in football. After a promising start to his career in Houston, he’s proving to be one of the most important players on one of the most impactful defenses in the NFL on his second contract. And, as a bonus, he’s younger (27) and less costly per year than the Vikings’ previous top pass-rushing weapon, the 29-year-old Danielle Hunter, who essentially swapped places with Greenard on a two-year, $49 million pact with the Texans.
Acquired via: Trade with Bears, in exchange for conditional 2025 sixth-round pick.
Fields doesn’t have to win games by himself or even play like a top-10 QB every week to pay off the Steelers’ low-stakes dice roll on him. He just has to bring a higher floor and ceiling to the position than Kenny Pickett did the past two seasons. Through five weeks, he’s comfortably cleared that low bar. OK, so Fields has only topped 300 passing yards once so far with Pittsburgh, in Week 4’s loss to the Colts — that’s the same number of times Pickett did it in 25 starts. And, yeah, Fields lost two in a row — but he also recorded a passer rating of 90-plus (104.0 vs. Indy and 93.3 against the Cowboys on Sunday) for the fourth and fifth time in a Steelers uniform, giving him one more such game than Pickett ever had. Fields is taking exceptional care of the ball, putting up easily the lowest interception rate (0.7 percent) of his career. He can also run like few Pittsburgh quarterbacks ever have, with his 172 rushing yards already ranking as the seventh-most in a season by any Steelers quarterback. Perhaps Fields will be replaced by Russell Wilson at some point this season. Even so, he helped Pittsburgh start 3-0, which should serve as a reminder to GMs everywhere: If someone’s out there trying to dump a former first-round QB, take the call.
Acquired via: Three-year, $30 million contract.
It’s easy to say teams should aid young quarterbacks with solid supporting pieces, but names don’t always mesh together when it’s time to actually hit the field. Washington brought in plenty of new faces to freshen up a moribund roster, including Austin Ekeler and a raft of defensive talent, and much of it seems to be working out — especially with the unit protecting Jayden Daniels. Last season, Commanders passers recorded a sack rate of 8.8 percent (fifth-highest in the NFL) and a pressure rate of 40 percent (fifth), per Next Gen Stats. This year, with Biadasz and ex-Chief Nick Allegretti (signed for $16 million over three years) fortifying the line, those figures have dipped to 6.7 percent (18th) and 29.2 percent (22nd). And, heading into Week 6, the Commanders ranked second in the NFL in rushing yards before contact (375) and fifth in yards before contact per carry (2.3). Then there’s everything a veteran center can do to help a rookie QB acclimate to the pros. Daniels is becoming a star of his own accord, but Biadasz and Allegretti both surely deserve credit for helping clear his way.
Acquired via: Three-year, $34 million contract.
The Texans loaded up on talent this offseason, and most of their moves are paying off. Stefon Diggs has been a solid part of the passing attack and could play an even more important role while Nico Collins is on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Danielle Hunter leads the NFL in total pressures (29) and ranks third in pressure rate (19.7 percent) among players with 100-plus pass-rush snaps, per Next Gen Stats. And Joe Mixon got off to a nice start before being waylaid by an ankle injury. What compelled me to give Al-Shaair the nod?
1) He played a major role in Houston’s win over fellow AFC heavyweight Buffalo this past Sunday, pacing the Texans in tackles (eight) while logging three pressures and breaking up multiple passes …
2) … less than 24 hours after a bout with severe nausea and vomiting sent him to the emergency room. DeMeco Ryans’ sentiment after the game — “Azeez meant everything to what we did today” — shows that Al-Shaair’s reunion with Ryans, his former coordinator in San Francisco, is more than just a nice story. The sixth-year pro is playing a major role on the NFL’s fourth-ranked defense.
Acquired via: Trade with Titans, in exchange for 2025 seventh-round pick.
Is Willis currently doing more to help his team than current starters like Brian Burns, J.K. Dobbins, Zack Baun or even fellow Packer Josh Jacobs? Probably not. But his work filling in for Jordan Love in Week 2 and (a career redefining) Week 3 earns him the 10th spot in my eyes. If the Packers hadn’t brought Willis aboard in late August (perhaps technically after the offseason, but with enough time left before the regular season that I’m counting him for this exercise), would they be 3-2? Or might they be 1-4 and fighting for relevance? Perhaps Green Bay would be close to writing this season off, wasting a year of Love’s prime. Now, even as Love continues to round into form following his knee injury, the Packers remain in the thick of contention — and secure in the knowledge that they have a backup capable of helping them play winning football.
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