NFL free agency begins next week and the new NFL league year 2026 will also make some blockbuster trades official. There's been a lot happening lately with top players being added to new teams and marquee players getting franchise tags, so it's worth breaking down some of the early action.
Following the first true week of the 2026 NFL offseason, we're breaking down the winners and losers so far.
Winner: Baltimore Ravens HC Jesse Minter
Did the Baltimore Ravens pay a premium in the Max Crosby trade? Yes. This is exactly the type of move the front office needs to make to support first-year head coach Jesse Minter. He's one of the best defensive play-callers in the NFL, but his scheme can only be truly excellent if it has an excellent edge player who can let him get past seven players. Last season, Baltimore ranked 28th in ESPN pass-rush win rate (30 percent) with the sixth-lowest pressure rate (19 percent) in the NFL. Crosby, when healthy, is one of the best three-down edge rushers in football. Minter now has his difference-maker at all three levels, with Crosby generating pressure, Roquan Smith playing the middle of the field and Kyle Hamilton doing everything else. This is the kind of move Super Bowl contenders make.
RELATED: Grading NFL Coaching Hires 2026
Loser: 2026 NFL Draft RB class out Jeremiah Love
Jeremiah Love is not only the best running back in the 2026 NFL Draft class; He is viewed by most people as one of the top three players overall this year. What does the NFL think of its draft-eligible teammates? The reported contract projections for Kenneth Walker ($13-plus million average annual value) and Travis Etienne ($10-plus million AAV), along with the likes of Rachad White, Tyler Allger, Kenneth Gainwell and Rico Dowdle among several teams keeping an eye on him, tell you everything you need to know. No matter who one sees as the second-best running back prospect — whether it's Jonah Coleman, Jadarion Price or Emmett Johnson — the club is not fond of this year's pool outside of Love. We could see only three running backs selected in the first three rounds.
RELATED: Ranking the Jeremiah Love landing spots
Winner: Fernando Mendoza and the Las Vegas Raiders
Let's leave aside the debate about the Las Vegas Raiders not taking quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick. Now, let's take a look at this week's developments that will help beginners. First, the Baltimore Ravens have made moves that make re-signing Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum seem unlikely. Second, several of Linderbaum's competitors – like the Chicago Bears, who just acquired Garrett Bradbury, and the Los Angeles Chargers, who just signed Tyler Biadasz – have taken themselves out of the mix. According to OverTheCap.com, the Raiders now have nearly $120 million in cap space, giving them the financial flexibility to aggressively pursue Linderbaum, potentially sign Rashid Shahid and do even more to fill out the supporting cast around Mendoza. Additionally, it appears the club will also sign an experienced quarterback to ease Mendoza if he doesn't win the starting job in training camp.
RELATED: NFL free agency predictions for top running backs
Loser: Joe Burrow
The week began with the Cincinnati Bengals opting not to use the franchise tag on Trey Hendrickson, allowing him to leave in free agency. What does it mean? The organization can either make moderate moves now just to improve the roster so it can get a compensatory third-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft or it can spend more money and let Hendrickson effectively walk for nothing. Of course, that assumes there are key players who want to play for Cincinnati for a long time. Meanwhile, quarterback Joe Burrow will also now have to deal with the fact that he will be playing eight games per season against Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett and TJ Watt. This also does not include next season's matchups against the Houston Texans defense. Burrow will either miss games in 2026 or take more than 50 sacks.
Winner: Alec Pierce
In January, it looked like Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce would get a multi-year contract in the range of $20 to $25 million per season when he hit the open market. Once Indianapolis placed the transition tag on Daniel Jones and George Pickens was tagged by the Dallas Cowboys, Pierce became the top offensive weapon in NFL free agency. He is reportedly already on the radar for clubs like the Tennessee Titans, San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders. Because of all that interest and this free-agent class being weaker than usual, we think Pierce could now reach $30 million AAV. The hottest deep threat in the NFL is about to cash in, with his signing bonus almost certainly tripling his career earnings ($8.66 million) from his first four seasons.
RELATED: Predicting landing spots for top NFL free agent wide receivers
Loser: Daniel Jones
We are not here to suggest that quarterback Daniel Jones is suffering from his current situation in any way. After all, the “worst-case scenario” is for him to suffer a bust while earning a fully guaranteed $37.833 million in 2026. However, it seems like the 2026 NFL offseason didn't unfold the way they wanted for Jones' camp. First, Indianapolis did not sign him to a multi-year contract, nor did they use the franchise tag on him, which would have been worth $43.9 million. So he immediately lost money there. Second, while he is technically a free agent and free to sign an offer sheet with another team, there are other quarterbacks available and only a few teams are willing to spend big.
We also suspect the market will reflect reality more than the NFL free agency rankings. Jones is a dual-threat quarterback who is coming off an injury that had a significant impact at quarterback in his first season. He had durability problems early in his career. We suspect there won't be much of a market for Jones, effectively forcing him to sign a one-year deal with Indianapolis.
RELATED: 2026 NFL free agency predictions for top quarterbacks
Winner: Minnesota Vikings
Heading into the 2026 NFL offseason, the Minnesota Vikings find themselves in a worrisome situation. Salary-cap issues forced cap casualties at some key positions, resulting in this roster becoming weaker at several positions and having less depth than before. All along, Minnesota needed to go out and find a viable quarterback who could challenge JJ McCarthy for the starting job when it had little money to offer. Then the Arizona Cardinals announced they would be releasing Kyler Murray, putting the majority of their salary on hold in 2026. We know Murray will probably talk to multiple teams, but signing with Minnesota seems inevitable. Assuming a deal gets done, the Vikings will have to sign an above-average starting quarterback for a minimum amount of money. It's a dream for Kevin O'Connell and it could soon become a reality.
