Free Agency Fallout: Day 1

Updated Free Agent Grid

With the legal tampering window open Monday, a flurry of contract agreements occurred throughout the day. Here is a breakdown of Monday's most fantasy-relevant transactions:

• Devin Funchess agreed to a one-year deal with the Colts for $10 million with three more million available by incentives. It's inefficient spending, but a one-year deal is an immaterial commitment and the Colts can afford the space. It's a win/win for the Colts in my opinion: Funchess is a big, toolsy wideout who provides a huge objective upgrade in the short term, and if he doesn't re-sign next year his high pay for 2019 will set the floor for a big market and thus a considerable compensatory draft pick for the Colts in 2021. Andrew Luck threw 39 touchdowns last year despite Chester Rogers, Ryan Grant, and Zach Pascal combining for 1,842 snaps. If Eric Ebron can score double-digit touchdowns here then so can Funchess. I don't know where his ADP will settle (currently 206.0 BB10/211.7 DRAFT) but people mistakenly believe he's trash so I'm inclined to buy aggressively until further notice.
• Mike Davis agreed to a two-year, $6 million deal with the Bears. It's a noncommittal investment, but Davis has the traits to earn a busy workload in Chicago, particularly if Jordan Howard is sent elsewhere. Davis is the epitome of a running back who at once appears uninteresting yet proves himself functional anyway, and a prime example of why teams should generally avoid high spending at the position. Davis may have limited vision and dealt with nagging injuries at South Carolina, but he offers fine functional athleticism for running back tasks (1.58-second 10-yard split, 11.18 agility score at 217 pounds) and he always caught the ball well going back to his college days. Howard is an adequate runner between the tackles, but his inability to contribute as a receiver makes things easier on the defense, and Davis might match or exceed Howard as a pure runner anyway. The Bears might regress in 2019, but the defense should remain strong and Davis has a real shot at emerging the starter here until further notice. With a BestBall10 ADP of 238.79, Davis could see his ADP jump by a good 140 picks on that site. Of course, the Bears might add another running back or two yet, but if they don't then Davis could prove a shrieking value.
• Adam Humphries agreed to a four-year, $36 million deal with the Titans. Humphries pretty much never drops the ball and probably has a keen understanding of route running, but the prospect profile is weak and his peripherals give cause to suspect he's merely an average slot wideout rather than a standout one. At $9 million per year with the cap seemingly spiking upward indefinitely, Humphries' pay may very well be average among slot receivers within a year or two, so the pressure is surprisingly manageable for a wideout many (not me) considered the best receiver in the free agent class (Tyrell, in my opinion). Still, as great as Humphries' numbers were last year (7.8 YPT, 73.1 percent catch rate), he'd be hard-pressed to approach last year's yards-after-catch average of 5.8, especially without Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson, Chris Godwin, and OJ Howard scaring the hell out of defenses. If Humphries had averaged 4.0 YAC – Cole Beasley averaged 3.5 last year, for some perspective – then last year's YPT would drop to 6.5 just like that. That's the kind of production I would sooner expect of a player who was outproduced by non-prospects like Artavis Scott and Germone Hopper as a senior at Clemson. He'll certainly be welcomed in Tennessee, but the conditions are likely to turn for the worse.
• Nick Foles agreed to a four-year, $88 million deal with the Jaguars. It reeks of desperation on the Jaguars' part, but Foles should be safely better than Blake Bortles, who was good enough in 2017 to lead the Jaguars to the AFC Championship game. Theoretically, if the same scenario occurs, Foles might be enough to make the difference. Doug Marrone is probably at least average as an NFL offensive coach, and he's shown a clear fondness for uptempo approaches when Bortles' play cooperated. Donte Moncrief is a free agent, but the Jaguars will at least have Marqise Lee and Dede Westbrook available at receiver, and there's reason to think Keelan Cole can be a useful depth guy.
• Jamison Crowder agreed to a three-year, $28.5 million deal with the Jets. Adam Gase and Dowell Loggains are not inspiring offensive architects, and the Jets already have three promising receivers between Robby Anderson, Quincy Enunwa, and Deontay Burnett, but Crowder was on the verge of establishing himself as one of the league's top wideouts before hamstring and groin injuries derailed the last two years. Who knows whether he can stay healthy, but Gase/Loggains called a lot of trips formations in Miami in 2018, which means there will be a ton of slot receiver snaps even if Enunwa primarily functions as a slot receiver for the second year in a row. Crowder is two years removed from a highly successful sophomore season where turned 99 targets into 67 receptions for 847 yards and seven touchdowns (67.7 percent catch rate, 8.6 YPT).
• DeSean Jackson wasn't a free agent, but the Buccaneers traded him for peanuts to the Eagles, where he started his career in 2008. Jackson may be older but he remains profoundly dangerous, and there's a good chance we'll recall his two-year stint with Tampa as a regrettable instance of underutilization. Jackson averaged 10.5 yards per target last year and will present Carson Wentz with a dangerous downfield threat if Wentz can regain his composure as a deep passer. It's not clear how many snaps or targets Jackson might claim with all of Zach Ertz, Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, and Dallas Goedert on the roster, but Jackson might be capable of placing third in that group for targets.
• Jesse James agreed to a deal with Detroit, which along with the Antonio Brown trade sets up Vance McDonald for a busy year. McDonald has durability troubles in his history and will never have great hands, but he's a size/speed/strength standout who might need to serve as Ben Roethlisberger's second-favorite target behind Juju Smith-Schuster. As an in-line grinder, James is unlikely to make a big fantasy impact in Detroit.
• Frank Gore agreed to a one-year, $2 million deal with Buffalo. LeSean McCoy's future is uncertain and the Bills have no depth at running back otherwise, as the evidence implies that Keith Ford and Marcus Murphy are merely special teams and practice squad-types.
• Danny Amendola agreed to a one-year deal with Detroit. Amendola was reasonably productive for Miami last year, catching 75.6 percent of his targets at 7.3 yards per target, but with Darrell Bevell taking over for Jim Bob Cooter there might be fewer targets to go around in Detroit going forward. Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones would play ahead of Amendola in two-wide sets, furthermore.
• Tyler Kroft agreed to a three-year deal with Buffalo. Kroft oddly played behind C.J. Uzomah last year after playing ahead of Uzomah the prior three seasons, and then a foot injury ended his season. Despite the downward trajectory pre-injury, Kroft is almost certainly a better receiver and therefore a better fantasy option than Uzomah. With Charles Clay gone and Jason Croom unproven, Kroft may be worth watching in Buffalo. He was a productive pass catcher at Rutgers, and that's why the Bengals selected him in the third round of the 2015 draft.
• C.J. Uzomah agreed to a three-year deal with the Bengals. Uzomah is a good athlete yet can play in-line, potentially making him a useful glue guy and occasional DFS punt play, but he's yet to average seven yards per target or more in four NFL seasons. He will likely always be more toolsy than productive.