NFL Free Agency: Monday News Recap

We'll recap the events of each day during this Free Agency Week, with the opening of Monday's tampering period already ushering in a fast start to the transactions. Read below to see an accounting of the day's biggest stories.

BLOCKBUSTER QB PICKUP FOR ATLANTA

-Kirk Cousins agreed to a four-year deal with Atlanta, leaving the Vikings reeling and the Atlanta offense suddenly much improved. Then again, Cousins is returning from a Week 8 Achilles' tendon tear and will turn 36 in August. Cousins' determination is beyond question, but at the very least there might be some rust to shake off while he recovers physically and attempts to adapt to a new offense. Somewhat diminished or not, Cousins projects as an upgrading presence for the entire Atlanta offense, though especially for route runners Drake London and Kyle Pitts. The signing certainly raises Year 1 expectations for new head coach Raheem Morris, while the Vikings are suddenly left scrambling.

MUSICAL CHAIRS AT RUNNING BACK

-The running back position saw tons of turnover Monday, with at least four major transactions shaking up the fantasy football rankings. One was actually two parts, with Green Bay cutting Aaron Jones while finalizing a deal with Josh Jacobs. Two other big switches were Tony Pollard heading to Tennessee while D'Andre Swift agreed to terms with Chicago. Despite those big changes, the headliner is arguably that Saquon Barkley struck a deal with Philadelphia. 

Green Bay cutting Jones ends an era and signals a commitment to a power-oriented running game with Jacobs' addition. Jones is a great running back overall and uniquely explosive, but he's never been built for power. While Jordan Love and the Packers passing game look highly promising, Green Bay's offense will remain run-heavy, and with Jacobs likely drawing a much higher usage share than any other running back has under Matt LaFleur to this point. It will of course be interesting to see where Jones lands.

Pollard's signing with Tennessee pencils him in as the starter, but it's a likely downgrade for his fantasy outlook. The Tennessee passing game remains dubious at best and, while the offensive line is still probably three upgraded starters away from being even average overall. Not just that, but Tyjae Spears will force an even split or something close to it between the two. The Pollard deal is not the greatest news for Spears at a glance, but Spears was never built to handle a workhorse burden, anyway – neither was Pollard.

Swift arriving to Chicago locks him in as the starter in an ascending offense, and with Philadelphia's late-season decline it's possible that the landing spot is at least a lateral move for Swift's fantasy interests. The Bears have a lot of capital on hand to improve the entire roster, making the run game viable most or all weeks and assuring Swift's workload in the process. The Eagles, of course, will not be missing Swift given their own running back move from Monday...

Despite the previously mentioned decline of the Philadelphia offense, it probably has to qualify as an upgrade or a major upgrade for Barkley after toiling for years behind the busted Giants offensive line. Even without Jason Kelce, the Eagles' offensive line in 2024 will likely be the best one Barkley has had in the NFL. If Jalen Hurts can get back on track and get the Eagles back to scoring points regularly, this could be one of the most efficient and explosive seasons of Barkley's career to this point. What's less clear is whether the Eagles plan to give Barkley as much volume as the Giants did. Given that the Eagles are not nearly as desperate for playmakers as the Giants, they're probably not as dependent on Barkley in the weekly game plan as the Giants were, either.

Those weren't the only running back transactions from Monday, though:

-Devin Singletary reunited with Brian Daboll with the Giants, making clear that Singletary will be part of the Giants' plan to replace Barkley. It's possible that Singletary could even emerge as the Giants' starter and three-down back, depending on what other transactions they make at running back.

-Antonio Gibson agreed to terms with New England, leaving the former Memphis prospect in a likely short-side platoon with Rhamondre Stevenson handling upwards of 2/3 of New England's running back workload. 

-Gus Edwards agreed to terms with the Chargers, sending the power runner much farther west than he ever previously played, under the assumption that he'll function as the Chargers' primary power back, at least initially. Edwards has reliable ability as a power runner between the tackles and even has more big-play ability than he gets credit for, but his durability has always been a challenge. The Chargers might make at least one more significant investment in their backfield before the offseason concludes. Still, it's a potentially big opportunity for Edwards given the workload cap he saw in Baltimore.

UPDATE: News also broke that Austin Ekeler agreed to a two-year deal with Washington.

UPDATE: The Bengals cut Joe Mixon, which briefly begged the question of who or how much they would add to their backfield to replace Mixon. The answer was quickly identified as Zack Moss agreed to a two-year, $8 million deal with the Bengals. Moss is not as fast as Mixon but Mixon's speed never manifested in the form of explosive rushing, so even if Moss is somewhat plodding he'll likely do a good imitation of Mixon's numbers, depending on how much the Bengals want to give to Moss versus Chase Brown. A split of some sort between the two promising runners seems likely.

-In lesser running back news, CBS Sports' Josina Anderson reported that the Raiders and Commanders made initial inquiries into Austin Ekeler in free agency. See previous mention of Ekeler.

WIDE RECEIVER DRAMA IN JACKSONVILLE AND CINCINNATI

-Gabe Davis agreed to a three-year deal with Jacksonville yet the Jaguars claim to still be in on re-signing Calvin Ridley. We'll see – it's hard to imagine the Jaguars possessing the necessary funds to reel in Ridley given the Davis deal, especially after the Jaguars already agreed to a contract with Devin Duvernay.

-Tee Higgins requested a trade from Cincinnati, and now we wait to see how Cincinnati responds. There's presumably a dollar figure the Bengals could name that would convince Higgins to retract his request, but the two sides clearly weren't close to an agreed point before Higgins issued his demand. Higgins remains under the franchise tag, in any case.

LEFTOVERS

-Gardner Minshew agreed to a two-year, $25 million deal with Las Vegas. Minshew probably is better than Aidan O'Connell but this is still pretty rough. Perhaps the Raiders are resigned to tanking – if Minshew or O'Connell starts they had better get used to the idea.

-The Detroit defense added CB Carlton Davis (trade) and DE Marcus Davenport (free agent), two areas of their 2023 roster that proved weak. Davenport has been unable to stay healthy his entire NFL career but he's extremely toolsy and has always produced well on a per-snap basis. If Davenport miraculously stays healthy and Davis rebounds from his recent struggles then the Detroit defense could take a decisive step forward in 2024.

-Standout guard Robert Hunt agreed to a five-year, $100 million contract with Carolina, hopefully giving Bryce Young a cleaner pocket to manage in 2024. Hunt is good but the high dollar figure very much reflects the fact that no one wants to play for the Panthers.

-Meanwhile, the Panthers lost their best player on the defensive side of the ball, trading star pass rusher Brian Burns to the Giants for a second-round pick. You might recall that the Panthers reportedly declined an offer of two first-round picks from the Rams during the 2022-2023 offseason. Ouch!

-The Cardinals agreed to terms with four new defensive starters, including cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting and two defensive tackles (Bilal Nichols and Justin Jones). They bolstered the Arizona run defense further by adding linebacker Mack Wilson. The Cardinals don't appear to be tanking, so it will be interesting to see if they remain active in free agency and make a credible push for the NFC West in Jonathan Gannon's second season.