NFL teams spent over $1 billion in the first 90 minutes of free agency and nobody had a hole burning in their pocket more than the Raiders ($281 million) and Titans ($270 million), who led the league in spending for the day.
That doesn’t mean it was all money well spent, though. Some of these signings were home runs marrying great players filling big needs. But, there were more than a few head scratchers too as is often the case for overpaying veterans on the free agent market.
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Best fits
Tyler Linderbaum to the Raiders
The Raiders may have gotten the best free agent in the 2026 class when they signed former Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum to the richest deal for an interior offensive lineman ($27 million per year) in NFL history. It’s also one of the best fits. Entering the 2026 season, the Raiders will have a young core of QB Fernando Mendoza (2026 No. 1 pick), RB Ashton Jeanty (2025 No. 6 overall pick) and TE Brock Bowers (2024 No. 13 pick) with Linderbaum setting the foundation in the middle. At the very least, this move should give Ashton Jeanty more room to run. He ranked 48th out of 49 qualified rushers in yards before contact per rush (0.60) last season.
Tua Tagovailoa to the Falcons
At first glance I thought why in the heck would the Falcons want not one, but two quarterbacks who can’t stay on the field. But for the price (one-year deal worth $1.3 million) it’s definitely worth a flier on Tagovailoa. There will be ample continuity as the Falcons won’t have to change their offensive system no matter who is at quarterback, as both are left-handed. Tagovailoa’s cold weather problems shouldn’t be an issue with 11 games scheduled to be played indoors. Plus, Falcons new head coach Kevin Stefanski will draw up plenty of designed rollouts where Tagovailoa is comfortable. I’m not sure how impactful Tagovailoa will be or how much he will even play with Penix Jr. coming back from injury, but the fit at least makes sense.
Bryan Cook to the Bengals
The Bengals had one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year and have massive needs across the board, most notably at edge rusher and safety. Safety Bryan Cook should help Cincinnati instantly improve as they allowed 7.0 yards after catch per reception in 2025, the worst rate by any team in the past two decades. Cook had the fifth-lowest missed tackle rate (5.7%) among defensive backs with 75+ tackles last season. He will replace Geno Stone who had the fifth-highest missed tackle rate last season (18.1%).
Cade Mays to the Lions
Detroit’s offensive line took a step back in 2025 after the retirement of center Frank Ragnow. They went from second and 15th in PFF’s run and pass block grades in 2024 to 13th and 24th in 2025, respectively. Cade Mays will be an upgrade over Graham Glasgow after making a career-high 12 starts for Carolina in 2025.
Kenneth Walker III to the Chiefs
It pains me to put Kenneth Walker III here after he timed free agency perfectly after a big postseason finish following Zach Charbonnet’s injury. However, he fills such a big need for the Chiefs even at the cost of the richest free agent RB deal ever ($14.4 million per year). Walker III had more 25-yard runs in one drive in the Super Bowl (two) than Chiefs running backs had all of last season (one). Kansas City had absolutely no explosiveness on the ground. Chiefs running backs had an explosive run (12+ yards) on 3.0% of their carries in 2025, the fifth-lowest rate by any team in a season since 2000. The 2024 Chiefs ranked second-lowest (2.8%). Walker III ranked fifth among 49 RBs with 100+ carries last year in explosive run rate (10.0%). I can’t blame the Chiefs for finally investing at the position as the offense around Patrick Mahomes has looked pedestrian for several years.
Questionable fits
Malik Willis to the Dolphins
Malik Willis pulled a Jekyll-and-Hyde act going from Tennessee to Green Bay, where he went from one of the worst to best supporting casts in football. So even with the connection to Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley (he was the Packers defensive coordinator last year), it was surprising to see him sign with a Dolphins team that is in a complete rebuild after eating Tua Tagovailoa’s NFL-record $99 million dead cap hit. Willis has a lot of talent but this isn’t an ideal environment to bring the best out of him.
Michael Pittman Jr. to the Steelers
The Steelers acquired Michael Pittman Jr. in a late-round pick swap and promptly gave him an extension worth $59 million over three years. Pittsburgh desperately needed a WR2 behind D.K. Metcalf (he accounted for nearly half of the Steelers WR receiving yards last year) but it’s head scratching to see them trade for another big wideout after shipping off George Pickens last offseason. Steelers wide receivers ranked second-worst in yards from the slot last year, so I would have much rather seen them find a threat like Rashid Shaheed. He signed a slightly cheaper deal than Pittman (three years, $51 million) to stay in Seattle.
Travis Etienne Jr. to the Saints
I wrote about paying running backs last month and my takeaway was it’s okay to spend money at the position on short-term deals. The only exception would be paying a superstar back like Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley. The Saints did neither. They shelled out $13 million per year over four years for Travis Etienne, who ranked fourth-worst in rush yards over expected per attempt in the past three years (among 25 running backs with 500+ rushes). Now, he’s an upgrade over Alvin Kamara, who ranked last in this stat, but it’s still not worth this massive contract (he has the seventh-richest active RB contract) when guys like Rico Dowdle and Javonte Williams signed cheap one-year deals last season and produced 1,000-yard years.
Wan’Dale Robinson to the Titans
On the one hand, I understand Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll reuniting with Wan’Dale Robinson to improve Cam Ward’s supporting cast especially when Tennessee had a ton of cash to burn. Still, Robinson got the fifth-biggest contract ever for a free agent wideout ($38 million guaranteed) and Chimere Dike showed signs of improvement operating out of the slot as the season went on. Dike averaged 1.46 yards per route run out of the slot in the final five weeks of the year, up from 0.89 from Weeks 1-14. Robinson is a slot merchant, but he may not be worth the money if it gets in the way of Dike’s development.
Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean to the Raiders
They had to spend all that money somewhere, right? Las Vegas is going to be spending $26 million annually on former Georgia Bulldog teammates Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean for the next three years. For context, the Bears led the NFL in spending on off-ball linebackers in 2025 at $28 million. Walker and Dean bring different things to the table but they aren’t among the best at their position in the league so I would have rather seen more money spent on the offensive line and wide receiver to help out Fernando Mendoza.
