NFL free agency 2018: Early winners and losers

Chicago-Bears-quarterback-Mitchell-Trubisky

Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. (Frank Victores/AP)

No one has quite mastered the art of the off-season like the NFL. The new league year just kicked off, and we’ve already got plenty of drama to dissect.

While it goes without saying that we won’t know the real winners and losers of the open market until it’s time to actually play football again, we can’t help but get excited about some of the big moves being made on the free agent front.

Let’s take a look at which teams, players and positions seem to have bright days ahead… and which could be in for some questions.

WINNERS

Cleveland Browns
The Browns made headlines early and often on the trade market and in free agency, bringing plenty of roster change to a team that desperately needs it — and fast.

In the span of less than a week, The Dawg Pound acquired wide receiver Jarvis Landry, quarterback Tyrod Taylor, cornerbacks Damarious Randall and T.J. Carrie, offensive tackle Chris Hubbard, running back Carlos Hyde, and tight end Darren Fells. That’s a pretty successful shopping spree, and GM John Dorsey still has plenty left to spend thanks to the previous regime’s cap-clearing efforts.

Now, it’s only natural to temper your excitement with a shield of skepticism — the Browns haven’t exactly rewarded optimism over the years — but after a winless season, Browns fans needed to see that changes were being made to get better. That’s exactly what’s happening here.

Cleveland’s path to the draft just got a whole lot more interesting.

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Kirk Cousins
The Minnesota Vikings won the Kirk Cousins sweepstakes, landing the biggest fish of free agency and adding what many believe to be the final piece of what should be a Super Bowl-calibre team. But the biggest winner here is Cousins himself, who played under Washington’s franchise tag the past two seasons.

The most notable thing about Cousins’s soon-to-be-signed three-year, $84-million contract — aside from it making him the highest-paid QB in the league — is that it’s fully guaranteed. That’s never been done before in the NFL, and many of Cousins’s NFL peers are undoubtedly hoping it’s the beginning of a new trend that gives more power to the players.

Mitchell Trubisky
The Bears went all in on Mitch Trubisky at last spring’s draft, trading up to select the quarterback at No. 2 overall. Only, they didn’t exactly give the young QB many tools to succeed.

That’s changing this off-season, as the Bears’ front office gifted Trubisky a few new toys on offence, headlined by standout receiver Allen Robinson.

Fellow receiver Taylor Gabriel and tight end Trey Burton make this offence much more dynamic — not to mention, one that’s going to be fun to watch.

Offensive linemen
They may not garner the fanfare that some position players do, but if we’ve learned anything in this game it’s that teams can’t accomplish much without a solid offensive line.

At the top of this year’s free-agency class were guard Andrew Norwell and left tackle Nate Solder, and both cashed in on the open market to become the highest-paid players at their respective positions.

Norwell makes an already-scary squad in Jacksonville that much scarier.

Solder, who won two Super Bowls with the Patriots, will be greatly missed in New England as he moves on to a familiar foe.

LOSERS

Arizona Cardinals
Poor Larry Fitzgerald.

The future Hall of Famer is bound to set more career milestones this upcoming season, which might soften the blow of what is likely to be another disappointing season in the desert.

The Cardinals entered the off-season with plenty of needs — quarterback, wide receiver and offensive line, just to name a few. Arizona GM Steve Keim has been active, but the early returns of free agency aren’t so promising.

Sam Bradford is the new starter for the Cardinals after signing a one-year, $20-million deal on Wednesday, a steep price for an injury-plagued, 30-year-old quarterback. Mike Glennon was brought in to back up Bradford after a single failed season in Chicago. The Cardinals are all but certain to look to this year’s draft for the quarterback of the future, but 2017’s potential starters leave much to be desired.

Outside of Fitzgerald, there are plenty of question marks at receiver in Arizona as John Brown (signed in Baltimore) and Jaron Brown both left in free agency. That means J.J. Nelson is the only other wideout currently on the Cardinals roster who has any real NFL experience.

But maybe the biggest head-scratching move of the last 24 hours is the release of safety Tyrann Mathieu, one of the league’s most versatile defensive backs and an impossible player to replace. Yes, it does save Arizona money in the short-term, but given the cash handed out to Bradford, dropping the “Honey Badger” doesn’t make all that much sense.

Richard Sherman
After his somewhat-surprising release from the Seahawks, Sherman agreed to what was reported to be a three-year, $39-million deal with the rival 49ers.

Except it isn’t a $39-million deal at all.

The details of the contract are a bit complicated, but are explained here by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. Essentially, Sherman received a $3-million signing bonus, a $2-million salary and the rest of the money is all performance based.

In contrast to the fully guaranteed deal Cousins pulled in, Sherman’s self-negotiated contract garnered criticism from many fellow players.

Recently retired Browns tackle Joe Thomas explained it best on Twitter.

Joe Flacco
Name a Baltimore Ravens wide receiver.

We’ll wait.

Exactly. After struggling through the air with the league’s 29th passing offence last season — Mike Wallace (now a free agent) led the team with 748 yards — Baltimore cut Jeremy Maclin and added a pair of wide receivers on Wednesday: John Brown and Ryan Grant.

Not exactly the dynamic duo Ravens fans were hoping for.

Brown caught just 21 passes in 10 games for the Cardinals last season, while Grant hauled in 45 for 573 yards and four scores in Washington. Both are speedsters who will make a living going deep for vintage Flacco bombs, but neither is the No. 1 receiver the Ravens desperately need.

With a free agency class that featured plenty of options for upgrade, GM Ozzie Newsome once again underwhelmed in finding an answer for Flacco.

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