Day 1 of NFL free agency is in the books, and the NFC East was one of the more active divisions in the league, as the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and Washington Commanders made splash moves. We'll go in order of each teams' finish last season.
Notable players gained/retained
None. The Cowboys are over the cap at the moment, and will have to be cap-compliant by 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Their inactivity on Day 1 was no surprise.
Notable players lost
• RB Tony Pollard: Pollard got franchise tagged last year, and he turned in a disappointing season as the lead back, averaging 3.99 yards per carry and 5.7 yards per catch. He reportedly agreed to a three-year, $24 million deal with the Titans. The Cowboys were right not to try to retain Pollard at that number, but they also have a bare cupboard at running back. Expect them to bargain shop there once the running back market settles down.
• DE Dorance Armstrong: Armstrong has been part of the Cowboys' defensive line rotation for six years. He didn't do much during his first three seasons in the NFL, but he has 21 sacks over the last three seasons. He agreed to a three-year deal worth $45 million with the Commanders. There was no way the Cowboys were matching that.
• C Tyler Biadasz: Biadasz has been the the Cowboys' starting center for the last three seasons, but he's just kind of a guy. He agreed to a three-year deal with the Commanders for $30 million. Again, the Cowboys were right not to try to match that money for an average player, but they'll still now have to replace him.
Notable players gained/retained
• EDGE Bryce Huff: PFF had Huff down for an astronomical 67 pressures and 10 sacks on just 334 pass rush snaps in 2023. He is an up and coming stud pass rusher with high upside. The downside is that he has only ever really been a situational pass rusher, and is likely a liability against the run. The Eagles are signing Huff to a three-year contract worth $51.1 million, or $17 million per year. He's young and exciting but is he better than Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat?
• RB Saquon Barkley: The Eagles made an out-of-character splash move at running back when they signed Barkley to a three-year deal worth $37.75 million. While not the explosive player he once was, Barkley is still a very good, complete back who can run for power, hit a big run on occasion, catch the football, and pass protect. He is the best running back the Eagles have had since LeSean McCoy. There are durability concerns, but the prospect of a healthy Barkley behind the Eagles' offensive line is an intriguing one, and it also signals that the backs are going to be used more in the passing game under Kellen Moore.
• LB Zack Baun: Baun is an edge defender / off-ball linebacker hybrid who will likely play a role in sub packages, and give the Eagles added depth at multiple spots.
• LG Landon Dickerson: The Eagles rewarded one of their own with a four-year contract extension. With no fifth-year option at their disposal this offseason and the franchise tag not being a realistic option next offseason, the Eagles had to get something done with Dickerson now, and they did.
Notable players lost
• RB D'Andre Swift: Swift's 2023 season started off hot, when he had 175 rushing yards against the Vikings Week 2 and 130 rushing yards against the Buccaneers Week 3. However, he did not top 100 yards in a game thereafter, and he averaged barely over four yards per carry from Week 6 on. As a receiver, Swift finished with 39 catches for a mere 214 yards and 1 TD.
Notable players gained/retained
• DE Brian Burns: The Giants traded a second-round pick (39th overall) and a fifth-round pick (141st overall) to the Panthers for Burns, and then gave him a five-year contract worth $150 million ($30 million per season). Burns is now the second-highest paid edge rusher in the NFL behind only Nick Bosa. Trade cost... low. Contract cost... high.
Burns has 46 career sacks and eight forced fumbles in five seasons. His best year was 2022, when he had 12.5 sacks, the lone double-digit sack season of his career. He is a very good edge rusher, but one whose numbers don't match the hype.
For the Giants' purposes, Burns joins a Giants pass rush with Dexter Lawrence, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Azeez Ojulari. That is something that the Giants can perhaps hang their hat on and build around.
On a side note, the Panthers are an atrocious organization:
By only getting a 2 and a 5 for Burns, the Panthers may have also messed up the trade markets for Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat.
• RB Devin Singletary: Singletary is a committee back who has played both for the Bills and Texans. He has a nice career 4.6 yards per carry average, though he had his lowest YPC average (4.2) in 2023 in Houston when he had the heaviest workload of his career (216 carries). Over the last six seasons, opposing defenses keyed on Barkley. They will not key on Singletary. Of course, Singletary comes at a far cheaper price than Barkley, at three years, $16.5 million.
• OG Jon Runyan: Runyan has been a starter for the Packers the last three years. He's better in pass pro than he is as a run blocker. The Giants had a historically awful offensive line in 2023, so it's no surprise they added two guys on Day 1. Reportedly three years, $30 million.
• OT Jermaine Eluemunor: Eluemunor has some guard/tackle versatility. He started at RT for the Raiders last season, and could compete with draft bust Evan Neal for the starting RT job in New York. Two years, $14 million.
• PR Gunner Olszewski: 11.9 yards per return for the Giants in 2023.
• LS Casey Kreiter: He throws the ball through his legs to the punter and the holder.
• LB Carter Coughlin: Coughlin led the Giants in special teams tackles in 2023, but doesn't have much value in the regular defense.
Notable players lost
• RB Saquon Barkley: Barkley got a three-year deal worth $37.75 million from the Eagles. For where their roster is, the Giants were absolutely right not to pay him that.
• S Xavier McKinney: McKinney signed a four-year deal worth $68 million with the Packers. He is still only 24 years old and he is one of the best safeties in the NFL. In 2023, he had 116 tackles, 11 pass breakups, and 3 INTs. It was a curious decision for the Giants not to tag McKinney, seeing as, you know, they don't have many good players. It's a lot easier to open up cap space than it is to find good players, and they might regret losing him.
Notable players gained/retained
The Commanders entered free agency with over $90 million in cap space, most in the NFL, so they were a lock to do some spending on Day 1 of free agency.
• DE Dorance Armstrong: Armstrong will follow Dan Quinn to Washington, and as noted above, he got paid. Three years, $45 million. Armstrong has 23.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and just 14 starts in six career seasons, and it's probably fair to say that he isn't a player likely to find much in the way of an untapped ceiling. Still, the Commanders needed pass rushers after trading Montez Sweat and Chase Young at the 2023 trade deadline, and Armstrong is a decent enough player.
• C Tyler Biadasz: As noted above, Biadasz has been the the Cowboys' starting center for the last three seasons, but he's just kind of a guy. He got a three-year deal worth $30 million. The Commanders have had all kinds of issues at center over the last few years, and will hope that Biadasz solidifies that spot.
• LB Frankie Luvu: Luvu is a fun linebacker to watch, and he racked up big numbers on a bad Panthers team. In his first two seasons as a full-time starter, Luvu had a combined 236 tackles and 12.5 sacks in 2022 and 2023. He is one of the best blitzing linebackers in the NFL, and should be a weapon for Quinn. Luvu got a three-year deal worth up to $36 million.
• RB Austin Ekeler: Ekeler will turn 29 in May and he had his worst season as a runner in 2023, averaging just 3.5 yards per carry after averaging 4.6 yards per carry over the rest of his career. He also had his lowest number of receptions (51) since the 2018 season. He got a two-year deal worth up to $11.4 million. I could see a contender maybe trying to squeeze one last good year out of Ekeler, but he doesn't make a lot of sense to me for a team that is nowhere close to Super Bowl contention. New OC Anthony Lynn previously worked with Ekeler in L.A. with the Chargers, so maybe he just felt comfortable with Ekeler helping break in a rookie quarterback?
• TE Zach Ertz: Technically, the Commanders signed Ertz before the start of free agency. He'll get up to $5 million for one year. Ertz had 27 catches for 187 yards (6.9 YPC 😬) and 1 TD for Arizona last season in 7 games. Again, what does Ertz do for this team long-term?
• iOL Nick Allegretti: Allegretti has played at LG, C, and RG for the Chiefs, and will give the Commanders some OL versatility/flexibility. Three yeas, $16 million is perhaps a bit of an overpay, but he's a useful player as a backup.
• K Brandon McManus: McManus replaces Joey Slye. He's hit field goals at a low 79.5% clip the last two seasons with the Broncos and Jaguars, neither of whom seemed inclined to go out of their way to keep him.
Notable players lost
• RB Antonio Gibson: Gibson had a big rookie season in 2020, but has averaged 3.9 yards per carry since.
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