NFL Free Agency Ep. 1: the beginning of a new league (ft. Mr Menzer)

NFL free agency just opened up at noon on Monday, March 11th. Giants fans are moving on, the Panthers don’t have any picks or players, the Packers lost Aaron Jones and David Bakhtiari, and many other crazy signings happened. The NFL is slowly taking another shape.

First off, we need to cover the singing of Saquon Barkley to the Philadelphia Eagles. Co-writer TJ Kaminski shares his thoughts on the situation. “It sickens me to see Saquon, my favorite player for years, appear in a kelly green uniform. It’s extremely sad to see him go, but it’s extremely angering to see him appear on Philly’s roster.” Saquon signed a three-year, $38 million deal and $26 million fully guaranteed with Philadelphia. Will he still have the Saquon power that he did with the Giants? Well, we won’t know until we see him play in that kelly green uniform.

 Cowboys LB Micah Parsons replied to Saquon’s announcement of his signing with Philadelphia with “ sickening”. Micah clearly wasn’t the only one who didn’t think brightly of this signing, with all-time great Giants RB Tiki Barber sharing his thoughts on his radio show. “He’s dead to us now. You’re dead to us, Saquon,” Barber said Monday. “Good luck, you’re dead to me.” Tiki said these words in “joking fashion”, but Saquon took them very seriously. Saquon clapped back by posting on X (formerly Twitter), “@TikiBarber you been a hater since I got to New York … and all the ‘Dead to me’ talk don’t smile in my face when you see me.”

 The Green Bay Packers also got in on free agency, in uncommon fashion, releasing Aaron Jones and signing Josh Jacobs to a four-year, $48 million contract. Mr Menzer shares his opinion on Aaron Jones leaving the Packers. “I’m sad about it, because I think he was a cornerstone of the offense for the past few years,” Mr. Menzer says. “He’s a dynamic player. He can run the ball, catch the ball out of the backfield, which is definitely gonna make him tough to replace.” Green Bay also released the infamous O-lineman David Bakhtiari. Green Bay then signed ex-Giant safety Xavier McKinney to a four-year, $68 million deal. Could Green Bay continue to participate in this free agency frenzy? We say no, as we think they should rely on their draft picks.  

The Atlanta Falcons possibly acquired the best quarterback so far in free agency. They signed QB Kirk Cousins to a 4-year $180 million dollar deal. Even though Cousins tore his achilles, pocket passers like Cousins usually will last in the league longer, since it doesn’t require as much athleticism as being a running QB. Some examples of pocket passers include Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Both of these QBs retired in their later ages for this same reason. We think that Cousins can fit well in Atlanta as a pocket passer, and may even retire as a Falcon.

The Carolina Panthers might have to face another unfortunate losing record year. They have no first-round picks despite being possibly the worst team in the NFL last year. They lost vital DE Brian Burns in a trade with the Giants, gaining a 2nd and 5th round pick for next year’s draft. The Giants proceeded to sign Burns to a five-year, $150 million contract. We expected that the Panthers could actually build up from the draft and become a somewhat decent team. We clearly thought very wrong.  

The Detroit Lions also might’ve just got their Super Bowl Roster. CB Carlton Davis was traded to the Lions by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Lions gave Tampa their 2024 and 2025 6th round picks. Detroit will give Tampa their 3rd round pick (the Lions will still keep their third round pick from the TJ Hockeson trade). They also signed DE Marcus Davenport for a one-year contract for $6.5 million and a max value of $10.5 million. Lions free agency has clearly been going in the right direction since they’re making smart money decisions and signing the right players, but wisely!  

There were some other signings like D’andre Swift to the Bears for a three-year, $24 million deal, Bryce Huff to the Eagles for a three-year, $51.1 million deal, and Derrick Henry to the Ravens for a two-year, $16 million deal. But, there are just far too many signings that took place this week. This week was a rollercoaster of emotions for fans across the country, and a bittersweet ending to week one of free agency.