NFL free agency 2026: Winners and losers from Day 1 of negotiating period

Even though the NFL’s free agency period doesn’t officially kick off until Wednesday — when trades and contract signings of players with expiring contracts become official — the league’s two-day negotiating period, which began Monday at 12 p.m. ET, is the true start of free agency for all intents and purposes.

Some franchises made major moves, like the Dolphins at quarterback, releasing Tua Tagovailoa and signing Malik Willis; the Raiders by grabbing top-shelf free agents at center (Tyler Linderbaum) and linebacker (Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean); and the Colts at wide receiver by re-signing Alec Pierce and trading Michael Pittman Jr. to the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

So which teams demonstrably improved thanks to frenetic spending on Day 1 of free agency? Which moves — or lack thereof — could hinder teams this coming season? Here’s our first winners and losers from the beginning of the NFL’s 2026 negotiating window.

For more 2026 NFL free agency coverage:

2026 NFL free agency Day 1 grades: Raiders get ‘A’ for Tyler Linderbaum’s deal, other big spenders hit-or-miss

Zachary Pereles

Winner: Players up for new deals in the 2026 offseason

The league’s salary cap jumped $22 million this offseason, from $279.2 million in 2025 to $301.2 million in 2026, thanks to the NFL’s lucrative 11-year, $110 billion media rights deal with Amazon, CBS, ESPN, FOX and NBC.

We’ve seen salary cap jumps every year in the NFL lately, but this one ushered in new heights of financial prosperity for the league’s players this offseason when it comes to extensions and free-agent deals. Eight players have either become the highest-paid player at their position or the highest-paid free agent at their position in terms of average annual salary.

McDuffie, Tunsil, Linderbaum and Stout all became the highest-paid players ever at their respective positions, while Phillips, Pierce, Walker and Likely became the recipients of the highest-paid free-agent contracts at their positions.

Winner: QB Fernando Mendoza, HC Klint Kubiak and the Raiders

Entering the offseason with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and a first-time head coach in Klint Kubiak, the Raiders entered free agency with an NFL-most $95.556 million in effective cap space, per Over The Cap. They put that financial flexibility to work, spending an NFL-most $271 million in total contract value.

Two of those big moves aimed to elevate what was the 2025 season’s worst scoring offense, as the Raiders averaged just 14.2 points per game in a 3-14 campaign. Las Vegas made Tyler Linderbaum the highest-paid interior offensive lineman of all time with a $27 million average annual salary just shy of his 26th birthday. Pro Football Focus graded Linderbaum fourth overall among centers with an 80.2 offensive grade in 2025, and ESPN charted him with a 97% pass block win rate last season. Both figures ranked fourth among centers.

That’s exactly what the doctor ordered for former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and soon-to-be first overall pick of the draft.

Former Vikings wide receiver Jalen Nailor should slot in nicely alongside youngsters Tre Tucker and Jack Bech in the Raiders’ wide receiver room. All three are under 28 and can grow alongside Mendoza, All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers and running back Ashton Jeanty, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Las Vegas also bolstered its defense with the signings of edge rusher Kwity Paye (three years, $48 million), linebackers Quay Walker (three years, $41 million) and Nakobe Dean (three years, $36 million) and the re-signing of cornerback Eric Stokes (three years, $30 million). Walker, Dean and Stokes were all starters on Georgia’s dominant defenses this decade, so it’s clear general manager John Spytek hopes their collective athleticism and chemistry can help the Raiders play a similarly domineering brand of football in Las Vegas.

Winner: New Cowboys DC Christian Parker

The Cowboys had the worst defense in the NFL in 2025 and the second-worst defense in franchise history last season, allowing 30.1 points per game while playing under embattled defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and without All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons. That’s why Eberflus was fired and Eagles defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Christian Parker was hired.

It’s clear Jerry and Stephen Jones highly respect Parker’s acumen as they begin to acquire players he prefers early in his tenure in Dallas. They traded a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Packers to acquire Pro Bowl edge rusher Rashan Gary, and they are signing Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson to a three-year contract with a maximum value of $36 million. 

Gary is someone Parker coached in Green Bay as a Packers defensive quality control coach from 2019 to 2020, and he’s one of nine players with at least five sacks in each of the past six seasons (since 2020). He’s racked up the 10th-most quarterback pressures (280) and the 13th-most quarterback hits (97) in the NFL over the past five seasons.

Gary also fills a position of desperate need for Dallas, with 2025 second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku and journeyman James Houston the only edge rushers under contract with the Cowboys entering the week.

The Jones family also provided Parker with a new deep safety to man the back end of his defense in Thompson. Parker’s defense will run a lot of nickel — five defensive backs on the field — which requires versatility from safeties to play deep, in the box and sometimes out of the slot. Secondary coach Ryan Smith worked with Thompson in Arizona, so there is also staff familiarity there.

Rashan Gary trade grades: Cowboys get needed help on the edge, Packers get a draft pick

Jared Dubin

Winner: Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes

The Chiefs’ tandem of Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt didn’t work well last season. Chiefs running backs combined to rush for 1,247 yards, 3.7 yards per carry and 47 tackles avoided – all figures that ranked bottom five in the league. That’s why they went against their typical penny-pinching approach at the position and made Seahawks Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III the highest-paid free-agent running back ever with a $14.4 million average annual salary on a three-year deal. That figure also makes Walker the fourth-highest-paid running back in the NFL.

He should be able to end the Chiefs’ dry spell without a 1,000-yard rusher, a stretch that began in 2018 — tied for the longest active streak in the league. The days of quarterback Mahomes leading the Chiefs in rushing through the first six weeks of the season, like he did with 222 yards on the ground in 2025, should be over.

Kansas City also convinced tight end Travis Kelce — the Chiefs’ all-time leader in catches (1,080), receiving yards (13,002) and receiving touchdowns (82) — to return for a 14th NFL season. Mahomes will have his BFF and over-the-middle security blanket, as well as a much stronger workhorse at running back, when he returns from his torn ACL injury later this year.

Chiefs signing Kenneth Walker III: Seahawks losing Super Bowl MVP to Kansas City

Bryan DeArdo

Loser: Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo

While Mahomes celebrates the arrival of Walker and the return of Kelce, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo now looks at a secondary missing four of its five starters from Super Bowl LIX just 13 months ago.

Gone are safety Justin Reid (who left in free agency for the Saints last year), cornerback Trent McDuffie (traded to the Rams this offseason), cornerback Jaylen Watson (signed with the Rams in free agency this offseason) and safety Bryan Cook (signed with the Bengals this offseason).

Safety Chamarri Conner, a 2023 fourth-round pick, is the only one left. Spagnuolo and general manager Brett Veach now have their work cut out for them to retool the secondary this offseason.

Trent McDuffie trade grades: Chiefs and Rams both earn high marks for massive blockbuster deal

John Breech

Winner: Steelers WR DK Metcalf and HC Mike McCarthy

After the Colts re-signed Alec Pierce to a four-year, $114 million contract, it became difficult to keep both Pierce and fellow wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. at their current rates. So the Steelers picked up the phone and acquired Pittman in a late-round pick swap. They also gave him a three-year, $59 million contract.

That’s music to the ears of new head coach Mike McCarthy and No. 1 wide receiver DK Metcalf, who was essentially more productive than the rest of Pittsburgh’s wide receiver room combined in 2025. Now he’ll have Pittman to free him from some double teams, and the trade is incredibly complementary to both players’ skill sets.

Metcalf is an athletic freak running deep downfield, and Pittman thrives in the short and intermediate areas more through route-running technique than raw athleticism. Pittman’s 357 catches over the last four seasons are the sixth-most in the league since 2022. This trade gives McCarthy plenty of fun play-design options for the two of them and whoever ends up as the Steelers’ quarterback.

Michael Pittman Jr. trade grades: Steelers score starting wideout from Colts following Alec Pierce extension

Jordan Dajani

Winner: Rams secondary

The Rams have allowed an NFL-most 26 100-yard receiving games over the past three years since All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey left the team, including the postseason. They’ve taken a strong step toward addressing that weakness by trading for Chiefs 2023 first-team All-Pro Trent McDuffie and signing fellow Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson to a three-year, $51 million contract with $34 million guaranteed.

Those two acquisitions could help the 2025 NFC runners-up get over the hump and return to the Super Bowl in the 2026 season.

Loser: Eagles defense

The Super Bowl LIX champion Eagles had the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense from Weeks 10 to 18 last season, allowing 15.6 points per game after trading for edge rusher Jaelan Phillips. Now much of the core of that group is spread across the league.

Phillips is a Panther after signing a four-year, $120 million deal. Linebacker Nakobe Dean joined the Raiders on a three-year, $36 million contract. Safety Reed Blankenship signed with the Texans on a three-year, $24.75 million deal, and defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Christian Parker is now the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator.

Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and general manager Howie Roseman will have to get creative retooling their defense in 2026.

Winner: Packers South (the Dolphins)

The Dolphins’ regime change into “Packers South” is off to a fast start. The franchise hired Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan as its general manager and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as its head coach in 2026.

Not only are those two organizationally aligned, but owner Stephen Ross also gave them his blessing to do what they felt was best at quarterback. That allowed them to cut Tua Tagovailoa despite him being just one year into a four-year, $212 million deal, salary-cap ramifications be damned, and sign former Packers backup Malik Willis as Miami’s new starter.

Willis completed 79% of his passes with a 10.9 yards-per-attempt average, six touchdowns and no interceptions for a 134.6 passer rating across two seasons filling in as Jordan Love’s backup. In his lone start of 2025 against the Ravens in Week 17, he thrived, completing 18 of 21 passes for 288 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 60 yards and two scores.

Across Willis’ two seasons learning from Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and Love, he completed 13 of his 16 passes for 456 yards and a perfect 158.3 passer rating on throws of 20 yards or deeper.

His athleticism as a runner should pair nicely with dynamic running back De’Von Achane. Willis’ 6.56 yards per carry are the fourth-most by a starting quarterback since 1950 (minimum 40 carries), and Achane’s 5.62 yards per carry are the second-most by a running back in NFL history (minimum 500 carries).

They could form an incredibly fun backfield in 2026.

Dolphins to sign Malik Willis: Former Packers QB agrees to three-year contract

Bryan DeArdo

Loser: Cardinals

The Cardinals cut Kyler Murray and whiffed on signing Malik Willis. Arizona’s lone move at quarterback Monday was signing Gardner Minshew to a one-year deal to back up Jacoby Brissett in 2026.

That’s a quarterback depth chart that could lead to plenty of losses for the Cardinals in the cutthroat NFC West, which features the 2025 Super Bowl champion Seahawks, the 2025 NFC runner-up Rams and a 2025 divisional-round participant in the 49ers.

They’re primed to lose plenty of games in the first year of Mike LaFleur’s tenure as head coach. The bright side is they’ll have a great shot at the first overall pick in a loaded 2027 draft.

Winner: Robert Saleh’s and Brian Daboll’s New York reunion in Nashville

The Titans spent $270 million in free agency, just behind the Raiders for the Day 1 spending lead. New head coach Robert Saleh and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll clearly have the ear of general manager Mike Borgonzi. They signed five players who previously played for Saleh with the Jets or Daboll with the Giants. Those additions should help create a much better supporting cast for 2025 first-overall pick Cam Ward.

The Titans also signed Alontae Taylor, the first cornerback since DeAngelo Hall (2010-13) with 75-plus tackles and 10-plus passes defended in three consecutive seasons. Taylor has totaled 247 tackles, 7.0 sacks, four interceptions and 41 passes defended since 2023.

Loser: Buccaneers

Tampa Bay lost wide receiver Mike Evans — aka Mr. Buccaneer — in free agency Monday. The franchise’s all-time leader in catches (866), receiving yards (13,052) and receiving touchdowns (108) left for the 49ers on a three-year, $42.4 million contract with $16.3 million guaranteed.

That’s essentially a one-year, $16 million deal before California state income taxes, which indicates he was ready to move on from his longtime football home.

The Buccaneers are just 4-8 without Evans over the last two seasons. Yes, they still have Pro Bowler Chris Godwin and 2025 first-round pick Emeka Egbuka, but life for quarterback Baker Mayfield and head coach Todd Bowles won’t be the same without Evans in 2026.

Mike Evans signing with 49ers: Buccaneers franchise icon beginning new chapter in San Francisco

Bryan DeArdo

Winner: Panthers front seven

The Panthers upgraded their defense with two of the best players available at edge rusher and linebacker. 

They signed edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, whose 18.8% quarterback pressure rate ranked fourth in the NFL in 2025 (minimum 300 pass-rush snaps), to a four-year, $120 million deal. They then added linebacker Devin Lloyd on a three-year, $45 million contract after he recorded six total takeaways (five interceptions and a fumble recovery), tied for the third-most in the league last season.

The 2025 NFC South champions nearly knocked off the Rams in the wild card round, losing by just three points (34-31). Carolina is now much more equipped for postseason football after those two signings.