Recapping The Best and Worst From Last Year's Free Agency Class
In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by New Era:
The start of NFL free agency is nearly here, and it is impossible to overstate just how important this time of year is. You simply cannot win on the field unless you are also winning off it.
Just look at last year’s Super Bowl champs. The Eagles added some key contributors in the draft and in free agency, and they were rewarded with a Lombardi Trophy.
Before we dive into the upcoming free agent class, let’s take a look back at some of the most shrewd signings—and biggest busts—from 2024 …
Best: Veteran Running Backs
Hating on running backs is so 2024. We saw a number of veteran running backs change teams in the offseason, and nearly all of them had a massive impact on their new squads.
That starts with Saquon Barkley. He went from arguably the worst running back situation in the league to the best, and he reminded everyone why he was once considered the best running back in football. He racked up more than 2,000 rushing yards in 16 regular-season games, taking home the Offensive Player of the Year award in the process, before helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl. He was rewarded with an extension, making him the highest-paid running back in the league, and it’s hard to say he didn’t deserve it.
Barkley was far from alone. Derrick Henry had a throwback season with the Ravens, averaging 5.9 yards per carry with 18 total touchdowns. If not for Barkley, he may have taken home the OPOY trophy.
Josh Jacobs was a stabilizing force for the Packers’ offense. Joe Mixon proved he still had plenty of gas left in the tank for the Texans. Even Aaron Jones gave the Vikings solid production.
All five of those teams made it to the playoffs last year, so the idea of “not paying running backs” may be coming to an end. This year’s RB class isn’t nearly as strong, but we’ll see if 2024 has changed the market for some of these players.
Worst: Kirk Cousins
I will never understand the Falcons’ plan last offseason. They started by handing Cousins a four-year, $180M contract, despite the fact that he was coming off a major knee injury the year prior. Then, they doubled down at the position by using a top-10 draft pick on Michael Penix Jr.
Cousins ultimately faltered for the Falcons, and they handed the reins to Penix down the stretch. Penix had his own struggles, throwing just three touchdown passes to three interceptions, and the Falcons ultimately failed to make it to the playoffs.
Now, the team is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They’re paying a TON of money to the position, yet they’re not sure what they’re going to get at quarterback next season. Part of the advantage of having a young quarterback is that you don’t have to pay them market value. It allows you to load up on the rest of your roster. We saw the Texans do that last offseason, and the Commanders will almost certainly take advantage of that fact this year.
The Falcons do not have that luxury. They are stuck with Cousins as a $40M backup next season, and if they want to cut him before the start of the 2026-27 season, it’s going to cost them $25M. By the time his money comes off the books, it will basically be time to start paying Penix real money (if he pans out). It’s an absolute nightmare situation and one the team should’ve just avoided entirely.
Best: Sam Darnold
No player cost themselves more money down the stretch than Darnold. His performance in Week 18 vs. the Lions was ghastly, and he didn’t do much better in his lone playoff outing.
Still, it’s hard to consider this signing as anything other than a slam dunk for the Vikings.
He was expected to serve as competition for rookie J.J. McCarthy, but McCarthy ultimately missed all of last season with an injury. It forced Darnold into a starting role, and he absolutely thrived. He racked up career highs in every category across the board, racking up 4,319 yards and 35 touchdown passes while leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record.
It will be interesting to see what Darnold’s market looks like this offseason. The Vikings chose not to use the franchise tag on him, and it appears as though he’s headed elsewhere. His circumstances were absolutely perfect in Minnesota, working with an elite offensive head coach while throwing to one of the best receiver tandems in football. It seems unlikely he’ll duplicate that production elsewhere, but he deserves another shot to start after his success in Minnesota.
Worst: Gabe Davis
The Bills decided to completely overhaul their receiving corps last offseason, trading away Stefon Diggs while letting Davis walk in free agency. That should’ve been a red flag for the Jaguars. Instead, they inked him to a three-year, $39M contract.
Jacksonville has turned some heads with some of their recent receiver signings. They appeared to go way above market value to sign Christian Kirk, but that contract worked out pretty well for them. Things don’t look like they’re going to go quite as well for Davis.
Davis’ year was cut short by injury, but he didn’t exactly dominate when on the field, either. He had just 20 catches across 10 games, and he racked up just 239 yards and two scores.
Making matters worse, Davis’ contract was heavily backloaded. His salary added just $4.5M to the cap last season, but it balloons to $17.2M in his final season. That means there is very little money to be saved by cutting him. For better or worse, the Jaguars are stuck with him behind Brian Thomas Jr.
Best: Jonnu Smith
This goes down as my pick for most surprising win of the offseason. You didn’t need a crystal ball to realize that Barkley and Henry were going to be good in Philly and Baltimore. We’ve also seen guys like Darnold succeed with a change of scenery in recent years. Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield were also left for dead, and both of those players have been able to salvage their careers.
But Smith? This was a guy who had received plenty of opportunities in his career, and he was going to a place where tight ends have historically been invisible. Miami has barely utilized the position at all since Mike McDaniel arrived in town. With one speed demon after another at running back and wide receiver, the tight ends were basically just there to block.
Smith completely changed that narrative. He racked up 88 catches, 884 yards, and eight touchdowns last season. Part of that stemmed from injuries and ineffectiveness from guys like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but Smith established himself as one of Tua Tagovailoa’s most trusted pass-catchers. He was the No. 5 scorer at the position in terms of PPR fantasy points per game, and he was No. 2 from Week 11 on.
Can Smith do it again in 2025-26? That remains to be seen, but he’s impossible to ignore in fantasy drafts after what he did last season.
Worst: Curtis Samuel
It’s hard to remember now, but Samuel was a trendy “sleeper” at one point last season. The Bills gave him a legit contract—three years, $24M—and he had minimal competition at the position. There was a chance that he could emerge as the No. 1 option for Josh Allen, which was a tantalizing proposition.
It’s safe to say that things didn’t work out that way.
Samuel managed just 31 catches, 253 yards, and one touchdown last season. By the end of the year, he was the No. 5 receiver on the depth chart. He had fallen behind Mack Hollins, whom the Bills acquired for just one year and $2.5M.
Like Davis, the Bills are stuck with Samuel for at least one more year. He’ll count as more than $9M toward the cap next season, yet he will probably struggle to find the field on most weeks. At least he had that long touchdown catch in the playoffs, but it seems like that may be his only real moment in Buffalo.
FORECASTING THE 2025 FREE AGENCY CLASS
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🏈 Happy Free Agency Eve! 🎁
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for NFL roster-building. With the Super Bowl more than a month behind us, and teams missing the playoffs getting more than another month of time to assess their needs for the 2025 campaign, NFL free agency is the time when teams can go shopping to fill some of those holes before the shopping is done at the end of April with the NFL Draft.
We at Fantasy Life helped identify some of those team needs in Ian Hartitz’s great series on all 32 teams. Ian also published articles focusing on the free agents at different position groups:
Matthew Freedman, Kendall Valenzuela, and Ian teamed up for a roundtable discussion on a variety of players facing free agency and other teams’ situations. This and all our content are a great resource to get you prepped for the upcoming free agency frenzy.
One more thing: Kendall and cooterdoodle tackled some of the free agency news and players they're looking to fade in 2025 in the latest episode of their still-unnamed show. Check it out and enjoy.👇
KENDALL AND COOTERDOODLE ARE STILL UNTITLED
Remembering the 2020 NFL Draft Class: A Constellation of Stars
As we look ahead to the stars of tomorrow in the 2025 NFL Draft, let’s look back five years to the class of 2020. From there, we got a collection of quarterbacks featuring stars like Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert, and Tua Tagovailoa. It didn’t stop there, with Justin Jefferson and Jonathan Taylor rising head and shoulders above their peers to be recognized among the best at their positions.
Chris Allen takes a fun look back at that class, including sharing about the anticipation of the top pick in the draft as a longtime Bengals fan. 👇
WHO WENT AHEAD OF JUSTIN JEFFERSON?
Here’s some NFL news to sift through while you’re resting on the couch. You’ve earned it:
👀 ICYMI: Fantasy football fallout of Geno Smith heading to Las Vegas.
🗞 Hot off the presses: Abdul Carter goes No. 1 yet again.
🗽 Same city, new team? Just don’t let it impact Malik Nabers.
🏆 Here’s a full list of the 2025 NFL Combine results. Not too shabby …
💻 The only thing better than a model is a super model. Dwain McFarland’s Rookie RB Super Model is officially here.
🏴☠️️ The first QB domino has fallen. Geno Smith to the Raiders has massive implications for teams like the Giants, Vikings, Colts, and Jets.
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