The NFL did not become America’s most powerful entertainment machine by playing football games alone. The league’s free agency and draft seasons are practically as big a cultural bonanza as anything that happens from September through February, and this year is no exception.
Multiple expensive starting quarterbacks are changing teams. One of the sport’s most talented running backs has decided to go south on Interstate 95 from New York to Eastern Pennsylvania. The Atlanta Falcons made a play for relevancy after years in the wilderness. And the 2024 season took on a drastically different shape. Here are five of the splashiest, most consequential moves teams have made so far.
The Falcons land Kirk Cousins, the market’s top available QB
Cousins will never be mistaken for one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but he is miles ahead of the flotsam that many teams trot out. Always in the league’s upper half in a wide range of passing stats, Cousins has proven adept at getting himself paid. At 35, he’s left Minnesota for a contract worth $100m guaranteed with the Falcons, who will make Cousins their starter for at least two years and as many as four. Cousins is an enormous upgrade on previous starter Desmond Ridder, and he should help an intriguing group of skill position players – tailback Bijan Robinson, tight end Kyle Pitts, and receiver Drake London – put up stats more befitting of their natural talents.
The move leaves the Vikings in quarterback purgatory. Perhaps they’ll draft one in April, but the 11th pick may not be early enough to land a long-term successor to Cousins. The scarcity of talent at the most important position in the league is why Cousins, in his mid-30s and coming off a torn achilles that cut short his last season, can still command such a massive payday. In a putrid NFC South, Atlanta are now a threat.
Grade for the Falcons: B+
Grade for Cousins: A+ for money, B+ for destination
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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-free-agency-grades-wilson-090003778.html
Author : The Guardian
Publish date : 2024-03-12 09:00:03
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