NFL free agency: Ravens among winners on Day 2 of negotiating period; WR market lagging
Day 2 of the NFL's free agent negotiating period is the day to catch your breath.
The blockbuster deals were agreed to on Monday, but the negotiations on Day 2 are the ones that often form the backbone of free agency -- for the less-heralded hole-fillers who don't garner headlines in March, but whose absences would definitely be felt in October if they never signed. When the day began, some bold-faced names, like Danielle Hunter and Justin Fields, were still in limbo. When the day ended, it was possible to have a much better sense of what teams need going into next the 2024 NFL Draft (April 25-27) -- and Hunter was headed for Houston.
Below are some key takeaways from Tuesday's action:
1) Bridge and backup quarterbacks: Baker Mayfield is the patron saint of this group, after toiling as a backup, then going to Tampa as the bridge quarterback and playing so well he was just given a new long-term contract by the Bucs. From late Monday night into Tuesday, we saw a run on these QBs.
Sam Darnold and Jacoby Brissett are hoping for the same kind of career revivals. In the overnight hours, we learned that Darnold agreed to a one-year contract worth up to $10 million to potentially replace Kirk Cousins in Minnesota. Darnold has long been held in higher regard by football types than by fans, in large part because the football types know how lousy his past situations were with the Jets (who drafted him third overall in 2018) and Panthers (to whom he was traded by New York in 2021). In 2022, he started six games for Carolina and went 4-2, throwing seven touchdown passes and three interceptions. He'll benefit from being around Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell and QB coach Josh McCown, a former teammate of Darnold's.
It seems clear now
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