If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind what entity commands the overwhelming majority of most sports fans’ attention spans this week’s news cycle certainly served as a sobering reminder that far and away it’s the National. Football. League. As a society, the only thing we love more than rags to riches story are riches to riches stories. And thanks to the onset of its free agency window that began on Monday morning we got a truckload of them. Witness what we learned from even the bots of NATIONAL TODAY after just day one:
In the first wave of free agency, NFL teams spent a total of $2.3 billion on new contracts, with the Raiders and Titans leading the way with over $270 million each in spending. Several players, including Jaelan Phillips, Alec Pierce, Tyler Linderbaum, and Alontae Taylor, signed deals that set new positional records for the largest average per year by a free agent.
And as CBS SPORTS’ Kyle Stackpole recapped, they were far from the only lottery winners out there:
Monday was expected to be busy, and it certainly was as several notable moves were made. Among them was quarterback Malik Willis agreeing to terms with the Miami Dolphins, wideout …Pierce signing a historic new deal with the Indianapolis Colts, former Indianapolis teammate Michael Pittman getting traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, fellow wideout Mike Evans coming to terms with the San Francisco 49ers, and running backs Kenneth Walker III and Travis Etienne joining with the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints, respectively.
That number grew even larger as the week droned on, catapulted once again by the moneyed yet inept management of Las Vegas’ doormat franchise, as Stackpole added in a update that dropped early yesterday:
This week’s bombshell exploded Tuesday night when the Ravens backed out of their trade for Maxx Crosby due to medical concerns. Two first-round picks go back to Baltimore while Las Vegas is left with a disgruntled star pass rusher and concerns over his trade value. The Ravens weren’t without a star pass rusher for long, however, as they agreed to a four-year, $112 million deal with former Bengal Trey Hendrickson on Wednesday morning.
NFL.com has an ongoing tracker of the moves to date. Booknote it. It’s as overwhelming as the figures being tossed out as cavalierly as one typically references Monopoly money.
And as BLEACHER REPORT’s Brent Sobleski shared later yesterday, the beat is continuing to go on and shows no immediate signs of stopping:
From the moment that news broke that Kyler Murray was going to be released by the Arizona Cardinals, there has been rampant speculation that he could land in Minnesota. After a trip to the Twin Cities Thursday, the Vikings sealed the deal, signing Murray to a veteran minimum deal that includes a no-tag clause. That clause is the only thing stopping this deal from being an A+.
This is a coup for the Vikings—full stop. Not only do they get an upgrade on J.J. McCarthy (who will no doubt “compete” for the starting job—and lose), but they get it for pennies—the Arizona Cardinals will pay Murray over $35 million to play for the Vikings this year.
ESPN’s Matt Bowen took note of no less than 38 other familiar names that have yet to find homes that collectively will add still more to the already staggering total. I’ll hazard a guess that even those of us otherwise consumed by the likes of pre-season baseball and dog days basketball recognize more than a few of them.
How can this continue to happen? Well, bear in mind that even the have nots find ways to take advantage of others. Look at what the Raiders convinced the Jets to do in the very same week that those aforementioned quarterbacks all landed elsewhere, per USA TODAY’s Nick Brinkerhoff:
One of the last times we saw Geno Smith in a New York Jets uniform, he was getting punched. Turns out, the haymaker from IK Enemkpali was far from a knockout blow. Now it’s Smith’s turn to punch back as the quarterback heads back to the green-and-white.
The …Jets agreed on a trade with the…Raiders that will see “Gang Green” acquire Smith and a 2026 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick. It’s a move that reunites Smith with the team that drafted him with the 39th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.
And in the case of the Titans, you’re about to take advantage of the merch train in a massive way, as SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’s Lane Mills added to the onslaught of stories yesterday:
The wait is finally over; after months of anticipation and seemingly unending speculation and mocks from fans in every facet, the Tennessee Titans have officially revealed their new uniforms. In the same fell swoop, the team’s refreshed logo and primary color swap have touched down, also. A new era in Nashville has officially begun. Recent rumors of the Titans’ focus on light blue, white and red came into full fruition, with the first two of those three dominating the updated look in the majority. Two of the three unveilings see white tops, with one joining the bottoms in the same icy tone to complete a blinding visage.
This all for a team that mostly competed with the Raiders and Jets for the NFL’s 2025 booby prize, and hired the Jets’ former mastermind, Robert Saleh, as their new head coach (not to mention his fellow New Jersey underachiever, ex-Giants boss Brian Daboll as his chief looie) to theoretically lead them out of their current abyss. Oh, and did we mention that they’re also about to move into a new domed stadium that will replace the one they opened a mere 27 years ago? Those record executives and Jelly Roll’s fan club will be shelling out that much more for the privilege. But when you play in a city that save for a lousy hockey team and an invisible MLS franchise they have to themselves you can literally get away with anything.
And remember, this is a MARCH news cycle.
Here’s to football.
Courage…