This article is part of our NFL Free Agency series.
Tuesday's events in NFL free agency couldn't pack as many fireworks as Monday's kickoff to legal tampering, but there was still plenty of notable activity in the second day of tampering. Click here for a recap on Monday's news.
KING HENRY ON THE MOVE
-The Ravens made waves by adding Derrick Henry on a two-year deal, implementing one of the most feared runners in NFL history into an offense that already featured Lamar Jackson. Even at nearly 30 years old at the time, Henry logged the NFL's second-fastest top speed as a ballcarrier in 2023. With defenses concerned about outside contain due to the rushing threat posed by Jackson, Henry could see the widest rushing lanes of his NFL career to this point. Then again, Henry will likely need to be explosive to offset a workload reduction relative to his 30-carry days with the Titans. It's not clear what Henry's signing might mean for J.K. Dobbins.
AARON JONES HAUNTING PACKERS FROM MINNESOTA
-The Packers made an understandable enough gamble committing to Josh Jacobs as their new starting running back, necessitating the release of the beloved Aaron Jones, but they probably had their fingers crossed for Jones going almost anywhere other than Minnesota. It didn't take long for Jones to land with his new team following Monday's release, and the former UTEP star will now try to be a thorn in Green Bay's side with the in-division Vikings. Even if Jacobs proves an upgrade for Green Bay, part
Tuesday's events in NFL free agency couldn't pack as many fireworks as Monday's kickoff to legal tampering, but there was still plenty of notable activity in the second day of tampering. Click here for a recap on Monday's news.
KING HENRY ON THE MOVE
-The Ravens made waves by adding Derrick Henry on a two-year deal, implementing one of the most feared runners in NFL history into an offense that already featured Lamar Jackson. Even at nearly 30 years old at the time, Henry logged the NFL's second-fastest top speed as a ballcarrier in 2023. With defenses concerned about outside contain due to the rushing threat posed by Jackson, Henry could see the widest rushing lanes of his NFL career to this point. Then again, Henry will likely need to be explosive to offset a workload reduction relative to his 30-carry days with the Titans. It's not clear what Henry's signing might mean for J.K. Dobbins.
AARON JONES HAUNTING PACKERS FROM MINNESOTA
-The Packers made an understandable enough gamble committing to Josh Jacobs as their new starting running back, necessitating the release of the beloved Aaron Jones, but they probably had their fingers crossed for Jones going almost anywhere other than Minnesota. It didn't take long for Jones to land with his new team following Monday's release, and the former UTEP star will now try to be a thorn in Green Bay's side with the in-division Vikings. Even if Jacobs proves an upgrade for Green Bay, part of the cost for the Packers is that they handed the Vikings a free major upgrade at running back.
DIONTAE JOHNSON TRADE
-Diontae Johnson might have wanted out of Pittsburgh to some extent, but he probably had somewhere more pleasant than the Carolina Panthers in mind. It's only for one year, as 2024 is the last year on Johnson's current contract, but it figures to be a brutal year indeed.
Johnson is adept at creating brief separation, which drew him a high target rate with the Steelers, but his lack of build and speed makes it difficult for Johnson to maintain separation for very long. Not just that, but Johnson's drops over the years were largely informed by the fact that he struggles with contact at the catch point. Johnson wouldn't have dropped so many passes in Pittsburgh if he had better quarterback play on his side, but as he heads to Carolina this might be the most frustrating quarterback play Johnson has dealt with in the NFL.
Still, for fantasy purposes Johnson is interesting due to his high per-snap target rate. As he showed in Pittsburgh, Johnson can be dreadfully inefficient in real football terms yet still be very useful in fantasy football, especially PPR scoring.
RIDLEY SAGA ONGOING
-Calvin Ridley went into Tuesday as the top remaining offensive player available but seemed no closer to agreeing to terms with any team by the day's end. Ridley's market seems less than robust – by this point it appears to mostly just be the Jaguars and Patriots pursuing Ridley – but the Jaguars and Patriots both also seem motivated to pry Ridley from the others' grasp.
A strange wrinkle in the situation is the terms of Ridley's trade from Atlanta to Jacksonville, which stated the Jaguars would trade Atlanta a second-round pick if Ridley were signed by the Jaguars before Wednesday afternoon. If Ridley re-signs with Jacksonville after Wednesday afternoon, though, the Jaguars only send their third-round pick to the Falcons. It's not clear whether the Jaguars have let that fact affect their negotiation with Ridley, but in any case the Jaguars could really use Ridley's return even after the signings of Gabe Davis and Devin Duvernay. Whether they still have the means is a separate question.
JOE MIXON TRADED AFTER ALL
What was originally called a contract termination Monday night turned out to instead result in a trade of Joe Mixon, who will now head to Houston instead of the free agency heap. Mixon never fulfilled the upside expectations with the Bengals and is liable to lose a step with age-28 approaching in July, but Mixon should still be the easy favorite to start over Dameon Pierce. Pierce was benched for Devin Singletary last year, but Singletary walked to the Giants.
GIANTS ADD QUARTERBACK HELP
Drew Lock agreed to a one-year deal with the Giants, giving them a former starter and second-round pick at quarterback to add reassurance as Daniel Jones attempts to return from last year's season-ending ACL tear from Week 9. Jones is the presumed starter given the much bigger contract, but the contract was obviously a silly idea and if Jones is hobbled at all it could lead the Giants to lean on Lock at some point, if only temporarily.
BIG DEFENSIVE MOVES
-The Texans made up for Monday's loss of emerging star defensive end Jonathan Greenard (Washington) by adding former Minnesota star Danielle Hunter to rush the passer opposite Will Anderson. Hunter isn't guaranteed to be better than Greenard at this point, but Hunter's recent peak was of clear All-Pro caliber and if he reaches that peak again for Houston it could be an explosive result. Anderson himself will soon be one of the league's elite defenders, so if Hunter can maintain his high standard of play the Texans defense should be close to a finished product in 2024.
-Patrick Queen agreed to a three-year deal with Pittsburgh, giving the Steelers their top-billed inside linebacker since at least Lawrence Timmons. Queen is undersized and initially struggled with the physicality of the NFL, but he really broke out following Baltimore's trade for Roquan Smith. It will be interesting to see if Queen locks in the gains that he otherwise demonstrated the last two years, because if he regressed to his pre-2023 form this signing would likely prove a disappointment. If Queen maintains his recent level of play, though, this could be a high-impact signing for the Steelers.
LEFTOVERS
-The Falcons found their likely WR2 by finalizing a three-year, $39 million deal with free agent Darnell Mooney. The former Bears wideout struggled in Chicago after the trade for DJ Moore, but he showed legitimate WR2 utility in prior years. At the very least Mooney gives the Falcons speed to draw the safety away from Drake London and Kyle Pitts.
-Jameis Winston agreed to a one-year deal with Cleveland, which would seemingly make it difficult for the Browns to re-sign Joe Flacco.
-Nyheim Hines agreed to a one-year deal with Cleveland, making him an interesting PPR consideration particularly if the Browns move on from Nick Chubb.
-The Jaguars re-signed D'Ernest Johnson to a one-year deal. Johnson is not a very good RB2 by NFL standards, but he's probably better than Tank Bigsby, who is apparently one of the worst ever.
-After a brutal season in New England, things will hopefully turn for the better as Mike Gesicki heads to Cincinnati in 2024. The Bengals could have a major void in the slot, where Tyler Boyd tended to run, and if so then Gesicki could be a good fantasy sleeper despite his diminished brand these days.
-Running back DeeJay Dallas agreed to terms with the Cardinals, giving the former Seattle back a chance to earn a much bigger role from scrimmage. James Conner won't be challenged as Arizona's lead back, but Dallas might be able to establish himself as the Cardinals primary passing-down back.
-The Chiefs agreed to a deal with former second-round pick Irv Smith, whose career has badly burned out since leaving Minnesota. The former Alabama star is unlikely to emerge any higher than Kansas City's TE3, even behind Noah Gray, but if Travis Kelce were to miss any time it's possible that Smith would be a better receiver than Gray and seize most of the resulting fantasy opportunity.
-DeVante Parker agreed to a one-year deal with the Eagles. As a boundary-specific wideout with waning speed it's not clear where Parker could earn snaps unless the Eagles move DeVonta Smith or A.J. Brown to the slot close to full-time. Quez Watkins and to a lesser extend Olamide Zaccheaus were the Eagles' primary slot receivers the last two years, so it would mark a bit of a change for Smith or Brown to move there. It's just as likely that Parker never really plays much for the Eagles.
-Diana Russini of the Athletic reports that there is some amount of interest for Jimmy Garoppolo, even with Garoppolo's two-game PED suspension. Garoppolo would presumably check in as a a clear backup wherever he might go next.
-The Bears agreed to a two-year deal with Gerald Everett. Everett has always been more toolsy than skilled, and the skill set never developed once he got to the NFL. There's a reason why Everett has been inefficient with both the Rams and Chargers for multiple seasons in each case, and it's because Everett's otherwise standout athleticism does not materialize in any functional sense at the NFL level – at least not consistently. Cole Kmet is a better receiver and blocker both, so Everett will likely be held to 25 snaps per game or less with the Bears.
