2026 NFL Free Agency Winners and Losers
Now that the main wave of free agency has passed, we can now get a pretty good look at how the different teams have done. Some have addressed key needs, others have added depth, while a few teams are deciding to wait until the draft to tackle the holes in their rosters. Cap constraints had a major impact on what clubs were able to do. Regardless, free agency can be a critical way to build your team. With that in mind, let’s check out the winners and losers of the 2026 NFL free agency period (listed alphabetically within each group). You can catch up on all the signings (and my grades for them) here.
Winners
Atlanta Falcons
I’m not used to counting the Falcons among the winners. If it were part of free agency, their hiring of GM Ian Cunningham would thus far contribute to this status. As a team that really surged at the end of last season, Atlanta got what they needed most: insurance. They added QB Tua Tagovailoa as a hedge against injury or poor play from Michael Penix Jr in one of the offseason’s best signings. Knowing that DE James Pearce could be in serious trouble, they added a pile of rotational edge rushers including Christian Harris and Samson Ebukam. Even the kicker position got upgraded with Nick Folk! Good job Atlanta.
Buffalo Bills
Perennial contenders know that a few key additions can put them over the top. Usually that comes from some extra talent on the margins, but Buffalo aimed bigger. They acquired edge rusher Bradley Chubb after he was released by Miami and traded for WR DJ Moore from Chicago. That latter point is the big one. Buffalo has been rolling along without a WR1, but those days are over. The Bills will not be smothered by top defenses because their weapons can’t get open. As if that weren’t good enough, the Bills managed to keep a couple of their own guys with extensions, including C Connor McGovern and TE Dawson Knox.
Houston Texans
Truth be told, the Texans were in the other list for the first couple of days of free agency. They really only had one true mission: fix the offensive line. Trading RT Tytus Howard to Cleveland seemed to be counterintuitive and exhibited shades of last year’s Laremy Tunsil trade. Then, they wised up. Houston re-signed G Ed Ingram and OT Trent Brown, their two most viable starters. My favorite move was bringing in OT Braden Smith, stealing a quality player from the rival Colts. Scarily, the already-elite defense somehow got even better, with DE Logan Hall and S Reed Blankenship coming to town. One more lineman and this team is in business.
Las Vegas Raiders
The team with the most cap space often makes this list simply because of how much talent they can afford to acquire. Las Vegas definitely overpaid players, but you can’t argue that they didn’t get better. C Tyler Linderbaum got a ridiculous contract, but he’s a massive upgrade. LBs Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean should both improve the defense. That defense will continue to possess Maxx Crosby, whose trade fell through. Trading QB Geno Smith allowed LV to acquire minor draft capital and (more importantly) clear the deck for expected #1 pick Fernando Mendoza. The Raiders aren’t close to good yet, but they’re already better than before.
Los Angeles Rams
LA almost won it all last season. In fact, they were the second-best team in the NFL, and I called their loss to Seattle in the NFC Championship Game the real Super Bowl. Their one fatal flaw was their secondary play. That has now been greatly addressed with a pair of Chiefs. CB Trent McDuffie was an expensive trade acquisition but well worth it. Fellow KC CB Jaylen Watson came aboard too, completely remaking the room. Those were the only two notable moves for LA, but they want quality over quantity. The Rams didn’t lose anyone of note either. With these upgrades, Los Angeles might just be the new Super Bowl favorites.
New England Patriots
When you have a star QB on a rookie deal, you get to spend extra money aggressively adding to the rest of the roster. New England is taking their Super Bowl loss and using it as a fuel to improve. WR Romeo Doubs is in for the released Stefon Diggs, while the defense got some reinforcements via DE Dre’Mont Jones and S Kevin Byard. Critically, the Pats acquired two offensive line upgrades in OT Braxton Jones and G Alijah Vera-Tucker. The front five, particularly rookie OT Will Campbell, formed NE’s biggest weakness. Jones is a hedge against a repeat disaster, and these new players should have NE right back in contention.
San Francisco 49ers
One year after being on the other side of this list, San Francisco enjoyed more success this time around. Without as severe a cap crunch as before, the 49ers were able to make some targeted additions. Their big splash was a surprise: acquiring WR Mike Evans on a bargain contract. He’s the WR1 the team has lacked for some time, and Christian Kirk is a solid receiver add too. The defense got help from an old friend in LB Dre Greenlaw, along with trade acquisition DT Osa Odighizuwa. Some of these players’ injury histories do scare me a bit, but SF had to keep pace with the rest of the NFC West. I think they went in the right direction.
Losers
Chicago Bears
It’s close, but I think Chicago had the worst offseason of any team in terms of players. C Drew Dalman retiring was a bad omen, and the team had to spend draft capital to acquire Garrett Bradbury. For some reason, the Bears released quality LB Tremaine Edmunds and overpaid Devin Bush to replace him. They let the bulk of their secondary walk, with CB Nahshon Wright and safeties Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard all signing elsewhere. None of them have been replaced. Worst of all, Chicago traded WR1 DJ Moore to Buffalo at a bargain for the Bills. This team could really lose the good feelings from last year.
Green Bay Packers
If anyone approached Chicago’s level of free agency misery, it was their biggest rival. Green Bay didn’t sign anyone of note other than DT Javon Hargrave while letting a bunch of talent out the door. WR Romeo Doubs got overpaid by New England, but he’s still a major loss for the Packers. LBs Quay Walker and Kingsley Enagbare both left for solid paydays, while OT Rasheed Walker signed a deal that GB should’ve matched. Green Bay inflicted some of the losses on themselves, cutting CB Nate Hobbs and trading DE Rashan Gary. I almost put Detroit in the winners’ column because of how badly things went for their NFC North foes.
Indianapolis Colts
Occasionally, a team takes a stretch of their prior season and overreacts to it. Indianapolis started 8-1 last year but fell apart, though the Colts seem to think injuries were more to blame for that than a change in schedule difficulty. Therefore, they grossly overpaid for QB Daniel Jones and WR Alec Pierce to ensure their returns. In the process, they had to trade WR Michael Pittman Jr and watch talented players such as OT Braden Smith, DE Kwity Paye, and S Nick Cross departed. I wasn’t as high on the Colts as some were last year, and now they’re an objectively worse team. This sequence has a chance to blow up in their faces.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Liam Coen’s arrival as HC last year was an unquestionable success. Following an NFC South title, you’d think that the Jaguars might try and take another step forward. Instead, they sat there as some of their best players left. Jacksonville shed talent including RB Travis Etienne, LB Devin Lloyd, and CB Greg Newsome II. The team didn’t add a single outside free agent other than RB Chris Rodriguez, who’s a nice player but hardly a needle mover. I still thank Jacksonville is a good team, but the Texans may pass them within the division. A good draft will be critical for maintaining the Jags’ 2025 momentum after this inactivity.
Kansas City Chiefs
The only reason I’m not putting KC on par with the Bears is that DC Steve Spagnuolo has proven adept at developing young DBs. However, the Chiefs’ secondary got destroyed. CB Trent McDuffie did bring in excellent draft capital, but S Bryan Cook and CB Jaylen Watson left for nothing. Replacing a single DB is one thing; rebuilding an entire room is another. I can’t see the offense picking up the slack if QB Patrick Mahomes has any ill effects from his ACL tear, and Justin Fields was a stupid trade target. RB Kenneth Walker should help, but even that was an overpay. 2026 might not be the bounce-back year Chiefs fans hoped for.
Miami Dolphins
Where do I begin with the Fins? Their release of QB Tua Tagovailoa—paying him $52.7M to play for Atlanta—was an all-time stupid move. The resulting dead cap hit forced them to release or trade some of their best players: DE Bradley Chubb, WRs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, S Minkah Fitzpatrick, and K Jason Sanders. That had me thinking that Miami was in tank mode, but then they went and signed QB Malik Willis to a horrid contract. It’s impossible to tell which direction this new brain trust is going, as they’re not fully committing to either path. All I know is that a very poor season is likely on the horizon in 2026.
Seattle Seahawks
Admittedly, it’s a bit of stretch to call a team “losers” when they just won the Super Bowl. However, the criterion here is free agency, and the champs definitely lost some key pieces. The departure of RB Kenneth Walker is a big blow, especially with Zach Charbonnet coming off a postseason ACL tear. Seattle’s vaunted defense lost three key contributors: S Coby Bryant, CB Tariq Woolen, and OLB Boye Mafe. In another division, these losses might not be catastrophic. However, the Seahawks are in the NFC West. San Francisco might be closing the gap, while the Rams have arguably passed Seattle. Repeating is hard for a reason.