Biggest Winners: Buffalo Bills
What the Bills have done this offseason really should be the model for any contending franchise. They bypassed the high priced items on the market and instead focused on re-signing multiple starters (right tackle Daryl Williams, inside linebacker Matt Milano, cornerback Levi Wallace, guard Jon Feliciano) and bringing in some veteran depth pieces that give them proven insurance at key spots (wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, quarterback Mitch Trubisky, tight end Jacob Hollister) to reasonable deals that didn't preclude them from making additional moves down the line.
Honorable Mentions: Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos
Biggest Losers: Chicago Bears
Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy sure have taken an interesting approach to being on the hot seat. After the Russell Wilson trade pipe dream didn't come to fruition, they went out and signed Andy Dalton to be their next below average starting quarterback for nearly 5x the amount outgoing starter Mitch Trubisky is being paid to backup Josh Allen in Buffalo. They followed that blockbuster move up with the only logical response to solving their cap issues-cutting top corner Kyle Fuller while the utterly useless Robert Quinn and Nick Foles eat up just over $20 mil in cap space then signing Desmond Trufant-whose played a combined 15 games in the past 2 seasons and struggled mightily when he was healthy enough to suit up- as a presumed replacement. They might as well just trade Allen Robinson at this point and fully embrace the tank life because this team has once again managed to self-sabotage its way out of contention with a series of dumbfounding moves that only inept franchises with losing embedded in their DNA would make.
Dishonorable Mentions: Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars
Best Contract: John Johnson III (3 year/$33.75 mi/$24 mil guaranteed deal with the Browns)
This deal is just further evidence that safety is the most underpaid position in football. A 25-year old rising star with a sky high ceiling that's coming off a stellar season would be backing up the Brinks Truck at just about any other spot on the field, but Johnson III was basically given a deal that can be described as mid-level in the full scope of the league. Good for the Browns-whose pass defense ranked 22nd in the league in 2020-for adding a potential game-changing piece to their secondary for so little money.
Honorable Mentions: JuJu Smith-Schuster (1 year/$8 mil fully guaranteed deal with the Steelers), Kyle Fuller (1 year/$9.5 mil/$9 mil guaranteed deal with the Broncos), Kevin Zeitler (3 year/$22 mil/$16 mil guaranteed deal with the Ravens)
Worst Contract: Bud Dupree (5 year/$85 mil/$35 mil guaranteed deal with the Titans)
There's no denying that Dupree has been extremely productive over the past 2 seasons, racking up 19.5 sacks and 32 QB hits in just 26 full games. However, the 22nd overall pick in the 2015 Draft's sudden massive improvement in years 5 and 6 after a pretty quiet start to his career could very well be tied to the emergence of T.J. Watt as a full blown superstar in 2019-a claim that only looks stronger after rookie Alex Highsmith stepped in and played very well in the final 5 games after Dupree tore his ACL against the Ravens in Week 12. Committing that much money to Dupree without having any real assurance that he's worth top dollar edge money-especially after he's coming off a major knee injury at age 28- seems very ill-advised for a team that can't really afford to have another year with an anemic pass rush.
Dishonorable Mentions: Leonard Floyd (4 year/$64 mil/$32.5 mil guaranteed deal with the Rams), Nelson Agholor (2 year/$26 mil/$22 mil guaranteed deal with the Patriots), Andy Dalton (1 year/$10 mil fully guaranteed deal with the Bears)
Best Player Still Available: Mitchell Schwartz
The bust factor is undeniable here given that Schwartz is about to be 32 and just received back surgery last month, but any team who needs o-line help could do much worse than gambling on one of the best right tackles of the past decade's ability to bounce back.
Honorable Mentions: Melvin Ingram, Alejandro Villanueva, Richard Sherman
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