2024 NFL free agency will change the value of fantasy football. We cover all the important free agent winners and losers in fantasy football, including trades, franchise tags, and more. And we're already getting started on this, as there are some impactful moves before free agency begins.
2024 NFL Free Agent Tracker
free agent quarterback
Kirk Cousins: Atlanta Falcons
Rejoice, Drake London, and especially candidate Kyle Pitts! Well, we were already excited about what would happen if Arthur Smith was fired. Cousins is currently with the Falcons and has averaged 260.4 YPG and nearly 2 touchdowns (1.95) per game over the past four seasons. Cousins continues to be an underrated fantasy option as well, averaging over 18.5 FPPG in three of the past four years, with 16.8 being his worst/other. This would give him three seasons as a top 10 QB in his PPG, but Pitts would be a top 5 tight end and Rondon would be a top 20 in his WR1 tier cap.He would be a WR. That's also why I'm excited.
Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and TJ Hockenson are all a little hurt. He could be the rookie quarterback under center in Week 1, and Drake Maye could rival Sam Howell right away (if he is), but Jefferson still ranks in the middle of the top 10. A drop in the rankings, Addison becoming a 3/4 WR, and Hockenson (possibly) returning mid-season makes the risk even higher.
Baker Mayfield: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mayfield returns to Tampa coming off his best season in the NFL. It's great to see his career and value to the Buccaneers, but even his best season was only good for T-18 in FPPG with Matthew Stafford and Tua Tagovailoa (15.9). Mayfield is just a bye week filler.
Russell Wilson: Pittsburgh Steelers
Great move and offensive upgrade for the Steelers. All players get a small bump, no, not a huge bump, but George Pickens in particular could be a top-20 wideout next year. Wilson, as he was, is just a super flex/2QB option.
free agent running back
Saquon Barkley: Philadelphia Eagles
Barkley joins the Eagles from a disastrous Giants offensive line. For the Eagles, D'Andre Swift finished top 24 overall and top 24 in FPPG with 20 fewer touches than Barkley. Additionally, Swift had 14 goal-line attempts, Kenneth Gainwell had three, and Barkley had just eight. Barkley returning to the top five is well within expectations as a member of the Eagles.
Josh Jacobs: Green Bay Packers
Shocker here. AJ Dillon is gone and Aaron Jones has been released. Jones was regularly splitting the job with RB1 value, so Jacobs moved back to being a top-five running back. Jacobs, who ranks in the top 10 by volume, will participate in the conversation immediately after CMC. The bigger news is that Zamir White is currently on the upswing, averaging 23.3 touches and 16.0-14.5-13.1-12.6 touches over the last four weeks. Unless the Raiders pose a serious threat to White's workload (he needs that volume, or are looking at a mid-low RB2 value), he could be a top-15 running back in terms of volume. It will come in.
Tony Pollard: Tennessee Titans
In fact, Pollard had one more goal line rush (5 or less) than Derrick Henry last year, but his touchdown success rate was only 17.6% (Henry's 43.8%). Henry comes off a high workload despite his lowest workload since 2018 (not counting the 2021 injury season). Pollard has 307 touches (252 rushes) and Henry has 308 touches (280 rushes). The Titans will use Pollard over Henry in the passing game, but Taje Spears is in his second year and Pollard knows he needs a complementary player to be at peak efficiency. There is. It also still leaves open the question of goal-line inefficiency, so while it would be good to see Pollard return to the lead role, his RB2 value never improved and his RB2 A range of low-quality offense that can take a bit of a hit on the low end.
D'Andre Swift: Chicago Bears
You might be surprised to learn that while Swift had his best season statistically with the Eagles, he actually had his worst season in FPPG (11.4). The Bears have second-year running backs Khalil Herbert and Roshon Johnson, and will likely add a rookie quarterback in Caleb Williams. This deal suggests Swift is clearly in the lead, but as with the Eagles, he's part of a duo at best, a trio at worst. With another 250 or so touches likely, Swift remains a mid-RB2 conversation and his value could jump a bit if Herbert is relegated to a pure backup role. Johnson is an interesting buy low for the Dynasty as he can bring RB3/4 value in a timeshare and could move up to the top 25 if Swift gets injured.
Antonio Gibson: New England Patriots
Considering the above, a lesser-known fact is that Gibson could maintain his RB3 (half and full PPR) value with the Patriots and could prevent Rhamondre Stephenson from becoming an RB1… especially with the Patriots. will likely have a rookie QB and hope Stevenson is healthy.
free agent wide receiver
Mike Evans: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mayfield had a great season, which helped him finish as Evans' best season since 2018 and the third-best finish of his FPPG career. Even if Evans regresses to his 2022 season level, he will still be in the top 16 in overall and FPPG. Even at age 31, it's hard to bet on Evans' chances of cracking the top 20 again.
Gabe Davis: Jacksonville Jaguars
Assuming the Jaguars no longer have Calvin Ridley back, Davis and Christian Kirk will be Trevor Lawrence's top receivers, with Evan Engram joining them. In fact, Engram led the Jaguars in target percentage at 23.4%, followed by Ridley at 21.2% and Kirk at 22.4%. Zay Jones has struggled to stay on the field and Parker Washington is an interesting fourth option, but Davis has a chance to bounce back and even improve on his 2022 season (48-836-7, 10.0 FPPG). Kirk should maintain the volume-dependent value of a WR3/4, albeit perhaps more consistent given Davis' boom-and-bust nature. Once Ridley returns, Davis is just an on-and-off WR4 with Kirk sliding into WR4/5 territory.
Also, Khalil Shakir's value has increased significantly at this point, making him a legitimate WR3 value and poised for a breakout season. Shaquille had 13.5, 10.6, and 13.9 in Week 18 and in the playoffs, making him the Bills' version of…well…Kirk.
free agent tight end
Zach Ertz: Commander Washington
While we find memories of Ertz's great seasons and are happy to see him back alongside Kliff Kingsbury, Ertz is pretty far from gaining any fantasy relevance. That's even though Ertz hasn't exceeded 8.8 FPPG since 2019 and has 112 targets in 2021. Additionally, since 2000, only six tight ends over the age of 33 (age 58 with at least 100 snaps) have topped 9.6 FPPG…well…actually Travis Kelce, Antonio Gates, Tony… This is the third time since Gonzalez has done each twice.
Dalton Schultz: Houston Texans
Schultz returned to Houston, back on the fringes of TE1, likely for a bye week or as an injury replacement (in case an upward pick doesn't pan out). We can expect a season with FPPG of around 8-8.5.
Hunter Henry: New England Patriots
A new quarterback is coming in, and the same goes for Henry. He's a tight end whose value depends on the waiver wire, streaming starts, and touchdowns.
transaction
Jerry Jeudy, WR: Cleveland Browns
Would it be more interesting if Joe Flacco was the quarterback in 2024? That would be possible, since the passing game with Deshaun Watson didn't have a lot of consistency or high-level production. Last year, Watson averaged just 33.2 passes in five “full” games against the Browns, but that number is only 30.5 in 11 games with the Browns (excluding Week 7 of 2023). In Watson's five games, Amari Cooper's TmTGT% was 24.4%, Elijah Moore's TmTGT% was 21.3%, and David Njoku's TmTGT% was 16.3%. With Joe Flacco at the helm, Njoku is at 22.5%, Cooper at 21.0% and Moore at 15.5%. Whether it's Flacco or Watson, Jeudy's best-case scenario is likely a 20-21 TmTGT%, so Jeudy will struggle to even reach WR3 territory, but the Browns' passing success This is still limited as the rate is only 56%. This addition hurt Moore's fantasy value, so consider Jeudy just his WR4…or there's no real change to Jeudy and Moore anyway.
franchise tag
Tee Higgins, WR: Cincinnati Bengals
Rinse and repeat unless Higgins gets traded amazingly. Higgins is a mid-range WR2 with a lot of upside with the Bengals and a lot of week-to-week fluctuations.
Michael Pittman, WR: Indianapolis Colts
Pittman was much different with Gardner Minshew than Anthony Richardson, but so was the entire Colts offense. His TmTGT% with Pittman was similar to Richardson at his 27.2 and his TmTGT% with Minshew was his 28.8. However, Richardson's targets were not as accurate, leading to a REC% of 59.1 compared to Minshew's 71.6, and furthermore, 7.7% of Pittman's receptions were 20 yards or more downfield for Richardson and 7.7% for Minshew. was 9.4%. What's the quick breakdown? Pittman is an unstable WR2/3 with Richardson and a stable high-end WR2 with Minshew.
(Photo by Ryan Kang/Getty Images)
