What were the best and worst moves of day 1?

The Los Angeles Rams made one move on the first day of free agency by signing cornerback Jaylen Watson to a three-year contract. There’s an argument to be made that good teams shouldn’t get involved with early free agency at all but addressing an obvious need with a single move when you know that’s the player you want and he’s not significantly overpaid, going for Watson and nobody else could be considered a perfect day one.

Which non-Rams team had the best day one of free agency?

Which team made the

worst move on the first day of free agency?

The Titans and Raiders spent the most money, which isn’t surprising given that those franchises have had nobody to pay because they make so many poor draft picks.

But is this a good haul by the Titans?

Is $20 million per year good for Wan’Dale Robinson? Or $21 million per year for John Franklin-Myers and $15 million per year for Cordale Flott and $20 million per year for Alontae Taylor? Or are those the prices you pay when you never win?

Here are the moves that the Raiders made:

The Raiders traded away Maxx Crosby in the offseason, so they’re already -1 their former best player. Then Las Vegas paid $27 million per season for a center, $13 million per season for Jalen Nailor, and $12-$13 million per year for Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker. These are the types of moves called “good” because the players are considered upgrades to who the Raiders previously had but in a vacuum is Nailor ever worth $13 million?

And we know that Kwity Paye, who is making $16 million per season, is a downgrade from Crosby.

These “bad team taxes” for free agents who wouldn’t start for most playoff teams certainly put the signings into question, if not for the fact that teams like the Raiders literally need to spend money to get compliant with certain NFL salary cap rules.

Who do you think was the best non-Rams signing?

Let us know what you think in the comments. Here’s a list of signings at NFL.com.

I’m tempted to say Tyler Linderbaum to the Raiders because in spite of the massive overpay, as I said before Las Vegas had to pay a tax and reach a certain threshold, so going 50% above market for a center might not be the worst thing in the world. Linderbaum is not the best center in the NFL contrary to what people will believe after Monday, but new head coach Klint Kubiak at least has a good player snapping to Fernando Mendoza next season. Fixing the offensive line is priority #1 in Las Vegas.

What was the worst signing?

I know nobody’s going to agree with me on this, but the “overpaying QB because its QB” trend continues this week with the Miami Dolphins giving Malik Willis $45 million guaranteed. Why did they pay him that much money? Was it because Willis stepped in for Jordan Love last season and helped the Packers win a few games?

Nope. Green Bay went 0-1 with Willis as a starter.

Was it because Willis used to be a starter, like Sam Darnold used to be a starter, and now it’s time for a reclamation project?

Nope. Willis made five starts in his first three seasons and in fact didn’t throw a touchdown pass until 2024.

The Dolphins gave Willis a lifetime security sum of money because…they felt that they had to replace Tua Tagovalia and college is no longer producing enticing quarterback prospects. So it was either this or Kirk Cousins.

It’s probably $45 million that will not end up producing a long-term starter at the quarterback position for Miami. But if there’s a 5% chance that Willis beats the odds and proves skeptics like me wrong, then that’s worth $45 million to the Dolphins. It wouldn’t be worth it to me.

What do you think for the worst move of day 1?