š„ A Wild Flurry Of Free Agency Moves
Well, that escalated quickly...
Running backs getting paid? In this economy?
In todayās Fantasy Life Newsletter presented by Underdog Fantasy:
Fantasy highlights from a wild day one of legal tampering
Tee Higgins requests (not demands) a trade out of Cincinnati
What Now? Identify your weaknesses
Itās 3/12. Take it away, Ian Hartitzā¦
Where do we begin?
Day one of legal tampering started out hot and barely cooled down over the course of a league-altering Monday.
Itās truly amazing, nay unbelievable, how these players and teams were able to agree on such specific money numbers and complicated contract structures in such a short period of time.
Tongue-in-cheek criticism of another silly NFL scheduling quirk aside: A LOT of key fantasy footballers found new homes on Monday ā letās get you caught up to speed with the highlights.
š RBs matter again (kind of)
While RBs chasing high-dollar deals elsewhere in free agency seldom works out well for their future fantasy managers, kudos to this free-agent RB class for managing to stack up some serious cheddar on Monday.
Those Zoom meetings are working wonders.
Law and Order Music: These are their stories ā¦ in one sentence or less. Check out our ever-updating free agency tracker for the whole lowdown on each and every fantasy-relevant signing. Note that guaranteed money in the below contract numbers varies:
Josh Jacobs (Packers, 4 years, $48M): Was one of the leagueās least-efficient rushers in 2023, but the corresponding decision to release longtime stud Aaron JonesĀ sets up Jacobs for a workhorse role in an offense that was as good as any in the league during the second half of last season.
Saquon Barkley (Eagles, 3 years, $37.75M): Suddenly set up to thrive behind PFFās reigning No. 1 ranked offensive line; hereās to hoping Jalen Hurts shares a carry or two from the goal line one of these days.
Tony Pollard (Titans, 3 years, $24M): Put a major damper on Tyjae Spears RB1 szn, but the Titans got a good one if Pollard can regain pre-2023 form and prove last seasonās inefficiency was simply due to injury.
DāAndre Swift (Bears, 3 years, $24M): Could still struggle to see too much receiving work in an offense fully expected to be led by one dual-threat QB or another; at least Swift now, you know, will get the opportunity to score from the one-yard line from time to time.
Devin Singletary (Giants, 3 years, $16.5M): Reunites with former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll inside of an offense that has been happy to keep one (admittedly better) RB on the field for most of the last two seasons.
Austin Ekeler (Commanders, 2 years, $11.4M): Reunites with former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn in an offense that will still rely plenty on Brian Robinson; at least thereās history here of enabling multiple fantasy-friendly RBs in the same backfield.
Antonio Gibson (Patriots, 3 years, $11.25M): Expected to take on a large fantasy-friendly role in the passing game even with Rhamondre Stevenson still poised to be the lead back.
Zack Moss (Bengals, 2 years, $8M): Replaces the now-released Joe Mixon as the likely lead early-down back inside of the leagueās seventh-ranked scoring offense the last time they had a healthy version of Joe Burrow under center ā this landing spot is golden.
Aaron Jones (Vikings, 1 year, $7M): Seeing A-aron in purple will take some getting used to, but a bell-cow role should be on the horizon despite the obvious offensive downgrade.
Gus Edwards (Chargers, 2 years, $6.5M): Jumps to the other Harbaugh brother to (probably) take more short-yardage work away from a future rookie than fantasy managers would prefer.
Madness indeed, but the single-biggest move from Monday in terms of āreal-life footballā importance involved a different position.
šĀ Kirk Cousins is taking his talents to Atlanta
And heās making a lot of money to do so.
The #Falcons are signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract that includes a $50M signing bonus, per sources.
Another monster payday for Cousins, who gets $100 guaranteed ā $90M in 2024 and ā25, plus another $10M in 2026 ā and a fresh start in Atlanta at age 35.
The former Washington and Minnesota signal-caller has been a pretty consistent top-10 real-life QB since signing with the Vikings back in 2018:
2018: -0.012 EPA per dropback (No. 29 among qualified QBs)
2019: +0.199 (No. 7)
2020: +0.188 (No. 10)
2021: +0.137 (No. 10)
2022: +0.058 (No. 19)
2023: +0.145 (No. 6)
Adding Cousins to this Falcons offense is a massive upgrade; this group has been led by the likes of Desmond Ridder, Taylor Heinicke and Marcus Mariota over the past two seasons for crying out loud.
Of course, two equally important questions remain:
How close to 100% will Cousins (36 in August) be after recovering from last seasonās Achilles injury?
Still, even a 90% version of Cousins should be good enough to provide a lift to this talented Falcons roster. Drake London, Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson fantasy managers: Rejoice. Each deserves a solid bump up the ole fantasy ranks ahead of 2024, particularly London considering just how prolific Cousins' top WRs have been in the past.
All hail Cousins, the greatest bag-getter ā¦ ever?
contracts signed by Kirk Cousins:
2012: standard 4-yr rookie dealĀ
2016: $19.9M fully guaranteedĀ
2017: $23.9M fully guaranteedĀ
2018: $84.0M fully guaranteedĀ
2020: $66.0M fully guaranteedĀ
2022: $35.0M fully guaranteedĀ
2024: $150M ($100M fully guaranteed)career: $411M thruā¦ twitter.com/i/web/status/1ā¦
The replacement in Minnesota? None other than Sam Darnold ā for now. Weāll see if a certain National Championship-winning QB might eventually get the opportunity to say something about that.
Check out the Fantasy Life Free Agency Tracker for more analysis on all the fantasy-relevant transactions throughout this hectic, yet awesome, week.
ā¾ America's Real Pastime is Drafting on Underdog!
The Regular Season is just around the corner, it's the perfect time to join the fun!
The Perfect Game, The Solo Shot, The Dinger...are now open on Underdog Fantasy so don't wait. Start drafting now!
Want more than baseball? Well, they have Best Ball contests for basketball, hockey, golf ā and The Big Board is even open for next year's football season!
Sign up today and Underdog Fantasy will match up to $100 for your first deposit! Seriously, sign up TODAY to get a 100% deposit match of up to $100.
Good luck, and start drafting on Underdog Fantasy!
ITāS ALWAYS DRAFT SEASON ON UNDERDOG!
šØ ICYMI: Monday was a wild day in the free agency streets.Ā Everything you need to know.
š¤Ā The Fantasy Life crew got their INSTANT reactions out yesterday!Ā Great day to be great.
šĀ An updated look at the QB situation across the league.Ā Still some questions left to answer.
šĀ The Ravens are interested in the biggest RB name remaining.Ā Please baby Jesus PLEASE.
š¤Ā The Giants and Lions improved their defenses through trades.Ā New Yorkās D-line is now even scarier, and Detroit gets much-needed CB help.
šĀ Las Vegas adds a pair of high-priced free agents.Ā A Pro Bowl QB (lol) and a HUGE (literally) defensive lineman.
š°Ā One of the NFLās most productive young WRs gets PAID. So much for that franchise tag.
š®Ā Trouble in Paradise (Cincinnati).Ā Thatās not ideal.
š¤Ā Trevor Lawrence has himself a new deep-ball threat.Ā What does this mean for Calvin Ridley?
šĀ The Late-Round Prospect Guide is LIVE!Ā Always fantastic stuff from JJ.
The fantasy football season might be over, but we are NOT ready to unplug. Cooterdoodle is here to keep our minds in check by asking the age-old, evergreen question: āWhat Now?ā
š What Now? Identify Your Weaknesses
The upcoming NFL trades, signings, and draft all have serious implications for your future fantasy teams.
But thereās another factor to consider that heavily influences your teamās potential: You.
I urge that YOU take a look back at past drafts to identify your weaknesses.Ā
Did you overreact to a particular positional group? What draft strategies and biases guided your decisions, perhaps unconsciously? Letās identify some potential areas of weakness.
š Old Draft Patterns
Do you ever find yourself rosterbating to an exā¦team? You should try it. Seriously. Look up your last few drafts and take note of your hits and misses.Ā
But mostly, take a look at your drafting patterns. Do you frequently draft ālate-round fliersā a little too early? Do you put too much stock in pre-season performances? Do you tend to be the first to draft a defense/kicker? Are you drafting way too many players from your home team?
None of these are outlandishly wrong inside of a vacuum, but if youāre falling victim to the same patterns (read: mistakes) year in and year out without a trophy to show for it ā¦ well, it might be time to switch things up.
But we canāt break old habits without first identifying them.Ā
š¤Ā Rookie Fever
Every year we have hopes that the shiny new boys will be the heroes of our drafts. Theyāre going to elevate NFL teams, and in turn, our fantasy teams, right? RIGHT?
But the glorious 2023 CJ Stroud, Puka Nacua, DeāVon Achane, Sam LaPorta TD train was, in many ways, an extremely fun outlier.Ā
Remember, most of these guys were drafted as late-round fliers or picked up through waivers during the 2023 season.Ā Rookies usually donāt fill up the fantasy leaderboards.
I catch severe cases of rookie fever like the best of you, but donāt let the chills and sweating push you into drafting too many rookies, too soon.Ā
š The Chase
Remember whenā¦ Jamaal Williams scored 17 TDs with the Lions in 2022? SEVENTEEN.Ā
And we all know how his first year in New Orleans ended with a singular āTaboo TDā. But many who drafted Williams in 2023 hoped for very different results, because of āthe chaseā.
You see, despite a massive outlier year in performance, 13 of his 17 TDs coming from the one- or two-yard lines, a team change, and joining an offense that would only be without Alvin Kamara for a few weeks, many were chasing the best case scenario in hopes of another double-digit scoring year for Williams.
While this doesnāt mean you should prescriptionistically avoid all players coming off of a āboomā year, it does mean that you should evaluate how the chase might be affecting your decisions come draft day.
breaking a trade in the group text with your boys and feeling like adam schefter >>>>
