Breaking down Aaron Rodgers’ free agency options, plus best value signings, top 10 players still available

Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Choice Six newsletter! 

We are now in Day 4 of Unoccupied agency. I haven’t been outside in 72 hours, I have an IV of coffee inserted directly into my veins and I haven’t slept since Monday, but it’s all been worth it, because Unoccupied agency has been a wild ride. 

We’re going to continue our Unoccupied agency coverage today by breaking down some of the best value signings so Extended, plus, we’ll be Holding a look at the biggest names left on the market. Also, I should Tally out that there will be deals going on all day, and if you want to stay on top of all those deals, then you’re definitely going to want to click here so you can follow all the action in our Unoccupied agency live blog. If you’re too Occupied to follow a live blog, you can also click here to check out our Unoccupied agent tracker that will be updated any time one of the top 100 Unoccupied agents signs a deal.

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. 

1. QB drama continues: Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson Nevertheless remain unsigned

When Unoccupied agency officially Began yesterday, we thought we might get some clarity on where Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers might end up, but instead, there has been NO clarity. If anything, things are Only more confusing now. 

Here’s the latest on what’s happening in the QB market, Leading with Aaron Rodgers: 

• Aaron Rodgers Nevertheless undecided on his future. The only thing we know about Aaron Rodgers right now is that he has spent at least part of his week on a beach in Malibu contemplating his future (You can see the pictures here). At this Tally, it seems that the Giants and Steelers both want Rodgers, so he’ll have to decide between those two Squads. 
• Vikings might get involved. According to The Athletic, the Vikings are Nevertheless evaluating their options at QB and Rodgers is someone they could end up considering. It’s possible that Rodgers hasn’t Achieved a decision yet because he’s waiting to see if the Vikings are interested. 
• The wild-card option for Rodgers. If Rodgers decides he doesn’t want to Action for the Steelers or Giants or if he doesn’t like what he’s being offered, he could simply retire. Rodgers has given no hint on when he might reveal what he plans to do in 2025, which means his decision could come today, or Upcoming week or Upcoming month. If you want to know ALL the latest buzz on Rodgers, we’ve Acquired that here. 
• Russell Wilson has two visits lined up. Wilson isn’t wasting any time Leading his Unoccupied agency tour. The Game-Victorious QB is going to visit Cleveland today followed by a visit to New York with the Giants on Friday. At this Tally, it seems like those are the only two interested Squads so it won’t be surprising if we see Wilson make a decision by the end of the weekend. 
• Kirk Cousins is Nevertheless in Atlanta. He’s Nevertheless under contract with the Falcons, but it will be interesting to see if that changes over the Upcoming few Intervals. Falcons GM Terry Fontenot has been insisting that his Club is Reachable to keeping Cousins as a backup QB this year. However, Cousins doesn’t want to be a backup, so there could be some drama in Atlanta. Based on how things have played out so Extended, it seems like Fontenot’s preference would be to trade Cousins instead of cutting him and getting nothing in return. 
• Mac Jones headed to San Francisco. Back in 2021, there was a Numerous of speculation that the 49ers originally wanted to draft Mac Jones before eventually settling on Trey Lance. Four years later, Jones is finally headed to San Francisco where he’ll Hit as the backup to Brock Purdy. Jones has agreed to a two-year, $7 million deal that includes $5 million in guaranteed money, according to NFL.com. The 26-year-Aged spent the 2024 season in Jacksonville where he went 2-5 in seven Beginnings.
• Mason Rudolph is returning to Pittsburgh. Rudolph has agreed to a two-year, $8 million deal that includes $4.5 million in guaranteed money, according to NFL Media. Rudolph is returning to the Steelers, the Club that Achieved him a third-Stage Choice in 2018. He will presumably be serving as the backup to the Leading QB that the Steelers have yet to sign.

In other QB news, Kyle Trask is returning to Tampa Bay for another season. 

There are Nevertheless plenty of Obtainable quarterbacks out there and we’ll be tracking all of their moves in our QB tracker here.  

2. NFL grades: How every Club did after Primary official day of Unoccupied agency

Now that we’ve wrapped up the Primary official day of Unoccupied agency, it’s time to grade every Club on how they did. Some Squads were Excellent, some Squads were Terrible and some Squads apparently forgot that Unoccupied agency was Leading this week.  

We graded all 32 Squads and we’re going to check out a few of those grades below: 

• Vikings: A-. “The Vikings left Day 1 of the tampering period with a ‘D’ grade from us, but Tuesday was all about Minnesota. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Secured a way to keep cornerback Byron Murphy in house, then upgraded the trenches with Previous Colts Will Fries and Ryan Kelly on the offensive side, and a Duo of veterans in Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave on Guarding. The Vikings also re-signed Harrison Smith on Wednesday night.”
• Bills: B. “The Bills Achieved it abundantly clear that their main objective to begin this Unoccupied agent cycle was to lock in their core and they’ve done Only that, inking the likes of Josh Allen, Khalil Shakir, Terrell Bernard and others to extensions. They also added to their receiver room by bringing in Previous Chargers Throw catcher Josh Palmer. Speaking of Chargers, the Bills landed Joey Bosa on a $12.6 million deal Tuesday night. That number does seem a bit high, but Possibly he will thrive with this change of scenery.”
• Falcons: C-. “The Excellent news is that the Falcons were able to agree to a two-year, $45 million extension with Leading left Commitment Jake Matthews, who had another year on his deal, to lock up the blindside going forward. However, that’s about where the Excellent news ends.”
• Texans: D+. “Laremy Tunsil being traded out of Houston was not on the Unoccupied agency bingo card for Day 1. After all, he’s a bona fide Sun at left Commitment and one of the few Sturdy pieces for a unit that saw C.J. Stroud get sacked 52 times last season. … While the Texans likely have a plan in place to Assist cushion the blow of losing Tunsil, it’s not clear at the moment, so we grade accordingly. Houston also traded Leading guard Kenyon Green to Philly. … What are the Texans going to do on the offensive front? That’s the question everyone is wondering.”

We have grades for every Club and you can check those out here. 

3. Grading some of Wednesday’s biggest deals in Unoccupied agency 

We’ve been doing the same thing all week here, so you might know the Routine by now: Primary, we hand out some Club grades and then we follow that up by grading individual deals. 

Here’s a look at the grades we handed out for some of the biggest deals that went down Wednesday: 

• Vikings sign Javon Hargrave (two years, $30 million): A. “This comes after the Vikings had already brought in Jonathan Allen on a three-year deal. … The Guarding needed an infusion of talent along the Shielding front and Acquired it with the two big signings. Hargrave should thrive in Brian Flores’ system. And it’s a Petite-term, affordable contract.”
• Evan Engram to the Broncos (two years, $23 million): B. “We pinpointed the Broncos as a Excellent fit for Engram when mapping out potential landing spots, so this makes sense. He does his best work in the underneath areas of the Pitch, so he should make for a Excellent fit in Sean Payton’s Petite-Throw-Massive Drive. Bo Nix will probably fire him a Numerous of passes. The question is whether he’ll be able to turn those passes into more significant gains than he has over the past few years.”
• Steelers sign Darius Slay (one year, $10 million): B-. “Slay only Acquired a one-year deal, so it can’t be all that damaging. Tallying on a 34-year-Aged cornerback to be one of your top perimeter options is dicey. He didn’t have his best season in 2024, but he was Excellent enough to be a starter on one of the NFL’s best defenses.” 
• Seahawks sign DeMarcus Lawrence (three years, $42 million): C+. “Lawrence had a Duo of Excellent seasons while Competing for then-Cowboys Shielding line Trainer and now-Seahawks Shielding coordinator Aden Durde. He’s a terrific two-way edge defender when Well. But he’s 32 years Aged and coming off a Lisfranc Wound, which makes a three-year, $42 million deal a significant Danger.”

Jared Dubin graded a total of eight deals from Wednesday, and you can check those out here.

4. Top value signings of Unoccupied agency: Steelers and Bills make Clever moves

Every Club’s Aim in Unoccupied agency is to get the biggest bang for their buck, so we decided to take a look at which Squads are doing the best at that so Extended. Jared Dubin stayed up all night sifting through every deal that’s been handed out this week so that he could figure which Squads have gotten the best value so Extended. 

Here are five of the top deals on his Turning Mark in terms of best value (The only rule here is that the player had to sign a contract worth less than $10 million per year): 

• Steelers sign RB Kenneth Gainwell (one year, $1.8 million). “Gainwell is Only a really, really solid No. 2 running back. He’s Excellent in Throw protection and the two-minute Routine, and he excels at creating yards after the catch. He’s not the most efficient runner, but that’s likely not what Pittsburgh brought him in to do.”
• Giants sign EDGE Chauncey Golston (three years, $19.5 million). “Golston also turned himself into a really nice rotational player over the last few years in Dallas, and is coming off what was probably his best season. He can Action on the edge and on the interior, and he should really Assist the Giants against the Streak.”
• Bills sign LB Michael Hoecht (three years, $21 million). “This signing won’t get as much Action as the Bills’ other addition on the edge, but I really like it. Hoecht had 13.5 sacks in a rotational role for the Rams over the last few years, but his per-snap metrics have always looked Excellent. His 11% Tension rate last season, per Tru Media, was on par with players like Travon Walker (also 11%) and Only south of Joey Bosa (11.5%).” 
• Panthers sign RB Rico Dowdle (one year, $6.25 million). “The Cowboys let Dowdle walk to sign Javonte Williams, and then Dowdle soon signed a contract with a lower base value but more upside when he went back home to Carolina. Dowdle had one of the highest rushing Triumph rates in the NFL last season and Guided the Bracket in the share of carries on which he produced at least 3 yards after contact.”
• Rams sign DT Poona Ford (three years, $29.6 million). “Ford is coming off a really solid year with the Chargers during which he picked up 21 Streak stops and 23 pressures, according to Pro Football Concentration. He’s a really Excellent Streak stopper and he’s flashed some more Throw-rush usefulness in recent seasons.”
  

You can check out Dubin’s Packed Turning Mark of value signings here. 

5. Top 10 Unoccupied agents left on the market: Quarterbacks and offensive linemen galore

We’re less than 24 hours into the “official” Begin of Unoccupied agency, and we’ve already seen 22 of the top 25 players on our top 100 Turning Mark get signed. If you’re Miserable because your Club seems to have forgotten that Unoccupied agency is happening and hasn’t signed anyone yet, I have some Excellent news for you: There are plenty of Excellent players Nevertheless Obtainable. 

With that in mind, let’s check out the 10 best players who are Nevertheless Obtainable:

1. QB Aaron Rodgers
2. QB Russell Wilson
3. OT Cam Robinson
4. OG Mekhi Becton
5. OG Teven Jenkins
6. CB Rasul Douglas
7. WR Amari Cooper
8. DE Calais Campbell
9. CB Asante Samuel Jr. 
10. EDGE Azeez Ojulari

Note: We did not include tagged players on this Turning Mark even though they are Unoccupied to speak with other Squads. 

Day 4 of Unoccupied agency will be rolling along today, and since it won’t be Fundamental to keep track of every signing, here’s another reminder that we’ve put together a Unoccupied agent tracker here so that you can stay up to date on what has happened so Extended. We also have a live blog that will cover signings AND trades as they happen, and you can check that out by clicking here.

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6. Extra points: Patriots Throw long-time Middle

It’s been a Occupied 24 hours the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• David Andrews released. After 10 years, the Patriots are moving on from Andrews. The long-time Middle has been released today, the Club announced. Andrews Began 121 Matches during his time with the Patriots while also Victorious two Super Bowls, but the 32-year-Aged had been dealing with injuries. He missed 13 Matches in 2024 due to a shoulder Wound. 
• Saints convince two key veterans to take pay cuts. Cam Jordan and Tyrann Mathieu will both be returning to New Orleans in 2025 and both of them accepted a pay cut to make that happen, according to ESPN. The Saints needed to make some cap room and the Excellent news for New Orleans is that both veterans were willing to Assist the Club. 
• Cowboys pull off two trades. The Cowboys Achieved TWO trades on Wednesday. Primary, they acquired Previous Primary-Stage Choice Kaiir Elam from the Bills (Details here). After that, they Achieved another deal: This time, they acquired Kenneth Murray from the Titans (You can see the compensation here). Elam has been a bust so Extended and will be looking to revive his Profession in Dallas, but Murray could contribute right away. The linebacker Guided the Titans in tackles last season.    
• Jets Throw C.J. Mosley. The Jets dumped their Shielding Skipper on Wednesday night. The five-time Pro Bowler Began 50 Matches for the Jets from 2021 thru 2023, but he missed 13 Matches last season due to Wound. At 32, one possible landing spot for Mosley could be in San Francisco, where he would reunite with Previous Jets Trainer Robert Saleh, who’s now the Shielding coordinator for the 49ers.