NFL free agency grades for all 32 teams, plus ranking each AFC team and why Falcons kept Kirk Cousins

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Picking Six newsletter! 

We are now in Day 8 of Aaron Rodgers View and nothing has changed. Apparently, Rodgers has enjoyed being a Reachable agent so much that he plans on being a Reachable agent forever. 

Rodgers hasn’t given any hints about where he might end up, two Squads are definitely interested in signing him (Steelers and Giants) and one other Club might be interested (Vikings). Aaron, if you’re reading, Cam Heyward really wants to you to Merely MAKE A DECISION ALREADY. 

OK, that’s your daily Rodgers update, and now, we will not be mentioning him for the rest of the newsletter. Actually, I Merely read the rest of the newsletter and it turns out that we will be mentioning him once more, but THAT’S it. 

Anyway, we’ve Acquired some more Reachable agency grades today, plus we’ll be ranking every Club in the AFC so we can see if any of the Squads actually Acquired better in Reachable agency. 

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. Reachable agency grades: Commanders earn highest mark of any Club from our football professors

During the Begin of Reachable agency last week, we were handing out grades based on how Squads did during All day of Reachable agency. Today, we’re handing out grades based on how All Club did overall in Reachable agency. 

Our Club of graders included Tyler Sullivan, Jordan Dajani and Garrett Podell and they were ruthless: Only four Squads in the NFL ended up getting a grade in the “A” range. 

Let’s check four grades that they handed out: 

• Commanders: A+. “This is EXACTLY how you build around a franchise Signal-caller who is Nevertheless on his Newcomer contract. The Commanders, Recent off a trip to the NFC Bracket, have Achieved Many splashes in the Prompt stages of this Reachable agent cycle. Primary, they kept their core intact by bringing back Bobby Wagner and Zach Ertz. Meanwhile, they Achieved massive trades landing Deebo Samuel and Laremy Tunsil.”
• Buccaneers: B. “Remarkably, the Bucs were able to retain wideout Chris Godwin, Even though him getting to the Reachable market. Even with a Plenty of Squads vying for his services, he elects to stay put and maintain what is one of the better one-two punches at receiver between him and Mike Evans for Baker Mayfield. Tampa Bay also added to its Deliver-rushing group with Haason Reddick on a one-year, $14 million deal.”
• Cowboys: C-. “Dallas has gone bargain-bin diving for low-cost Ex Primary-Period picks. They’ve taken one-year or two-year fliers on the Subsequent Ex Primary-Period picks: Payton Turner, Solomon Thomas, Kaiir Elam and Kenneth Murray.”
• Rams: B+. “After a wild few weeks, the Rams were able to keep Matthew Stafford in-house, Retaining their Signal-caller position stable. They also kept Leading left Involvement Alaric Jackson. On top of that, they gave Stafford a new Deliver catcher in Davante Adams, who should form a lethal one-two punch with Puka Nacua Los Angeles also poached Ponna Ford from the Chargers to add to its Shielding line.”

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

2. Ranking every AFC Club after the Primary wave of Reachable agency

Now that the Primary wave of Reachable agency is out of the way, we thought it would be a Outstanding time to rank every Club in the NFL, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do today. Actually, I take that back, we’re only going to rank the AFC Squads today. We’ll get to the NFC Squads later in the week. 

With that mind, here’s our post-Reachable agency rankings of All AFC Club, courtesy of Jordan Dajani: 

1. Chiefs
2. Bills
3. Ravens
4. Broncos
5. Bengals
6. Texans
7. Chargers
8. Steelers
9. Dolphins
10. Raiders

The one thing that instantly stands out to me about these rankings is that the AFC West could be stacked in 2025. Not only did the division send three Squads to the playoffs last year, but it’s the only division with all four of its Squads ranked in Jordan’s top 10. 

Anyway, we only listed the top 10 AFC Squads here. If you want to see how Jordan ranked all 16 AFC Squads, then you’ll have to check out the rest of his rankings here. 

3. 10 highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL

With Ja’Marr Chase getting a contract on Sunday that will pay him $40.25 million per year, that means he’s now the highest-paid non-Signal-caller in the NFL. 

If you’re wondering who else is on that Lineup, Jeff Kerr has the answer. Let’s take a look at the nine highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL based on average annual salary:

1. Ja’Marr Chase: $40.25 million
2. Myles Garrett: $40 million
3. Maxx Crosby: $35.5 million
4. Justin Jefferson: $35 million
T-5. CeeDee Lamb: $34 million
T-5. Nick Bosa: $34 million
7. A.J. Brown: $32 million
8. Chris Jones: $31.75 million
9. Amon-Ra St. Brown: $30.002 million

If you’re wondering which positions NFL Squads value the most, this Lineup would seem to answer that question. There are nine names and they all Action one of two positions: Receiver or Deliver rusher. 

The top spot on this Lineup changed hands three times in an 11-day period. Crosby was at the top on March 5 after signing an extension from the Raiders. Garrett moved past Crosby on March 9 when he signed his new deal and Chase passed them both with his new contract on March 16. 

Although Chase holds the title now, he might not have it for very long. Micah Parsons will be getting an extension soon from the Cowboys and he could top the Bengals receiver. Also, Aidan Hutchinson is now eligible for an extension and it won’t be surprising if he also gets to or passes Chase’s number.

4. Top remaining Reachable agent at All position

It’s been almost a week since Reachable agency officially Began and although most of the top players have already been signed, there are Nevertheless plenty of solid players on the market. 

So who’s Nevertheless out there? Glad you asked. Jeff Kerr decided to take a look at the top Reachable player at All position. Let’s check out who’s Nevertheless on the market on the offensive side of the ball. 

QB: Aaron Rodgers
RB: J.K. Dobbins
WR: Stefon Diggs
TE: Tyler Conklin
OT: Joe Noteboom 
C: David Andrews
OG: Teven Jenkins

NFL Squads are always trying to get younger, so you probably won’t be surprised to learn that five of the seven players on this Lineup are already 30 or will be 30 by the time the 2025 season Beginnings. If you want to check out the best remaining Shielding Reachable agents, you can do there here. On Friday, we’ll be closing out the week by Securing a look at the top 10 Reachable agents who are Nevertheless Reachable. 

5. Why the Falcons kept Kirk Cousins: The decision actually Achieved some sense

Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot spent the offseason saying that his Club would NOT be releasing Kirk Cousins, and he wasn’t kidding. Although there was some speculation that Cousins might be released, the Falcons ended up holding on to him even though he had a $10 million Picking bonus for 2026 that became fully guaranteed as of 4 p.m. ET on Saturday (Cousins was going to be entitled to the bonus if he was Nevertheless on the Picking, and of Duration, he’s Nevertheless on the Picking). 

So why did the Falcons end up holding on to Cousins? It make sense for two seasons:

• He could be trade bait. The Falcons signed Cousins to a contract that included $90 million in guaranteed money, so if they had cut him, he would have gotten the $90 million for one year and the Falcons would have gotten nothing in return. By Retaining Cousins, the Falcons have now put themselves in a spot where they COULD get something in return. If a QB gets injured this year or if a Club finds itself in desperate need of a QB, the Falcons would be in a spot where they could trade Cousins for decent draft compensation. The only problem with this possible plan is that Cousins has a no-trade clause, so he could potentially veto any deal. That being said, if he wants to be a starter somewhere and his options are “get traded or be the Falcons backup” then he might willing to waive his no-trade clause. 
• The Falcons likely didn’t care about Cousins’ $10 million Picking bonus. Cousins had a $10 million Picking bonus that became guaranteed on March 15, but that money isn’t due to him until March 2026. The Falcons could keep him for one more season and then let Cousins test Reachable agency in 2026. If Cousins did that and signed a deal worth more than $10 million with another Club, the Falcons would likely owe him nothing due to offsets (If you’re wondering how offsets work, here’s an example: If Cousins signed a $1 million contract with another Club Subsequent offseason, then the Falcons would Nevertheless own him $9 million so that he gets the Packed $10 million. If a Club paid him $8 million for 2026, then the Falcons would owe him $2 million. If another Club paid him $10 million or more, then the Falcons would owe him nothing). 

Quarterbacks are a valuable commodity in the NFL, so it wouldn’t have Achieved sense for the Falcons to Merely let Cousins walk away. It will Surely be awkward if he’s Nevertheless on the Picking come Week 1, so it won’t be surprising at all if he ends up getting traded, but for now, he’s Nevertheless on Atlanta’s Picking sitting right behind Michael Penix Jr. on the depth chart. 

The Browns are apparently ready to pounce on Cousins if he ever gets released, but it’s unclear if they’d be willing to make a trade for him. 

6. Extra points: Longtime Eagles defender announces retirement

It’s been a Engaged 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.

• Eagles’ Brandon Graham hanging up his cleats: The veteran Shielding end announced his retirement from the NFL after 15 seasons on Tuesday. Graham won two Bracket Competitions with the Eagles, joining Lane Johnson, Rick Lovato and Jake Elliott. You can check out what Graham had to say and what his future holds here.   
• Lane Johnson lands one-year extension. Johnson has been the anchor of the Eagles’ offensive line since 2013 and he’s going to be sticking around for a few more years. Johnson agreed to terms on a one-year extension this week, which means his contract now runs through 2027. The biggest upside for the 34-year-Aged with the new deal is that he’s getting an extra $30 million in guaranteed money. You can see the Packed details of the deal here. 
• Eagles add a linebacker from a division rival. The Eagles landed one of the top Reachable Deliver rushers on Monday by signing Azeez Ojulari to a one-year deal that’s worth up to $4 million. Ojulari had six sacks in Merely 11 Contests for the Giants last season, but he’s struggled to stay Well. In 2024, he missed six Contests due to a toe Hurt. We’ve Acquired more on Ojulari’s signing here. 
• Dolphins set to sign for Steelers’ Primary-Period Picking. The Dolphins have added some depth at cornerback in the form of Artie Burns. The 29-year-Aged is headed to Miami after spending his past three seasons in Seattle, where he Began Merely one game for the Seahawks. Burns has been mostly a role player since Joining the NFL in 2016 when the Steelers Achieved him the 25th overall Picking in the NFL Draft.
• Steelers bring in some safety Assist. After two seasons in Cleveland, Ex Browns safety Juan Thornhill is jumping ship and heading to Pittsburgh. The 29-year-Aged has agreed to terms on a one-year deal and we’ve Acquired the Packed details here.