Mar 12, 2026
3 min read
What helped set up Daniel Jones' payday?Where does Maxx Crosby play?Eric Edholm runs down the winners and losers after three days of free agency.
After a busy first day of negotiations between teams and free agents, it felt like a routine start to the offseason.That is, until Tuesday evening.
Then the Max Crosby situation turned the market upside down.Less than 12 hours after news broke that the Ravens had pulled out of a trade deal with the Raiders, Baltimore quickly signed free agent tight end Trey Hendrickson.
Now Crosby's future is up in the air, and the Raiders are back where they were with him after the 2025 season. It was a good reminder that things can fall apart from time to time in free agency — and the impact of Crosby's support from the Ravens rippled around the league.
Wednesday officially kicked off the new league year, and while we knew what was to come, it was still a busy day full of new and exciting deals.
Here are some of our winners and losers from day three:
1) Baltimore Ravens.They can be confused around the league with their quick and unexpected handles, but you have to give them credit for having a Plan B or some version of a Plan A as Eric DeCosta makes the traits clear.Again, though, they can sign Hendrickson for around $60 million guaranteed.And it's worth it, they didn't choose.
There is a risk with Hendrickson, who missed ten games in the 2025 season and is almost three years older than Crosby.And DeCosta said Wednesday he was "furious" about the failed deal.However, this is thought to be a very scary thing, after all.
The Ravens saw most of their roster elsewhere, including four free agents from the Giants and their former coach John Harbaugh, not to mention Tyler Linderbaum, who left for the Raiders.They didn't have Crosby, but they made a pretty good pass and kept their draft boxes a little fuller.
There's still work to be done to get Baltimore back into contention, and doing so with a first-year coach will be a challenge, but capitalizing on a potentially bad situation was a short-term victory, whether you agree with how the team handled Crosby or not.
2) Trey Hendrickson.As early as the second day of free agency, it appeared that Hendrickson and his representatives had overestimated what the pass rusher could get on the open market.There were potential suitors for him before the Crosby deal blew up, but it seemed like the money wasn't going to be what Hendrickson was hoping for.
Then the trade proposed by Crosby fell apart, and Hendrickson landed a park that will pay him $28 million per year from Baltimore, which puts him just outside the top 10 rushers in the league in terms of average annual salary.Now he has two shots at redemption each season, and is guaranteed some chances to finish on the Bengals, with whom his relationship has looked back in recent years in the AFC North.Hendrickson joins a team that has made the postseason six of the last eight years and has Lamar Jackson in his prime.
This worked out for Hendrickson, even with any awkwardness about how it all turned out.Guaranteed money has a way of dampening it.
3) Daniel Jones.The quarterback was on track to sign a big contract through the 2025 season when he tore his Achilles tendon in December.At the time, it felt like a potentially devastating blow for Jones to enter free agency, shocking his value.
But the Colts are also obviously strapped, with Anthony Richardson requesting a trade and no other clear-cut starting QB option on the roster.And the draft — already thin on quarterbacks this year — wasn't even a realistic option after Indianapolis sent two first-round picks to the Jets for Sauce Gardner last November.The interim tag to Jones only gave them so much coverage.
The Colts will almost certainly be forced to sign Jones, who will receive $50 million this year, which is 30% more than the proposed transfer for 2026. At $44 million APY minimum in the two years of the contract, Jones' contract puts him below Patrick Mahomes.
That's good money for a player who might not be healthy enough to play early next season.When Jones returns, he'll still have Alex Pierce, a scenario that wasn't clear even a few days ago.Sure, the Colts lost offensive pieces, including Braden Smith and Michael Pittman, but Jones should be pretty happy with the situation.
4) offensive linemen inside.Tyler Linderbaum completely reset the mid-market with a huge trade that averaged $27 million per year, and several other significant deals followed at the position.Connor McGovern signed the Bills to a long-term contract extension.Tyler Biadasz received $10 million per year over three years from the Chargers.The Packers locked up Sean Rhyan.
The guards also traded.David Edwards and Isaac Seumalo received longer-term deals north of $10 million per year from the Saints and Cardinals, respectively, and Dylan Parham even hit the $10 million APY mark.
The Browns, desperate for OL help, picked up Zion Johnson and Elton Jenkins, who can play guard or center.And even if players like Jenkins and Alijah Vera-Tucker land bargains, both are expected to make big money, pretty close to the top of the market for the position.
The offensive line is a bit slower, with unsigned Rasheed Walker and Jamari Saller and veterans Taylor Decker and Jawan Taylor waiting for their next opportunity.Most of the OT moves come in the form of re-signings, with teams recognizing the value of retaining talent at the top position.
A tip of the hat to interior decorators who make money. They are often overlooked, but their value has come to the fore in this year's market.Greg Rosenthal's Top 101 Free Agents list features just two guards (Wyatt Teller, No. 44 and Kevin Zeitler, No. 65) and zero centers available.
1) Las Vegas Raiders.It's not easy to put the genie back in the bottle, it turns out.Credit Crosby for returning early from Baltimore and reporting to the Raiders at 6 o'clock on Wednesday - that's the mark of a pro.He's back like a treasure in Las Vegas, we'll see where it goes.
It's hard to imagine the Raiders going around and trading Crosby for anything close to what the Ravens offered given what's happened now.Any team that has been interested in a Crosby deal should know that the price is not the same as before.And now there's a lot of pressure on any team that can step in knowing that a team has already medically injured Crosby.
Raiders GM John Spyt said he would have had to leave early to trade Crosby.Is the bar low enough?Or can the team keep Crosby and carry on as if nothing happened?
It remains to be seen.After news of Crosby's deal broke, they went out and allocated more than a quarter of a billion dollars in free agents.Even after all the other spending, they could make Crosby's contract work if they wanted to, but that's certainly not what they plan to do -- and those extra talents are gone, too.
The Raiders did some good things this season and the draft should provide even more help in building a respectable team.But right now, a major curveball was thrown at them that they weren't expecting. As Spytek and Co. handle this situation, it may have major ramifications for the foreseeable future of the franchise.
2) Max Crosby.This is tough for Crosby, too.He was definitely on a high when he went to Baltimore...and he was surprised when things turned out.That it all happened on the sixth anniversary of Crosby's sobriety seems even more surreal.
Crosby must now prepare to suit up for the Raiders — or, at the very least, sit and wait.Sometimes a team will interrupt life and give it another chance.It is entirely possible that the negative situation will reverse.But now, it is not nearly the truth, because Crosby can be seen as an injury tool, although each team will see the medical risk differently.
One of the best pass rushers and , who has suffered through four long absences with the Raiders and is in his fourth head coach in as many years, is at least willing to participate in the Las Vegas rebuild.Meanwhile, the grueling treatment continues, not knowing his future.
3) Buffalo Bills.Fees didn't stay in their hands at first, but their opportunities to fill all their security needs are quickly drying up.
Most of the Bills' moves thus far, outside of a trade for WR DJ Moore, have been based on clearing salary cap space, which is necessary.Getting something for Taron Johnson, who they wanted to let go, is a positive, and getting Connor McGovern and Dawson Knox back on extensions is great.
They brought in Bradley Chubb at a reasonable price, giving him $29 million over three years.A healthy Chubb would be a solid addition, as a healthy Joey Bosa was under a one-year deal through 2025. But Chubb has also played more than 14 games in a season just five times in 10 years.Best of all, does this move improve the defense or just take away what Bosa gave them?
In a way, the Bills almost got momentum with this signing.Hendrickson was believed to be on Buffalo's radar before landing with the Ravens.K'Lavon Chaisson, another potential top pick, went to Washington.Malcolm Kuhns, meanwhile, re-signed with the Raiders.
With new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhardt installing a new system that affects the entire defense, he doesn't have the full picture right now.Most of the salary space they cleared was to sign Chubb, it seems, but they need to find other defensive options to fill out the depth chart.
Safeties are thinning rapidly.Nick Cross and Kevin Byard found new homes on Wednesday.Jaquan Brisker could be a decent addition if the money is reasonable and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is still available, but the options are more limited now.
Linebacker is another position that has been picked pretty clean.The Bills could also use depth at inside linebacker and cornerback.There are still quality players at both positions, but how many are considered the right fit for Leonhardt's system?
Let's not forget that there are some things that need to be improved on offense. They could add another wide receiver after the Moore trade, and the absence of OG David Edwards (Saints) and fullback Reggie Gilliam (Patriots) leaves holes to fill.
The Bills have checked two big boxes with Moore and Chubb, but they need more.GM Brandon Beane is under pressure now more than ever and will have to be creative to find the right solutions.
