The NFL’s legal tampering period began on Monday, which basically means NFL free agency kicked off. Teams can’t officially sign players until Wednesday, but that didn’t stop everyone from announcing some signings on Monday.

It was an eventful free agent Monday – perhaps more eventful than any in recent memory – so today, I’ll be handing out my winners and losers from day one of free agency.

And if you missed it, here’s our NFL free agent tracker that includes grades for every signing on Monday.

Winner: Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs were easily one of the winners of the day. Anytime you can bring in the Super Bowl MVP, you’ve had a pretty good free agency.

The Chiefs’ day was headlined by signing Kenneth Walker to a three-year deal worth a maximum of $15 million per season, making him the third-highest-paid running back in the NFL. The Chiefs had a massive hole at running back and knew they were too far back to land Jeremiyah Love in the draft, so they invested in one of the best young talents in the game.

“People talk about Jeremiah Love going to the Kansas City Chiefs. They don’t need Jeremiah Love right at with that ninth pick,” EssentiallySports NFL Expert Tony Pauline explained. “Now they can concentrate on offensive line, maybe take a Kenyan Sadiq, maybe take a receiver with number nine. So it’s a good signing by the Chiefs.”

But that’s not all they did. They also got confirmation that TE Travis Kelce will be returning for at least one more season. Their star tight end may be getting older, but he’s still one of the best tight ends in the game and can make a massive impact for them in 2026.

The Chiefs also brought in DT Khyiris Tonga. He’s not a great pass rusher, but he can defend the run well and can play a little bit on offense. Andy Reid’s going to find some fun ways to use him.

The Chiefs filled their biggest need while returning a future Hall of Fame TE and signing a solid DT/FB. Pretty solid day for Kansas City.

Loser: Seattle Seahawks

The reigning Super Bowl champions entered free agency with the fifth-most cap space, and at the time I’m writing this, they haven’t signed a single free agent. I do like that they brought back Rashid Shaheed, but they also didn’t use him correctly. Sure, he was a great returner, but he’s so much more than that, and Seattle didn’t really value that. But, since they’re paying him $51 million, I expect that to change.

The Seahawks wanted to bring back Kenneth Walker, but weren’t willing to cough up $15 million per season, and saw a couple of valuable pieces to their defense, Boye Mafe and Coby Bryant, walk out the door. To be fair, Seattle doesn’t need a lot in free agency, but I expected them to sign someone outside of their building.

Winner: Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders entered free agency with the most cap space of any team, so it makes sense that they’re winners on day one. But let’s take a look at their overall haul.

Let’s start with the big one. The Raiders landed one of the best players available in Tyler Linderbaum, but they had to break the bank to do so. He’s set to make almost $10 million more than any other center in the league after inking a three-year, $81 million deal. He’s instantly going to make their offensive line so much better.

Las Vegas also improved its secondary with CB Taron Johnson (who they traded for last night, but I’m still counting it) and by re-signing CB Eric Stokes. Neither of them is top of the line, but they’re both really solid players.

The Raiders also added WR Jalen Nailor. He was overshadowed by Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison in Minnesota, but he’s a talented player who could thrive in a WR2 role.

Vegas also signed DE Kwity Paye to a three-year, $48 million contract. I think the price is a bit steep there, but he is better than anyone else they have on their roster, and if he can get his sack numbers up to where they were in 2023 and 2024, he’ll be a really solid addition after the Maxx Crosby trade. And now they don’t need to feel forced to take a DE early.

“I think it’s a good trade for the Raiders because not only do they pick up an extra first-round pick this year or next year, but they trade Max Crosby in a year that’s rich in pass rushers,” said EssentiallySports’ NFL Expert Tony Pauline. “So, you know, they don’t have to take a pass rusher in the first round. They don’t have to really take a pass rusher at the top of round two. They can wait and get a good player to potentially replace Max Crosby, who was, oh, by the way, a fifth-round pick later on in the draft.”

Oh, and we can’t forget about the linebacker tandem they signed in Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean. Both guys are extremely young and have room to grow, but they can be foundational pieces for this defense.

The Raiders took the first step towards rebuilding their roster today, and the future is looking brighter than it has in the past few years.

Loser: Tennessee Titans

This one’s going to be a bit controversial because the Tennessee Titans made some big additions, but I just don’t love some of the contracts they handed out.

Let’s start with the good. I like the move to bring in Wan’Dale Robinson for less than $20 million per year. He’s going to be a really good weapon for Cam Ward. I also like them bringing in John Franklin-Myers to give them the best 1-2 punch at DT in the NFL.

Now for the bad. They overpaid for Daniel Bellinger, giving him $8 million per year. That felt like a move to please OC Brian Daboll, but I do not think he’s worth that much money. The same goes for CBs Cor’Dale Flott and Alontae Taylor. I don’t think they’re worth the $15 million and $20 million per year that they got.

I know Tennessee has the money to spend, and if they got all three of those players for cheaper, I’d feel really good about it. But it felt like they threw around money a bit recklessly because they had it. They got some impact players, but they just overpaid on a few of them.

Winner: New Orleans Saints

Am I slightly biased as a New Orleans Saints fan? Yes. But did they also knock day one of free agency out of the park? Also yes.

The Saints desperately needed to improve their offensive line’s interior and their run game. So what did they do? They signed one of the top guards and the second-best running back available in OG David Edwards and RB Travis Etienne. They gave Edwards a deal worth $15 million per season and gave Etienne $13 million per season, making them the 16th and 7th-highest-paid players at their position, respectively. In my opinion, both of those contracts are pretty good value.

But that’s not all they did. Punter Kai Kroeger finished 28th in punting average last season, so the Saints invested in Ryan Wright, giving him $3.5 million per season. Last year, Wright finished 7th in punting average (49 yards per punt), so they upgraded their special teams in a big way.

The Saints also added TE Noah Fant to serve as a complementary option to Juwan Johnson and create more versatility with 12 personnel.

The Saints addressed arguably their two biggest needs on day one with the run game and special teams. They still need to fill some holes at receiver, kicker, and linebacker, but it was a great start.

Loser: Los Angeles Chargers

I actually like the lone signing the Los Angeles Chargers have made thus far in TE Charlie Kolar, but after entering free agency with the fourth-most cap space and having massive needs at both guard spots, I was hoping they’d make a big signing there, but they didn’t.

We saw guards like David Edwards, Zion Johnson, John Simpson, and Ed Ingram sign new deals today, but none of them went to LA. Now, they’ll have to pivot to the draft and/or sign someone like Alijah Vera-Tucker, who’s great, but also injury-prone, and that’s the last thing they need after last year. The only move they made was re-signing Trevor Penning, which felt like a desperate move after missing out on these top guys.

Winner: Chicago Bears

I really like what the Chicago Bears did on Monday. They were not afraid to spend money to upgrade their defense, and they brought in quite a few key pieces to improve Dennis Allen’s unit.

Their day started by re-signing D’Marco Jackson, who is a talented, young linebacker they’re hoping can develop into a starter one day. But on top of that, they inked deals with S Coby Bryant and LB Devin Bush, both of whom are coming off career years and fill big positions of need. And the best part is, I don’t think they overpaid for either of them, with Bryant costing $13 million and Bush costing $10 million per year.

I do think they overpaid for DT Neville Gallimore, but that doesn’t outweigh the good they did today. I think Bryant and Bush will help transform this defense, which was easily the worst in the playoffs last year.

Loser: Philadelphia Eagles

Howie Roseman has made some questionable decisions lately. He extended Jordan Davis, which isn’t a bad move, but it cost $26 million per year and made him one of the highest-paid DTs in the league. In doing so, Jalen Carter has been brought up in trade conversations, and he reportedly denied a first and third for disgruntled WR A.J. Brown.

So, when day one of free agency rolled around, I expected him to make some moves, but he did not. The Eagles have not signed a single player at the time I’m writing this article. They were reportedly looking to give Jaelan Phillips $20+ million to stick around, but he left for Carolina early in the day.

Not a great day for a team that hopes to compete for a Super Bowl next year.

Winner: New York Giants

John Harbaugh’s first season in New York is off to a good start. First, he brought in his former (and now current) tight end Isaiah Likely on a three-year deal to help improve the Giants’ passing attack. He also re-signed OT Jermaine Eluemunor to a three-year deal. He’s not a top-end tackle, but for $13 million a season, it was a pretty good deal.

Defensively, the Giants made a splash by signing LB Tremaine Edmunds to a three-year deal worth $13 million per year. He’s no Roquan Smith, but he’s very talented and can play that same role for Harbaugh.

The Giants also made the biggest special team signing of the day, giving punter Jordan Stout a three-year deal worth $12.3 million. He’s one of the best punters in the league, and he is also a former Raven.

There’s still work to be done, but this was a good start.

Winner: New York Jets

The New York Jets are off to a great start to the offseason. Their day started by trading for Minkah Fitzpatrick, one of the best safeties in the league, before they went on a bit of a spending spree.

“I guess I think what it does is it takes Caleb Downs off the board at number two,” Pauline explained. “They’ve already filled that need. Again, go back to what I wrote at EssentiallySports.com. The Jets were targeting a safety in free agency. If you remember what I wrote, I said the Jets basically met with every and any agent at the combine who was expected to have a safety who would hit the free agent market. They didn’t wait for free agency.”

As EssentiallySports’ Tony Pauline reported at the combine, the Jets did, in fact, spend big on defense. They gave Fitzpatrick a new deal while also signing DE Joseph Ossai and DE Kingsley Enagbare to help their pass rush. They also signed one of the best linebackers in the league, Demario Davis, and got some help on the interior with another veteran, David Onyemata.

The Jets went all in on improving Aaron Glenn’s defensive unit, so we’ll see if it pays off. But on paper, it was a good day.