The 2024 NFL free agency period has already been chock-full of lucrative deals, from Kirk Cousins’ $180 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons to Christian Wilkins’ $110 million haul from the Las Vegas Raiders. But the best free agent signings aren’t necessarily the priciest. Sometimes, it’s actually the low-risk, high-upside bets — the “bargain deals” — that end up paying off better than anticipated.
With that in mind, here are some of our favorite value deals to start free agency:
Reported terms: 1 year, $1.2 million
Is Wilson past his prime? The numbers and eye test suggest as much. But Pittsburgh is literally paying him less than what the Buffalo Bills are paying Mitch Trubisky to sit behind Josh Allen. At 35, with a pretty deep ball still in the arsenal, the ex-Seahawks star is built to operate the Steelers’ old-school offense, leaning on the run and play-action. Odds are Pittsburgh will be back to square one in a year or two, but Wilson at least registers as an upgrade on Kenny Pickett. If he simply proves competent, keeping the club in the playoff mix a la Baker Mayfield with the Buccaneers, he’ll have easily out-earned this trial-run deal.
Reported terms: 1 year, $7 million
Why move on from Dalvin Cook only to add another aging ball-carrier one year later? For one, Jones still appears to have a second gear, fresh off a hot finish to 2023, in which his multipurpose juice helped propel a surprise Packers playoff run. Minnesota appears to be more focused on the long haul, considering its quarterback pivot, but you could do a lot worse for a one-year rental. Durability is a question, but for barely top-10 running back money, pairing Jones with youngster Ty Chandler could be truly dynamic.
Reported terms: 2 years, $6.5 million
Los Angeles needed someone to headline a backfield sans aging pass catcher Austin Ekeler, and all Edwards has ever done is push the ball forward. His…
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