Expert Analysis
12/4/24
11 min read
NFL's Most Impactful Free Agent Signings This Season
With five weeks remaining in the regular season and the playoffs coming up next month, this is a good time to take stock of the 2024 NFL free agent class.
Who has turned out to be the 10 best and 10 worst signings this year? From the often risky and expensive business of free agency, here’s my list of the most impactful free agent signings this season, and later this week, I’ll follow up with the least impactful signings.
Most Impactful Free Agent Signings of 2024
Sam Darnold, QB, Minnesota Vikings 
Sam Darnold was a bust early in his career, with a suspect supporting cast, as the third-overall pick by the New York Jets in 2018. He moved on to Carolina and San Francisco before landing with the Vikings on a one-year, $10 million free agent deal as the expected veteran bridge quarterback to first-round pick J.J. McCarthy.
Darnold was running with the first team in training camp when McCarthy sustained a knee injury that knocked him out for the season. The 27-year-old Darnold has capitalized on his opportunity under a QB-friendly head coach in Kevin O’Connell and in an offense with a great supporting cast led by All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson and Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson.
The Vikings are one of the biggest surprises this season at 10-2, one game back of the Detroit Lions in the NFC North. Darnold’s strong season is a huge ingredient in the team’s success, and he’s having by far his best season with a 102.5 passer rating (seventh-ranked) and a career-high 23 TD passes (fourth-most in the league).
The biggest knock on him early in his career was too many interceptions, and he had 10 in the first nine games. But he’s been more careful lately and hasn’t thrown a pick the past three weeks while being clutch in an overtime win in Chicago and a last-minute victory over Arizona. He’s also an athletic quarterback who can escape the rush (187 rushing yards).
If this season continues to go well for Darnold and the Vikings, he should be able to command a lucrative new contract with the Vikings or another team as a just reward for a resilient player.
Russell Wilson, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Russell Wilson is a nine-time Pro Bowler and past Super Bowl champ in Seattle, but his career looked over after two shaky seasons in Denver (11-19 as the starter) and a 2024 preseason calf injury that opened the door for Justin Fields as the Steelers' starter.
Pittsburgh’s longtime successful head coach, Mike Tomlin, stuck with his original plan and inserted the 36-year-old Wilson as the starter in Week 7. In the six games he’s played, he has a 5-1 record to lead the 9-3 Steelers to the top of the AFC North.
Like Darnold, Wilson is experiencing a career renaissance. He has a 104.3 passer rating (sixth-ranked) with 10 TD passes and only three interceptions. He’s running less than in his earlier years but has one rushing TD to bring his career total to 30.
Wilson signed with Pittsburgh for the veteran minimum salary ($1.21 million) as the Broncos are paying him $38 million this season (part of his $48.5 million per year contract with $161 million guaranteed when they traded for him in 2022).
The Steelers have the bargain of the year in the NFL, but if Wilson stays healthy and continues to play well while potentially leading the Steelers to the division title and some postseason success, his price tag to remain in Pittsburgh will rise significantly in 2025. He’s opening the eyes of other GMs and coaches around the league who may have an interest in a revived quarterback.
Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
The New York Giants’ miscalculated loss of their 2018 first-round pick has become the Eagles’ huge gain as an MVP candidate this season. Saquon Barkley signed a three-year, $37.75 million contract, which was a tremendous bargain due to the undervalued running back market.
He leads the league with 1,499 rushing yards, and he ranks third with 11 rushing TDs. The two-time Pro Bowler has a career-high 6.1 yards per carry for the NFL’s top-ranked rushing attack.
Barkley, 27, is a dual-purpose threat with 29 receptions for 267 yards and two TDs. His 1,766 combined yards lead the league. He rubbed salt in the G-Men’s wound when he rushed for 176 yards and one TD in the Eagles' 28-3 win at the Giants in Week 7. He ran for 255 yards and two TDs in the win over the Chargers two weeks ago.
Barkley is a major reason the 10-2 Eagles have won eight straight and are likely headed to the NFC East title and a top-two playoff seed.
Derrick Henry, RB, Baltimore Ravens
As with Barkley and the Giants, the Tennessee Titans never should have let their second all-time leading rusher (behind Eddie George) leave the team in free agency after eight seasons, four of which were Pro Bowl years, including the last two years. The 2016 second-round pick was a two-time NFL rushing leader in Tennessee.
“King Henry” is showing no signs of slowing down at 30 years old, as he’s started every game for the 8-5 Ravens.
He currently ranks second to Barkley with 1,407 rushing yards for the Ravens’ No. 2 rushing offense. Henry is the league leader with 13 rushing TDs. His bargain deal is two years, $16 million, and he is on pace to earn at least $2 million in incentives this season.
Josh Jacobs, RB, Green Bay Packers
Josh Jacobs left Las Vegas after five mostly productive seasons to sign a four-year, $48 million deal as the younger replacement for Aaron Jones in Green Bay. The Packers’ investment in Jacobs is paying off, as the 26-year-old former No. 1 pick of the Raiders is currently ranked third in the league in rushing yards (987).
The dual-purpose threat has added 27 catches for 260 yards with one receiving TD to add to his eight rushing scores. He’s helped the Packers become the NFL’s third-ranked offense with the fourth-most rushing yards.
Jacobs is a two-time Pro Bowler who was the league rushing leader in 2022 with 1,653 yards. He went over the 2,000-yard mark in combined yards that season by adding 400 receiving yards.
Zack Baun, LB, Philadelphia Eagles
Zack Baun was an astute free agent signing by Eagles GM Howie Roseman at the minimal cost of $1.6 million on a one-year deal. He’s helped turn around the defense for the 10-2 Eagles and is currently the league’s top-ranked unit after ranking second overall in the Super Bowl season of 2022 but falling hard to No. 26 last season as the team collapsed late in the year.
The 27-year-old Baun was a third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2020. He had only 14 starts in four years with the Saints and never exceeded 30 tackles or two sacks in a season before this year. He’s found a home in Eagles DC Vic Fangio’s scheme as a playmaking inside linebacker with 118 tackles (fourth-most in the league), 2.5 sacks, six tackles-for-loss, four forced fumbles, and one interception.
He made an immediate impact in the Week 1 win over the Packers with 15 tackles and two sacks and was NFC Defensive Player of the Week when he had two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery, along with eight tackles in the Week 10 win over the Cowboys.
Baun is putting himself in position for a big raise next season, likely in Philly, but he should have other suitors.
Jonathan Greenard, Edge/OLB, Minnesota Vikings
Among the keys to the Vikings' rise from 7-10 last season to their current 10-2 record, which has them soon to be playoff-bound, is the tremendous free agent class the team signed to offset recent drafts that have not contributed enough starters.
There are six quality starters on defense that were signed in 2024 free agency, and the best of the bunch is Jonathan Greenard, the 27-year-old former third-round pick of the Houston Texans. He joined the Vikings on a four-year, $76 million contract after an excellent 2023 season for the Texans D with 12.5 sacks and 15 tackles-for-loss.
Greenard is on pace to exceed those numbers this season with his team-leading 10 sacks (which ranks fourth in the league) and 14 TFLs with five regular season games remaining. He has 15 QB hits and is among the league leaders in pressures for the Vikings, who rank fourth with 39 sacks (after posting 43 all of last season).
Greenard made critical late-game sacks of Caleb Williams and Kyler Murray in Vikings victories the past two weeks. He should be selected to his first Pro Bowl this season.
Danielle Hunter, DE, Houston Texans
Danielle Hunter and Greenard were, in effect, traded for each other in March as free agency opened. The 30-year-old Hunter had spent his entire eight-year career in Minnesota after being drafted in the third round (same round as Greenard but five years earlier).
Hunter left Minnesota to sign in Houston, where he attended high school after the Texans offered him a lucrative deal for two years and $49 million. He was coming off a career-high 16.5 sacks, which was his fifth season of double-digit sacks. He had to overcome two injury-filled seasons in 2020 and 2021 when he missed 27 games.
The four-time Pro Bowler is back to playing defensive end in Houston’s defense (as he did under then-coach Mike Zimmer in Minnesota) after being an edge/OLB the past two seasons. He has 10.5 sacks (third in the league) and 21 QB hits. He is an excellent run defender with 15 TFLs and 38 tackles this season for the 8-5 Texans, who lead the AFC South by two games.
Frankie Luvu, OLB, Washington Commanders
This was a virtual toss-up between Frankie Luvu and Bobby Wagner, another terrific Commanders’ free agent signing. Wagner has more tackles (104 vs. 82), but Luvu’s career-best eight sacks, nine tackles-for-loss, and five passes defensed tip this his way.
The Commanders signed the 28-year-old Luvu for three years and $36 million. He entered the league as an undrafted player with the New York Jets and played three years each for the Jets and then the Carolina Panthers, where he had 125 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 2023.
Luvu is a high-motor player who has helped the Commanders improve from the last-ranked defense last season to 16th this year. The team has dramatically improved from 4-13 in 2023 to a current playoff contender at 8-5.
Xavier McKinney, S, Green Bay Packers
Xavier McKinney is another excellent player the New York Giants let get away. He was their second-round pick in 2020 and a three-year starter for the Giants who had 116 tackles, three interceptions, and 11 passes defensed last season after battling injuries in two of his first three seasons.
The Packers stepped up with a four-year, $68 million deal for the 26-year-old McKinney. He’s now the NFL co-leader with seven interceptions and also has contributed nine passes defensed and 63 tackles to help Green Bay’s improved defense for a 9-3 playoff-bound team.
Honorable Mentions:
- J.K. Dobbins, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
- Zach Ertz, TE, Washington Commanders
- Robert Hunt, G, Carolina Panthers
- Darnell Mooney, WR, Atlanta Falcons
- D.J. Reader, DT, Detroit Lions
- Jonnu Smith, TE, Miami Dolphins
- Bobby Wagner, MLB, Washington Commanders
