WE DO NOT CARE SPORTS

by Mitchell Hammon

It has been over 24 hours of free agency so far. For Seattle, I have gotten most of my predictions right on who they would re-sign and who they would let walk. Kenneth Walker inked a 3 year $45 million dollar deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, which does not come as a surprise as Seahawks were not going to spend that money on him with Charbonnet returning from injury in 2026. Mafe is headed to Cincy and Coby Bryant to Chicago. Seahawks got 4th and 5th round compensation picks with the departures. Seattle did re-sign Rasheed Shaheed to a 3 year deal $51 million dollar deal. Drake Thomas and Josh Jobe were also signed to 3 year deals as well. Along with tendering George Holani and Ty Okada. The Seahawks have yet to make an external signing.

Other news in the league includes the Chiefs trading CB Trent McDuffie to the Rams for a late first round pick. DJ Moore going from the Bears to the Bills for a second rounder. The biggest trade of all is the Raiders sending their star pass rusher Maxx Crosby to Baltimore for two first round picks. Not a huge surprise for either side as Ravens are Super Bowl contenders and Raiders are rebuilding around QB Fernando Mendoza and new head coach Klint Kubiak.

Here are the biggest splashes in free agency so far around the NFL.

RB Kenneth Walker, Kansas City Chiefs

With the most downer news for myself, but also the least surprising move. Walker signed a 3 year, $45 million deal with Kansas City which is a great move for the Chiefs where they struggled in the run game among other things in 2025. The Super Bowl MVP will provide an improved running game and take the pressure off of Patrick Mahomes. Walker proved in the playoffs that a team can lean on him and perform at a high level. The price was too high to keep him around and can see Seattle drafting a RB with the 32nd pick to replace his production and that Zach Charbonnet can bounce back as he enters his final season on his rookie deal.

EDGE Jaelan Phillips, Carolina Panthers

After an in-season trade from the Dolphins to the Eagles. Phillips inked a 4 year $120 million dollar deal with Carolina. Phillips was impressive in his half season in Philly finishing with 5 sacks in 2025 and a reason why the Eagles finished as the best scoring defense in the NFL. Phillips battled injuries in 2023 and 2024 in Miami but had 26 sacks in 55 games played with them. For the Panthers, they won the division at 8-9 with an almost upset of the Rams in the wild card round. It was clear they needed to address the pass rush and overall defense. The contract is rich for my blood given his injury history, but Carolina was going to need to overpay to address this need.

C Tyler Linderbaum, Las Vegas Raiders

A bit surprised the Ravens did not open the checkbook to pay one of the best centers in the league, but are currently paying Lamar Jackson a ton of money and need room to pay Maxx Crosby. Linderbaum signed a 3 year, $81 million dollar deal which makes him the highest paid center in the NFL. Love this move for the Raiders as they clear cap from the Crosby trade and will give Fernando Mendoza a reliable lineman to lean on and clear the lanes for RB Ashton Jeanty.

WR Mike Evans, San Francisco 49ers

I never thought Mike Evans was ever going to leave Tampa Bay, as he stated many times before he wanted to be a Buc for life. A future HOF’er and one of the greatest players in Buccaneers history. He tied Jerry Rice’s record for 11 straight seasons of 1,000 yards receiving along with a Super Bowl ring in 2020. Also the reason why Tom Brady chose Tampa to close out his career. It will be bizarre not seeing him in a Bucs uniform and even more bizarre in a 49er uniform. Evans has been battling injuries the last two seasons and lost a step last season when he was healthy. In addition to Tampa having a loaded receiving room that includes breakout star Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan. It did make sense for both sides to move on and Evans stating himself that we wanted a new challenge and change of scenery. I understand how the 49ers and Kyle Shanahan was an intriguing choice for Evans, but 49ers have an aging and increasingly injured roster (the electrical substation to blame). Which Evans is both of those things at this stage of his career, but will add stability and maturity to the 49ers receiving room which the team desperately needs. Evans signed a 3 year $60.4 million dollar deal, with $16.3 million guaranteed with San Francisco. I hate we have to go against him twice a year, but will see if he can return to Bucs glory days form.

QB Tua Tagovailoa, Atlanta Falcons

With a new regime under new head coach Jeff Haffley in Miami, the Dolphins decided to move on from their injury and concussion prone QB after a disaster 2025 season. The Dolphins will eat $99 million in dead cap over the next two seasons and signed former Titans and Packers QB Malik Willis to replace him. Hours after his release, the Falcons signed him to a 1 year $1.3 million dollar deal. Interesting move for Atlanta, as they also moved on from their expensive QB Kirk Cousins. What also makes this interesting is they also have an injury riddled QB Michael Penix whom the team infamously drafted 8th overall in 2024 after signing Cousins to a massive contract. Penix, ironically also a lefty QB has had a turbulent tenure in Atlanta to put it mildly. Penix showed flashes but also massive limitations and ended up tearing his ACL in the middle of last season. With a new regime under Kevin Stefanski, it’s a make or break year for Penix to prove that he is the guy. There is a chance that Tua starts week 1, but have a hard time believing two similar QBs with similar issues will be the answer for the Falcons this season.