What happened in the first week of NFL free agency: From Kirk Cousins to the Falcons to Justin Fields' trade to the Steelers

The Browns wanted to hold onto Za'Darius Smith, who was a nice complementary pass rusher opposite Myles Garrett. Cleveland and the 11th-year veteran agreed to a two-year deal worth $23.5 million.

Smith recorded 27 tackles, 5 1/2 sacks and 20 quarterback hits last season with the Browns, who ranked first in the NFL in total defense and sixth in sacks (49).

Grade: A

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Marcus Mariota was No. 144 on The Athletic's free-agency big board. With Mariota going off the board to Washington, here are the top remaining available QBs:

• Ryan Tannehill (No. 96)
• Mason Rudolph (No. 110)
• Joe Flacco (No. 128)
• Jameis Winston (No. 131)
• Drew Lock (No. 140)
• Tyler Huntley (No. 148)

The Washington Commanders have agreed to terms with quarterback Marcus Mariota on a 1-year, $6 million deal with upside to $10 million, a league source confirms.

This may signal a Sam Howell trade if the Commanders take a QB at with the No. 2 pick.

Gardner Minshew racked up 18 total touchdowns (15 passing, three rushing) against 14 total turnovers (nine interceptions, five lost fumbles) last season. Minshew will now have the chance to compete for a starting job again in Las Vegas.

Though the Colts will obviously hope Anthony Richardson will stay healthy and play the entire 2024 season, they can’t necessarily count on it and would be wise to add a proven backup. Tyler Huntley might be a good scheme fit if he needs to fill in for Richardson.

Other options could include Ryan Tannehill, Mason Rudolph, Joe Flacco and Jameis Winston, among others.

Whomever Indianapolis signs, it will be interesting to see if he embraces his role and mentors Richardson the same way Minshew did.

“So much of this stuff is out of your control. It always comes back to getting better and having fun,” Minshew said at the end of the Colts season. “We have such a short window to play this game, the game that I love. There’s nothing I’d rather be doing. So, I’m just trying to enjoy it every chance that I get. I know I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunities I’ve had so far. You never know how much more you got.”

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The Buffalo Bills likely have a fair bit of turnover on defense this offseason, but with their newest move, they bring back nearly their entire starting defensive line from 2023.

Defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, 32, signed a two-year deal to remain with with the Bills, the team announced Tuesday morning. He originally signed with the Bills as a free agent in 2022 and spent two seasons as one of their best defenders.

“[Buffalo] kind of rejuvenated my career, just being able to come out here and play in this style of defense,” Jones told The Athletic in January after the season wrapped up. “For me, the defense plays to my strong suit, what I like to do, and how I like to play. I’ve been telling people that the last two years.”

The Raiders committed a significant amount of money — two years, $25 million, with $15 million guaranteed — to Gardner Minshew, but he’s likely to compete with Aidan O’Connell for the starting quarterback job. O’Connell started 10 games for Las Vegas last season and played at a decent level considering he wasn’t expected to play much as a rookie.

He’s well regarded by the Raiders and isn’t going to hand the job over to Minshew.

Minshew’s signing also doesn’t rule out the possibility that the Raiders could explore selecting a quarterback in next month’s draft. It’s conceivable that this ends up being a three-way competition between Minshew, O’Connell and a rookie.

For this move to be worth it for the Raiders, Minshew needs to win the starting job. Having a capable backup quarterback on the roster is important, but they could’ve landed a player to fill that role for much less money.

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Minnesota has had a revolving door of running backs in Kevin O’Connell’s time as the Vikings’ head coach. First, it was Dalvin Cook. Last year, Alexander Mattison shouldered the starting load. Now, it’ll be Jones.

Several weeks ago, the Vikings released Mattison. Minnesota had hoped he could lift its run game to a new, more efficient level, but Mattison lacked explosiveness. The release created about $3.35 million in cap space.

The Vikings have faith in third-year player Ty Chandler, who broke out in December with 132 yards on 23 carries against the Cincinnati Bengals. Still, he’s more of a change-of-pace back, not a No. 1.

Needing a bellcow, the Vikings turned to Jones, who will now become a focal point of the Vikings offense.

The Jets have a star at defensive tackle in Williams, who made back-to-back Pro Bowls and has established himself as one of the NFL’s best players at the position. Over the last few years, the Jets have shuffled through different players alongside him, typically a rotation of run-stop and pass-rush specialists.

Kinlaw will get an opportunity to fill that pass-rushing role for the Jets, and it’s not difficult to see why they wanted to bring him in — especially considering his size (6-5, 319) and athletic traits.

Kinlaw’s talent has never been in question. In Dane Brugler’s 2020 draft guide, he compared him to Chiefs star Chris Jones, though he cautioned that Kinlaw “won’t live up to his draft spot if he doesn’t improve his consistency from a technical standpoint.”

The consistency has not always been there, though, so Kinlaw never lived up to his draft status as the 14th pick. But there were flashes of talent — and in 2023, Kinlaw got through his first NFL season without missing games due to injury.

He finished with 3 1/2 sacks, six QB hits and 31 total pressures. PFF ranked him 35th in pass rushing and 88th in run defense of 92 defensive tackles to play at least 400 snaps. He was ranked 28th in pass-rush productivity too, which PFF categorizes as “a formula that combines sacks, hits and hurries relative to how many times they rush the passer.”

Sam Darnold will be the favorite to start the Vikings’ season opener. Minnesota is likely to aggressively pursue a trade in the NFL Draft for a premium quarterback. Even if the Vikings can consummate that type of deal, and target their preferred player, coach Kevin O’Connell has talked in the past about the value he places on development.

Rushing a highly-drafted quarterback is unlikely. While the player learns from Josh McCown and absorbs an offense that is complex in what it asks of the quarterback, Darnold will likely start games. Part of the reason he signed with Minnesota, as opposed to a team like the Denver Broncos, is because of what the Vikings provide in the form of weapons and coaching. Darnold will be throwing to a superstar wide receiver in Justin Jefferson, a budding youngster in Jordan Addison and an elite tight end in T.J. Hockenson when Hockenson returns from his ACL injury.

That’s a star-studded cast, which should make Darnold’s life easier than it was with the Jets or even the Panthers.

Over the years, few Green Bay Packers have terrorized the Minnesota Vikings more than Aaron Jones. The running back averaged 5.7 yards per carry in 11 games played in the rivalry. Now, he’ll be switching sides.

Jones agreed to terms on a one-year contract worth $7 million on Tuesday morning, according to team and league sources. He joins Minnesota as its starting running back.

The move occurred one day after the Packers cut Jones, who will turn 30 in December. The Athletic reported Green Bay asked Jones to take about a 50 percent pay cut, if not more, entering the final year of a four-year, $48 million contract.

He was set to make $12 million in base salary and bonuses with the Packers.

David Bakhtiari was so good in 2020 that he made the Associated Press All-Pro First Team despite playing only 12 games before tearing his ACL in practice while preparing for a Week 17 game against the Bears.

That’s how impressive Bakhtiari was when healthy, a brick wall on Green Bay’s blind side and one of the best offensive linemen in franchise history. Even in his one game last season, Bakhtiari didn’t allow a pressure, hurry, hit or sack on quarterback Jordan Love in 30 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, during a blowout win over the Bears.

Yet Bakhtiari will go down as one of the biggest what-ifs in recent Packers history because of what happened to his knee on Dec. 31, 2020, and the complications it caused over the next three seasons. Not only because of what the injury potentially robbed the Packers of but also because of what it might’ve stripped from Bakhtiari himself.

Over the weekend, we published a list of 13 players the Chargers could target in free agency, focusing on potential bargains at three primary positions: running back, tight end and center.

With their first two moves of the negotiating window, the Chargers addressed two of those positions in running back and tight end. According to multiple reports, they agreed to terms with former Baltimore Ravens running back Gus Edwards. That deal is for two years and $6.5 million, including $3.375 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network. The Chargers also agreed to terms with former Seattle Seahawks tight end Will Dissly. That deal is for three years and $14 million, including $10 million guaranteed, according to reports. Both Edwards and Dissly were on our targets list.

The Chargers’ final move of the day was retaining safety Alohi Gilman, who was set to hit unrestricted free agency after completing his rookie deal in 2023. That deal is for two years and $11 million, according to reports.

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This isn’t hard to figure out. Tyrod Taylor will slot in behind Aaron Rodgers and can lead the offense in training camp if Rodgers can’t go right away — or if he’s limited at all — coming off his Achilles injury. Taylor has the mobility that would seemingly be a positive counter for a quarterback playing behind a poor offensive line, though Taylor’s tendency to hold onto the ball has often gotten him into trouble at past stops and often led to injuries. At many of those stops — including the Giants last year — the offensive line wasn’t particularly good.

But Taylor is nothing if unafraid — and he can make all the throws. Taylor had the second-largest percentage of deep throws among 35 quarterbacks with at least 25 deep attempts and he completed 40 percent of them, which ranks 14th, per Pro Football Focus. He also had the highest percentage of big-time throws (minimum 200 dropbacks) at 8.9 percent and the fourth-biggest average depth of target (9.1). He also ranked 18th (of 42) quarterbacks in terms of EPA per dropback.

Taylor finished last season with 1,341 passing yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions in 11 games and five starts, missing out on some opportunities as the Giants rode the Tommy DeVito wave for a while.

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A few moving pieces remain. The Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots hold the first three picks in the upcoming NFL Draft, and indications suggest each team will take a quarterback with USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels the expected candidates.

The Sam Darnold-Minnesota Vikings news essentially leaves the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders with openings. The Raiders agreed with Gardner Minshew on a two-year $15 million deal that could be worth up to $25 million, and he’ll compete with Aidan O’Connell. The Broncos still have Jarrett Stidham.

The remaining free-agent market is highlighted by Joe Flacco and Ryan Tannehill. It still feels inevitable the Raiders will release Jimmy Garoppolo, and the Bears should still be looking to trade Justin Fields. The Commanders could conceivably move Sam Howell, and the Jets are expected to part with Zach Wilson in some capacity.