The 2024 NFL free agent class had it all: Mammoth wastes of money, expensive signings that turned out to be worth every penny, and several under-the-radar deals that proved to be basement bargains.
With the 2024 regular season in the books, let’s dive into the five WORST and five BEST NFL free agent signings from 2024.
Who were the best and the worst free agent signings in the NFL in 2024?
Worst: Kirk Cousins
The Atlanta Falcons got the biggest fish in the NFL free agent pond, landing the ex-Minnesota Vikings star quarterback on a four-year deal worth $180 million. That included a hefty $100 million in guarantees.
The thought was simple: The Falcons were held back by awful quarterback play in 2022 and 2023 and still finished a respectable 7-and-10 both years. Add the four-time Pro Bowl signal-caller to the mix, and the Falcons were now the team to beat in the hapless NFC South.
At first, it looked like money very well spent by the Falcons. Cousins led his team to a 6-and-3 start, and the division crown appeared to be locked up with the banged-up Buccaneers sitting at 4-5.
But a four-game losing streak in the second half abruptly ended all the good early vibes Cousins brought to Atlanta. Cousins had no touchdowns and eight interceptions during the losing skid, but barely beating a helpless Las Vegas Raiders team in Week 15 was the final straw for Raheem Morris.
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Cousins was benched for the last three games in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr. The No. 8 overall pick sparked the offense, with Atlanta averaging 32 points per game over Penix’s three starts.
So yeah, Penix will be the starting quarterback in 2025, then. And unless the Falcons miraculously find a taker for Captain Kirk, they’ll be paying him a LOT of money to keep the bench warm next year. Woof!
Best: Saquon Barkley
After the New York Giants made the mind-numbing mistake of not trading Saquon Barkley and letting him walk for nothing in NFL free agency, the archrival Philadelphia Eagles scooped him up on a three-year deal worth $37.75 million.
There was no shortage of skeptics on this deal. For one, Barkley had a lengthy and concerning injury history. Also, it felt like a lot of money to pay for a guy at a devaluing position — not to mention that the Eagles have been an RB factory for more than a decade.
But Barkley needed little time to quiet all the critics and doubters. He was the MVP of the Eagles all season long amid inconsistent years from the Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown-led passing game, finishing the year with 2,005 rushing yards, 13 rushing scores, and a league-leading 2,283 scrimmage yards.
If the Eagles didn’t sit Barkley for their Week 18 contest, he could have broken Eric Dickerson’s single-season record. But we suppose a 2K campaign and a 14-win campaign suffices as well!
So much for the running back position devaluing, huh?
Worst: Patrick Queen
The Pittsburgh Steelers have constantly fielded a top-10 defense under head coach Mike Tomlin. So when they signed ex-Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowl linebacker and 2024 NFL free agent Patrick Queen to a three-year deal worth a reasonable $41 million, it felt like a giant coup.
Not only was Pittsburgh bolstering its already prolific front seven, but they had signed away a key player from the archrival team. What could possibly go wrong?
Narrator: Well, practically everything.
Queen tallied just one sack and proved to be a giant liability in coverage. Per Pro Football Reference, he gave up 561 receiving yards and four touchdowns in coverage while surrendering an opponent’s passer rating of 114.0 when targeted.
Queen finished with a lackluster Pro Football Focus grade of 58.5, which ranked 124th among qualified linebackers. He ranked 147th in run defense and 122nd in coverage among all players at the position.
Did we mention his Steelers were crushed by the Ravens on Wild Card Weekend? Other than that, we suppose the first year of Queen’s $41 million deal wasn’t so bad!
Best: Danielle Hunter
In a development that worked out tremendously for all parties, the Houston Texans replaced Jonathan Greenard by signing longtime Minnesota Vikings star Danielle Hunter to a two-year deal worth $49 million in the 2024 NFL free agency.
And to replace Hunter? Minnesota signed Greenard to a four-year pact worth $76 million. So, an honorable mention and hat tip here to Greenard and the Vikings before we dive into Hunter.
The four-time Pro Bowler was coming off a career year in which he tallied 16.5 sacks and four forced fumbles in his last season with the Vikings. Looking to take that next step toward title contention, Houston gave Hunter a shiny two-year pact to join forces with rising superstar Will Anderson Jr.
Hunter was everything the Texans could have wanted and then some. He recorded 12 sacks, three pass breakups, and 17 tackles for a loss. Oh, and he finished No. 1 in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate among edge defenders at 26 percent.
Hunter finished with an 82.7 grade at PFF, good for 13th among edge defenders. That includes an 80.7 pass-rush win rate that was 14th among players at the position.
His efforts helped the Texans to a second straight AFC South division crown despite an onslaught of injuries to key players, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Might a contract extension be on the horizon after forming a dream pairing with Anderson Jr?
Also Read: Who Are The Top 5 Potential Free Agents For The 2025 NFL Season?
Worst: Gabe Davis
This contract felt like a disaster from the get-go. Sure enough, the dysfunctional Jacksonville Jaguars burned through more money in NFL free agency by carelessly paying for another offensive weapon they didn’t need.
After a strong 2023 season with the Buffalo Bills, Davis joined the Jaguars on a lucrative three-year deal worth $39 million.
That was way too much money for a guy whose best season came in 2022 when he caught 48 passes for 836 yards and seven touchdowns. And hey, maybe playing with Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs had something to do with that production?
But the Jags thought Davis would flourish on an already rich-in-talent offense with Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne Jr., Evan Engram, and Christian Kirk. OH, and they were about to use their first-round pick on LSU wideout Brian Thomas Jr.
Sure enough, Davis barely saw the ball this year. Now, everyone except Thomas Jr. and Tank Bigsby was disappointed in Jacksonville’s offense, but Davis took home a nice chunk of cash to catch 20 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns in 10 games.
Good luck to the Jaguars’ new coaching staff in fixing this offense and somehow making Davis worthy of the $11.5 million in guaranteed salary he’s slated to earn in 2025.
Best: Xavier McKinney
The Green Bay Packers struck gold in the 2024 NFL crop of free agents by signing both Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney to lucrative deals. Maybe they would benefit from spending more money on free agency on a yearly basis! Just saying.
McKinney was an underrated safety on a terrible Giants team. The Packers knew they were getting a good player, but we’re not sure if they thought he would be THIS GOOD in year one.
The 26-year-old earned his first career Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro nods after posting eight interceptions and 11 pass breakups. He finished with an excellent PFF Grade of 84.8, which ranked sixth among all safeties.
Davis’ elite 90.0 coverage grade from PFF also ranked third among all safeties…to say nothing of his 74.2 pass-rush grade. McKinney was the complete package under first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, leading the Packers to an 11-win season and second straight playoff appearance.
Worst: Arik Armstead
Following his release from the San Francisco 49ers, the veteran defensive end scored a giant three-year deal from the Jaguars worth $43.5 million. Armstead’s pact carried a max value of $51 million and $28 million in guarantees.
A longtime mainstay on the 49ers’ defensive end, Armstead was mostly a non-factor with the Jaguars. He only played 48 percent of the Jags’ defensive snaps, tallying two sacks.
Renowned for his run-stopping defense, Armstead finished with a mediocre PFF grade of 61.9 in that department — placing him 96th among edge defenders.
Armstead was supposed to improve Jacksonville’s production in the trenches. They ranked 25th against the run, allowing 132.6 rushing yards per game. And only four teams finished with fewer sacks than the Jags, who had 34.
Perhaps one day, the Jaguars will learn to spend their money in free agency a little more wisely? Because the Davis and Armstead contracts already look like giant mistakes.
Best: Sam Darnold
Having moved on from Kirk Cousins, the Vikings signed the former No. 3 pick of 2018 to a one-year deal worth $10 million in the 2024 NFL free agency.
With Minnesota using its 2024 first-round pick on JJ McCarthy, Darnold would at least provide experience and slot in as the short-term “bandaid” QB before Kevin O’Connell handed the keys to the Michigan product.
When McCarthy required knee surgery that ruled him out for the entire 2024 season, however, Darnold became the starter by default. And given his disastrous stints with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, it’s no wonder that almost nobody gave Darnold a chance to flourish in Minny.
Challenge gracefully accepted by Darnold. One year after fellow 2018 draftee Baker Mayfield turned in a career year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Darnold followed suit by throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns en route to his first Pro Bowl selection.
Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 finish, their best record since the 1998 squad that finished 15-and-1. Yes, his performance in Minnesota’s Wild Card Round loss to the LA Rams was nothing short of forgettable, but O’Connell’s group wouldn’t have gotten there in the first place without Darnold.
Getting 14 regular-season wins out of a QB who cost a modest $10 million is no joke. Darnold probably won’t have a season like that again, but it doesn’t take away the great value he provided for the Vikings in 2024.
Worst: Gardner Minshew II
A two-year deal worth $25 million isn’t the biggest waste of money compared to other pricy free-agent QB NFL contracts we’ve seen, but signing Minshew wound up setting the Las Vegas Raiders way back.
The Raiders were convinced that the journeyman backup could serve as the solution by center. And boy, were they wrong.
Minshew lost seven of nine starts and tossed just nine touchdowns against 10 interceptions for a career-low 81.0 passer rating. He suffered a season-ending collarbone injury in a game against the Denver Broncos, and the Raider offense actually started to perform better once Aidan O’Connell took over as the starter.
By committing to a Minshew- O’Connell QB room, the Raiders missed out on the chance to move up for a promising QB prospect like Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr., and JJ McCarthy at last year’s draft.
With the No. 6 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Raiders aren’t in a position to get the top two QB prospects in Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders. So unless they have a big blockbuster move up their sleeve, good luck with a Minshew-AOC tandem again next year.
Oh, and head coach Antonio Pierce and GM were both fired. So yeah, putting your offense in the hands of Minshew proved to be really costly.
Best: Derrick Henry
A longtime thorn in the side of the Baltimore Ravens, Henry decided to join the enemy after eight years with the Tennessee Titans. The two-time rushing champion agreed to a bargain two-year deal worth just $16 million in the 2024 NFL free agency, joining forces with reigning MVP Lamar Jackson.
Everyone knows that most running backs decline well before their 30th birthdays, but “King Henry” is built differently. We all figured he’d be a game-wrecker in Baltimore, and Henry was a game-wrecker.
Despite having to share the ground game with his dual-threat quarterback, Henry still racked up 1,921 rushing yards and a league-leading 16 rushing scores. Henry put up over 2,000 yards of offense for the second time in his career — to say nothing of the career-high 5.9 yards per carry he averaged this year.
The efforts of Henry and Jackson propelled the Ravens to the league’s third-best scoring offense that averaged 30.5 points per game. Baltimore cruised to a second straight AFC North division crown as well, thanks largely to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ ugly late-season collapse.
And to think that Henry wanted to go to Dallas. If only Jerry Jones and the Cowboys could have afforded him!
Also Read: Re-Grading The 20 Biggest NFL Free Agent Signings From The 2024 Season
