Tue Mar 10th 2026

Free Agency Week Zero

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Signings

• I was thrilled as a Cowboys fan and dynasty manager when Dallas re-signed Williams to a new contract after his bounce-back season last year. Williams started strong but cooled off near the end, ultimately finishing as the 11th highest-scoring running back last year and seeing his dynasty value resurrected. Taking a chance on him, even when the Cowboys’ starting running back was unclear, paid off as he won the job and earned a three-year deal to stay with the team. At 25 years old, Williams is positioned to produce well for the high-scoring Dallas offense over the next three years and strengthen dynasty teams that invested in him.

• Vidal’s exclusive-rights tender keeps him with the Chargers, where his backup role behind Omarion Hampton was efficiently productive. He proved doubters wrong when called upon during Hampton’s injury absences, boosting his dynasty value as a handcuff with standalone appeal. Vidal likely wouldn’t have secured a starting role elsewhere, so staying with the Chargers, who let Najee Harris leave, maximizes his potential touches. He is a priority roster spot for managers seeking valuable backup running backs with proven ability.

• Schultz signed a one-year deal to remain with the Texans as their starting tight end. He’s not trustworthy as a starter in dynasty lineups but can be a decent depth piece on dynasty rosters. Somehow, he quietly finished as the 11th highest scoring tight end of the season last year, since he never missed a game with injuries. He was 17th in points per game. He’s a backup tight end on dynasty rosters now that he re-signed with the Texans. It’s the best team for him to sign with from a dynasty perspective.

• Higbee is on the waiver wire in many of my dynasty leagues, so he’s barely worth mentioning in this article. I do mention him, though, because his signing with the Rams is a blow to the hope of Terrance Fergurson, who dynasty managers expected to see take a more dominant role in his second season. Higbee’s signing does not make Ferguson's year-two breakout impossible. It just makes it a hair less likely. The Rams play three tight ends more than any team in the league, so they were eager to re-sign their own after playing so well that way last season. My bets are still on Ferguson to take the next step this season, but the Higbee signing makes me less certain.

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Tags

• Jones was given the transition tag by the Colts, meaning they can match any offer given to Jones by other teams. This tag is almost certainly a way to negotiate a long-term contract for Jones. He will be a Colt for the next few years while they see if he can return from his injury to keep the offense humming like he did last year before the injury. The Colts also said they are up for trading Anthony Richardson, making it more clear that Jones is who they want to lead the team, even if he’s unable to start at the beginning of this season. Jones had one of the best bounce-back seasons of the year, and, like Javonte Williams, saw his dynasty stock rise from the ashes. I would expect Jones’s running ability to diminish quite a bit after his Achilles injury, so the cheap points he would usually get in the running game may no longer be part of his arsenal. Still, he can become a starter in superflex leagues again once he’s back to health.

• Pickens’s incredible breakout year with the Cowboys will get him paid under the franchise tag next year, though I hope the Cowboys can sign him to a long-term deal before the season starts. They need to do so in order to clear up cap space.  I’m confident that he could have become a WR-1 for another team if the Cowboys did not place the tag on him, but I think he’ll be most productive as the WR-1B in Dallas alongside CeeDee Lamb. If anyone is hurt by this tag, it is Lamb, who scored almost three fewer points per game than Pickens last season. Still, I think the two will make an incredible pair and rival each other in productivity and offense, which will score a lot of points. Pickens’ remaining with the Cowboys brings up the age-old question of whether having a top-tier teammate at wide receiver is helpful or hurtful for the presumed WR-1. Will Pickens hurt Lamb by taking away targets and yards or help him by taking away coverage and attention? In this case, think it will hurt Lamb, but not severely. They can both eat in this offense next season and hopefully for seasons to come if the Cowboys do what they should and sign Pickens to a long-term deal.

• Much to the dismay of his dynasty managers, the Jets placed the franchise tag on Hall. Everyone wanted to see what Hall could do on a better NFL team rather than see him stuck with the terrible Jets for another season. Braelon Allen’s dynasty managers were angry about this tag, too, as they hoped they’d be back into a new starting role with the Jets after being rumored to take over the position last season before getting injured. Hall staying with the Jets was a bummer move all around for dynasty managers. Hall finished as the 14th-highest-scoring running back last season, but that finish was largely based on his staying healthy all season. He was 20th in points per game with 11.9 after only scoring four touchdowns last season in the Jets’ three-win season. I expect him to score similar RB-2 numbers again on a bad Jets team this season, but it’s not the ceiling his dynasty managers hoped for, and Allen’s managers will have to wait another season before he gets a chance to compete for a starting role. Allen’s chances of ever becoming a starter are much narrower now that he’ll have to wait yet another season to compete for that role. The entire coaching staff and team are likely to look very different a year from now. Keeping Hall will not save them, though Hall will play well this season and play for a new team next year.

• I’ve heard a lot of dynasty analysts upset that Pitts was franchised in Atlanta, but believe it is good for him. I get why some dynasty managers would have liked to see him on a team with a more proven quarterback, but I think his target share with Atlanta will be much higher than any other team he could have signed with had Atlanta not placed the franchise tag on him. If year one was not his breakout season, last year certainly was, as he scored 28 more points than his rookie season three years ago and finished as the second-highest scoring tight end on the year. Atlanta’s new head coach, Kevin Stefanski, made his tight ends extremely productive in Cleveland the last few seasons, and I expect him to do the same with Pitts. It will be the London, Pitts, and Bijan show in Atlanta next season, especially since the Falcons plan to let Tyler Allgeier go in free agency and plan to release Darnell Mooney this week. Given Pitts’s up-and-down history, the Falcons will likely not look to sign him to a new deal before the season, but let him prove himself on the franchise tag this year. I think he’ll have another excellent season and force them to make a choice during the season or at this time next year. Dynasty managers should be pleased that Pitts is staying another year in Atlanta.

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Trades

• Mongemry was traded to the Texans, where he will immediately step into the leading role at running back. This comes as bad news to Woody Marks’s managers, who thought they may have found a starting running back late in their rookie drafts last year, as he fell into the leading role by the end of last season. He was never built for that role, however, and this trade makes that clear. Marks will be a complementary piece used effectively in the passing game, while Montgomery gets a few final years as the primary running back in Houston to round out his career. The trade is great news for Montgomery’s managers, who will have a viable RB-2 in their starting lineups again. It’s also a big win for Jahmyr Gibb’s managers, who will see him unleashed even more in Detroit with Montgomery gone. Though I expect the Lions to sign or draft a running back to complement Gibbs, his role will certainly increase without Montgomery behind him. This trade was a big win for everyone, except Woody Marks.

• Moore was traded to Buffalo last week to reunite with his former offensive coordinator in Carolina, Joe Brady. This trade was a big win for everyone from a dynasty perspective. Moore will have a few more excellent seasons in Buffalo and become the team’s top target and best weapon in the passing game. The Bills gave up too much in the trade not to feed him the ball, and their depth chart is very weak. His addition will mean more fantasy points for Josh Allen, too, as if he needed them. The only players negatively affected by this trade are Dalton Kincaid and Khalil Shakir, but their roles will not change much with Moore's addition. They already had limited roles and weren't reliable starters in dynasty lineups.  As for the Bears’ side of this trade, everyone benefits. Rome Odunze and Luther Burden’s roles will increase for years to come, and my man, Colston Loveland, will be a center point in their passing game. Everyone is a winner with this trade!

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