NFL free agency grades for all 32 teams, plus ranking each AFC team and why Falcons kept Kirk Cousins

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! 

We are now in Day 8 of Aaron Rodgers watch and nothing has changed. Apparently, Rodgers has enjoyed being a free agent so much that he plans on being a free agent forever. 

Rodgers hasn’t given any hints about where he might end up, two teams are definitely interested in signing him (Steelers and Giants) and one other team might be interested (Vikings). Aaron, if you’re reading, Cam Heyward really wants to you to just MAKE A DECISION ALREADY. 

OK, that’s your daily Rodgers update, and now, we will not be mentioning him for the rest of the newsletter. Actually, I just read the rest of the newsletter and it turns out that we will be mentioning him once more, but THAT’S it. 

Anyway, we’ve got some more free agency grades today, plus we’ll be ranking every team in the AFC so we can see if any of the teams actually got better in free agency. 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. 

1. Free agency grades: Commanders earn highest mark of any team from our football professors

During the start of free agency last week, we were handing out grades based on how teams did during each day of free agency. Today, we’re handing out grades based on how each team did overall in free agency. 

Our team of graders included Tyler Sullivan, Jordan Dajani and Garrett Podell and they were ruthless: Only four teams in the NFL ended up getting a grade in the “A” range. 

Let’s check four grades that they handed out: 

• Commanders: A+. “This is EXACTLY how you build around a franchise quarterback who is still on his rookie contract. The Commanders, fresh off a trip to the NFC Championship, have made several splashes in the early stages of this free agent cycle. First, they kept their core intact by bringing back Bobby Wagner and Zach Ertz. Meanwhile, they made massive trades landing Deebo Samuel and Laremy Tunsil.”
• Buccaneers: B. “Remarkably, the Bucs were able to retain wideout Chris Godwin, despite him getting to the open market. Even with a lot of teams vying for his services, he elects to stay put and maintain what is one of the better one-two punches at receiver between him and Mike Evans for Baker Mayfield. Tampa Bay also added to its pass-rushing group with Haason Reddick on a one-year, $14 million deal.”
• Cowboys: C-. “Dallas has gone bargain-bin diving for low-cost former first-round picks. They’ve taken one-year or two-year fliers on the following former first-round picks: Payton Turner, Solomon Thomas, Kaiir Elam and Kenneth Murray.”
• Rams: B+. “After a wild few weeks, the Rams were able to keep Matthew Stafford in-house, keeping their quarterback position stable. They also kept starting left tackle Alaric Jackson. On top of that, they gave Stafford a new pass catcher in Davante Adams, who should form a lethal one-two punch with Puka Nacua Los Angeles also poached Ponna Ford from the Chargers to add to its defensive line.”

We have grades for every team and you can check those out here.  

2. Ranking every AFC team after the first wave of free agency

Now that the first wave of free agency is out of the way, we thought it would be a good time to rank every team in the NFL, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do today. Actually, I take that back, we’re only going to rank the AFC teams today. We’ll get to the NFC teams later in the week. 

With that mind, here’s our post-free agency rankings of each AFC team, courtesy of Jordan Dajani: 

1. Chiefs
2. Bills
3. Ravens
4. Broncos
5. Bengals
6. Texans
7. Chargers
8. Steelers
9. Dolphins
10. Raiders

The one thing that instantly stands out to me about these rankings is that the AFC West could be stacked in 2025. Not only did the division send three teams to the playoffs last year, but it’s the only division with all four of its teams ranked in Jordan’s top 10. 

Anyway, we only listed the top 10 AFC teams here. If you want to see how Jordan ranked all 16 AFC teams, then you’ll have to check out the rest of his rankings here. 

3. 10 highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL

With Ja’Marr Chase getting a contract on Sunday that will pay him $40.25 million per year, that means he’s now the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. 

If you’re wondering who else is on that list, Jeff Kerr has the answer. Let’s take a look at the nine highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL based on average annual salary:

1. Ja’Marr Chase: $40.25 million
2. Myles Garrett: $40 million
3. Maxx Crosby: $35.5 million
4. Justin Jefferson: $35 million
T-5. CeeDee Lamb: $34 million
T-5. Nick Bosa: $34 million
7. A.J. Brown: $32 million
8. Chris Jones: $31.75 million
9. Amon-Ra St. Brown: $30.002 million

If you’re wondering which positions NFL teams value the most, this list would seem to answer that question. There are nine names and they all play one of two positions: Receiver or pass rusher. 

The top spot on this list changed hands three times in an 11-day period. Crosby was at the top on March 5 after signing an extension from the Raiders. Garrett moved past Crosby on March 9 when he signed his new deal and Chase passed them both with his new contract on March 16. 

Although Chase holds the title now, he might not have it for very long. Micah Parsons will be getting an extension soon from the Cowboys and he could top the Bengals receiver. Also, Aidan Hutchinson is now eligible for an extension and it won’t be surprising if he also gets to or passes Chase’s number.

4. Top remaining free agent at each position

It’s been almost a week since free agency officially started and although most of the top players have already been signed, there are still plenty of solid players on the market. 

So who’s still out there? Glad you asked. Jeff Kerr decided to take a look at the top available player at each position. Let’s check out who’s still on the market on the offensive side of the ball. 

QB: Aaron Rodgers
RB: J.K. Dobbins
WR: Stefon Diggs
TE: Tyler Conklin
OT: Joe Noteboom 
C: David Andrews
OG: Teven Jenkins

NFL teams are always trying to get younger, so you probably won’t be surprised to learn that five of the seven players on this list are already 30 or will be 30 by the time the 2025 season starts. If you want to check out the best remaining defensive free agents, you can do there here. On Friday, we’ll be closing out the week by taking a look at the top 10 free agents who are still available. 

5. Why the Falcons kept Kirk Cousins: The decision actually made some sense

Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot spent the offseason saying that his team would NOT be releasing Kirk Cousins, and he wasn’t kidding. Although there was some speculation that Cousins might be released, the Falcons ended up holding on to him even though he had a $10 million roster bonus for 2026 that became fully guaranteed as of 4 p.m. ET on Saturday (Cousins was going to be entitled to the bonus if he was still on the roster, and of course, he’s still on the roster). 

So why did the Falcons end up holding on to Cousins? It make sense for two seasons:

• He could be trade bait. The Falcons signed Cousins to a contract that included $90 million in guaranteed money, so if they had cut him, he would have gotten the $90 million for one year and the Falcons would have gotten nothing in return. By keeping Cousins, the Falcons have now put themselves in a spot where they COULD get something in return. If a QB gets injured this year or if a team finds itself in desperate need of a QB, the Falcons would be in a spot where they could trade Cousins for decent draft compensation. The only problem with this possible plan is that Cousins has a no-trade clause, so he could potentially veto any deal. That being said, if he wants to be a starter somewhere and his options are “get traded or be the Falcons backup” then he might willing to waive his no-trade clause. 
• The Falcons likely didn’t care about Cousins’ $10 million roster bonus. Cousins had a $10 million roster bonus that became guaranteed on March 15, but that money isn’t due to him until March 2026. The Falcons could keep him for one more season and then let Cousins test free agency in 2026. If Cousins did that and signed a deal worth more than $10 million with another team, the Falcons would likely owe him nothing due to offsets (If you’re wondering how offsets work, here’s an example: If Cousins signed a $1 million contract with another team next offseason, then the Falcons would still own him $9 million so that he gets the full $10 million. If a team paid him $8 million for 2026, then the Falcons would owe him $2 million. If another team paid him $10 million or more, then the Falcons would owe him nothing). 

Quarterbacks are a valuable commodity in the NFL, so it wouldn’t have made sense for the Falcons to just let Cousins walk away. It will certainly be awkward if he’s still on the roster come Week 1, so it won’t be surprising at all if he ends up getting traded, but for now, he’s still on Atlanta’s roster sitting right behind Michael Penix Jr. on the depth chart. 

The Browns are apparently ready to pounce on Cousins if he ever gets released, but it’s unclear if they’d be willing to make a trade for him. 

6. Extra points: Longtime Eagles defender announces retirement

It’s been a busy 24 hours the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.

• Eagles’ Brandon Graham hanging up his cleats: The veteran defensive end announced his retirement from the NFL after 15 seasons on Tuesday. Graham won two Super Bowl championships with the Eagles, joining Lane Johnson, Rick Lovato and Jake Elliott. You can check out what Graham had to say and what his future holds here.   
• Lane Johnson lands one-year extension. Johnson has been the anchor of the Eagles’ offensive line since 2013 and he’s going to be sticking around for a few more years. Johnson agreed to terms on a one-year extension this week, which means his contract now runs through 2027. The biggest upside for the 34-year-old with the new deal is that he’s getting an extra $30 million in guaranteed money. You can see the full details of the deal here. 
• Eagles add a linebacker from a division rival. The Eagles landed one of the top available pass rushers on Monday by signing Azeez Ojulari to a one-year deal that’s worth up to $4 million. Ojulari had six sacks in just 11 games for the Giants last season, but he’s struggled to stay healthy. In 2024, he missed six games due to a toe injury. We’ve got more on Ojulari’s signing here. 
• Dolphins set to sign for Steelers’ first-round pick. The Dolphins have added some depth at cornerback in the form of Artie Burns. The 29-year-old is headed to Miami after spending his past three seasons in Seattle, where he started just one game for the Seahawks. Burns has been mostly a role player since entering the NFL in 2016 when the Steelers made him the 25th overall pick in the NFL Draft.
• Steelers bring in some safety help. After two seasons in Cleveland, former Browns safety Juan Thornhill is jumping ship and heading to Pittsburgh. The 29-year-old has agreed to terms on a one-year deal and we’ve got the full details here.