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NFL Free Agency & the Quarterback Solar System
The league has dictated that only three positions are worth paying for, but is this the right approach?
NFL free agency was created from a lawsuit filed by players (namely Hall of Famer Reggie White) against the league in an effort to have more control over where they played. Before the landmark decision in 1993 that opened the world of free agency and the salary cap, players were tied to the team that drafted them for better or worse unless the team released them. Over thirty years later, player movement is at an all-time high as we have seen from the free agency period in the NFL this off-season.
The flurry of moves has seen household names like Keenan Allen, Saquon Barkley, Austin Ekeler, and Calvin Ridley all change teams. We have seen teams make decisions centered around who to keep and who to let sign elsewhere. The New York Giants, Saquon Barkley’s old team, made the decision to let him and safety Xavier McKinney sign with other teams while choosing to trade for edge rusher Brian Burns from the Carolina Panthers, giving him a new five year contract in the process. The league has made it clear this offseason that only three things matter for success: finding the right quarterback, protecting said quarterback, and having someone that put pressure on the other team’s quarterback.
