Things calmed down a bit on Day 4 of NFL Free Agency. We’ve seen a slew of previously reported moves become official, but the big names weren’t flying away like earlier in the week. Darius Slayton joined the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears made a few sneaky signings with tight end Robert Tonyan and running back D’Onta Foreman. Foreman is the third former Panther to join the Bears this offseason!
There is still a long way to go when it comes to free agency. Who won and who lost around the NFL on Thursday? We’ll take a look.
Since Monday: Winners and losers of day 1
From Tuesday on : Winners and losers of day 2
From Wednesday: Winners and losers of day 3
The NFL world thought Slay was leaving the Eagles after three successful seasons. But Howie Roseman broke down the door at the eleventh hour. After a weird Wednesday night full of tweets and cryptic reports, Slay accepted a two-year extension Thursday. He reportedly got a three-year, $42 million deal, with $23 million fully guaranteed. Slay is happy, the Eagles are happy and the defense is retaining its top two cornerbacks after signing James Bradberry to a three-year contract earlier in the week.
CJGJ is CBS Sports NFL Senior Writer Pete Prisco Free agent No. 18 in this class – and many would probably rank it higher. He just completed a career year with the Eagles after being traded from the New Orleans Saints, recording 67 combined tackles, eight assists defended and six interceptions – which was tied for the top of the league. He accomplished all this in just 12 games played!
Spotrac’s market value tool projects Gardner-Johnson will sign a five-year, $66,658,780 contract that carries an AAV of $13.3 million. However, maybe the market is not so sweet. On Thursday afternoon, he tweeted and then deleted, “The disrespect is real!”
The Eagles have already lost several starters on defense, but also retained a few key players such as Fletcher Cox, Bradberry and Slay. There’s no doubt that Philly would love to keep Gardner-Johnson, but you have to wonder how that’s possible. You must also ask yourself how much money CJGJ will receive.
Thursday didn’t seem like a great day for him, but maybe this weekend will bring some good news.
Winner: Giants
In every class of free agency, there are a few under-the-radar names that many believe will generate significant interest in the open market. One such player for some was former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Parris Campbell. While the former Ohio State second-round pick struggled with injuries in his early NFL seasons, he bounced back in 2022 by finally playing all 17 games and establishing a career stat line of 63 catches, 623 yards and three touchdowns. The Giants grabbed him on Thursday to bolster their wide receiving corps.
NFL Media reports that Campbell received a $1.5 million signing bonus and his base salary of $1.4 million is fully guaranteed. He will receive a training bonus of $100,000 and $100,000 for each active game (up to $1.7 million in total). Campbell is also offering incentives of up to $1.9 million. That could be a good sneaky signing. Other fanbases wanted this guy.
After this development, the Giants reported Darius Slayton on a two-year contract worth a maximum of $16.5 million. He was New York’s leading receiver last year, and someone Daniel Jones wanted to keep in the fold.
Loser: NFL Free Agency
While the NFL usually dominates the headlines all year, Thursday was not the case. Thursday was about the HOOKS. It started at noon. Maryland overcame an absurdly slow start to edge West Virginia in a thriller, No. 4 seed Virginia fell to No. 13 seed Furman on a last-second three-pointer and Arizona No. 2 was thwarted by No. 15 Princeton in a game that broke a lot of parentheses – March Madness lived up to its billing. There have been close matches all day, and Friday promises to provide more. Sorry, NFL. You’re going to need Tom Brady coming out of retirement again to steal the show.
The Atlanta Falcons indicated last week that they were not interested in pursuing Lamar Jackson, and they sued this week in signature former Washington Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke. The fan favorite has started 25 career regular season games, but said Thursday he was in Atlanta to be “the best backup I can be for Desmond.” by The Athletic. If there was a question about it, Ridder should be the Falcons starter in 2023.
