Welcome to The Athletic’s third annual NFL team free-agency rankings.

We launched this project three years ago in an attempt to answer a brief yet complex question: Does free agency really matter? Every year, the buzz around free agency only seems to grow. As the salary cap increases, so do the contracts. Winners and losers are declared by the end of March. Our goal was to take a data-driven dive into how much value teams are getting out of free agency. This year’s negotiation window kicks off Monday at noon ET, and there is sure to be plenty of player movement.

Using contract figures from Over the Cap, we determined the amount of cash spent on each of 970 free-agent signings over the past four seasons — 2021 through 2024. In 2023, we started the project with three years of data, 2020 through 2022. We added a fourth year of data in 2024, including the signings from the 2023 offseason to produce a four-year window. Now we are moving that four-year window forward, from 2021 through 2024. Even when players sign contracts of more than four years, they very rarely play on the fifth year of that contract. The cap hits inflate by that stage of a contract. There is typically little to no guaranteed money left. By that point, players will usually either sign extensions or be off the team, either by release or trade.

Kansas City Chiefs guard Joe Thuney, one of the most productive signings over the last four years, is a good example. He signed a five-year deal in 2021. He played on that deal for four years. And he was then traded to the Chicago Bears this week before he played on the fifth year of the contract for Kansas City.

For our study, we only included free-agent signings who received at least $1 million in cash. Players who were signed after the start of the regular season were not included. This is a study focused on the offseason portion of free agency. Players who re-signed with a team were also not included. The cash number was calculated only for the seasons in which a player was on his free-agent contract. If a player signed an extension, we stopped counting the cash the year the extension went into effect.

Once we had the cash amounts, we needed to cross reference against some sort of value statistic. Football does not yet have a publicly accessible all-encompassing value statistic like Wins Above Replacement in baseball. However, Pro Football Reference has a statistic called Approximate Value (AV) that is about as close as we can get. It is not perfect, and that is something to keep in mind when reviewing the results of our study. For instance, blocking tight ends are undervalued by the statistic. Pro Football Reference describes AV as “an attempt to put a single number on the seasonal value of a player at any position from any year (since 1960).” You can find a full explanation for how AV is calculated here.

We input cash spending for all 970 free agents signed between 2021 and 2024. We also input AV produced for each player while he was on his free-agent deal.

Once we had the data, we could organize it in various ways. We can sort by total AV produced to see which teams have gotten the most value out of free agents over the past four seasons, regardless of the money spent. We can sort by cash spent to see which teams were most active in free agency.

Divide the approximate value by the millions of cash spent, and you end up with how much approximate value each team produced per million spent — an indication of which teams have been most efficient in free agency over the past four seasons.

We can also sort the free agents individually to see which players produced the most total AV, as well as which players produced the most AV per $1 million cash earned.

Let’s jump in.

These tables can be sorted by clicking on the header of each column. The total AV will show the teams that generated the most value out of free agency. The cash spent will show who has spent the most money. The AV per million will show the teams that spent most efficiently in free agency. To the far right, you can see where each team ranked in last year’s rankings covering the 2020 through 2023 free-agency cycles.

The Cincinnati Bengals led the total AV category in last year’s rankings, but they fell this year after the AV from a very successful 2020 free agency moved outside our four-year window. They signed defensive lineman D.J. Reader and safety Vonn Bell in 2020, both of whom produced 20 or more AV over their free-agent contracts.

The Houston Texans moved from second last year to first this year in total AV. General manager Nick Caserio had taken a very measured approach to free agency over his first three seasons on the job, starting in 2021. He shopped in the lower and middle markets to take more swings on players. That changed in 2024 after the Texans won a playoff game in quarterback C.J. Stroud’s rookie season. Houston had not spent more than $12 million in cash on any free-agent contract from 2021 to 2023. They spent more than $12 million in cash on two free agents in one free agency period in 2024 — edge rusher Danielle Hunter ($29.5 million) and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair ($12.57 million). A sign of the Texans moving to a new phase of the team build. Hunter and Al-Shaair produced 17 AV combined in 2024.

Another team that made a notable jump in total AV was the Minnesota Vikings. From 2020 to 2023, the Vikings produced 109 total AV on free-agent contracts, which ranked 21st league-wide. They nearly doubled that number in the 2021 though 2024 window, moving into second place. Quarterback Sam Darnold’s breakout season was a part of that. But the Vikings were very aggressive elsewhere in free agency last offseason. Their 2024 free agency class — highlighted by running back Aaron Jones and edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, along with Darnold — produced 80 total AV last season.

The bottom four teams in total AV are the same as last year’s rankings: the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. The Rams choose to spend their cash more often on trade market pieces. The most recent example of that was guard Kevin Dotson, whom they traded for in August 2023. Dotson then re-signed on a three-year, $48 million in March 2024.

The Cowboys spent by far the lowest amount of cash on free-agent contracts in the 2021 to 2024 window at $34.648 million. Dallas ranked 31st in cash spending in the 2020 to 2023 window, ahead of the Packers. But Green Bay jumped the Cowboys in the 2021 to 2024 window after an uncharacteristically aggressive 2024 free agency window. The Packers spent less than $21 million in total cash on free agents in the 2020 to 2023 window. In 2024, they spent $25.038 million in cash on safety Xavier McKinney and $14.77 million in cash on running back Josh Jacobs.

Sort by AV per million, though, and the Cowboys, Packers and Bucs rank first, second and third. The Bucs got great value out of a one-year deal for quarterback Baker Mayfield in 2023. In 2024, they got similarly good value out of free-agent guard Ben Bredeson, who played well over 1,000 offensive snaps last season.

The Rams have taken bigger swings in free agency and have not gotten good value in return. Receiver Allen Robinson in 2022 is one example. Last offseason, they paid $16.5 million in cash for guard Jonah Jackson, who suffered an injury in Week 2 and only played 266 offensive snaps. The Rams traded Jackson to the Bears this week.

The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles made a big jump in AV per million from last year’s rankings, moving from ninth in the 2020 to 2023 window to fourth in the 2021 through 2024 window. That was largely a function of one of the most successful free agency seasons in recent NFL history. General manager Howie Roseman paid $15 million in cash for running back Saquon Barkley, and he had a 2,000-yard rushing season. He paid $4.5 million in cash for linebacker Zack Baun, who made first-team All-Pro. Barkley and Baun each produced 18 AV. He paid $4.661 million for Mekhi Becton, who made the move inside to guard and was a starting piece on perhaps the best offensive line in football.

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The Eagles played the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game. Washington’s run was spurred by a fascinating 2024 free agency. In the 2020 to 2023 window, Washington produced 138 total AV on free-agent contracts. That jumped to 173 in the 2021 to 2024 window and moved the Commanders into the top 10 in total AV. First-year general manager Adam Peters signed 21 free agents that fit the parameters for our study, averaging just under $5 million per signing. Those 21 players produced 96 AV. It was reminiscent of Caserio’s 2021 offseason after he got the job in Houston. The Texans signed 25 free agents that offseason, averaging a little under $3 million in cash per signing, and that group produced 70 AV in Year 1. Peters got more production out of his debut free-agent class, and they helped push the Commanders to the brink of the Super Bowl. Hitting on quarterback Jayden Daniels was obviously the most important part of that turnaround.

Now let’s dive a little deeper into some player specifics.

Thuney produced by far the most total AV of any free-agent signing during the 2021 to 2024 window at 45. No other player was above 30. And there was no other player besides Thuney above 30 during the 2020 to 2023 window, either. It came at a cost, of course, as the Chiefs spent $64 million in cash.

Ultimately, it is precarious shopping at the top of the market. In Thuney’s case, the Chiefs got equitable value for their cash spent. But there are far more cautionary tales among the top cash earners. We’ve detailed some of these deals in previous years: the Los Angeles Chargers signing J.C. Jackson in 2022 ($38.4 million in cash for 2 AV); the Las Vegas Raiders signing Jimmy Garoppolo in 2023 ($24.07 million for 2 AV); the Denver Broncos singing Randy Gregory in 2022 ($26.66 million for 3 AV); and the New York Giants signing Kenny Golladay in 2021 ($40.5 million in cash for 5 AV).

The Atlanta Falcons, more recently, paid $62.5 million in cash in 2024 for quarterback Kirk Cousins, who produced 10 AV before being benched for Michael Penix Jr. The Raiders paid $29.21 million in cash for Christian Wilkins in 2024 for 2 AV. Wilkins suffered a season-ending injury in Week 5.

The opportunity for efficient value is more prevalent on cheaper deals. The Steelers paid $1.2 million for 11 starts from quarterback Russell Wilson, and they made the playoffs. Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz signed three players — center Bradley Bozeman, defensive lineman Poona Ford and running back J.K. Dobbins — who cracked the top 15 in single-season AV per million for 2024. Ford and Dobbins both vastly outperformed their cheap one-year deals. Bozeman was not particularly great, but he gave the Chargers 1,057 offensive snaps for $1.125 million in cash.

The Eagles, Vikings, Packers and Commanders accounted for nine of the top 10 2024 free agents in total AV. The only other team in that top 10: the Baltimore Ravens, who paid $11 million in cash for over 2,100 scrimmage yards and 18 total touchdowns from Derrick Henry.

So what are the takeaways?

Teams should be very, very selective in who they decide to invest in at the top of the free-agent market. Odds are that a team will not get an equitable return on value when they pay at that level.

The more efficient option is searching for value at lower cost, and there are upside plays in every class. Baun and Ford are just the most recent examples.

And for QB-needy teams: Paying top dollar for free-agent quarterbacks, like the Falcons did with Cousins and the New Orleans Saints did with Derek Carr in 2023, can be detrimental. That’s something to keep in mind for the 2025 Darnold market. It makes more sense to take fliers on cheaper quarterbacks with potential. In 2023, it was Mayfield. In 2024, it was Darnold. Who will it be in 2025?

(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; photos: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images, Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)