The NFL free agency frenzy has concluded. The middle weeks of March changed the trajectories of many NFL franchises. The Giants, Bears, Broncos, Falcons, and Saints were the most active teams in the free agent market, all strengthing their rosters in hopes of making a playoff run in 2023.
There were a few big names who signed with new teams, like Javon Hargrave, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Derek Carr. Others were traded like Darren Waller and Jalen Ramsey, while some signed lucrative extensions like Danny Dimes and Geno Smith.
Some of these moves were shrewd, while others were vacuous. With that said, here are the biggest winners and losers from NFL free agency.
Loser: Philadelphia Eagles
The biggest loser of the NFL offseason? The Philadelphia Eagles, and that is a great thing for the rest of the NFC East. After falling just short of winning their second Super Bowl in franchise history (friendly reminder that Eli Manning has double the amount of rings the Eagles franchise has), the birds offensive coordinator Shane Steichen became the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and their defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon became the head of the Arizona Cardinals.
The Eagles had limited cap space to work with this offseason, which led key starters to find new homes. The birds lost five defensive starters: Hargrave, TJ Edwards, Marcus Epps, Kyzir White, and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. Philly also lost two offensive starters Miles Saunders and Isaac Seumalo, as well as key offensive backups Andre Dillard, Gardner Minshew, and Zach Pascal.
Jalen Hurts had a tremendous 2022 season, but also had the league's strongest roster around him. That won’t be the case in 2023, so he will have to shoulder a heavy load if the Eagles want to make another deep postseason run. The birds were able to re-sign many veteran players, but the roster is significantly worse than it was a season ago. For that reason, Philly is a big loser.