The 2026 NFL free agency period is winding down, and it brought a bevy of high-profile changes to pretty much every team in the league.
Now, it’s a good time to take a step back and look at what changes were made in NFL free agency. These moves will impact what teams do at the upcoming NFL draft, which takes place in April in Pittsburgh.
NFL analysts and experts are now grading each team’s moves and judging the effectiveness of those roster changes. In a Friday, February 13 feature for NBC Sports, Kyle Dvorchak grades each NFL team’s free agency moves.
“With the legal tampering period giving teams free rein to start free agency early, most of the big names have found new homes,” he notes in the feature. “Now that the first few waves are behind us, this is how each team grades out from free agency and any recent trades.”
For the Los Angeles Rams, he has some criticism for them and gives them a C.
“The Rams' secondary was gutted in free agency, with nearly 1,500 defensive snaps at cornerback alone retiring, signing elsewhere, or remaining unsigned,” he notes in the piece. “They addressed this by trading the No. 29 pick, 2026 fifth and sixth-round picks, and a 2027 third-rounder for Chiefs corner Trent McDuffie. They then signed McDuffie to a four-year, $124 million extension.”
He adds that while McDuffie is a “certified star,” the criticism comes because Dvorchak is “never a fan of paying a king’s ransom in draft capital for the right to pay a king's ransom in cap space.”
So, in conclusion, Dvorchak adds, “After landing McDuffie, the Rams reunited him with Jaylen Watson on a three-year deal. Watson is battle-tested as McDuffie's CB2. If it ain't broke, etc., etc. I like the ideas here, but the McDuffie price is simply too high for my taste.”
2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
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