8 takeaways on the early days of NFL free agency

The NFL's 2022 free-agency extravaganza is off and running. Now that all new contracts can be made official, let's take a look at some of the early returns on all of this wheeling and dealing.

The Deshaun Watson effect

Much of the NFL world is fixated on the fate of Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and where he might be traded. All signs now point to the Saints, Panthers, and Falcons as possible landing spots.

It must be stressed that even though Watson will not be criminally charged, he still faces civil complaints from nearly two dozen women who accused him of sexual misconduct. There are real people involved in this, in ways that extend well beyond football. This fact will follow Watson wherever he goes, and commissioner Roger Goodell could still hand him a lengthy suspension at any time.

Goodell's application of justice can be quite arbitrary, but there is a precedent here: Ezekiel Elliott and Ben Roethlisberger were suspended for six games after facing respective allegations of abuse and sexual impropriety against women, although Rosthelisberger's penalty was eventually reduced to four games after an appeal.

Nonetheless, wherever Watson winds up ought to kick-start the next steps for quarterbacks like Jimmy Garoppolo, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, and Matt Ryan. Oh, and speaking of Ryan …

What are the Falcons doing?

Atlanta still has Ryan under contract for two more years, and it reportedly restructured his deal (read: pushed even more of the cap consequences into the future) to lower Ryan's potential 2022 cap hit by $12 million. But wait!

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported Thursday that Ryan's contract restructure hasn't actually happened, which would mean Ryan is still on the books for 2022 with a record cap charge of $48.66 million. At the same time, the Falcons are also wooing Watson and even had the Gainesville, Georgia, native in for a visit Wednesday. Tight end Kyle Pitts then tweeted (and deleted): "It's about to get scary in Atlanta." Connecting the dots here, it seems Atlanta is setting things up to trade Ryan (and a package of draft picks) to Houston for Watson.

But here's the rub: Ryan is due to collect a $7.5-million roster bonus Friday. If the Falcons manage to trade him before Friday, they'll be stuck with a dead cap hit of $40.025 million. If they trade him any time after Friday, that dead cap charge jumps to $48.025 million. Watson's salary, incidentally, is $35 million, though the Falcons would presumably restructure that in some way to avoid having Ryan and Watson account for anywhere from $75 million to $83 million on this year's cap, which is $208.2 million.

As all of this is happening, mind you, the Falcons' depth chart at wide receiver currently includes Olamide Zaccheaus, Frank Darby, and ... that's it. It's safe to say Atlanta needs to get this QB bookkeeping sorted soon.

Chargers load up on defense

Los Angeles has one of the league's most talented young quarterbacks in Justin Herbert. Yet it missed the playoffs in 2021 because it had a defense that ranked 26th in DVOA, including 19th against the pass and 30th versus the run. And now it has to contend with Patrick Mahomes, Derek Carr, and Russell Wilson in the AFC West.

The Chargers attacked this problem by trading for edge rusher Khalil Mack and by signing cornerback J.C. Jackson and defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day. Mack is 31, and even though he played in just seven games last season because of a foot injury, he still managed six sacks. His contract isn't onerous - cap hits of roughly $23 million in 2022 and 2023, with nothing guaranteed - and he'll make for a nice pass-rushing bookend along with Joey Bosa.

According to PFF, Jackson had the second-lowest passer rating allowed among all cornerbacks (47.8), in the season after Stephon Gilmore departed from the Patriots. Joseph-Day accounted for three sacks in only seven games played with the Rams last year because of a pectoral injury, but in 2020 he ranked 14th among interior defenders in run defense grades - a role he'll be counted on to fill for the Chargers.

What's next for Baker Mayfield?

The Browns are out of the running for Watson, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, but their pursuit of him created a mess with incumbent QB Baker Mayfield.

ESPN's Jake Trotter reported that Cleveland never informed Mayfield of its planned flirtation with Watson, although Garafolo indicated the team had told Mayfield's agents at the combine that "they'd only explore top-tier QBs such as Watson." No matter: Mayfield tweeted an open letter Tuesday that sounded an awful lot like a goodbye. A day later, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that the Browns wanted an "adult" at quarterback and that they could be making eyes at Garoppolo. Mortensen has since doubled down on that in a radio interview while also saying that others in the Browns building don't view Mayfield that way.

Mayfield has one year remaining on his rookie contract, at the fifth-year option rate of $18.9 million (cash and cap). Now that his agent has reportedly made a formal trade request, will the Browns relent and deal him to, say, the Colts?

Jags spend big ... again

The Jaguars opened their wallets again, first by placing the franchise tag on left tackle Cam Robinson, then by adding right guard Brandon Scherff, wideout Christian Kirk (at an average annual salary of $18 million), tight end Evan Engram, wideout Zay Jones, cornerback Darious Williams, linebacker Foyesade Oluokun, and defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi.

On the one hand, it's imperative for Jacksonville to surround quarterback Trevor Lawrence with a support system as he enters Year 2 of his rookie deal. On the other, the Jags are a league-worst 15-50 in the four seasons since they reached the AFC Championship Game, and this is the fourth time in the last five offseasons they've ranked in the top 10 in contractual guarantees handed to free agents. Just last year, GM Trent Baalke doled out more than $86 million in guarantees to free agents, according to Spotrac, which was second only to the Patriots' $155 million. The difference? New England won 10 games with its rookie QB, while the Jags won two with the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Past is not prologue, and new head coach Doug Pederson has nothing to do with the franchise's history of face-planting. But if Jacksonville is going to salvage Lawrence - and, in turn, its organizational future for the next several years - it's going to need these big investments to start paying off in 2022.

Bengals do what was necessary

Cincinnati's primary mission entering the offseason was to find a way to protect quarterback Joe Burrow, who was last seen guiding the franchise within a field goal of winning the Super Bowl despite winding up on his back on pretty much every other play.

Lo and behold, the Bengals made huge strides in this regard as soon as the negotiating window opened Monday. They locked down guards Alex Cappa of the Bucs and Ted Karras of the Patriots and did so without having to break the bank. It landed Cappa with a commitment of only $11 million fully guaranteed and Karras with a mere $5 million in virtual guarantees.

Throw in the fact the Bengals used the franchise tag on safety Jessie Bates III in addition to retaining defensive lineman B.J. Hill - who they acquired last year for a seventh-round pick - and it's seriously starting to look like this is a team that's built to sustain its success.

Having a QB like Burrow certainly helps, but so does prioritizing the opportunity to build around him with the cap space afforded by his cost-controlled rookie contract.

Steelers and Trubisky

Pittsburgh entered the offseason in the unfamiliar position of having to find a quarterback while also having cap space to spend. Its decision to add Mitchell Trubisky, the Bills' backup last season and the No. 2 overall pick in 2017, should not be viewed as a long-term answer.

Trubisky's limitations - particularly when it comes to accuracy - are well known. But the Steelers didn't invest much in him - a reported two years and $14 million with incentives that can bring that number as high as $27 million - and it's important to consider what's not known about the contract details.

• Other than for Roethlisberger and T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh typically does not guarantee any money in contracts beyond the first year. Knowing this, it's likely Trubisky will be given every opportunity to compete for the starting job, with his contract structured in a way that if he flops, the team can move on next year with no cap consequences.

• It's been several days since Trubisky and the Steelers came to terms, but the exact details of the contract's structure have yet to make it to the public. This is likely an indication that the guarantees and the Year 1 cash are not as much as one might think. Otherwise, his agent would have surely leaked that info as soon as possible.

• Incentives are often tied to playing time and postseason success, so if Trubisky indeed winds up earning $27 million, Steelers fans will be very happy with him. That's a very big if, of course.

In light of all this, there's nothing that might prevent Pittsburgh from drafting another quarterback this spring, assuming the franchise actually wants to take anyone available.

More waiting in Green Bay

But it has nothing to do with Aaron Rodgers this time! Rodgers is under contract for at least two more years - with modest cap figures by quarterback standards of $28.3 million in 2022 and $31.6 million in 2023 - followed by a deadline for an option and salary guarantee that ought to serve as a deadline for whether he'll return in 2024.

As predicted, Packers fans might not want to look at what Rodgers' cap number will look like in 2025 and 2026, when he may no longer be on the roster. But the more immediate concern is wideout Davante Adams, who made it clear he would not play on the franchise tag that comes with a payment of $20.1 million for 2022. As a result, the Packers shipped Adams to Las Vegas on Thursday night, which saved them from having to clear room under the cap to sign him.

Adams had been a kind of security blanket for Rodgers: He accounted for nearly 30% of all of Green Bay's targeted throws in 2021. The Packers' next steps to fill that hole - perhaps by using some of the draft capital they're getting from the Raiders - will be fascinating.

Dom Cosentino is a senior features writer at theScore.