The first round of the annual NFL Arms Race Bonanza comes to an end. The 2021 franchise tag period ended on Tuesday, with teams around the league scrambling until the deadline to come to an agreement with their most valuable free agents for one more year.
And as with every game of Player & Team Musical Chairs, there have to be winners and losers. So with the 2021 franchise tag deadline in the rear view mirror, let’s look at how these suitors did:
Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Well, that worked about as well as it could.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers matured in a hurry didn't they? Not only did the Bucs manage to win a Super Bowl in Tom Brady’s first year of influence on them, but they are finally getting to enjoy the reputation of being the NFL champs without abusing their newfound clout.
It remains to be seen how the tagging of wide receiver stud Chris Godwin will affect negotiations with defensive lynchpin Shaq Barrett, but Tampa managed to kill three birds with one $16 million stone: keeping Brady’s weapons intact, saving money on a WR1-level talent, and keeping drama out of the locker room.
No doubt Godwin would have received kingly offers on the open market for his talent alone. Getting him to buy into what is essentially a less stable pay cut speaks to both the relationship that Tampa has with him and the goodwill that the Buccaneers brass have bought themselves within the organization.
This was a smart, no-nonsense, stable move by Tampa Bay that shows they know where to spend their money (*cough cough* keep Barrett *cough cough*). Solid win here.
Loser: New Orleans Saints
Having the Saints in the loser column implies that they had a chance to be winners during this first part of the 2021 offseason.
Let’s be honest: there was no way that they could possibly win.
New Orleans is about to get hit with the cap space stick really hard after living it up for the past few NFL seasons. And while keeping Marcus Williams is a necessity for the Saints to at least keep treading the water in the near future, at least one of their units is bound to get absolutely gutted coming into this next season.
This 2021 NFL season is going to be rough.
Winner: Green Bay Packers
Honestly, from the optics, everyone in Green Bay looks to come out on top at the end of this offseason
Win-win scenarios almost never happen in sports, let alone negotiations, but think about how the move to not tag Aaron Jones shook out.
For Jones: he either gets to play for a guaranteed playoff team in Green Bay for what can be assumed to be a slight pay cut, or he gets paid on the open market.
For Aaron Rodgers: either Green Bay strokes his considerable ego coming off a career year for the superstar signal-caller by putting the keys to the offense squarely in his hands, or he gets one of his favorite toys back at enough of a discount to possibly sign another playmaker or protector for him.
And for Green Bay: no matter what Jones decides to do in free agency, they save money, enough to invest with renewed faith in their offense and its leaders.
Winners all around, baby.
Losers: NFC East Quarterbacks
So let’s set up the NFC East landscape coming into 2021:
The Eagles have turmoil in the front office, uncertainty at quarterback, and injuries all over the offense. The Washington Football Team is also unclear at quarterback (who, at best, will be the ghost-seer Sam Darnold) and bereft of weapons. And Dallas’ quarterback comes back to a team with no morale, no defense, with 1.5 ankles (too soon?).
Moreover, there is also the New York Giants coming back reloaded with one of the best DT’s in the league, who recorded 11.5 sacks for one of the league’s top defense last season (on a second ‘prove it’ contract?).
Yikes. Leonard Williams is about to feast this season.
Winner: 
There is a scene in the classic film “Shawshank Redemption” where Andy Dufresne finally breaks out of prison after years and years of abuse.
He crawls out of a sewage pipe, stands in the rain, and just screams. In triumph, in unbridled grief, in freedom. Beautiful scene.
What does that have to do with Kenny Golladay finally getting out of Detroit? Take a guess.
Loser: Jared Goff
See above.
The NFL offseason is always an event. It’s a glorious marathon of spending and excess, of pure hope and despair with absolutely zero context.
These winners and losers, in the din and smoke and chaos of this year’s arms race, may very well change before the beginning of next season. But for now, the dance is over. For a little bit.
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