NFL free agency came in like a lion and is going out like a lamb in the 2023 NFL offseason. There are still players left on the market, but most of the big moves are complete. And while there are some teams that won in free agency this year, we also have to discuss the NFL free agency losers, such as the Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, and Arizona Cardinals.
Below are the five biggest losers of NFL free agency this year. These teams haven’t signed many impactful free agents to help fill holes and lost several of their own key players.
While these teams are losers for now, that isn’t the kiss of death for the 2023 season. In 2022, teams like the Atlanta Falcons were deemed losers and they did struggle, finishing 7-10. However, teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs were also “losers,” and they made the playoffs and won the Super Bowl, respectively.
With that in mind, here are the free agency losers of the 2023 NFL offseason so far.
Minnesota Vikings
Top free agents signed: DE Marcus Davenport, CB Byron Murphy, TE Josh Oliver, LB Troy Reeder
Top free agents re-signed: C Garrett Bradbury, RB Alexander Mattison, QB Nick Mullens, K Greg Joseph
Key losses: WR Adam Thielen (Panthers), DT Dalvin Tomlinson (Browns), CB Patrick Peterson (Steelers), LB Eric Kendricks (Chargers)
The Vikings took a major hit, losing a handful of key veterans who have been on the roster for years. Adam Thielen, Dalvin Tomlinson, CB Patrick Peterson, and LB Eric Kendricks have 21 combined seasons in purple and are all gone now.
The team did do a good job re-signing some of its key players, but the team’s salary cap, eaten up by QB Kirk Cousins, RB Dalvin Cook, and unhappy pass-rusher Za’Darius Smith (among others), just wouldn’t allow the team to keep everyone.
Baltimore Ravens
Top free agents signed: WR Nelson Aghlor
Top free agents re-signed: RB Justice Hill, CB Trayvon Mullen
Key losses: OG Ben Powers (Broncos)
Ben Powers is a big loss up front, but that’s not what really lands the Ravens on the NFL free-agency losers list. As you’ll notice above, not much has happened at all for the club. That’s because free agents — incoming and potentially re-signing — are reticent to join the team amid the Lamar Jackson drama.
The Ravens may not have a franchise quarterback next season, and even if they do, the organization sent a clear message to NFL players that it doesn’t treat its own very well by not taking care of Jackson long before it got to this point.
The other thing to note about Baltimore this NFL offseason is that veterans Marcus Peters, Calais Campbell, Justin Houston, Kyle Fuller, and Jason Pierre-Paul all remain unsigned. If all those players leave, the NFL free agency will look even worse.
Buffalo Bills
Top free agents signed: OG Connor McGovern, WR Deonte Hardy, WR Trent Sherfield, RB Damien Harris, QB Kyle Allen
Top free agents re-signed: S Jordan Poyer
Key losses: LB Tremaine Edmunds (Lions), RB Devin Singletary (Texans), WR Isaiah McKenzie (Colts), WR Jamison Crowder (Giants)
The big loss for the Bills this NFL offseason was 24-year-old linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, which did allow the team to keep 31-year-old Jordan Poyer. Outside of that, the Bills shuffled around skill position players, losing some OK ones and adding some decent ones in turn.
Buffalo’s big issue is that their roster just couldn’t match up with the Cincinnati Bengals at the end of the season, and the team hasn’t done anything yet to change that fact. That said, while it’s not an NFL free agency move if the team trades for disgruntled WR DeAndre Hopkins and drafts well, they could come out of the offseason as overall winners.
Arizona Cardinals
Top free agents signed: LB Kyzir White, OG Hjalte Froholdt, WR Zach Pascal
Top free agents re-signed: OG Will Hernandez, K Matt Prater, OT Kelvin Beachum
Key losses: DE Zach Allen (Broncos), OG Cody Ford (Bengals), CB Byron Murphy (Vikings), J.J. Watt (retired)
J.J. Watt retiring is the biggest blow to the Cardinals, but that’s not the only reason the team is on the NFL free agency losers list. They lost a ready-made Watt replacement in Zach Allen and haven’t brought many difference0makes in, although Kyzir White is a solid player.
This is a team that finished 4-13 last season, though, so little moves here and there aren’t going to change that. The team needs to make some big swings, which it can in the upcoming NFL draft, where they hold the No. 3 overall pick and can get more selections by trading Hopkins.
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