Free Agency Winners and Losers

NFL free agency officially opened last Wednesday (with the legal tampering window opening two days before), and many fantasy-relevant players have found a new team. Let’s break down the biggest winners and losers of the last week:

WINNERS

1. Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan – Once McMillan returned from a preseason neck injury in 2025, Egbuka failed to top a 58.2% snap rate in any game. McMillan never played more than 55.2% of snaps, as Tampa Bay’s two young receivers duked it out for one spot while Mike Evans held a monster role (0.29 targets per route run). With Evans gone, Egbuka and McMillan should both graduate into full-time roles on the outside. Chris Godwin also benefits from the lack of target competition, but he struggled last season (7.1 yards per target) and now heads into his age-30 season.
2. Javonte Williams – Javonte technically avoided free agency after Dallas inked him to a three-year, $24 million extension before the legal tampering period began, but the Cowboys made no additional moves at running back and look set to run back their 2025 RB rotation for the upcoming season. That bodes well for Williams, who was averaging 16.5 carries per game before a late-season shoulder ailment forced Malik Davis into a larger role.
3. Kenneth Walker III – Walker signed a three-year, $43.1 million deal with $28.7 million guaranteed on the first day of free agency and will immediately assume lead-back duties for Kansas City. The Chiefs’ offense has uncharacteristically struggled over the last two seasons, and Patrick Mahomes is uncertain for Week 1 coming off an ACL tear. But Mahomes should be out there for the home stretch, and Walker should dominate carries in K.C. The Chiefs’ decision to spend big money on a running back could indicate that they plan to run the ball more in 2026 after finishing second in Pass Rate Over Expectation in 2025 and first in 2024. While Walker hasn’t consistently played on third downs throughout his career, he should at least get the short-yardage role for the Chiefs; that role belonged to Zach Charbonnet in Seattle.
4. Travis Etienne – Etienne signed a four-year, $52 million deal to become the Saints’ new starting running back. Tyler Shough was a revelation for New Orleans over the second half of the season, and even if the New Orleans offense isn’t always efficient in 2026, Kellen Moore guarantees they will at least play fast (the Saints led the league in seconds per snap in 2025). Etienne has three 1,000-yard seasons under his belt with 35+ receptions all four years of his career. We’ll see what happens with Alvin Kamara, as Etienne’s new contract locks him in as the bellcow.
5. Alec Pierce, Tyler Warren, and Josh Downs – Pierce is the big winner after getting a $116 million contract in free agency. Colts beat Stephen Holder said he could get 8-10 targets per game without Michael Pittman Jr., an almost certainly absurd projection, but it’s practically a lock he sets a new career high in targets per game in 2026. Pierce has also led the league in yards per catch in two straight seasons as one of the NFL’s premier deep threats. Warren and Downs benefit simply from the decreased target competition sans Pittman; he had a 20.4% target share in 2025. It’s possible Downs sees a snaps uptick too with Indianapolis currently lacking a proven second outside WR (Ashton Dulin is the outside WR2 behind Pierce right now), but they still have time to address that need before the season starts.