SI:AM | Biggest Moves From Day 1 of NFL Free Agency

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I was briefly distracted while writing this newsletter as Czechia held Japan scoreless through seven innings in the World Baseball Classic. But then Japan scored nine runs in the eighth, and I got to go about my business as usual.

In today’s SI:AM:
📝 NFL free agency begins
🏀 Men’s bracket watch
🇩🇴 Breakout WBC star

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Day 1 in the books

NFL free agency started with a bang yesterday. Teams found new quarterbacks, legends put off retirement and players got record contracts.

While teams can’t officially sign players to any contracts or execute any trades until the start of the new league year on Wednesday, several top players have agreed to new deals. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest moves.

Dolphins find their new QB

Miami didn’t take long to replace Tua Tagovailoa. Hours after releasing their former franchise quarterback, the Dolphins agreed to sign Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million deal.

It’s a sensible move with significant upside and little downside. Willis completed 85.7% of his passes and played well in limited action with the Packers last season, leading quarterback-needy teams around the league to believe he’s a starting-caliber QB. But he’s also very inexperienced, with only six NFL starts under his belt. If he plays anywhere close to how he did in Green Bay, then the Dolphins will have landed a quality quarterback at a bargain. If he struggles as he did early in his career with the Titans, then the sunk cost will be fairly minimal.

Tagovailoa, meanwhile, is going to the Falcons on a one-year deal and will compete with Michael Penix Jr. for the starting role.

Travis Kelce coming back

So much for all the speculation that Travis Kelce might take a job in TV. The future Hall of Famer is coming back for at least one more season, agreeing to a one-year deal with the Chiefs worth $12 million.

Kelce will turn 37 in October, but he’s still one of the best tight ends in the league and an integral part of the Chiefs’ offense. He ranked fourth among tight ends with 851 receiving yards last season and is the NFL’s active leader, at any position, in receptions.

It makes sense that Kelce would want to run it back. He’s clearly still capable of playing at an elite level, and he surely didn’t want last year’s 6–11 stinker to be how his career ended. Now he’ll be counted on to help Kansas City rebound.

Chiefs upgrade at running back

One of Kelce’s responsibilities in his 14th NFL season will be blocking for a new running back. Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III is going from the Seahawks to the Chiefs on a three-year contract worth up to $45 million, including $28.7 million guaranteed.

Walker will provide a major boost to the Chiefs’ run game, which has been mediocre of late. Kansas City ranked 20th in yards per rushing attempt last season and 29th the year before, relying on Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco to handle the ball-carrying duties. (Hunt and Pacheco are both free agents.)

In Walker, the Chiefs are getting one of the most explosive running backs in the NFL. He led Seattle in rushing yards in each of his four seasons there and is one of just 13 players in the NFL to total 3,500 yards on the ground over the past four years.

Colts make big receiver decision

The Colts kept one high-end wide receiver and jettisoned another, signing Alec Pierce to a four-year, $116 million contract and subsequently trading Michael Pittman Jr. to the Steelers.

Pierce had a breakout season for the Colts in 2025. He caught 47 passes for 1,003 yards and led the NFL in yards per reception for the second year in a row. He had been expected to sign elsewhere in free agency, but he chose to return to Indianapolis.

Retaining Pierce paved the way for Pittman to be traded to Pittsburgh. The return isn’t much—the two teams will swap late-round draft picks—but it’s a major trade for the Steelers, who now have another standout receiver to pair with DK Metcalf.

Mike Evans finds a new home

The other big news involving a receiver was that Mike Evans is leaving the Buccaneers after 12 seasons. Evans, who will be 33 at the start of next season, agreed to a three-year contract with the 49ers that can be worth up to $60.4 million.

Evans has been one of the most consistently productive receivers in NFL history, surpassing 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first 11 seasons. The streak came to an end in 2025 when a hamstring injury, concussion and broken collarbone limited him to eight games.

Evans figures to become the Niners’ new top receiver, with Brandon Aiyuk set to play elsewhere next season after a messy breakup with the franchise. General manager John Lynch confirmed in January that Aiyuk “played his last snap with the Niners.” Without Aiyuk last season, Christian McCaffrey led the Niners in receptions and receiving yards. Jauan Jennings was the team’s top wideout, but he is also a free agent.

Record deal for Linderbaum

One of the biggest contracts handed out Monday went to someone you might not have heard of unless you pay close attention to offensive line play. Center Tyler Linderbaum, formerly of the Ravens, agreed to a contract with the Raiders that will make him the highest-paid interior offensive lineman in NFL history. It’s a three-year deal worth $60 million guaranteed with a potential total value of $81 million.

Linderbaum was a four-year starter in Baltimore after being selected with the 25th pick in the 2022 draft out of Iowa. He was named to the Pro Bowl in each of the past three seasons. The Ravens could have held onto him by exercising the fifth-year option in his contract before last season or by applying the franchise tag before the start of free agency. The reason they didn’t do either is that the price tag of the option and the tag are based on the value of all offensive linemen. Essentially, the Ravens didn’t want to pay tackle money to a center.

Baltimore’s loss is Las Vegas’s gain. Linderbaum will be an important addition to a Raiders offensive line that allowed a league-high 64 sacks last season. The Raiders are widely expected to select Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the top pick in next month’s draft, and Linderbaum will help make sure he spends less time looking at the ceiling of Allegiant Stadium.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Malik Willis on the run — Malik Willis will replace Tua Tagovailoa as the Dolphins’ quarterback. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Albert Breer makes sense of why the Raiders gave a massive contract to center Tyler Linderbaum on an active first day of NFL free agency. He also has more on the Colts' wide receiver decisions and why the Super Bowl MVP is on the move.
Conor Orr explores how Mike Evans could be the most significant signing of free agency, analyzes why Malik Willis is a smart addition for the Dolphins and argues that Patrick Mahomes won’t have to play as much hero ball following the Chiefs’ acquisition of Kenneth Walker III .
As conference tournaments get into full swing, Pat Forde identifies the contenders, pretenders and dark horses that will set the stage for Selection Sunday.
Kevin Sweeney takes stock of bubble teams after almost every program on the fringe of the men’s college basketball tournament field lost this past weekend.
Sweeney provides an all-access look at the UIC Flames' attempt to get into the NCAA Tournament.
Tom Verducci details why Dominican slugger Junior Caminero is the WBC’s breakout star.
Bob Harig reports that Rory McIlroy, the world’s No. 2 golfer, enters the Players Championship with a “stubborn” back.

The top five…

… things I saw last night:
5. Brian Dumoulin’s toe drag to score a go-ahead goal for the Blue Jackets against the Kings. (Los Angeles went on to win in overtime.)
4. Ronald Acuña Jr.’s peace sign after sliding into third base.
3. Bobby Witt Jr.’s diving stop and bullet of a throw against Mexico. (He had a similar play earlier in the game.)
2. The final 30 seconds of the Nuggets-Thunder game, featuring Nikola Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander trading clutch shots. SGA’s three-pointer in the final seconds won it for OKC. He also tied Wilt Chamberlain’s record with 126 straight 20-point games.
1. Preston Edmead’s last-second bank shot to send Hofstra into the CAA finals.