5 NFL Free Agency Moves That Will Absolutely Destroy Fantasy Football Value in 2026

NFL free agency always creates fantasy football winners and losers, and several early moves—from Geno Smith joining the New York Jets to Isaiah Likely landing with the New York Giants—could seriously hurt fantasy value in 2026.

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (7) throws in the third quarter against the New York Giants at Allegiant Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The new league season and NFL free agency technically start today, but in reality, it started on Monday when the legal tampering period began. No deals can be made official until today at 4:00 PM EST, but plenty of huge deals have already been agreed to. While there are a ton of deals that fantasy owners will love, there are also some that we just aren't fans of. These are our least favorite moves in free agency so far.

QB Geno Smith, New York Jets

All we want is for the Jets to have some sort of offensive competency at quarterback who doesn't sink the value of Garrett Wilson. Welp, it doesn't look like we'll be getting that this season. The Jets have gone back to the well, bringing back Smith to presumably be their starter after acquiring him from the Las Vegas Raiders for a late-round pick swap. It was time to move on from Wilson the minute he signed an extension with this nightmare of a franchise. 

RB Tyler Allgeier, Arizona Cardinals

Former Atlanta Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier (25) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

There were worse landing spots for Allgeier, but we would have liked to see him go somewhere where he was more locked in as the starter. Arizona still has Trey Benson, and they have restructured James Conner, suggesting he will be returning as well unless they end up trading him, which seems unlikely. We expect Allgeier to be the leader of the Cardinals' committee, but it's still very much a committee nonetheless.  

RB Kenneth Gainwell, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This is a similar situation to Allgeier. With Rachaad White and Sean Tucker both likely out in Tampa Bay, Gainwell should get a decent workload; however, he will still be a distant RB2 behind Bucky Irving. His situation with the Pittsburgh Steelers would have been better than this, and no one wants to see a breakout player downgrade his situation in free agency. 

Buccaneers signing RB Kenneth Gainwell to a two-year, $14M deal. (via @rapsheet) pic.twitter.com/Y3X1ZYXwcU

— NFL (@NFL) March 9, 2026

WR Romeo Doubs, New England Patriots

The Patriots need a top wide receiver, but Doubs isn't that. This is just the Pats adding another guy to the mix. Granted, if New England still goes out and acquires a high-end WR1 like AJ Brown, then Doubs is a fine second or third option; however, if this is the endgame, then that's terrible news for Drake Maye. We will keep an open mind, but this is not what fantasy owners were hoping for in the Patriots' WR corps. 

TE Isaiah Likely, New York Giants

Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely (80) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium. | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

We really like Likely, but we don't like the landing spot. That's because we also like Theo Johnson, who is a similar tight end and had a strong season, catching 45 passes for 528 yards and five touchdowns last season in his first year as a starter. The last thing we wanted for Likely to land somewhere back in a tight end committee, and we don't want to see these two cannibalize each other. This isn't a great situation for fantasy owners of either Giants' tight end in 2026.