Post Day 1 Free Agency – Winners and Losers

Day 1 of free agency is in the books. Many running backs were on the loose, and a plethora of them found new homes early on in free agency. No matter the time of the year, we must stay active in our dynasty leagues, as we look to re-tool and fine-craft our rosters. Below are five running backs that made a deal during the first day of free agency, as well as a stock up, stock down analysis to follow. In the next coming days expect more analysis on Derrick Henry, Aaron Jones, and Joe Mixon when they sign to their new teams. 

Saquon Barkley – Philadelphia Eagles

Regarded as the best available running back on the market this offseason, Saquon Barkley decided to stay in the NFC East and sign with the Philadelphia Eagles on a 3-year, $37.75M contract. He now replaces D’Andre Swift as the Eagles’ clear bell cow and should see tremendous fantasy upside in Philadelphia’s potent offense. Although he’s already 27 years old, you should feel better about his situation and future outlook next to Jalen Hurts and company. 

Stock Up: A.J. Brown

There’s one clear winner from all this and it’s A.J. Brown. For the past two seasons, defenses have honed in on Brown as the main priority outside of Jalen Hurts in this offense. Because of that, Brown was often double-teamed and Hurts was forced to go elsewhere in the passing game. Now that defenses will shift their focus more on the running back out of the backfield, Brown should see more opportunities in the air attack. 

Stock Down: Kenneth Gainwell

If you held onto your Kenneth Gainwell shares, I applaud your belief and dedication to such a promising player. But your hopes and dreams of him becoming a solid dynasty asset are all but over. He now becomes a drop candidate in a lot of dynasty leagues. The only reason he has any relevance at this point is if you roster him for insurance. It does make sense to hold onto him if you pair him with Barkley on your dynasty team. 

Josh Jacobs – Green Bay Packers

Was this a surprise or what? Many NFL insiders didn’t mention anything about Green Bay potentially signing Josh Jacobs and cutting Aaron Jones. Jacobs now serves as the workhorse back for this team, as he reached a 4-year, $48M contract. If anything, dynasty managers should be higher on Jacobs after this news. He’s leaving a dysfunctional offense with poor offensive line play, to now receive carries in a young, up-and-coming offense that is surrounded by talented pass-catchers on the outside.

Stock Up: Jordan Love

Jordan Love now has another weapon in his offense. Sure, Jones was a great running back for this team, but now Love gets a younger back with dynamic abilities as a rusher that will help take pressure off him. Imagine how productive he will be in play-action with defenses honing in on Jacobs regularly. If anyone in your dynasty league is selling Love, right now would be the perfect time to go out and trade for him if you need a second quarterback for your roster. 

Stock Down: Aaron Jones

As mentioned above, Jones has been released by the Packers, and he’s now in search of a new home. There have been rumors about the Minnesota Vikings being interested, but even going there should diminish Jones’ value. He’s already 29 years old, and he’s likely going to take snaps behind a weaker offensive line than Green Bay’s. He still holds fantasy value at this point because of how dynamic he is, but he’s likely going to take a step back now that he’s no longer a Green Bay Packer. 

D’Andre Swift – Chicago Bears

Coming off a career-high in games played (16), carries (229), and rushing yards (1,049), D’Andre Swift now joins a talented running back room in Chicago. He’s expected to split carries with both Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson, but he’s clearly this team’s top running back on their depth chart. His great play in Philadelphia landed him a 3-year $24M contract, as he joins an up-and-coming team that features a couple of solid players in D.J. Moore and Cole Kmet. Expect his dynasty value to decrease a little bit, but he should see an uptick in value as a receiver now that he joined a running back room that doesn’t possess any dynamic pass-catchers out of the backfield. 

Stock Up: D.J. Moore

Like Brown for the Eagles, D.J. Moore should benefit from an upgrade at the running back position. Defenses will have to worry more about Swift in the running game, especially after what he showed a season ago for the Eagles. As long as Chicago doesn’t make a drastic change at the wide receiver position, Moore is primed more than ever to dominate as a fantasy receiver for your dynasty team. 

Stock Down: Roschon Johnson

Many were high on Johnson going into this offseason. It was expected that he would see a larger role going into Year 2 with Herbert going into his final season under contract. Now that Swift signed a three-year deal, you can kiss his RB1 potential out the window. At this point, he’s only a roster filler for deep dynasty leagues. If anyone is bullish on him in your league, you may want to sell him while you can. 

Tony Pollard – Tennessee Titans

Tony Pollard enters his sixth season in the league as a Tennessee Titan after agreeing to a 3-year $24M contract. He now joins Tyjae Spears in a promising running back room with expectations to take over as the team’s lead pass-catcher out of the backfield. Although his resume is great, expect Spears to be heavily involved in the running game alongside Pollard. This move staples in the fact that Derrick Henry is going to play elsewhere, but for Pollard, this may diminish his dynasty value a bit. More on that below! 

Stock Up: Will Levis

Although a running back room featuring Henry seems solid on paper, Will Levis should benefit from Pollard joining the team. He brings dynamic abilities as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. And he should take some pressure off Levis, as he enters his second season as a pro. With D’Andre Hopkins and Treylon Burks on the outside, Levis now has three solid pass-catchers to go to, as Tennessee expects Levis to take a step forward in 2024. As a Levis dynasty owner, you should expect the same as well. 

Stock Down: Tony Pollard

Even though this move may benefit Levis, it doesn’t seem like it will for Pollard. He leaves a talented offensive line and above-average offense in Dallas to join a less-than-stellar offense and a below-average offensive line in Tennessee. With Spears expected to take a step forward as well, you shouldn’t feel great about Pollard’s dynasty value at this point. In PPR leagues, he may be okay, but his rushing opportunities and production on the ground are in question at this point. 

Austin Ekeler – Washington Commanders

After seven solid seasons playing for the Chargers, Austin Ekeler has now landed a 2-year $11.4M contract to take his talents to Washington DC. He’s coming off a disappointing 2023 season where he finished as the RB26 in PPR leagues (his lowest since his rookie season). He’s also coming off a career-low 3.5 yards per carry average. Sure, Los Angeles’ offensive line is pretty awful, but his situation now isn’t much better. The Commanders finished sixth-to-last in the league in rushing yards a year ago (1,592), and their offensive line isn’t primed to take a step forward in 2024. 

Stock Up: Nobody

There isn’t a single fantasy player that reaps the benefit from Ekeler joining Washington as of right now. Sure, you could speculate that whoever the Commanders draft at quarterback here in just over a month should see Ekeler’s signing as a blessing. But right now, that isn’t a surefire bet. 

Stock Down: Austin Ekeler

Ekeler leaves an offense that featured one of the better young quarterbacks in the league (Justin Herbert) and solid pass-catchers on the outside (Keenan Allen and Mike Williams). Expect Brian Robinson to keep his role for the Commanders as the lead back in the rushing game. Whereas Ekeler looks to replace Antonio Gibson as the third-down/receiving back. He enters his age-29 season in a way worse situation than he did entering the 2023 season. 

Other RB Signings 

Devin Singletary (NYG), Gus Edwards (LAC), Antonio Gibson (NE), Zack Moss (CIN)
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