McCarthy's roster additions say everything about the offense he wants to run. The quarterback question is still open. And Indiana just signed a stadium bill that changed the conversation in Springfield.
Week two of free agency opened Monday without the quarterback question in Pittsburgh being answered, and I want to spend this morning talking about why that unanswered question is the most interesting story in the league right now. Here is what Pittsburgh has done in the first week and a half of the new league year: they traded for Michael Pittman Jr. from Indianapolis and signed him to a three-year, $59 million contract. They signed Rico Dowdle, who rushed for 1,076 yards in Carolina last season, as their primary back. They re-signed Cameron Heyward on a two-year extension. They brought in Jamel Dean from Tampa Bay for the secondary. Pittman, notably, played under Mike McCarthy in Dallas.
The kid from Jennings, Louisiana signed with New Orleans on Friday. Georgia opens spring practice tomorrow. Pittsburgh's quarterback question is coming. Ten things to watch this week.
Travis Etienne is home. I want to say that again, because I think some people read that transaction line on Friday afternoon and moved on to the next item. Travis Etienne — the kid from Jennings, Louisiana, who drove two hours to Baton Rouge to play college football, who became one of the best running backs in the country, who got drafted by Jacksonville and played five years in Florida — signed with the New Orleans Saints and is going home.
The largest defensive signing of the free agency period. Minter identified his target, moved directly, and did not complicate it. The front four philosophy in Baltimore continues.
The Baltimore Ravens agreed to a four-year, $112 million contract with pass rusher Trey Hendrickson on Friday, the largest defensive signing of the free agency period and the first marquee transaction of the Jesse Minter era in Baltimore. Hendrickson, 30, had 17.5 sacks and consistent production as a one-on-one pass rusher over the past two seasons in Cincinnati. Baltimore's interest was not a surprise in league circles — Minter spent his most recent two seasons as a defensive coordinator in the AFC, studying Hendrickson as an opponent in a division Baltimore and Cincinnati share. Teams in that conference develop documented views of the players they face twice a year, and Minter's view of Hendrickson was formed through direct competition.
Arizona will pay $35.5 million for Murray to play somewhere else. That is not a transaction. That is leverage in three directions at once.
The new league year is thirty-six hours old. Here is what I know. The most interesting organizational story in the first day and a half of free agency is not the biggest contract. It is Kyler Murray walking out of Arizona with $36.8 million in guaranteed money already in his pocket, signing with his next team for the veteran minimum, and doing so by design. That structure — one team still obligated to pay him a career-altering sum while he suits up somewhere else — is a consequence of offset language in his original Cardinals deal that most people who covered the signing didn't fully explain at the time. Arizona will pay him regardless. The team that signs him pays only $1.3 million. The Vikings, who were described by Adam Schefter Wednesday morning as the "overwhelming favorite" to sign him, effectively acquire a former first-overall pick and two-time Pro Bowler for the cost of a backup. That is not a transaction. That is leverage moving in three directions at once.
Crosby reportedly failed his physical two months after meniscus surgery. Baltimore pivoted within hours and landed Hendrickson. The response was more professional than the drama looked.
The Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders agreed to a blockbuster trade for pass rusher Maxx Crosby before the new league year opened — and then the Ravens walked away, a sequence that produced both the most dramatic story of the first day of free agency and one of its most consequential outcomes. The Raiders announced Tuesday evening that the "Baltimore Ravens have backed out of our trade agreement for Maxx Crosby." The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported that Crosby had failed his physical — he is approximately two months removed from a full meniscus repair — and the Ravens determined that the risk of completing a trade for a player at that stage of recovery was not compatible with the assets involved, which included multiple first-round picks.
The division's combined window commitment was the largest in recent history. Four organizations, four philosophies, all reaching their conclusions in the same eighteen hours.
The AFC North emerged as the most active division in the final twenty-four hours of the negotiating window, with all four organizations reporting agreements that combined represent the largest single-day divisional commitment in the window's recent history. Baltimore's additions concentrated on the secondary. The Ravens added two cornerbacks in the window's final hours, addressing what their coaching staff had identified as the defensive unit's primary exposure point last season. Baltimore's organizational approach has consistently been to address diagnosed weaknesses through the first wave of free agency rather than paying the premium that the draft demands when need is transparent. The additions are consistent with that pattern.