Winners
Carolina Panthers
No team made a bigger splash than the Panthers during the opening window of free agency. Carolina began by agreeing to terms with edge defender Jaelan Phillips on a four-year, $120 million deal, snatching the highly touted pass rusher from the Eagles, whom they acquired at the 2025 trade deadline for a third-round pick.
Carolina was quiet for much of the day to follow but closed out the night with another blockbuster signing, bringing in All-Pro linebacker Devin Lloyd on a three-year, $45 million deal.
While the deal to acquire Phillips is a risk because of his extensive injury history, the team's need for a high-caliber pass rusher was evident. This past season, Carolina finished 31st in PFF pass-rush grade (60.5) and pressure rate (30.3%). Although Phillips missed significant portions of the 2023 and 2024 campaigns, he’s undoubtedly a potent pass rusher when healthy, ranking in the 91st percentile in pass-rush win rate (16.8%) over the past four seasons. Carolina’s young pass rushers, Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen, can learn a lot from the new addition as they head into year two.
Jaelan Phillips' Stable Pass-Rush Metrics (2022-2025)
Lloyd, the third-highest-graded linebacker in the NFL last season, profiles as a strong center piece for a Panthers defense that struggled mightily at the position, failing to field a single player with a PFF overall grade above 55.0. The former Jaguar’s all-around game resulted in PFF grades above 80.0 in each major defensive facet in 2025.
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2026-nfl-free-agency-winners-losers-legal-tampering-period