With Free Agency predominantly done and dusted, it’s a good time to look back and reflect on who are the winners and losers for redraft fantasy football in 2023. Some of these players were on the move themselves, and some have become winners or losers because of the moves their teams made ahead of them.
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Free Agent Losers: Redraft Leagues
Losers
Mike Gesicki (TE – NE)
A year ago, the Dolphins prevented Mike Gesicki from hitting the open market by franchise-tagging him for $10.9 million before underutilizing him in 2022. Gesicki is not an every-down tight end, offering little to none in the blocking element of the game, but he is an above-average pass catcher and, in the right system, could have shined for fantasy purposes. Instead, Gesicki found a market that didn’t materialize, leading to him taking a contract with the Patriots paying less than half of what he made in 2022, and now facing competition from Hunter Henry.
The Dallas Cowboys finally admitted what was plain to see for some time now and accepted that Ezekiel Elliott was not living up to the contract that they had given him. Elliott was set to make $17 million in 2023 but instead was cut by the Cowboys several days after free agency opened, which prevented him from being available when teams had the maximum amount of spare money to spend. Elliott is a good enough back to be a bit-part player in 2023, but the chairs have started to fill up already, and he may find it tough to find the kind of role he’s used to.
When the Ravens elected to use the non-exclusive franchise tag on Lamar Jackson, some thought there would be a flood of contract offers for him, but that hasn’t played out, to the extent that Jackson is reportedly having a family friend contact teams to drum up interest. Teams instead filled out their question marks at quarterback with the likes of Jimmy Garoppolo, Baker Mayfield, and Jacoby Brissett. Meanwhile, in Baltimore, the Ravens have been hamstrung by the possibility of needing to match a large contract and have found themselves unable to spend on any players of notes. The Ravens still have plenty of questions at quarterback and at wide receiver, and the longer this is drawn out in a messy public way, the worse for everyone involved.
Early into the offseason, the Commanders kept talking up Sam Howell positively, maintaining that he was the team’s starter for 2023 as they moved on from Carson Wentz. When free agency opened, the Commanders opted not to bring back Taylor Heinicke and instead added Jacoby Brissett, who kept the Browns more afloat than most people expected before the return of Deshaun Watson and was ninth among QBs in EPA per play, committing six interceptions in eleven games. Brissett is a well-rounded and experienced quarterback who coaches like. We shouldn’t be at all surprised if he starts the majority of games ahead of Sam Howell, who started a single game in 2022 after not being able to earn playing time ahead of Taylor Heinicke.
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