We are now officially in the midst of the 2022 league year in the NFL. At 4 p.m. ET, the league rang in the new year, meaning teams are now able to make all of their free-agent agreements they reached during the two-day legal tampering period official, along with any trades that have occurred to this point. Of course, there has been plenty of action leading up to the start of the new league year, and several superstars are going to officially land with their new teams Wednesday.
While it’s technically the first day of free agency, it’s really Day 3 when factoring in the legal tampering period and the deals that have been agreed to over the last few days. In this post, we’re going to dive into the top new moves that were made Wednesday and hand out our grades for those transactions across the league.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
Von Miller leaves Rams for Bills
Von Miller was traded from the Broncos to the Rams in the middle of last season, and he helped L.A. win a Super Bowl. Buffalo is hoping Miller can do it again, as the Bills stole him from the West Coast with a six-year, $120 million deal that includes $51.345 million guaranteed, per CBS Sports NFL Insider Josina Anderson. The deal is constructed a bit differently, as it’s not $20 million per year. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport says the deal is backloaded, and averages $17.5 million over the first four years.
The length of the deal and the dollar amount are pretty shocking, but the bottom line is that this makes the Bills immediately better. It took a lot to steal Miller away from the Rams, Broncos, Cowboys and other suitors, but they were able to find a way to do