Justin Fields trade grades; NFL free agency best bargain signings; 2026 mock draft

Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

If you’re like me, it should feel like we’re all going to have the same plans for today: Fill out brackets for three hours, pretend to work, fill out more brackets and go home. If you are going to fill out a bracket, be sure to do it here at CBS Sports because we definitely have the best bracket challenge. 

If you take a break from filling out your bracket at some point, hopefully you find some time to read Monday’s newsletter, because we have a lot going on today: Not only do we have some landing spots for the best available free agents, but we grade EVERY team based on what they’ve done so far this offseason. Oh, and JUSTIN FIELDS got traded. 

As always, here’s your reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. Let’s get to the rundown. 

1. Justin Fields trade grades: Chiefs acquire former first-round QB from Jets

When it comes to making trades, the Jets have been one of the busiest teams in the NFL. They made another deal on Monday by shipping Justin Fields off to Kansas City, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones reported. This marks the fourth time over the past 18 days that the Jets have pulled off a trade. 

Here are the terms of the deal (via ESPN): 

• Chiefs get: Justin Fields
• Jets get: 2027 sixth-round pick

Fields has $10 million in guaranteed salary for the 2026 season and as part of the deal, the Jets will pay $7 million of that, according to NFL Media. After the Jets traded for Geno Smith, it was pretty clear that the team was ready to move on from Field, and now, he’s gone after just one season in New York. 

Let’s grade the trade:

• Chiefs grade: A. With Patrick Mahomes recovering from a torn ACL that just happened in December, his availability for Week 1 is far from guaranteed. The backup QB spot is an important position in Kansas City this year, and although Gardner Minshew had the job last season, he left for Arizona, which put the Chiefs in desperate need of some quality. That’s where Fields comes in. The best part of the Chiefs is that they got him for almost nothing: It’s a 2027 draft pick, and the Jets are paying almost all of Fields’ salary. Even if Mahomes can play in Week 1, the Chiefs still need a strong back to come in and take most of the offseason snaps, so even if Fields doesn’t see a lot of playing time during the regular season, he’s going to essentially be the top guy on the depth chart for most of the offseason while Mahomes is out. 
• Jets grade: C. The Jets signed Fields last year with the hope that he could be their QB of the future, but instead, like most things with this team, the decision blew up in their face. This trade means the Jets end up paying Fields about $30 million for nine starts during the 2025 season. The Jets sent a sixth-round pick to Las Vegas for Smith, and now, they’re getting a sixth-round pick back in this deal with Kansas City, so they essentially traded Fields for Smith. That feels like a lateral move. The Jets are also paying most of Fields’ salary for 2026, which means they’re paying him to NOT be on the team. The only upside for the Jets is that they got SOMETHING in return. If they had cut Fields, they would have gotten nothing, so getting a sixth-round pick out of the deal can be viewed as a slight plus. 

We’ve got the full story on the trade here. 

2. Best bargain signings in free agency: 49ers get a steal in Mike Evans

When it comes to free agency, some teams overpay to add a few key players and others add great value. After spending his weekend at Wal-Mart, there is no one more qualified to talk about great value than Jared Dubin, so he detailed the best bargain signings from the first week of free agency. 

• Mike Evans to the 49ers (three years, $42.4 million). Evans’ contract was reported as one of those deals that could be worth “up to” $60 million, but this is the base value, and it is a steal. He provides the Niners with a high-quality outside threat to complement Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle in the short and intermediate areas and over the middle. We’ve seen how successful this type of X receiver can be in a Kyle Shanahan-style offense before. Even late in his career, Evans is well worth this deal.
• Nakobe Dean to the Raiders (three years, $36 million). Dean is a really, really good player … when healthy. And the only reason he was available for just $12 million per year is because of the health part of the equation. If the Raiders get the type of play out of Dean that he showcased at the height of his powers, though, they will be very happy that they brought him in alongside former college teammate Quay Walker, who got a similar contract.
• Kenneth Gainwell to the Buccaneers (two years, $14 million). Gainwell is coming off the best season of his career, where he was one of the most important pieces of the Steelers offense. He is, at the minimum, a very good third-down and pass-catching back. He also showed more as a ball-carrier last year than he had previously. As a complement to Bucky Irving, he makes a lot of sense for Tampa.

Dubin came up with a total of 11 value signings, and you can check out his full list here. 

3. Landing spots for the top remaining free agents

Last week, we ended things by giving you a list of the top 10 remaining free agents on the market (you can see that here). This week, we’re going to open things up by giving you some landing spots for the top guys on that list. 

Here is where Jordan Dajani has three of the top remaining free agents headed: 

• Joey Bosa: 49ers. Who wouldn’t want to see the Bosa brothers together? Joey Bosa joining Nick Bosa in San Francisco would be fun. While the elder Bosa turns 31 this summer, he actually led the NFL with five forced fumbles in his one season with the Bills.
• Deebo Samuel: Broncos. The Broncos need to add some weaponry if they want to take advantage of this Super Bowl window. They have a quarterback on a rookie deal and an elite defense. Samuel makes sense in Denver.
• Stefon Diggs: Ravens. Diggs is a four-time Pro Bowl pass catcher, and led the NFL in both receptions and receiving yards in 2020. The ring-chasing Ravens make sense for Diggs. He was born in Gaithersburg, and went to high school at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Olney before starring at the University of Maryland. It would be fitting if he helped Baltimore’s NFL team get to the Super Bowl.

Jordan found the perfect landing spot for 10 different free agents and if you want to see his full list, we’ve got that here. 

4. Grading every team’s offseason so far: Broncos get a bad mark

Last week, we handed out some grades for free agency. This week, we are going to top that by handing out a grade for each team based on how they’ve done this entire offseason. Each team’s grade will take into account every move they’ve made this offseason, from trades to signings to key players that they’ve lost. 

Our official football professor for this exercise was Garrett Podell, who was in charge of handing out the grades. Let’s check out what he came up with for a few teams. 

• Panthers: A. The Panthers signed arguably top player in free agency at the following positions: edge rusher (Jaelan Phillips for four years, $120 million with $80 million guaranteed), inside linebacker (Devin Lloyd for three years, $45 million with $25 million guaranteed) and offensive tackle (Rasheed Walker for one year, $10 million. Phillips and Lloyd will overhaul an underwhelming front seven while Walker will be a solid stand-in for the injured Ikem Ekwonu in 2026 after the latter suffered a ruptured patellar tendon.
• Bengals: B-. The Bengals, typically known as penny pinchers, opened up the checkbook to address two key areas of need on their 30th-ranked scoring defense from 2025 (28.9 points per game allowed): safety and defensive line. Bryan Cook has been a versatile chess piece in Steve Spagnuolo’s Kansas City Chiefs defense the last three seasons. The signings of edge rusher Boye Mafe (three years, $60 million with $19 million guaranteed) and two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (two years, $26 million) are key. .
• Broncos: D+. The Denver Broncos are the only team in the NFL that have yet to sign an external free agent. That’s an absurd level of arrogance. Yes, the Broncos were nearly the champions of the AFC, but they don’t have the offensive firepower as of yet to break through to the Super Bowl. .

If you want to see the other 29 grades that Podell handed out, you’ll have to check out his full story here. 

5. Mock Draft Monday: Projecting the top 100 picks

It’s time for another edition of Mock Draft Monday, which is where we hunt down one of our NFL Draft gurus and force them to give you a new mock draft since there’s no better way to start the week than with a fresh mock draft. 

This week’s mock comes from Josh Edwards, who has THREE FULL ROUNDS for us today. Josh took into account everything that happened in free agency so far to give us his latest mock. 

When we go through these mocks, we usually take a look at the first round, but since Josh has three rounds today, let’s take a look at what he has happening with the top 10 picks of the second round. 

33. Jets: DT Peter Woods (Clemson)
34. Cardinals: QB Ty Simpson (Alabama)
35. Titans: WR Denzel Boston (Washington)
36. Raiders: DL Caleb Bank (Florida)
37. Giants: CB Colton Hood (Tennessee)
38. Texans (via Commanders): IOL Emmanuel Pregnon (Oregon)
39. Browns: IOL Chase Bisontis (Texas (A&M) 
40. Chiefs: EDGE Cashius Howell (Texas (A&M) 
41. Bengals: DT Lee Hunter (Texas Tech) 
42. Saints: EDGE Malachi Lawrence (UCF)

Edwards’ full mock draft consists of 100 PICKS and if you want to check out the entire thing, we’ve got it here. 

For more draft coverage, you can hear in-depth analysis twice a week on “With the First Pick” — our year-round NFL Draft podcast with NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson. You can find “With the First Pick” wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube. 

6. Extra points: Panthers land top remaining free agent

It’s been a busy past few days in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything, I put together a quick roundup for you.

• Panthers sign Rasheed Walker. The former Packers left tackle was the best available offensive lineman after the first week of free agency, but he’s no longer on the market. He agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with Carolina over the weekend. The signing means that the Panthers landed THREE of Pete Prisco’s top 20 free agents. Not only did they get Walker (20th), but they also landed Jaelan Phillips (sixth) and Devin Lloyd (13th). This is a team that won the NFC South in 2025, and they’ve only gotten better.
• Dallas Goedert to re-sign with Eagles. The tight end has been in Philadelphia for eight seasons, and it looks like he’s going to return for at least one more after signing a one-year, $7 million deal. Goeder was a huge part of the Eagles’ offense last season: Not only did he catch 60 passes for 591 yards, but he also led the team in touchdown catches with 11, a number that ranked second in the NFL. 
• Saints receive zero calls about Derek Carr. Back in February, Derek Carr said he’d be willing to come out of retirement this year to play for the right team, but apparently, he hasn’t drawn much interest. Well, to be more blunt, he hasn’t really frawn any interest. Carr’s contract rights still belong to the Saints and if any team wants to add him, they’d have to make a trade with New Orleans. The Saints haven’t heard from anyone yet, so it’s starting to look like Carr probably won’t be returning this year, according to PFT.
• Jim Irsay memorabilia auction pulls in nearly $100 million. The former Colts owner, who died in May, had one of the most impressive collections of music memorabilia on the planet and that collection was put up for auction over the weekend. Not only did the auction bring in $93.7 million, but a guitar played by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd sold for $14.6 million, making it the most expensive guitar ever sold.