This article is part of our NFL Free Agency series.
This post will go over Tuesday's free agency and trade-related events. To read about Monday's recap click here.
-DJ Chark agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with Detroit, giving the Lions a major speed boost on offense and a downfield threat to deter defenses from focusing too aggressively on Amon-Ra St. Brown in the slot. Not only did the Lions add Chark's speed, they re-signed Kalif Raymond to a two-year, $9.5 million deal. Raymond played admirably when thrown into a starting role last year, so he provides valuable depth particularly if Chark's durability troubles continue. Good as these developments are for the Lions offense, it's not a helpful turn for Chark's fantasy prospects. While he should have a positive impact on the Detroit passing game in real life, a quarterback like Jared Goff is liable to make a decoy out of a player like Chark while instead leaning on his targets in the underneath and intermediate. There's reason to think the Chark signing is good news for St. Brown rather than a concerning development.
-Jaguars beat reporters are suggesting Jacksonville might move third-year wideout and former second-round pick Laviska Shenault following his 2021 struggles. Shenault was overrated by some – his lack of speed means he can't threaten outside, leaving him slot-dependent – but it's also true that Shenault was misused in 2021. Much of his most memorable struggles occurred following the season-ending injury to Chark, at which point the Jaguars moved Shenault out of the slot and out wide, instead of leaving Shenault in his proper position (the slot) and assigning some other receiver to replace Chark's reps. Shenault runs a 4.57 40, Chark ran a 4.34. Of course Shenault will struggle to complete tasks normally devised for a player like Chark. With that said, it's hard to see how there is any room for Shenault to function in the Jacksonville offense if Christian Kirk is its primary slot receiver.
-Russell Gage is headed to Tampa Bay after agreeing to a three-year, $30 million deal with the Buccaneers. With Tom Brady, Carlton Davis and Gage locked into the mix in the last few days, the Buccaneers have already accomplished a partial reload. It's not clear how the Tampa offense will use Gage and incumbent slot receiver Chris Godwin, however. Gage primarily played in the slot for Atlanta, and there's reason to doubt his viability as a route runner on the perimeter. Perhaps the Buccaneers plan on giving Godwin more outside snaps in the future with Gage in the slot, because that would make more sense than bothering to line up Gage outside. Godwin can likely thrive at outside receiver – he mostly ended up as Tampa's slot receiver because Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson were already stretching the field at the outside receiver spots. With 4.42 speed and a dense frame, Godwin would likely lose no value if he needs to play outside more than in the past.
-J.D. McKissic agreed to a two-year, $7 million deal with Buffalo, making him the favorite for the team's hurryup and pass-catching specialist reps. McKissic doesn't offer much more than reliable hands – if not for a fluky YAC per catch figure last year (9.0, 78th percentile) McKissic's pass-catching stats would convey a distinct lack of explosiveness. If he instead averaged 6.4 yards after the catch per catch – more typical of his career-long tendencies – then last year's yardage total drops from 397 yards on 53 targets (7.5 YPT) to 285 yards (5.4 YPT). That unimpressive average of 5.4 yards per target is the exact same one McKissic posted over the two seasons prior to last. There's no guarantee McKissic holds off Devin Singletary or anyone in particular in this capacity, because his production has never been good.
-Rather than adding to the Buffalo offense, McKissic's deal with the Bills clears up runway for Antonio Gibson to hopefully break out as a three-down workhorse in 2022, which marks just his third full season at running back. If Gibson can fix his fumbling issues then he otherwise offers rare speed and pass-catching upside on a workhorse frame. McKissic drew 163 targets over the last two years while Gibson saw just 96, and the fact is Gibson can produce better than the 986 yards McKissic did. Now Gibson investors wait to see if Washington adds other passing down competition for Gibson, be it in the draft or free agency. There are a handful of intriguing pass-catching running backs who can be had for cheap in this draft, including Trestan Ebner, Tyler Badie, James Cook and Ronnie Rivers.
-Tyrod Taylor agreed to a two-year deal with the Giants, seemingly locking him in as backup to Daniel Jones. It's not clear whether this indicates any particular intention with the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft.
-D'Onta Foreman agreed to a one-year deal with Carolina, putting him in the running to serve as the top backup to Christian McCaffrey. Given McCaffrey's recent injury history and Foreman's substantially bigger frame, it also wouldn't be shocking if Foreman carves out a short-yardage role even when McCaffrey is healthy. Foreman was a better prospect out of Texas than 2021 fifth-round pick Chuba Hubbard was out of Oklahoma State, so there's reason to consider Foreman the favorite between the two.
