The second day of the legal tampering period is now mostly finished. The AFC North had some very interesting moves in free agency today headlined by a division rival flipping teams from the Baltimore Ravens to the Pittsburgh Steelers. A top-notch running back also joined the fold to beef up the nature of an already physical rivalry between the two teams. Keep in mind, the contracts cannot be signed or made official until the start of the new league year on Wednesday, March 13th.
For all of the updates from the first day, check out the day one roundup.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
SIGNING:
– LB Patrick Queen (per Ian Rapoport)
DEPARTING:
— WR Diontae Johnson traded to Carolina Panthers (per Adam Schefter)
Along with the record-breaking contract (for the Steelers) given to Queen, the Steelers made another big move in reportedly trading WR Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers in return for CB Donte Jackson. They also swapped sixth- and seventh-round picks, so the Steelers gain some value there. On one hand, the Steelers filled some holes in their roster with the addition of Queen, but they also now clearly need to add a receiver. That could be in the draft, as the Steelers met with many of the top receivers at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine.
BALTIMORE RAVENS
SIGNING:
– RB Derrick Henry (per Adam Schefter)
DEPARTING:
– LB Patrick Queen to Pittsburgh Steelers
– LB Del’Shawn Phillips to Houston Texans (per Aaron Wilson)
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The Ravens of course lost Queen to the Steelers, but they drafted Trenton Simpson last year and traded for Roquan Smith, who they gave a massive extension to. Queen and Smith formed one of the best ILB tandems in the NFL last season, so Simpson will have his work cut out to step into those shoes. The other big story of the day was the Ravens signing Henry. He has been one of the top running backs in the league since he was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in 2016. He is a future Hall of Famer and though he is 30 years old, he should provide a lot of physicality to the Ravens’ offense. They also lost Phillips to the Texans, but he was just a rotational player in their defense.
CINCINNATI BENGALS
SIGNING:
– TE Mike Gesicki (per Adam Schefter)
DEPARTING:
– TE Irv Smith to Kansas City Chiefs (per Adam Schefter)
—
The Bengals were pretty busy on day one, but not much happened on day two. They lost a tight end and signed a tight end. Gesicki is more of a move tight end, so he will help their passing attack and pair well with Sample, who they re-signed yesterday, to form a well-rounded group.
CLEVELAND BROWNS
SIGNING:
– DT Shelby Harris (self-announced)
– RB Nyheim Hines (per Adam Schefter)
– QB Jameis Winston (per Jordan Schultz)
– OT Michael Dunn (per David Canter)
DEPARTING:
– DT Jordan Elliot to San Francisco 49ers (per Ian Rapoport)
—
The Browns re-signed some free agents of their own in Harris and Dunn. They also added a versatile weapon in Hines who can return kicks and offers a change-of-pace option on third down catching passes out of the backfield. He missed all of last season from a torn ACL that occurred in a boating accident. Winston will offer a much better option as a backup to Deshaun Watson as opposed to the carousel at QB they dealt with last year.
They also lost Elliot to the San Francisco 49ers who started 14 games for them last season. They drafted him in the third round of the 2020 draft. He had his best season in 2023, but now moves on elsewhere.
