NFL Free Agency 2020: Winners and losers from legal tampering period Day 1

A Little of Both: Dallas Cowboys

It was a bit of a whirlwind day to start 2020 NFL free agency for the Dallas Cowboys. They began by placing the exclusive franchise tag on Dak Prescott and, while that keeps him in Dallas and gives them time to work on a long-term deal, it allowed Amari Cooper to briefly test the market, which was a scary proposition.

Luckily for the Cowboys, they were able to also retain Cooper, singing him to a big five-year, $100 million deal with $60 million guaranteed. While that’s expensive, they’re retaining one of the best receivers in the NFL who is a critical cog in this offense.

However, it didn’t all end up good for the Cowboys as both Randall Cobb and Byron Jones, the latter being the bigger piece, signed elsewhere. So it was a little bit of both but, at the very least, Dak and Cooper will be back, which is a net win for Dallas.

Winner: Baltimore Ravens

Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta is playing 3D chess while the rest of the league isn’t even playing checkers. While that may be slightly overstating the case, what Baltimore has done early on in this free agency period should be applauded.

The Ravens fleeced the Jaguars to acquire Calais Campbell in a trade, sending only a fifth-round pick back. They later got that pick back, in essence, as they traded Hayden Hurst — the tight end buried on the depth chart — and a fourth-rounder to Atlanta for a second and fifth-round pick. They now have five selections in the first three rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft.

If that weren’t enough, Baltimore kept Matt Judon in tow by tagging him and continued to beef up the defensive line with versatile Michael Brockers. For a team that was the No. 1 seed in the AFC last season, they’re getting better, which is a scary proposition.