Stock Up, Down Around the NFL After Early Free-Agent Activity

NFL free agency officially begins Thursday when current contracts expire at 4 p.m. ET, but plenty of players already know where they'll be playing in 2017 thanks to negotiations made during the NFL's "legal tampering" period that started on Tuesday. 

From reports of big-money contracts with new teams to players getting traded or simply released, there's already been a flurry of activity before free agency even gets underway. 

The highs have been high, as even fullbacks are cashing in. But the lows could also get very low, as some big-name players appear to be sitting by quiet phones. 

Let's break down which players are seeing their stock rise—and which ones are seeing it trend downward—thanks to this early action. 

Stock Up: QB Tony Romo

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The Tony Romo era is over in Dallas, but it's ending in such a way that gives the quarterback some control over his future. 

The Cowboys have been seeking a trade partner for the veteran, who was set to count $24.7 million against Dallas' salary cap in 2017, per Spotrac. That's way too high a hit for Dak Prescott's backup. 

But, as CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora reported Wednesday, "barring a strong trade offer," the Cowboys are set to release Romo Thursday. 

Now, rather than be shipped to the highest bidder, Romo can enjoy negotiating his next contract and have some say over which team he plays for in 2017. As ESPN's Adam Schefter noted Wednesday, the quarterback-needy Houston Texans and the Denver Broncos are likely candidates. 

By releasing Romo, Dallas is still on the hook for his $19.6 million in dead cap money. The QB will earn that nice chunk of change regardless of where he signs and can afford to entertain offers from multiple contenders. 

Stock Down: QB Colin Kaepernick

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There are plenty of NFL teams who are in the market for a quarterback this offseason, so it's not good news for Colin Kaepernick that his phone appears to be quiet during this early period. 

Kaepernick's former team, the San Francisco 49ers, plan to sign Brian Hoyer, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, while the Chicago Bears appear to be ready to sign Tampa Bay backup Mike Glennon to a deal worth at least $14 million a year, also according to Rapoport. 

With the news that the Dallas Cowboys also plan to release Tony Romo, suddenly the market is full of serviceable quarterbacks to compete with Kaepernick for a spot in 2017. 

Kaepernick's protest in 2016 by kneeling for the national anthem before 49ers games still has NFL teams worried, wrote Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman on Wednesday.

"Some players backed Kaepernick, and some did not. But as I reported then, many NFL team executives despised what Kaepernick was doing," Freeman wrote. 

Based on the lack of activity for Kaepernick, those same executives might be leading the teams that need quarterbacks this year. The quarterback has said he will stand for the national anthem this season, according to Pro Football Talk. 

Stock Up: QB Mike Glennon

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Multiple sources reported during the legal tampering period that quarterback Mike Glennon is on his way to the Chicago Bears, with Bleacher Report's Matt Miller calling it all but a "foregone conclusion" on Wednesday. 

The kicker for Glennon? He's reportedly set to make more money than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offered him when they said they'd make him the highest-paid backup in the league—a figure that would have been around $8 million—and he'll get his wish of competing for a starting job.

What's the price tag the Bears will have to pay to land Glennon's services? As NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported (and almost broke Twitter in the process), the quarterback will make about $14 million a year. 

For reference, he's thrown 11 passes since 2014. 

Life is good for Glennon, who now has more money and a chance to start. And his rising tide is lifting other boats; more experienced NFL quarterbacks, who are now calling their reps and politely inquiring about pay bumps, are very interested in this contract. 

Stock Down: QB Tyrod Taylor

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As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Wednesday, the Buffalo Bills restructured quarterback Tyrod Taylor's deal to keep him with the team.

Previous indications strongly suggested the Bills planned to part ways with Taylor this offseason, from benching him in the final game of the 2016 season to rumors that anyone from the Cleveland Browns to the Denver Broncos was interested in trading for the passer. 

And seeing the kind of numbers that Mike Glennon appears to be commanding on the open market, it seems Taylor may have missed an opportunity to earn a healthy deal in free agency.

Taylor was scheduled to make $27.5 million on Saturday if the Bills had picked up his option, a sum the Bills, who are only estimated to have about $25 million in available cap space, per Spotrac, clearly could not pay. 

Under the early details of his restructuring, which Buffalo News writer Vic Carucci shared on Twitter, Taylor's cap value for 2017 drops to $10 million from $16 million. 

Ultimately, this is a fine deal for Buffalo, and at least the organization that has jerked Taylor around for the last three months has made a commitment to him. But it's hard not to think that another team may have fought for Taylor in free agency. 

Stock Up: TE Jack Doyle

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Former undrafted free agent tight end Jack Doyle burst onto the scene for the Indianapolis Colts in 2016, the final year of his rookie contract, with 59 receptions for 584 yards and five touchdowns. 

Doyle put on a show just in time to earn a healthy second NFL contract—and that's exactly what the Colts gave him, inking him to a deal worth up to $21 million and averaging $6.3 million per year as CBS 4's Mike Chappell reported Tuesday. 

The three-year deal will also see Doyle becoming a free agent again when he's 30, which should give the talented pass-catcher at least one more healthy long-term deal before his retirement. 

The move makes Doyle the NFL's 16th-highest-paid tight end as of Thursday morning, per Spotrac. Not bad at all for a UDFA out of Western Kentucky University.  

Stock Down: WR Michael Floyd

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We already knew wide receiver Michael Floyd could have some trouble finding a deal in free agency that would be commensurate with his talent. 

After all, the wideout, who is currently serving a 120-day jail sentence following a DUI arrest in December, isn't allowed to leave his house in Arizona when his home detention begins on March 13, as ESPN.com's Josh Weinfuss reported on Feb. 27. 

That means the earliest Floyd could report for offseason workouts with any team, the New England Patriots or otherwise, is June 17, by which time most OTAs have concluded.

Because of all the extenuating circumstances, the Patriots are interested in keeping Floyd on a "budget deal" only, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reported. 

Floyd, 27 years old and a former first-round draft pick, has a market value of nearly $9 million annually, per Spotrac. There's almost no way he earns that now. 

Stock Up: FB Kyle Juszczyk

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It's a great time to be a fullback in the NFL.

Wait...what?

That's certainly true for Kyle Juszczyk, the former Baltimore Ravens fullback who reached the end of his rookie deal this month and whom the cash-strapped Ravens apparently could not afford to retain. 

Why is that? Oh, perhaps because the San Francisco 49ers came along and offered Juszczyk a four-year deal worth $21 million, as NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported. 

Juszczyk is now the highest-paid fullback in the league, and it isn't close. Per Spotrac, his average salary of $5.25 million is double the next highest-paid fullback in Cincinnati's Ryan Hewitt. 

The fullback had a handful of rushes for 22 yards and a score in 2016, but it was in the passing game where he made the biggest impact, with 37 receptions for 266 yards.

Stock Down: C Nick Mangold

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It's never a good sign when, after one team cuts you, other teams call you up to ask if you're interested in moving to another position, but that's what former New York Jets center Nick Mangold is dealing with. 

Per ESPN.com's Dan Graziano, teams expressing interest in Mangold have asked if he would be interested in making a move to guard. "So far, he's held off, waiting for an opportunity to continue his career at center," wrote Graziano. 

Mangold gained national attention when he meme'd himself after learning he had been cut while at Disney World.

But part of the reason the former first-round pick was able to laugh at himself was the knowledge that another team would be interested in his services in a relatively weak year for centers in free agency—a group among which Mangold was certainly pre-eminent. 

Now, if he's competing against free-agent guards T.J. Lang, Larry Worford, Luke Joeckel and Kevin Zeitler, among others, suddenly Mangold's prospects look much different.