9 winners and losers from the opening days of NFL free agency

• The NFL offseason is off to a hot start.
• Just days into free agency, several teams have already made big moves to revamp their rosters.
• Meanwhile, wide receivers have struggled to find new teams in the offseason.

The NFL offseason began in full this week with the start of free agency.

In just a few days, some teams have made moves to either revamp their rosters or lock up and retain players of an already talented group.

While quarterbacks have had pretty good luck finding work, several stud-wide receivers are still looking for their next team. And in the interest of manipulating the salary cap, the New Orleans Saints gave Taysom Hill a $140 million contract that doesn't actually exist. It's complicated.

Take a look below at the winners and losers of the opening days of free agency.

WINNER: Bill Belichick

The New England Patriots made quite a splash through free agency's opening days, adding players across several positions to revamp their roster.

Most notably, the Patriots made moves on two top-tier tight ends, bringing in Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, proven pass-catchers. We've seen what the Patriots can do with two tight ends on the field, and Henry and Smith should go a long way in helping to jump-start what was a rather dreadful offense in 2020.

Additionally, the Patriots added wide receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne. Both are capable of stretching the field and giving Cam Newton some downfield targets.

The Patriots also reloaded on defense, adding defensive back Jalen Mills and linebacker Matt Judon and bringing back linebacker Kyle Van Noy. Between that added depth and the presumptive return of several defensive players that sat out the 2020 season due to COVID-19, and New England could look like a brand new team this September.

LOSER: Chicago Bears

The Mitch Trubisky era is over in Chicago, having been supplanted by the Andy Dalton era. Dalton is good enough to start but is a far cry from the superstar Bears fans likely hoped would be suiting up under center for them this year.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that Chicago reportedly made a run at trading for Russell Wilson, only to be rebuffed by the Seahawks. Putting your faith in Dalton is already a tough ask for a fan base, but doing so while knowing that you had been making a play for one of the best quarterbacks of his generation makes it hurt that much more.

WINNER: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The reigning Super Bowl champions did not rest on their laurels to start free agency. After restructuring Tom Brady's contract to free up some cap room, the Buccaneers wasted no time in reinforcing their roster in preparation for defending their title.

Rather than looking for outside help, the Buccaneers focused on keeping the core of their Super Bowl-winning team together for at least another season. Chris Godwin got hit with the franchise tag, and the newly freed up cap space from the Brady deal allowed the team to re-sign standout edge rusher Shaquil Barrett, as well as linebacker Lavonte David.

The champions are ready to run it back.

LOSER: Russell Wilson

Poor Russell Wilson has spent much of the past few seasons running for his life behind a shaky offensive line. Heading into free agency this year, Wilson was probably hoping to get some help. Instead, the Seahawks have stayed pat so far, even as some other teams splurged on offensive lineman on the market.

WINNER: Washington Football Team

The Washington Football Team was another big player in the opening days of free agency, bringing in some new faces to brighten up an offense that averaged just 21 points per game in 2020.

Veteran journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick looks set to take the starting job in Washington, the ninth NFL franchise he's suited up for in his career. Joining him is wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who reunites with his old head coach Ron Rivera after several seasons together in Carolina. Paired with up-and-coming wide receiver Terry McLaurin and tight end Logan Thomas, the Washington offense should be fun to watch, if not a dangerous scoring threat in the NFC East.

WINNER: New York Jets

The New York Jets needed improvements across their roster and got to work addressing those needs pretty fast. New head coach Robert Saleh added pass rusher Carl Lawson from Cincinnati, who will join third-year defensive tackle Quinnen Williams in a now-formidable defensive front.

On offense, New York added wide receiver Corey Davis from the Tennessee Titans, who, along with Denzil Mims and Jamison Crowder, will serve in an intriguing offensive trio for whoever winds up under center for the Jets this year. With the second overall pick in the coming draft, the Jets have plenty of options left whenever they decide to make their next move.

LOSER: Wide receivers

Looking at the impressive names of wide receivers still left unsigned through the opening days of free agency, it's clear that the market what the players would like for it to be at the position.

Kenny Golladay, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and T.Y. Hilton are still out there for any team to pick up but have yet to get a call. There's little doubt that these players will eventually find a home, but their deals might not be for the years or cash they hoped for heading into free agency.

WINNER: Quarterbacks

While wide receivers have had trouble moving on the market, the movement of quarterbacks has been fast and furious. In addition to Fitzpatrick's move to Washington and Dalton's move to Chicago, several other mid- and lower-tier quarterbacks have already found new teams.

Jacoby Brissett is now a Miami Dolphin. Tyrod Taylor is a Houston Texan. Jameis Winston is back with the Saints on another one-year deal. And Dak Prescott got paid by the Cowboys despite coming off of a devastating ankle injury.

LOSER: The concept of money

For all of the talk of how this year's lowered salary cap would hurt teams in need of making a deal, there still has been plenty of action just a few days into free agency. As the New Orleans Saints have shown year after year, in the NFL, the cap is as real as you make it. While the bill always comes due eventually, there are plenty of options for delaying it to a future date over and over again.

But even less real than the salary cap is the concept of money in the NFL. Saints quarterback Taysom Hill had his contract restructured in the offseason, with headlines promoting that the New Orleans gadget man was set for a four-year, $140 million extension. I regret to inform Mr. Hill and his family that he is not suddenly going to be making $35 million a year.

Instead, the eye-popping numbers in Hill's contract come in "voidable years" - the deal effectively is the same as the one he already had in place. By adding fake years and fake money, the Saints can spread Hill's cap hit over a longer timeline and free up space for the present.

This is all, in plain terms, shenanigans. Made up numbers for made up contracts that exist for the sole purpose of redoing the math on real, already established contracts.

The only things contracts like this are good for are cap manipulation and infuriating fans on Twitter, who, rightfully, don't want to dive into a 301 Contract Law class whenever a new deal is signed. But this is the world we live in, and so, on a technicality, Taysom Hill has signed a $140 million contract.

Whether that makes him a winner or a loser is largely up to him.