The Facts: Free agency begins a month from today. The unprecedented array of available QBs means that, in many respects, the process already has begun. Agents who need to place QB clients and teams that need a QB are actively considering their options and, at least from the perspective of the folks who get paid a percentage of the contracts they’re able to negotiate, agents are actively trying to influence the market. This week's example comes with a twist: Per a league source, the notion that Bridgewater's market will be in the range of $30 million per year comes not from his own agent but from other agents trying to get teams to consider other quarterback options.

Diehards Line: As PFT's Mike Florio explained, for those spreading the $30 million-per-year notion for Bridgewater, the goal isn’t to set Bridgewater and/or his agent up for being perceived as failures but instead to make their own efforts to place their own quarterback clients successful by scaring teams away from Bridgewater. By making the suggestion that Bridgewater and his six starts since 2015 would get more than Jimmy Garoppolo or Kirk Cousins, Bridgewater’s agent gains nothing from creating an unreasonable expectation as to Bridgewater’s eventual contract. Indeed, if/when Bridgewater gets something more like $24 million (or maybe even the $22 million that Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles received in 2019, despite far fewer veteran options in free agency), it will be regarded as a failure. ... Whatever the case, this is the kind of hijinks we can and should expect over the next 30 days.