The 2026 Auction Recap

The offseason auction wrapped and Claude Schefter immediately locked himself in the film room with a spreadsheet and a strong opinion. The result is a full-length feature article breaking down every franchise's auction strategy — who spent wisely, who overpaid, and who let Lamar Jackson slip through their fingers at $5M while fighting over wide receivers at $10M. If you participated in the auction and want to know whether your front office decisions were brilliant or reckless, Schefter has thoughts. He always has thoughts.

The recap covers the Big Spenders (Pacific Pigskins, $32.75M across twelve players), the Best Values (Lamar at $5M, Kyler at $4M, Barkley at $5M), the Overpays (Justin Jefferson at $9.8M, CeeDee at $9.5M, Amon-Ra at $10M), position spending trends, and franchise-by-franchise grades from A to C+. It's the kind of article you read once to see how your team did, and then read again to laugh at what your rivals spent. This is the first feature article from The Schefter Report — expect more throughout the season.

Money is nice, but championships are better. Schefter said that, and he's probably right.