Free agency day in the NFL always feels a little like the first warm day after a long winter. Phones buzzing. Agents whispering. Fan bases refreshing Twitter like it’s the stock market.

This year’s negotiating window opened Monday, which means teams can agree to deals even though the contracts don’t become official until the new league year starts later this week. In other words, the league flips the “tampering” sign on the door and chaos politely begins.

And right on schedule, a few moves landed with a thud — the kind that shift the room just a little.

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The first one that made people sit up involved Malik Willis, who is reportedly heading to the Miami Dolphins.

Willis has always been one of those quarterbacks who carries a certain mystery with him. Electric runner. Rocket arm. A highlight waiting to happen if the offense tilts the right way. The Dolphins are betting that a change of scenery — and a coaching staff willing to lean into that athletic chaos — can unlock something bigger. Quarterbacks like Willis don’t usually come with boring outcomes. Either it works beautifully or it explodes in fascinating fashion. Honestly, both are good television.

Then there’s the running back market, where Kenneth Walker III quietly found a new home, according to research from Fox Sports.

Walker is one of those backs who runs like every carry personally offended him. Quick cuts, violent bursts, the kind of acceleration that turns a routine outside zone play into a 40-yard problem. Running backs don’t always get the long red-carpet treatment in free agency anymore — the position has been squeezed by economics and analytics. But when a back with Walker’s explosion becomes available, teams notice. The move doesn’t scream blockbuster, but it has the feel of something that will show up on highlight reels by October.

And hovering over the entire market is pass-rush terror Trey Hendrickson, one of the most coveted players still circling the board.

Edge rushers like Hendrickson are the closest thing football has to rock-star guitarists. When they arrive, the whole band sounds louder. Offensive coordinators start sliding protection his way. Quarterbacks start checking the rush before they check their receivers. He’s the kind of player who can change the emotional temperature of a defense in about three snaps.

That’s the real theme of the first day of free agency: teams chasing disruption.

Quarterbacks who tilt the field. Running backs who can flip momentum. Pass rushers who make opposing fans groan before the snap. None of it guarantees wins in March, of course. Free agency history is full of expensive ideas that looked a lot smarter in spreadsheets than on Sundays.

But the early moves always carry a certain optimism with them. New uniforms. New playbooks. New fan bases convincing themselves they’ve spotted the missing piece.

By the time September arrives, some of these deals will look brilliant and some will look like cautionary tales. That’s part of the rhythm of the league.

For now, though, the music has started. And the first few notes are loud enough to hear.