Does Offensive Line Investment Actually Work? A Look at Free Agency Spending and Draft Capital

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Every offseason, there are teams that pour millions into upgrading their offensive lines. But how often does that investment actually move the needle? And what happens to lines that cut salary and ignore the offensive line during the early rounds of the draft? I looked at three seasons of data—2023 through 2025—to find out. The Setup I tracked every NFL team's net free agency spending on the offensive line each offseason and whether they used a Day 1 or Day 2 pick on a lineman. I then...