Free agency moves quickly in the NFL and this year things moved even quicker than normal. By the time free agency “officially” started, two days after the opening of the negotiating window, nearly all of the big names in a shallow 2025 pool of free agents were spoken for. Instead of lasting a week, the first wave of free agency lasted about 24 hours.
The common saying around the league is that free agency is an opportunity for teams to pay good-tier money to average-tier players. The pitfalls of free agency are well known, and there are tons of deals annually that don’t age well. There’s value to be had for sharp teams, however. The Eagles signed RB Saquon Barkley, LB Zack Baun, G Mekhi Becton and S C.J. Gardner-Johnson as free agents last year and all four were key starters for Philadelphia’s Super Bowl-winning squad. There are several other examples over the past several years of teams that catalyzed success via free agency.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the five best deals of free agency so far, plus a few honorable mentions:
Ravens signed LT Ronnie Stanley, three years $60M
Tackles are a premium commodity for teams, with the demand of 64 starters plus depth annually exceeding the supply of competent options. That led to some eye-popping deals in free agency, such as the four-year, $82 million deal the Titans gave OT Dan Moore, or the two-year, $30 million deal the Chiefs gave former 49ers backup OT Jaylon Moore.
Those teams gave out those contracts partially because they were the best tackles left after the Ravens locked up Stanley on a deal to keep him in Baltimore — but not before he had a chance to see what his market looked like. He’s not the same player he was when he was named a first-team All Pro selection at 25 but he still compares favorably to the two Moore’s.
| Name | PFF grade | Pass block efficiency | Run block grade | Snaps |
| Ronnie Stanley | 70.7 | 96.4 | 62.2 | 1,221 |
| Dan Moore | 67.2 | 95.5 | 60.7 | 1,128 |
| Jaylon Moore | 74.9 | 96.4 | 70.1 | 270 |
*stats via PFF
It’s hard to speak in absolutes about contract offers that didn’t come to fruition but it’s safe to say Stanley was the top tackle available and would likely have been paid as such. The Patriots and Chiefs were among multiple teams reportedly lining up offers, and Stanley could have landed more than $23 million a year from one of them.
Instead, he left money on the table to stay with the Ravens. It’s a massive offseason win for the franchise to retain the best tackle on the market despite their financial limitations. Stanley is more consistent and more established than Dan Moore, and his sample size of snaps is much higher than Jaylon Moore which matters at a position like tackle.
Despite coming in at $20 million per year on his extension, Stanley has a remarkably low cap hit. While Baltimore still has a little over $8 million in dead money on the books from his previous deal voiding, Stanley’s new deal counts just $5.8 million against the cap, a win for the cap-strapped Ravens. With $44 million of the $60 million value guaranteed, it’s also a win for Stanley, even if it’s a little less than he might have made elsewhere.
Buccaneers signed WR Chris Godwin, three years $66M
It wasn’t cheap for Tampa Bay to re-sign Godwin but it was reportedly a heck of a lot cheaper than what other teams were willing to pay, either for Godwin himself or other receivers available this offseason. At $22 million a year, Godwin is on the verge of being pushed out of the top 20 highest-paid receivers while others push to hit or exceed $30 million a year. The receiver-starved Patriots were rumored to be willing to push Godwin a lot closer to that benchmark but he wanted to stay with the Buccaneers.
Godwin’s contract hasn’t been officially filed yet so the exact structure isn’t known, but the average annual salary and reported $44 million guarantees make this deal a bargain for the Buccaneers relative to some of the other receiver deals that have been signed in the last 18 months or so. Godwin’s age (29) is a factor in the discount, as is the fact that he’s coming off a season-ending ankle injury. But the outlook for a dislocated and fractured ankle is better than some of the other season-ending injuries, and Godwin was on pace for a career year when he went down. Prorating his numbers out to a full season lands him in the neighborhood of 120 catches, 1,400 yards and double-digit touchdowns.
Those are top-five receiver numbers, but the Buccaneers didn’t have to pay anywhere near top-five receiver salary to keep the band together with Godwin, WR Mike Evans and QB Baker Mayfield.
Bears revamped interior OL
Chicago completely overhauled the interior offensive line this offseason by going out and acquiring three new starters.
- Traded 2025 6th for G Jonah Jackson
- Traded 2026 4th for G Joe Thuney
- Signed C Drew Dalman, three years $42M
I’m cheating a little bit including two trades instead of signings, but both were salary related and the trade for Jackson essentially allowed Chicago to jump the line for a player who was going to be cut otherwise. The Bears will spend $16 million on Thuney in the final year of his contract, $17.5 million for Jackson in 2025 plus an extension that added guaranteed money in 2026, and $14 million a year for Dalman.
Compare that to what other guards signed for last week. The Packers gave Aaron Banks a deal worth $19.25 million per year with a $27 million signing bonus. The Vikings won a bidding war for G Will Fries with a five-year, $88 million offer ($17.5 million average) that included $34 million guaranteed at signing. The Chiefs tagged G Trey Smith at over $23 million and will work out a deal that should set a new highwater mark for the position.
Outside of Smith, there’s a case to be made that the Bears got better players for less by being proactive with picks and focusing their attention in free agency on Dalman, as the market at center is less robust than guard. Thuney was one of the top guards in football last year and his availability was collateral damage from Kansas City’s focus on retaining the younger Smith. Jackson was a big-ticket free agent signing by the Rams just a year ago who was unable to crack the field due to injuries and questionable position shuffling by Los Angeles. Before that, he played in Detroit for new Bears HC Ben Johnson and will be returning to a scheme in which he played his best ball.
Even though the Dalman deal was expensive, it’s still well below the top of the market for centers. The former Stanford graduate has been one of the top-graded players at his position by PFF the past few years and is still just 26. Johnson has already talked about putting a lot on his plate mentally, which should help the master plan of getting QB Caleb Williams’ development back on track.
That was the goal with all three of these moves, giving Johnson the type of power along the line of scrimmage he was accustomed to having when he called plays for the Lions. That should enable the Bears to build through the running game, dictate terms to opposing defenses and take even more pressure off Williams. Even though interior offensive line has not traditionally been counted as a premium position, in recent years we’ve seen teams have significant success by treating all five positions up front as valuable. There’s a reason the market for guards has exploded in the last couple of seasons.
Ultimately, the success or failure of the Bears’ 2025 season is likely going to be traced back to how these three moves pan out. And I’m bullish on the outlook.
Dolphins signed G James Daniels, three years $24M
Considering how well guards did financially this offseason, I’d be remiss not to highlight Miami landing Daniels for just $8 million a year — at least half what players at the top of the market made. There’s some risk to this deal since the veteran lineman is coming off of a serious season-ending injury, suffering a torn Achilles four games into the 2024 season with the Steelers. The standard six-month rehab means Daniels should be ready for training camp, but every player is different and a major injury is a major injury.
Daniels likely would have done much, much better as a free agent had he stayed healthy. He was on pace to be the No. 2 guard in football when he went down per PFF, which marked him down with a grade of nearly 93 in his 209 snaps. Daniels has consistently been graded as a solid starter in his previous six seasons and is still just 27 years old. For a Dolphins team that didn’t have a lot of spending power and needed to reinforce the offensive line, this is a great signing with some upside.
Cowboys re-signed DT Osa Odighizuwa, four years $80M
There hasn’t been a whole lot of positive coverage about the Cowboys this offseason, with more prominent exits in free agency and looming contract drama with LB Micah Parsons. But Dallas has been noticeably more active than last year and got a major contract negotiating win that flew under the radar. After reports that the Cowboys would tag Odighizuwa to keep him from reaching free agency, they got a deal done instead for four years and $80 million.
Considering that the franchise tender for defensive tackles was over $25 million, getting Odighizuwa under contract for just $20 million a year is a major win for the Cowboys. Perhaps they intended to use the transition tag at a lower amount instead but regardless, Odighizuwa was positioned to do much, much better than the deal he ultimately signed. There are a lot of similarities between him and former Eagles DT Milton Williams, who signed a deal worth $26 million per year with the Patriots.
Both have primarily been rotational pass rushing defensive tackles. Williams had better metrics than Odighizuwa and was a year younger, but Odighizuwa had more established production and played more snaps. He could have at least gotten close to the deal Williams signed, especially in terms of guaranteed money which matters more than average per year for players. Williams got $63 million in guarantees with $51 million guaranteed at signing compared to $52 million and $39 million in those same categories for Odighizuwa.
Instead, the Cowboys locked up a key piece of their defense at a discounted rate.
Honorable Mentions:
Raiders traded 2025 3rd (No. 92) for Seahawks QB Geno Smith
This is a trade which is why I didn’t rank it higher, but considering a new deal for Smith is going to be part of this transaction I figured I could fudge things and include it as an honorable mention. Your opinion of Smith likely impacts your opinion of this deal for the Raiders, but consider the plight of other quarterback-needy teams right now.
- The Steelers and Giants are on pins and needles waiting for Aaron Rodgers to decide if he’ll play for them or hold out for a spot in Minnesota after being dumped by the Jets — a team that thought it was better to pivot to giving $30 million guaranteed to Justin Fields and his career 14-30 record rather than bring back Rodgers.
- If Pittsburgh and New York miss out on Rodgers, the backup plan is Russell Wilson, who has been rejected by both organizations in some fashion over the last 12 months.
- If both miss on Rodgers and one misses on Wilson, Plan C is either Joe Flacco or Jameis Winston… Neither team is assured of finding a starter in the draft, either.
- The Browns are a factor in all of this too, as right now the only healthy quarterback on their roster is Kenny Pickett who was acquired in a trade with the Eagles. They could sign Wilson or Flacco to go along with a rookie, either with the No. 2 pick or later on, or try to work out some sort of compromise with the Falcons who are squatting on QB Kirk Cousins and the $37.5M in guarantees he’s owed over the next two years.
Now consider that the Raiders, picking No. 6 overall and too low for a top quarterback prospect in all likelihood, landed arguably the best and most established starter available for the cost of the No. 92 pick and a deal that will probably slot Smith in around No. 15 among all quarterbacks league-wide.
It’s a pretty solid outcome.
Veteran RB acquisitions
This is setting up to be one of the deepest draft classes at running back in recent memory and could break the record for number of backs selected. That has dramatically depressed the free agent market for most of the players available. While there weren’t any players available in the same conversation as Barkley, Ravens RB Derrick Henry or Packers RB Josh Jacobs like last year, there were still some solid veterans looking for new teams last week.
The teams that added them got bargains. The Chargers signed RB Najee Harris for $5.25 million — less than what the Giants gave veteran RB Devin Singletary last year. Harris has four straight 1,000-yard seasons and is an excellent fit in Los Angeles’ ground-and-pound offense. The Panthers got RB Rico Dowdle off of a 1,000-yard rushing season for less than $3 million to give them a legit 1-2 punch with 2024 breakout starting RB Chuba Hubbard. The Vikings had to trade for 49ers RFA RB Jordan Mason, but got him on a two-year, $10.5 million deal. Mason was leading the NFL in rushing before going down to injury last year.
None of these players are stars but all of them are useful players who are signing for little to no risk with plenty of upside. There are still some backs unsigned like J.K. Dobbins, Nick Chubb and Cam Akers who could be similar finds as well.
Saints signed S Justin Reid, three years $31.5M
It was a good market for safeties, with several players signing for $15 million a year or more. Reid didn’t quite hit those highs as a 28-year-old veteran going on his third contract but he still landed a solid deal, one that has a chance to pay dividends for the Saints. Reid is just a solid, jack-of-all-trades veteran who communicates well on the back end and does a lot of things well. PFF graded him as the No. 11 overall safety last year, and I like that value compared to what others at the position got.
Rams signed LT Alaric Jackson, three years $57M
With the benefit of hindsight for what most tackles with a pulse commanded in free agency, this $19 million a year deal for Jackson looks like a legitimate discount for a quality tackle. Jackson is a former UDFA who worked his way into the starting lineup three years ago and cemented his hold on the left tackle job in 2023. He was closer to league-average before taking a step forward this past season, finishing as PFF’s No. 18 overall tackle. Had the Rams let him test free agency, he might have topped the deal the Titans gave Dan Moore by a couple million per year. More importantly, his current deal includes just $30 million in guarantees, compared to $50 million for Moore.
Jets signed LB Jamien Sherwood, three years $45M
Sherwood got close enough to the open market to get a good sense of his value and the Jets had to pay up to keep him on a deal worth $15 million per year. That’s tied for fifth-highest at the position with Chiefs LB Nick Bolton, who got virtually the same deal as a pending free agent this year. PFF grades aren’t the end-be-all of analysis but it provides a way to do some sort of apples-to-apples comparison. Sherwood ranked 18th at the position with a 73.8 grade. Bolton was 44th with a 64. That’s a favorable comparison for the Jets to keep their 25-year-old breakout linebacker on a deal that should age favorably compared to the rest of the market.
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