Almost every team in the NFL entered free agency in 2025 with ample amounts of cap space following the salary cap boom to $279.2 million per team.
However, not every team was able to pull off big moves with the additional resources. Some teams were active, but that activity fell more in the quantity department than the quality department. A few teams, most notably the San Francisco 49ers, hemorrhaged talent instead of adding to their roster. The Houston Texans, who entered free agency with an offensive line problem, reshuffled the deck chairs but still leave the first two weeks of free agency with the same issue. The Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears were actually able to maximize the cap space afforded to them by the league and having a quarterback on a rookie contract.
Given so much of the dust has settled, now is as a fair a time as ever to determine the winners and losers from free agency’s opening weeks. Let’s take a look who is in a better place, and who is wishing things would’ve gone differently.
When Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was hired as the Vikings general manager, quarterback Kirk Cousins and his contract were attached at the hip to the franchise. Fast forward to 2025, and Adofo-Mensah got to experience his first offseason in charge with a significant amount of salary cap space after letting Sam Darnold walk and having J.J. McCarthy, the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, on a rookie deal.
He spent his team’s money like he just won the lottery: The Vikings have spent $245.47 million in free agency, the most in the NFL, according to OverTheCap.com. Minnesota got punked in their 2024 NFC wild-card round loss against the Los Angeles Rams, surrendering an NFL-record nine sacks. Adofo-Mensah spent like no tomorrow in order to be the bullies, not the bullied.
Here are the notable moves he has made to become a more physical team at the line of scrimmage:
- Re-signed RB Aaron Jones (two years, $20 million with $13 million in total guarantees)
- Acquired RB Jordan Mason and a 2025 sixth-round pick from the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2025 fifth and 2026 sixth
- Re-signed CB Byron Murphy (three years, $54 million with $34.78 million guaranteed at signing)
- Signed G Will Fries (five years, $88 million with $44 million guaranteed)
- Signed C Ryan Kelly (two years, $18 million with $9.25 million guaranteed)
- Signed DT Jonathan Allen (three years, $41 million with $31.255 million guaranteed)
- Signed DT Javon Hargrave (two years, $30 million with $19 million guaranteed)
Minnesota learned it doesn’t matter if Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison are downfield if its quarterback doesn’t have time to get them the ball. That’s why the Vikings went all out on spending to protect their own QB and terrorize opposing quarterbacks.
2025 NFL free agency live tracker: Full list of team-by-team signings and trades from the first week of moves
Kyle Stackpole
Loser: Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud
A case can be made that C.J. Stroud’s offensive line got worse despite it being an obvious problem area in 2024. Houston traded five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who was Pro Football Focus’ fourth-best pass-blocking tackle, and a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Commanders for four draft picks (a 2025 third, a 2025 seventh, a 2026 second and a 2026 fourth). They also traded away 2022 first-round pick offensive guard Kenyon Green and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Eagles for safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and a 2026 sixth-rounder. If the Eagles are interested in your team’s offensive lineman, it probably means you shouldn’t send them to Philadelphia.
Houston opted to swign 33-year-old offensive guard Laken Tomlinson to a one-year, $4.25 million contract and acquire 2022 second-round pick offensive guard Ed Ingram from the Vikings in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick. Ingram ranked 150th (7.8%) and Tomlinson ranked 100th (5.7%) in quarterback pressure rate allowed among 161 offensive linemen who played at least 500 offensive snaps in 2024. They also picked up Cam Robinson after he split time with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings in 2024. Once Robinson took over as a starter for the Vikings last season following being acquired in a midseason trade, Weeks 9-18, his quarterback pressure rate allowed of 10.1% was the fifth-highest in the entire NFL. That’s tough for Stroud.
Two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver DK Metcalf requested a trade off of the Seattle Seahawks on March 4, and just five days later on March 9, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only was Metcalf traded, but he also received the new contract he was searching for, signing a four-year, $132 million extension. His new average per year salary of $33 million is the fourth-highest among all NFL wide receivers. Sure, he doesn’t know who will be throwing him the football yet, but he’s getting paid and got engaged to pop star Normani. Metcalf has certainly been winning since free agency began.
The Dallas Cowboys are still scared to make big moves in free agency despite having the cap space to do so. They either re-signed most of their own guys, or they went bargain bin hunting, mostly on ex-first-round picks who haven’t hit in their previous stops. The Cowboys restructured the contracts of both quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to open up more cap space in 2025 and push more money into the future, but they haven’t done anything of note with that cap relief in the present.
Dallas also let some of their homegrown, key guys depart in free agency despite possessing the means to retain them. Cornerback Jourdan Lewis (three-year, $30 million deal with $20 million guaranteed with the Jacksonville Jaguars), running back Rico Dowdle (one-year deal worth up to $6.25 million with the Carolina Panthers) and edge rusher Chauncey Golston (three-year, $19.5 million deal) all left the Cowboys. The one commendable, external free agency move Dallas has made is signing Dante Fowler after leading the Commanders with 10.5 sacks last season. The Cowboys are sitting around with $37.4 million in effective cap space, the eighth-most in the league per OverTheCap.com, without any major free agency signings. Plus, All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons still isn’t re-signed as the rest of the league continues to drive his price up.
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Six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Davante Adams saw his Pro Bowl streak snapped across the last two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders — who rotated through a number of quarterbacks in 2023 and 2024 — and the New York Jets — who started an Aaron Rodgers fresh off a torn Achilles on the wrong side of 40 in 2024. Now, he’s headed back to his home state of California on a two-year, $44 million deal with $26 million guaranteed to go play for a Super Bowl contender in the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams played the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles closer than anyone in the playoffs in a 28-22 NFC divisional round loss. Adding Adams to play alongside Puka Nacua and Matthew Stafford could put this team over the top. Plus, Adams could rack up some nice numbers as he makes a push for a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Loser: 2025 free agency RB class except for Aaron Jones
None of the running backs to actually hit the open market got paid this offseason, and Aaron Jones was the only pending free agent this offseason to receive a sizeable contract. A year after it appeared the running back market might be back thanks to Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard, the free agency market was financially barren for the 2025 class at the position.
- Vikings re-signed Aaron Jones (two years, $20 million with $13 million in total guarantees)
- Chargers signed Najee Harris (one year, $5.25 million fully guaranteed)
- Panthers signed Rico Dowdle (one year, $2.75 million base salary worth up to $6.25 million)
- Cowboys signed Javonte Williams (one year, $3 million base salary worth up to $3.25 million)
- Chiefs signed Elijah Mitchell (one year, $2.5 million with 1.35 million guaranteed)
- Steelers signed Kenneth Gainwell (one year, $1.79 million, $620,000 guaranteed)
- Bengals signed Samaje Perine (two years, $3.6 million)
Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft got pummeled in his rookie year: his 68 sacks taken were tied for the third-most in a season in NFL history.
New head coach Ben Johnson, whose Detroit Lions offenses averaged 29.0 points per game while he was the offensive coordinator — the best in the NFL — came in looking to change that. His Detroit offenses, especially last season, were powered by Pro Bowlers up and down the offensive line, namely left tackle Taylor Decker, center Frank Ragnow, guard Kevin Zeitler and right tackle Penei Sewell.
Johnson and Ryan Poles have gone to work building up Williams’ line: they traded for Rams right guard Jonah Jackson earlier this month and then traded for two-time first-team All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney from the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2026 fourth-round pick. Chicago pounced in free agency by signing by signing the best center available in ex-Atlanta Falcons center Drew Dalman to a three-year, $42 million contract with $28 million guaranteed. Johnson is making sure his quarterback remains upright, which makes Williams a major winner.
The Arizona Cardinals entered the 2025 offseason with plenty of needs and plenty of cap space. They did reel in arguably the top edge rusher free agent in Josh Sweat on a four-year, $76.4 million contract to reunite him with head coach Jonathan Gannon, his former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator. However, Arizona hasn’t been able to upgrade at receiver around Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson or really notably address other areas of need despite having the fifth-most cap space in the league, $41.761 million in effective cap space per OverTheCap.com.
Washington wasn’t complacent after reaching the NFC championship game with 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year quarterback Jayden Daniels. They acquired Pro Bowl wide receiver Deebo Samuel from the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for the low cost of a fifth-round pick to give him a capable No. 2 receiver opposite Terry McLaurin. They also acquired five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil in a trade from the Houston Texans to shore up Daniels’ blind side. Daniels’ red zone security blanket in tight end Zach Ertz and and mentor in linebacker Bobby Wagner were also re-signed on one-year deals. Continuity is hard to possess in the NFL, but Daniels has it while other key parts of his offense improved.
ESPN reported the New England Patriots were willing to pay up to $30 million a year for free agent wide receiver Chris Godwin to be Drake Maye’s new No. 1 target, but he opted to take a three-year, $66 million deal ($22 million average per year salary), leaving a ton of money on the table to catch passes from Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay. Quarterback Baker Mayfield was on the verge of becoming a journeyman and bouncing around the league for years, but now he’s highly regarded enough for his Pro Bowl receivers to leave close to $10 million on the table to continue to play with him.
Loser: Pittsburgh Steelers
The only quarterbacks currently on the Steelers’ roster are Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. That’s definitely way to have both Metcalf and George Pickens upset when the season begins. Pittsburgh is still likely awaiting the result of the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes, something seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Cameron Heyward is losing his tolerance and patience with the longer it drags on. There’s a good chance they can still land Russell Wilson if Rodgers falls through, but it was clear in 2024 that there’s a ceiling on the offense with Wilson at the controls.
Daniel Jones has been riding the struggle bus on the football field and popping bottles of champagne off of it lately. The 2024 season marked the fourth time in the last five seasons he has started each of his team’s first 10 games and had fewer than 10 touchdown passes. That’s something all other NFL quarterbacks have done four times total in the last five years, per CBS Sports Research. Jones has also gone 58 consecutive starts without throwing three or more touchdowns in a game, which is the longest streak in the last 30 seasons, per CBS Sports Research.
Despite the on-field issues and the New York Giants eating a $22 million dead cap hit in 2025 for releasing him midseason in 2024, Jones still landed a one-year, $14 million contract with $13.15 million fully guaranteed from the Indianapolis Colts to compete with Anthony Richardson. Nothing Jones has done on the field is worth over $13 million guaranteed, but he and his agent stay winning.
Loser: New York Giants
There’s only one quarterback currently on the Giants’ roster: Tommy DeVito. New York also could see the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns take Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders ahead of them in the 2025 NFL Draft. It doesn’t seem like they’re Rodgers’ first or second choice, and they’re likely Wilson’s backup plan if Rodgers goes to the Steelers. There’s a world where the Giants don’t end up with Ward, Sanders, Rodgers or Wilson. That’s brutal.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow put on his general manager hat this offseason and spoke to anyone who would listen about how the franchise needed to re-sign both of his top two wide receivers: Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. He got his wish, and his boys got paid with Chase (four years, $161 million with $112 million guaranteed) and Higgins (four years, $115 million) each signing four-year deals. The offensive fireworks will continue in Cincinnati.
Loser: San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are rebuilding, and the rest of the NFL has stripped them for parts. Their departing free agents saw the money spent on any team’s departing free agents, $321M, all-time through the first four days of free agency, according to CBS Sports Research.
San Francisco also has the most dead money on their books of any team in 2025, $77 million. The 49ers squad that lost in overtime of the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs at the conclusion of the 2023 season is six feet under. Nine San Francisco starters from the 2024 season are no longer on the roster in 2025:
It will be interesting to see if the 49ers pony up to re-sign Brock Purdy or opt for a lower budget option in Mac Jones going forward as the roster around Purdy becomes less talented.
Winner: NFL corners up for new deals
Chase, Higgins and Metcalf all got PAID the big bucks because they make big plays in the passing game. Naturally, the people whose job it is to prevent said big plays in the passing game from happening, cornerbacks, also saw their positional market jump this free agency period. Look at the following 10 deals below as evidence. The NFL seemingly gets more and more pass-centric every year, and the league’s cornerback market reflects that. New York Jets All-Pro corner Sauce Gardner is certainly licking his lips ahead of his time to negotiate his second NFL contract.
- Texans re-signed Derek Stingley Jr. (three years, $90 million with $63.5 million guaranteed)
- Panthers re-signed Jaycee Horn (four years, $100 million with $72 million guaranteed)
- Giants signed Paulson Adebo (three years, $54 million with $38.5 million guaranteed)
- Colts signed Charvarius Ward (three years, $54 million with $34.98 million guaranteed)
- Vikings re-signed Byron Murphy (three years, $54 million with $34.78 million guaranteed)
- Patriots signed Carlton Davis (three years, $54 million with $34.5 million guaranteed)
- Lions signed D.J. Reed (three years, $48 million with 32 million guaranteed)
- Packers signed Nate Hobbs (four years, $48 million with $16 million guaranteed)
- Jets signed Brandon Stephens (three years, $36 million with $23 million guaranteed)
- Jaguars signed Jourdan Lewis (three Years, $30 million with $20 million guaranteed)
The Titans were all in on reinforcing their offensive line in free agency with deals for Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Dan Moore Jr. (four years, $82 million, $50 million guaranteed) and Lions Pro Bowl guard Kevin Zeitler (one year, $9 million). After observing Tennessee’s laser focus on their offensive line, it feels like they’re targeting the draft’s top quarterback prospect, Cam Ward of the Miami Hurricanes, with the first overall pick. Ward is a winner simply by likely making his way to a team that has its offensive line set up nicely for him in addition to solid WR1 (Calvin Ridley) and RB1 (Tony Pollard).
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