2025 NFL Free Agency Winners and Losers

Now that the main wave of free agency has passed, we can now get a pretty good look at how the different teams have done. Some have addressed key needs, others have added depth, while a few teams are deciding to wait until the draft to tackle the holes in their rosters. Cap constraints had a major impact on what clubs were able to do. Regardless, free agency can be a critical way to build your team. With that in mind, let’s check out the winners and losers of the 2025 NFL free agency period. You can catch up on all the signings (and my grades for them) here.

Winners

Chicago Bears

GM Ryan Poles had a clear mandate: protect QB Caleb Williams. The good news for Bears fans is that he listened. Chicago’s offensive line was a disaster last season, particularly up the middle. That entire section has been replaced (read: upgraded): the team traded for guards Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney before signing C Drew Dalman. Olamide Zaccheaus was brought in to be the WR3, replacing the departed Keenan Allen. Nobody but Allen was a notable departure on this team. The defense also got some help with DT Grady Jarrett and DE Dayo Odeyingbo. Chicago seems poised to make a big leap next season.

Washington Commanders

Our second straight repeat appearance, Washington entered this offseason in a very different place. Whereas last year they were trying to establish a new culture and escape the cellar, this year they were coming off an NFC Championship game appearance. To help take star QB Jayden Daniels to new heights in year two, the Commanders made two exceptional trades. They acquired WR Deebo Samuel from San Francisco and LT Laremy Tunsil from Houston, addressing their two weakest positions on offense. Defensively, they added depth with DT Javon Kinlaw, CB Jonathan Jones, and S Will Harris.

Washington lost a few role players, including DE Dante Fowler and WR Dyami Brown. However, this new roster is definitely an improvement over the 2024 iteration. The team managed to use its considerable cap space, a benefit of a rookie QB contract, to acquire two stars that can help the team win now. That’s a great job by GM Adam Peters of shifting from rebuilding to contending on the fly. Not everything went perfectly; I’d love to see a big name added at CB or edge rusher. Still, Washington brought in some serious reinforcements to a roster that has developed much more quickly than expected.

Los Angeles Rams

Nobody gave the Eagles a tougher time in last year’s playoffs than the Rams did. Thus, Les Snead decided to make a push to win with this group. He retained QB Matthew Stafford, upgraded an injury-prone Cooper Kupp with Davante Adams at WR, and made a big addition to the team’s run defense with DT Poona Ford. Aside from LB Christian Rozeboom, who they replaced with Nathan Landman for pennies on the dollar, none of the players the Rams lost were expected to be major contributors in 2025. LA’s young defense should improve this season, and with the new players brought in during free agency, the Rams are ready to contend.

New England Patriots

When you lead the league in cap space by a large margin, you better bring in a bunch of players who can help your team. Before that though, the Patriots made a big splash at coach by signing Mike Vrabel. He’s already making his mark with the team’s free agent class. The big fish was DT Milton Williams, but he’ll be joined by OLB Harold Landry, LB Robert Spillane, and CB Carlton Davis on a new-look defense. On offense, the Pats finally got QB Drake Maye a bit of help, signing OT Morgan Moses and WRs Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins. New England still isn’t close, but they’re already better than they were a season ago.

Cincinnati Bengals

I know: they still didn’t address their atrocious defense, and DE Trey Hendrickson could still be traded (LB Oren Burks was a nice add though). I just have to give Mike Brown his due here though. The notoriously cheap owner shelled out big bucks to retain WRs Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, as well as TE Mike Gesicki. QB Joe Burrow was clamoring for this, and I was starting to believe it wouldn’t get done. Instead, the high-octane offense, boosted by new role players such as RB Samaje Perine and G Lucas Patrick, will remain one of the best in the league. I expect more work on defense during the draft, however.

Denver Broncos

As the Eagles showed us in 2024, investing in a good defense to make it better is a winning strategy. Denver’s stop unit already led the team to the playoffs last year, but now it will include two former star 49ers: LB Dre Greenlaw and S Talanoa Hufanga. Both are coming off injury-plagued seasons, but each is one of the best in the business at his position. TE Evan Engram was also obtained to help out QB Bo Nix. He should be a nice security blanket. Denver still needs to address the RB room now that Javonte Williams is gone, but they’ve made a good push to upgrade an already strong roster. Could they even get past the Chiefs?

Losers

San Francisco 49ers

No other team saw as devastating an exodus of talent as the 49ers did. It started with a trade of WR Deebo Samuel for just a 5th-rounder and a release of DT Javon Hargrave. San Francisco then watched top-shelf talent like LB Dre Greenlaw, S Talanoa Hufanga, CB Charvarious Ward, and OLB Leonard Floyd all depart the defense. The offense suffered too, with G Aaron Banks, OT Jaylon Moore, and RB Elijah Mitchell all leaving. GM John Lynch then traded RB Jordan Mason away. I liked the signing of WR Demarcus Robinson, and I know space needed to be made for QB Brock Purdy’s future deal, but this offseason was ugly for SF.

Minnesota Vikings

Unlike every other team on this list, Minnesota made some quality additions. DTs Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave will really help the interior of the defense, while C Ryan Kelly and G Will Fries will boost the pass defense, albeit at an exorbitant price in the case of Fries. Even RB Jordan Mason was a nice trade acquisition. Letting QB Sam Darnold walk tanks everything though. He went 14-3 last year, and now the team turns to JJ McCarthy. Last year’s first-rounder, McCarthy is completely unproven. I wasn’t high on him to begin with, and now he’s tasked with leading a contender. Coach Kevin O’Connell better have some more magic.

Dallas Cowboys

Last year, Dallas made this list because they had no money to spend and signed nobody. This year, they cleared over $50M in cap space…and signed almost nobody. They traded for two former busts in CB Kaiir Elam and LB Kenneth Murray, and they reunited with DE Dante Fowler. However, they sat there as CB Jourdan Lewis, RB Rico Dowdle, backup QB Cooper Rush, DE DeMarcus Lawrence, and WR Brandin Cooks all signed elsewhere. Worst of all, the Cowboys lost elite G Zack Martin to retirement. If this money is being saved for Micah Parson’s extension, that hasn’t happened. What are we doing here Jerry Jones?

Cleveland Browns

I penalize a team in this analysis if they have no cap space. It’s extra bad though if your own stupidity led to that situation. Cleveland didn’t clog their cap with great players like the Eagles did (notice they aren’t on this list). The Browns spent all their cash on QB Deshaun Watson, who the owner now admits was a bust. They did manage to retain Myles Garrett, but they probably should’ve just traded him to start a rebuild. OT Cornelius Lucas and G Teven Jenkins are fine additions. They don’t make up for the fact that this team is going nowhere for two more years. Until Watson’s contract expires, the Browns are trapped.

Kansas City Chiefs

Maybe I’m the outlier, but I haven’t loved the moved made by the normally savvy Chiefs. Franchise tagging Trey Smith was a surprise but not a terrible one. The problem was that it directly led the team to trade G Joe Thuney, their best lineman. Other good players who departed included S Justin Reid, DT Tershawn Wharton, and WR DeAndre Hopkins. KC overspent on CB Kristian Fulton instead of keeping one of those guys. They’re also trusting Jaylon Moore, a former backup, to protect Patrick Mahomes’ blindside. Aside from signing Gardner Minshew as the backup QB, this was all really puzzling for me.

New York Jets

I’m of the opinion that completely resetting and ending the Aaron Rodgers experiment was misguided. Justin Fields will be starting, and he’s not the answer at all. Regardless of how you feel about that, the departures were severe. WR Davante Adams was released, while TE Tyler Conklin, CB DJ Reed, and DT Javon Kinlaw signed elsewhere. The only other truly notable signing the Jets made was S Andre Cisco, and that was an overpay. New York could have a better record next year by default, but they’re not a better team. It feels like they’re back to where they were with Zach Wilson, just with a different 2021 first-round bust.

Houston Texans

QB CJ Stroud probably expected big improvements to his offensive line. His team did sign OTs Cam Robinson and Trent Brown and traded for G Ed Ingram, but that means little after they traded LT Laremy Tunsil away. Houston has at best an equal line relative to the one that got Stroud killed last year. I don’t even hate some of the Texans’ other moves. WR Christian Kirk was a good addition, as was the trade for S CJ Gardner Johnson. Without Tunsil and WR Stefon Diggs though, Houston’s ceiling remains the same. They can win the NFC South and maybe a playoff game, but they can’t win it all as currently constructed.