The start of a new NFL league year is here, and teams are reinforcing their ranks at a dizzying pace. The FOX Sports NFL crew grades the biggest signings of this year's free-agent class — plus evaluations of the most notable contract extensions and trades.
Free-agent players are listed according to their rank in FOX Sports' top 100 free agent list. Follow every free-agent signing here:
2025 NFL free agency tracker: Signings, updates, best players available
Sam Darnold, QB, Seahawks
2024 stats: 66.2% completion rate for 4,319 yards and 35 TDs against 12 INTs
Reported terms: three years, $110.5 million ($55 million guaranteed)
Previous team: Vikings
Ben Arthur: Darnold feels like a downgrade from Geno Smith, whom the Seahawks traded to the Raiders. But the terms of Darnold’s deal make it a huge win for Seattle, especially considering he was the top quarterback on the free-agent market. Both his APY and guarantees are outside of the top-15 for passers. So to get a 27-year-old Darnold, who can be an above-average starter in spurts (as evident by his work with the Vikings), and the third-round pick from the Smith trade is strong business for the Seahawks. They can still pursue a long-term quarterback, too. What Darnold looks like outside of Kevin O’Connell’s system remains to be seen, but being reunited with Klint Kubiak — whom he worked with in San Francisco — is a plus.
Grade: B
Chris Godwin, WR, Bucs
2024 stats: 50 catches, 576 yards, 5 TDs in seven games
Reported terms: three years, $66 million, $44 million guaranteed
Previous team: Bucs
Greg Auman: Tampa Bay was able to keep the biggest piece of its offseason puzzle, guaranteeing two years even though Godwin is recovering from a dislocated ankle that cut short his 2024 season. Godwin might not be ready for the start of the 2025 season, but he's back as a 1-2 punch with Mike Evans, getting slightly more than his last deal ($60 million over three years) and slightly more than Evans got last year. It's all about continuity for the Bucs, who also brought back starting left guard Ben Bredeson on a three-year deal worth $22 million. Before Godwin injured his ankle, he was among the league leaders seven games into the season.
Grade: A-
Zack Baun, LB, Eagles
2024 stats: 151 tackles, 3.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, one interception
Reported terms: $51 million, three years, $34 million guaranteed
Previous team: Eagles
Ralph Vacchiano: The Eagles and the 28-year-old Baun have both defied the odds with this deal that kept him off the free-agent market. When Baun first signed with Philadelphia a year ago, for just one year and $3.5 million, no one expected him to emerge as a star player — not even Eagles GM Howie Roseman. He thought he had landed a good rotational linebacker and special teams standout. Instead, the player he got emerged as one of his best defenders, who kept it going in the postseason and even had a spectacular interception in the Super Bowl. Baun became an All-Pro and even finished fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. So in an offseason where the Eagles weren't expected to be overly aggressive in free agency, Roseman knew he had to keep one of his best defensive players, even if it meant spending on a linebacker — something he's rarely done. But Baun was a perfect fit in the Vic Fangio defensive scheme and proved to be a big-time player who came through in big spots.
Grade: A-
Khalil Mack, edge, Chargers
2024 stats: six sacks, two forced fumbles, made his ninth Pro Bowl
Reported terms: one year, $18 million, fully guaranteed
Previous team: Chargers
Greg Auman: We had Mack as the No. 6 overall free agent, so the only concern is paying this much to a 34-year-old who had contemplated retirement. While you might get 17 sacks and five forced fumbles, like he had in 2023, it's more likely you'll get six sacks, like in 2024, and after releasing Joey Bosa, the Chargers are likely not as good on the other side. Learn the name Tuli Tuipulotu — he's the third-year pro who had 8.5 sacks for Los Angeles last year and has to step up even more in 2025. It was smart for the Chargers to keep a defensive leader and locker room presence, but it'll be hard to get $18 million in production from Mack at his age.
Grade: B-
Nick Bolton, LB, Chiefs
2024 stats: 106 tackles, three sacks, one interception, six pass breakups, one forced fumble
Reported terms: three years, $45 million
Previous team: Chiefs
Henry McKenna: It's a good deal for the Chiefs. The only question is about positional value. Do you want an inside linebacker to be one of your highest-paid players? Maybe the Chiefs are seeing the ascendance of running backs (See: Barkley, Saquon) and thinking they'll need Bolton more than ever in the years to come. And the good news is that while he's highly paid, he's actually still taking a team-friendly deal at three years and $45 million, roughly $3 million less annually than what Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds got when he hit free agency in 2023. Bolton clearly wanted to stay with K.C., and that's no doubt because the Chiefs are in the Super Bowl almost every year. It's ironic that a team like the Patriots, desperate for talent, would have had to pay Bolton millions more per year in order to get him to bolt. The Chiefs are getting discounts in a way that we really haven't seen since Tom Brady and Bill Belichick were running the show in New England.
Grade: B+
Byron Murphy, CB, Vikings
2024 stats: 6 INTS, 1 FF, 81 combined tackles
Reported terms: 3 years, $66 million
Previous team: Vikings
Carmen Vitali: Murphy was the Vikings’ best corner last year and even made a Pro Bowl for his efforts. In a fluid scheme like Brian Flores’, the back level has to be ready for anything, and Murphy was up to the task. He didn’t record any sacks like he did in 2023, his first year in Minnesota, but that doesn’t mean he won’t in the future. He has now become a defensive cornerstone and clear priority as the Vikings look to shore up the secondary. They added cornerback Isaiah Rodgers and safety Theo Jackson on Monday, too. Murphy has now become the de facto leader of a group that gained fame for its complex choreographed celebrations, among other things. Will Murphy be able to do the Parent Trap handshake with Josh Metellus as well as Cam Bynum did? Who’s to say? But Minnesota prioritized a ballhawk, and thank goodness.
Grade: B
Josh Sweat, DE, Cardinals
2024 stats: 8 sacks, 41 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 2 passes deflected
Reported terms: Four years, $76.4 million ($41 million guaranteed)
Previous team: Eagles
Ralph Vacchiano: The 6-foot-4, 265-pound edge rusher will be reunited with Jonathan Gannon in Arizona, which is significant because Sweat had his best NFL season when Gannon was his defensive coordinator in Philadelphia. But his 11 sacks that year, 2022, appear to be an outlier in his career. The 27-year-old has been a strong pass rusher, but not a dominant one. He’s also struggled to find consistency at times. The Cards are clearly banking on him rediscovering his old form under his former coach, and proving he can be the kind of dominant player he looked like in the Super Bowl, when he had 2.5 sacks. Because while $19.1 million per year isn’t an astronomical price for an edge rusher, it puts Sweat in the Top 12 at his position. He will now have to play like he belongs in that group.
Grade: B
Charvarius Ward, CB, Colts
2024 stats: 7 PBUs, 54 tackles
Reported terms: three years, $60 million, ($35 million guaranteed)
Previous team: 49ers
Ben Arthur: General manager Chris Ballard is operating completely differently this offseason than in previous years. The $60 million that Indianapolis is giving Ward is the most total money the franchise has given an external free agent in the Ballard era — and the GM did it twice Monday alone to bolster the secondary for new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. (Ex-Vikings safety Cam Bynum got $60 million over four years from Indy.) In Ward’s case in particular, this is a good investment on paper. He’s been one of the best and most available corners in the NFL the past few years. To get him with an APY outside the top six for his position is a steal. The $20 million signing bonus is a win for Ward, though.
Grade: B+
Davante Adams, WR, Rams
2024 stats: 85 receptions, 1,063 receiving yards, 8 TDs
Reported terms: two years, $46 million
Previous team: Jets
Eric D. Williams: The California native returns to the West Coast, signing with the Rams. With Los Angeles moving on from veteran receiver Cooper Kupp, Adams gives head coach Sean McVay a nice complement to No. 1 receiver Puka Nacua. Adams, 32, also brings familiarity with the offense from his time in Green Bay playing in former Rams OC Matt LaFleur's system with the Packers. Like McVay achieved with Odell Beckham Jr. during the Rams' Super Bowl-winning season, Adams should experience a rebirth in this offense.
Grade: B+
Najee Harris, RB, Chargers
2024 stats: 263 carries, 1,043 yards, 6 TDs
Reported terms: 1 year, $9.5 million
Previous team: Steelers
Carmen Vitali: I find it kind of hard to believe that J.K. Dobbins is asking for more money than this, but if that’s the case, then this move makes sense. So much of what Los Angeles wants to do offensively goes through the run game, which was addressed immediately once the Jim Harbaugh era began. Harris will have the benefit of a better offensive line than he had in Pittsburgh, so a chance to prove himself in Los Angeles is a win-win situation for both him and the Chargers. I still think there’s more work to be done in the offensive backfield for L.A. to be a true contender, with both Gus Edwards and Dobbins presumably gone, but this was a pretty easy flier to take on Harris.
Grade: B-
Haason Reddick, edge, Bucs
2024 stats: one sack in 10 games after holding out
Reported terms: one year, $12 million
Previous team: Jets
Greg Auman: Can the Bucs get the Reddick who had double-digit sacks four years in a row from 2020-23? That's the hope, as they make a major addition to their defensive front, hoping to get more consistent pressure without blitzing. Reddick had a lost 2024, holding out with the Jets and then mustering a single sack in 10 games. Todd Bowles says he wants takeaways from his defense, so what he wants is 2022 Reddick: 16 sacks, five forced fumbles in helping the Eagles to a Super Bowl. If it's anything like 2023 Reddick, the Bucs will have a rare front-office miss.
Grade: B
Joey Bosa, edge, Bills
2024 stats: five sacks, 22 tackles, two forced fumbles in 14 games
Reported terms: one year, $12.6 million
Previous team: Chargers
Henry McKenna: This resembles the Leonard Floyd deal that the Bills put together in 2023. Bosa is a much bigger name, but in both cases Buffalo landed a discount on an edge player who will fit into the rotation on the defensive line. The difference? Floyd got paid considerably less (one year, $7M) to play a bigger role. Bosa isn't going to get a starter's share of snaps. Given his recent injury history and his declining sack totals, the Bills probably want to get Bosa in a platoon with edges Gregory Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa (and maybe a rookie selected in the draft). I like the fit. And Bosa will get a one-year, prove-it deal to show he's not washed up.
Grade: B
Drew Dalman, C, Bears
2024 stats: 9 games started, 0 penalties
Reported terms: three years, $42 million ($28 million guaranteed)
Previous team: Falcons
Carmen Vitali: New Bears head coach Ben Johnson said during his combine availability in Indianapolis that he thought it was possible to turn over an entire interior offensive line in one offseason. Turns out, that was more a promise than a possibility. After reportedly trading for Pro Bowl guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson last week, Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles snagged the best free-agent center on the market, making Dalman the second-highest-paid center in the league. Johnson knows his offensive overhaul is a nonstarter without a solid offensive line to protect second-year quarterback Caleb Williams, and the Bears finally made good on revamping it. Now Dalman, who missed eight games last season with a high-ankle sprain, needs to stay on the field to make it work.
Grade: A-
Aaron Jones, RB, Vikings
2024 stats: 1,138 rushing yards, five TDs; 51 catches, 408 yards, two TDs
Reported terms: two years, $20 million
Previous team: Vikings
Greg Auman: It made lots of sense to bring Jones back. His 1,138 rushing yards was a career high, and he fit in well after coming in from Green Bay. It’s a slight raise from his first contract in Minnesota, but he showed his value in one year. The quarterback might change for the Vikings, but having Jones to lean on as a steady part of the ground game was important. He wasn’t at the same level as Saquon Barkley or Derrick Henry, but Jones was another free-agent back who worked out for his new team in 2024. He’s 30, so there's no telling what his 2026 might look like, but only $13 million is guaranteed, so the Vikings could even move on after a year without a terrible cap hit.
Grade: B
Justin Fields, QB, Jets
2024 stats: 1,106 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, one interception, 289 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns in six starts and 10 games played
Reported terms: two years, $40 million ($30 million guaranteed)
Previous team: Steelers
Henry McKenna: It's a dang shame, isn't it? Fields went to Pittsburgh and reversed the downward trend of his career. With the Steelers, he looked like a different player. If there's one number that shows the transformation, it's his interception percentage, which fell to .6% in 2024. It was 2.4% in 2023, 3.5% in 2022 and 3.7% in 2021. That 2024 season was simply not like the others with Chicago. But you know what's frustratingly similar? The Jets and Bears franchises. They ruin quarterbacks. After his year in Pittsburgh, Fields will have to prove what he couldn't in Chicago: that he can rise above his circumstances. I like Fields. I don't like the Jets for Fields. And forgive me for feeling like it's not going to end well for anyone involved.
Grade: C+
Zach Ertz, TE, Commanders
2024 stats: 66 catches, 654 yards, seven touchdowns
Reported terms: one year, $6.25 million
Previous team: Commanders
Greg Auman: Ertz had a nice bounce-back year in 2024, getting seven touchdowns and clicking with rookie Jayden Daniels after totaling five scores in the previous two seasons. He looked close to retirement in Arizona, but found himself with the Commanders, and gives Daniels an easy fallback target with sure hands when the downfield options aren't there. Washington is already adding Deebo Samuel, so this offense could be even better in 2025. Ertz needs only 40 catches to pass Shannon Sharpe for fifth all time among tight ends, and another touchdown season like his 2024 would put him in the top 10 there.
Grade: B+
Marquise Brown, WR, Chiefs
2024 stats: nine catches, 91 yards in two regular-season games, limited by injury
Reported terms: one year, $6.85 million, with $4 million in incentives
Previous team: Chiefs
Greg Auman: Kansas City's receivers are a blur — injuries, off-field problems, a half-dozen free agents. The Chiefs made the Super Bowl essentially without Brown, so he's a forgotten presence in this offense. His last and only 1,000-yard season was in 2021, and he's totaled seven touchdowns in three years since. It's hard to know where he fits in with Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice — logically Brown is the No. 3 if those two are healthy and the Chiefs don't make any more significant additions. For that, this deal is fine. We don't know the fine print on those incentives, but they could be very easy to achieve after playing in only two games last season.
Grade: B
Mike Gesicki, TE, Bengals
2024 stats: 65 catches for 665 yards, 2 TDs
Reported terms: three years, $25.5 million
Previous team: Bengals
Ben Arthur: I like this deal a lot for Cincinnati. After Gesicki put up a top-10 receiving yard season for a tight end, the Bengals locked him in at just $8.5 million per year, which ranked 14th at his position pre-free agency. There's just $6.5 million guaranteed in the deal (the signing bonus), and the Bengals have an out after 2025, which is significant because he'll be 30 next offseason. Essentially, this is a team-friendly deal that rewards Gesicki for a big debut season in Cincinnati but also doesn't eat into the Bengals' ability to give Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins mammoth extensions.
Grade: A-
Daniel Jones, QB, Colts
2024 stats: 63.3% completion rate for 2,070 yards and 8 TDs with 7 INTs
Reported terms: one year, up to $17.7 million ($13.15 million guaranteed)
Previous team: Vikings
Ben Arthur: I like this deal a lot for the Colts, who've positioned Jones to be Anthony Richardson's challenger for QB1. If Jones becomes the starter, he figures to be the cheapest non-rookie contract quarterback in the NFL. And he has the kind of mobility at the position that coach Shane Steichen has proven he can adapt an offense around. (Before Richardson the past two seasons, Steichen had Jalen Hurts as the Eagles' offensive coordinator.) Jones' salary is small enough to be acceptable for a quarterback who failed with his first team as a former first-round quarterback, but also not too large to where the Colts feel completely tied to him and have to take away from Richardson's development.
Grade: B-
Notable Extensions
Josh Allen, QB, Bills
2024 stats: 3,731 passing yards, 28 TDs, 531 rushing yards, 12 TDs
Reported terms: $330 million, $250 million guaranteed, six years
Greg Auman: Why now? Perhaps the Bills are trying to get ahead of a new wave of quarterbacks getting substantial raises, even with nine now already making $50 million a year or more. NFL teams are normally hesitant to tear up a contract with more than one year left on it, so doing so with four years left is unconventional to say the least. In August 2021, Allen signed a six-year, $258 million contract. His new deal represents a 28% raise on the per-year value, exceeded only by Dak Prescott's $60 million per year. In volunteering Allen a substantial raise, the Bills now have less cap space long term, paying him $12 million more per year when they didn't have to do anything. They also extended edge rusher Greg Rousseau and linebacker Terrel Bernard a year ahead of free agency. And Buffalo just gave receiver Khalil Shakir a four-year, $53 million contract. In total, they gave out $513 million on four contracts to players who weren't even free agents.
Grade: A-
Myles Garrett, DE, Browns
2024 stats: 14 sacks, 47 total tackles, 22 TFLs, 28 QB hits
Reported terms: four years, $160 million, $123.5 million guaranteed
Ben Arthur: This situation between Garrett and the Browns, a sudden flip from acrimony to a renewal of vows, is just the latest reminder of this reality: Money solves most problems in the NFL. Nothing about the circumstances that drove Garrett to making the trade request in the first place has changed. There's been no infusion of talent through free agency or the draft to a team that finished 3-14 last season, tied for the worst record in the NFL. The Browns still have little cap space. They're still on the hook for guaranteed money on Deshaun Watson's disaster of a contract. They still don't have their quarterback of the future. But Garrett is now — at least for the time being — the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league by a wide margin. He got a massive raise, and maybe that was the point all along. Sure, he would like to be on a contender. But $123 million in new guarantees is a nice consolation prize when your employer doesn't succumb to your trade request.
Grade: A-
RELATED: What Myles Garrett's record extension with Browns tells us about the NFL
DK Metcalf, WR, Steelers
2024 stats: Reported terms: five years, $150 million
Previous team: Seahawks
In acquiring receiver Metcalf from the Seahawks for a second-round pick in the 2025 draft, the Steelers added an explosive playmaker to an anemic offense that had trouble scoring during the second half of the year. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Metcalf could be an ideal complement to vertical threat George Pickens. Pittsburgh had pursued Davante Adams, Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel via trade last year and signed Mike Williams midseason to mixed results. The addition of Metcalf should finally help jump-start an offense that averaged just 14.2 points per contest in Pittsburgh's final five games of the year — all losses, including a postseason defeat to the Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card round.
Grade: B
Jaycee Horn, CB, Panthers
2024 stats: 1 INT, 13 PBUs, 2 sacks, 68 tackles (5 for loss)
Reported terms: four years, $100 million ($108 million max value), $70 million guaranteed
Previous team: Panthers
Ben Arthur: This is a massive win for Horn, who's coming off his first Pro Bowl season. He had a great 2024, but he has missed 31 games in four years, including 13 since 2023. So apart from rewarding a homegrown standout, it's difficult to see how this is a good deal for the Panthers, who've made Horn the highest-paid defensive back in league history. But it's understandable. Carolina needs to prioritize defense — it ranked last in total defense in 2024 — and Horn is a cornerstone on that side of the ball. He had the leverage in this situation. And since Horn was entering a contract year, the Panthers probably banked on the fact that he'd have been even more expensive in 2026 with another great season, so they can save money now.
Grade: C-
Trades
The Houston Texans trade LT Laremy Tunsil and a fourth-round pick (in 2025) to the Washington Commanders for third and seventh-round picks in 2025 and second- and fourth-round picks in 2026.
Commanders: Giving up two Day 2 draft picks for a left tackle who'll be 31 in August is a lot, especially since he's owed up to $21.35 million this season. But the Commanders were desperate to fix their line problems. They've put their future on the shoulders of QB Jayden Daniels, and they have to protect him better than they did last year when he was sacked 47 times (sixth-most in the NFL). Tunsil had penalty issues last season (19) and his play wasn't consistent. But the Commanders are hoping he'll still be a huge upgrade over what they've had. —Ralph Vacchiano
Commanders Grade: B-
Texans: This trade doesn't make much sense to me from the Texans' perspective. Sure, the draft picks are nice, but I'm not sure the haul is worth giving up your elite left tackle on an offensive line that is terrible. Tunsil had a very good 2024 even though he was heavily penalized. The move just raises more questions about what the protection will look like for C.J. Stroud, who was one of the most pressured passers last season. It places a massive spotlight on 2024 second-round pick Blake Fisher, who had an uneven rookie year. Houston also likely needs a hit on a first-round offensive lineman at this point. —Ben Arthur
Texans Grade: C
The following writers contributed to this story: Ben Arthur (@benyarthur); Greg Auman (@gregauman); Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis); Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano); Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV); Eric D. Williams (@eric_d_williams).
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