8 NFL Players Who May Be Disappointed in 2025 Free Agency Interest
The NFL's top free agents look forward to the legal tampering period and the new league year. They go through contract offers from suitors and make the best career decisions. On the other hand, some veterans may be disappointed in their market.
Players coming off injuries should know how their past ailments could impact their free-agent appeal.
Veterans past their prime years with declining production should adjust contract expectations accordingly.
Lastly, free agents within the same position groups are competing for contracts, and they also must be mindful that teams may address roster needs with rookie talent on cheaper deals. Both factors can significantly affect the market value at certain positions.
Taking all of this into consideration, let's discuss eight impending free agents whose contract expectations may not match their free-agent market value.
RB Nick Chubb
1 of 8
In September 2023, Nick Chubb suffered significant knee injuries that likely changed the trajectory of his career.
Though Chubb returned to action in Week 7 last season, he had clearly lost a step, averaging a career-low 3.3 yards per carry, an alarming drop from recording at least five per rush attempt in each of his first six terms.
Further removed from his knee injuries, Chubb may regain more of his explosiveness in 2025, but clubs won't be banging down the door to sign a 29-year-old running back coming off his least productive term.
At this stage in Chubb's career, he's best fit for a committee role. The seven-year veteran isn't the workhorse ball-carrier he once was in Cleveland. With limited production as a pass-catcher, Chubb will garner modest offers on the open market.
WR Stefon Diggs
2 of 8
Stefon Diggs has established himself as a household name, but that won't get him a big contract this offseason.
At 31 and coming off a torn ACL from November, Diggs will probably have to settle for a one-year deal. Also, he's made fewer explosive plays over the last few years and averaged 10.6 yards per reception in eight games for the 2024 campaign.
Spotrac projects Diggs' market value at $13.5 million. Yet he may get $10 million or less annually because of his age and a recent injury that will lead to a slow ramp up for the 2025 season.
Diggs will be more valuable to winning teams that don't need his immediate contributions than receiver-needy clubs willing to pay a premium for early returns.
CB Rasul Douglas
3 of 8
In his eight-year career, Rasul Douglas has made game-changing plays to balance what he gives up in the passing game. In most years, he's surrendered a handful of touchdowns, but the savvy veteran also has 19 career interceptions, returning three for pick-sixes.
However, Douglas made few notable plays last season, logging five pass breakups without an interception while allowing a 122 passer rating in coverage.
At 29, Douglas can still garner decent offers on the free-agent market, but teams may wonder if he will be more of a liability than a playmaker at this stage of his career.
Additionally, Douglas will have competition on the cornerback market with more consistent cover men in their prime like Carlton Davis and D.J. Reed set to test free agency. Byron Murphy Jr. is coming off his first Pro Bowl year. Paulson Adebo and Asante Samuel Jr. are both 25 with upside.
Douglas isn't a top-five free-agent option at cornerback and will be part of the second or third wave of veterans signing deals.
.jpg?w=256 "Cowboys Commanders Football")
RB Najee Harris
4 of 8
Last year, the top two running backs on the free-agent market signed contracts worth at least $12 million annually. Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs made their respective teams look brilliant for investing in an underappreciated position on the market.
Barkley won 2024 Offensive Player of the Year and helped lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl title. Jacobs served as the Green Bay Packers' workhorse ball-carrier and earned his third Pro Bowl nod.
Even though running backs bounced back into the spotlight last season, Najee Harris isn't likely to cash in on a massive deal as one of the top tailbacks on the open market this offseason.
Harris has rushed for 1,034-plus yards in four consecutive campaigns, but he's not a big-play ball-carrier, averaging a career 3.9 yards per carry. At 6'1", 242 pounds, the bruising running back has average scoring numbers, logging eight or fewer touchdowns in all his seasons.
Harris can rack up numbers with a high volume of rush attempts, but he's inefficient with his touches.
Furthermore, with a deep rookie running back class entering the league, teams may hesitate to sign veteran ball-carriers to big contracts. Harris could sign a new deal worth less than $8 million annually.
S Talanoa Hufanga
5 of 8
Two years ago, Talanoa Hufanga looked primed to become one of the league's best safeties for the next decade, earning All-Pro recognition with 97 tackles, five for loss, two sacks, four interceptions and nine pass breakups.
Unfortunately, Hufanga missed several games due to injuries over the last two seasons. He tore his ACL in 2023 and had a wrist issue last year. The versatile safety has missed 17 games since his breakout 2022 campaign.
When healthy, Hufanga can still play at a high level, but he's unlikely to get long-term offers. After sitting out 10 contests in the previous term, Hufanga probably gets a one- or two-year deal to prove he can stay on the field.
Spotrac projects that Hufanga will get a contract worth $11.9 million annually, but teams may not offer him an eight-figure deal because of his recent injury history.
WR Diontae Johnson
6 of 8
In 2021, Diontae Johnson put together a Pro Bowl campaign and looked like another wide receiver gem that the Pittsburgh Steelers selected on Day 2 of the draft. In the following offseason, he signed a two-year extension, but his tenure with the team went downhill thereafter.
Johnson drew criticism for his lackadaisical play and saw a decline in his production.
Last offseason, Pittsburgh traded Johnson to the receiver-needy Carolina Panthers. He had a few quality performances with Andy Dalton under center. Still, Carolina sent him along with a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick before the 2024 trade deadline.
Johnson didn't make any impact in Baltimore. The Ravens suspended him for refusing to go into a game against the Philadelphia Eagles and released him weeks later. The Houston Texans rostered him for three weeks before Baltimore claimed him off waivers.
At 28, Johnson could have a few optimal years left in his career, but he's bounced around the league with issues concerning his work ethic and commitment to a team environment. The six-year veteran shouldn't expect anything more than a flier-type one-year deal.
EDGE DeMarcus Lawrence
7 of 8
DeMarcus Lawrence will shift into the next phase of his career where he won't get lucrative contract offers.
Lawrence is coming off a Lisfranc injury and turns 33 in April. Even before his shortened 2024 campaign, he made a more significant impact against the run than as a pass-rusher.
Lawrence made the NFC Pro Bowl roster in 2022 and 2023, but he hasn't logged more than 6.5 sacks in a single season since 2018. The 11-year veteran's market will reflect the drop in his pass-rushing production.
Lawrence could be an effective situational player, but don't expect him to play more than two-thirds of the defensive snaps with any team even if he's fully recovered from the foot injury. The four-time Pro Bowler may struggle to get an eight-figure offer unless it's loaded with incentives.
OT Jedrick Wills Jr.
8 of 8
Jedrick Wills Jr. has not lived up to his first-round pedigree. Early in his career, he struggled with his technique and timing, drawing 20 offensive holding and false starts penalties (one of which was declined) in the 2020 and 2022 seasons combined.
Over the previous two years, Wills hasn't been able to stay on the field, missing 21 games.
At Alabama, Wills lined up primarily on the right side, but he played left tackle exclusively with the Cleveland Browns.
Perhaps the 25-year-old has a career rebirth playing on the right side again. That said, teams will likely want him to prove it on an experimental one-year deal, rather than sign him to a hefty multiyear contract in hopes that a position switch works out.
Wills plays a premium position at which starters earn big bucks, but his struggles over four years in Cleveland will limit his earning potential.
Maurice Moton covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @MoeMoton.
.jpg?w=480 "Cowboys Commanders Football")
.jpg?w=480 "Cardinals Draft Love Football")
.jpg?w=600 "Why Walker Knew He'd Leave Seahawks")
.jpg?w=600 "Diggs Could Still Face NFL Discipline")
.png?w=600 "Cardinals WR Recruiting Rodgers 👀")
