8 Worst Free-Agent Signings of the 2025 NFL Offseason
In less than two weeks, the Tennessee Titans will step to the podium and announce the first pick of the 2025 NFL draft, after which all 32 teams will add a class of rookie newcomers to their squads.
There will then be another wave of free agency as teams fill needs that were not addressed in the draft, but the first free-agent wave has already hit the shore. Scores of players switched teams, and millions of dollars were doled out.
There were plenty of blockbuster deals, headlined by the four-year, $104 million pact defensive tackle Milton Williams signed with the New England Patriots. There were also savvy, smaller moves, usually in the form of one-year "prove it" deals for aging veterans.
It’s hard to find fault with the Titans giving guard Kevin Zeitler $9 million for one season, but there are others it's much easier to find fault with. Many were overpays from teams reaching to fill holes on the roster, while others were knee-jerk reactions to a team’s own free agents moving on.
Whatever the reason, though, there were quite a few head-scratchers in free agency this year.
And none were bigger than these.
8. S Camryn Bynum
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Contract Terms: Four years, $60 million, $30 million guaranteed
It was a good year to be a free agent safety. Four safeties received contracts this season that averaged at least $13 million a season. Tre’von Moehrig led the way at $17.1 million per year, but Camryn Bynum wasn’t that far behind—his four-year pact with the Indianapolis Colts averaged $15 million a year.
Bynum told reporters that he appreciated the aggressive approach the Colts took toward signing him, and he intends to repay their confidence in him on the field.
“You could just tell it was a team that was aggressive,” Bynum said. “You can tell when certain people truly want you. Talking to my agent and everything, this was one of the places that really wanted me. First and foremost, it’s all about the ball. You get graded and you get paid by how many times you can touch the ball and take it away.”
To be fair, Bynum has been a solid run defender the past two years, amassing 233 total tackles over the past two years. He has also averaged two interceptions per season and posted a career-best 10 passes defensed last year in Minnesota.
But Bynum isn’t especially good in coverage—his career passer rating against is almost 100, and the 26-year-old allowed a whopping eight touchdown passes in 2022.
The Colts are essentially right back where they started—with a pair of safeties best suited to playing near the line of scrimmage and no one well-suited to a role in deep coverage.
The Colts could have maintained the (flawed) status quo by bringing back Julian Blackmon—and done so for a fraction of what Bynum was paid.
7. CB Brandon Stephens
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Contract Terms: Three years, $36 million, $23 million guaranteed
After losing cornerback D.J. Reed to the Detroit Lions, the New York Jets were left with a hole in the secondary. Jets general manager Darren Mougey moved quickly to fill that void, agreeing to terms on a three-year deal with Brandon Stephens.
But as is often the case when teams jump to fill a need, Mougey didn’t look before he leaped—and it could cost the Jets in the long run.
Stephens doesn’t expect the Jets secondary to miss a beat. In fact, he told reporters the size possessed by him and batterymate Sauce Gardner could make the duo one of the most potent cornerback combinations in the NFL.
"I think it's going to be a hell of a combo," he said on Wednesday. "You know, I'm excited for it. I think we're just going to make each other better. I'll be able to learn from him. He'll be able to learn from me. And so, I think it's going to be exciting. The length is everything for a DB. Size is everything, along with technique and whatnot. But I think there's not many in this league that have our size, and I think that's to our advantage, whether that's in the passing game or in the run game. We have interchangeable parts on this defense."
Stephens is a bigger cornerback at 6’1”. But that’s about the only thing he had going for him a year ago. Stephens was the weak link in the Ravens secondary last year, allowing almost 65 percent of the passes thrown in his direction to be completed, allowing career-highs in yards in touchdowns and posting a passer rating against over 100 for the second time in four years.
It’s not going to take New York’s opponents long to figure out that targeting Stephens is the smart play—and $12 million a season is a lot to pay a guy to get roasted like Mr. Peanut.
6. DT Grady Jarrett
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Contract Terms: Three years, $42.8 million, $28.5 million guaranteed
Grady Jarrett may have set a record this year for the shortest time an NFL player was out of work.
Literally the same day that the 31-year-old was released by the Atlanta Falcons, Jarrett signed a three-year pact to join the Chicago Bears that included over $28 million in guarantees.
Upon his arrival in the Windy City, Garrett said that it was good to be playing for his hometown team.
"It's an exciting time," Jarrett said, via the team’s website. "I'm just ready for a new challenge. I feel like the work that I've done in Atlanta is never ending, but it served its purpose as far as my time with the Falcons. The things and the lessons that I learned in my hometown, I want to bring it to Chicago and just be my best self, and I'm just excited for a new challenge."
That’s all well and good, and Jarrett is a two-time Pro Bowler. But the Bears are paying for the Jarrett who was a force in the middle in Atlanta.
The Jarrett they are getting is an average player—at best. After logging six sacks in 2022, he has just four over the last two years combined. He also missed over half of the 2023 season after tearing his ACL.
Per Pro Football Focus, Jarrett barely graded inside the top-100 interior linemen in 2024 in terms of pass-rushing, and outside the top-70 at the position overall.
The Bears overpaid for a name. And for the past.
5. WR Stefon Diggs
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Contract Terms: Three years, $63.5 million, $26 million guaranteed
It’s no secret that the New England Patriots entered the offseason desperate to upgrade the passing-game weapons available to young quarterback Drake Maye. As free agency progressed and the available options at wideout began to shrink, that desperation in Boston grew.
It showed in the deal the team gave to veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
New Patriots center Garrett Bradbury, who played with Diggs in Minnesota, told reporters he expects the 31-year-old to make a big dent for the Pats in 2025.
“I was fired up to see him,” Bradbury said. “I was a young guy — and he was obviously a superstar receiver, so there were some things I can learn from him. And he wasn’t big-time, right? Coming to the NFL as a rookie, and you obviously know their names, and you don’t know if they’re going to care about you, talk to you, but he loved the O-line, and so had a good relationship with him. Played against him when he was in Buffalo, played against him when he was in Houston. So, when I saw him for the first time, I was pretty fired up to see him, and his talent speaks for itself. So, it’s a good weapon to have.”
There’s no question the Patriots need wide receiver help. And should they choose, New England can get out of this deal with a dead cap hit of about $10 million in 2026.
But we’re talking about an aging receiver coming off an ACL tear who essentially played his way out of Minnesota and Buffalo. Diggs 62 receiving yards per game last year were his fewest since all the way back in 2017—coincidentally the last time he failed to hit 1,000 yards in a season.
This was a panic signing. And far more often than not, panic signings don’t work out.
4. OT Jaylon Moore
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Contract Terms: Two years, $30 million, $21.2 million guaranteed
Speaking of panic signings.
After watching Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes get pummeled in Super Bowl LIX, it was plainly evident to anyone with eyes that the three-time defending AFC champions needed to do something about the offensive line.
However, upgrades up front are hard to come by in free agency, and while the Chiefs did sign a tackle to a lucrative deal, handing Jaylon Moore $15 million a season is a rare misstep by Kansas City general manager Brett Veach.
It’s not like Moore was any kind of proven commodity—the 27-year-old has played less than 850 snaps over 12 starts with the San Francisco 49ers over four years in San Francisco. Moore admittedly received a top-25 grade among tackles last year per PFF, but that was over a small sample size—271 snaps.
ESPN NFL analyst Dominique Foxworth blasted the signing while appearing on Get Up.
“What are they doing in the passing game?” Foxworth asked. “They've been telling him every year, ‘Patrick, if you make the honor roll, we're going to get you that Sega Genesis,’ the Sega Genesis being the left tackle. You know what they went and got him? They went and got him a used Nintendo, the left tackle who's not even a starter … It's frustrating for me because year after year, we see a different version of Patrick Mahomes. It's not the version that we want to see because they won't get that man a Sega.”
It’s not like Veach took a one-year flier of Moore’s potential. He paid him as though he’s an established starter.
And odds are good it’s going to blow up in Kansas City’s face.
Watch that blind side, Pat.
3. Edge Chase Young
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Contract Terms: Three years, $51 million, $33 million guaranteed
The New Orleans Saints entered free agency this year with the worst salary cap situation in the NFL.
That makes the deal the team handed to edge-rusher Chase Young all the more baffling.
Granted, there was a time when this deal might have appeared a bargain for Young. The second overall pick in the 2020 draft logged 7.5 sacks and captured Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in Washington. But the following season, Young tore his ACL and patellar tendon. He barely played the following year and was traded to the 49ers in 2023.
Young did at least manage 7.5 sacks that season, but he was on the move again in 2024, landing in New Orleans. In his first year with the Saints, Young amassed 31 total tackles and 5.5 sacks.
Young told reporters that he still believes he can be the force so many expected him to be coming out of Ohio State.
"I feel like in football it's always betting on yourself, every year it's betting on yourself," he said. "Through injuries and ups and downs, you're always betting on yourself. I feel like every year that you go to those games, and you strap your helmet up, every year it's betting on yourself. You've just got to be built for it. You've got to be strong mentally."
The Saints are paying Young like he’s already rebounded. Like he’s a 10-sack edge-rusher capable of wreaking havoc on a weekly basis.
And while Young is still just 25, overpaying a player based on potential we haven’t really seen in years (at least not consistently) makes no sense for a Saints team with holes galore and too many bloated contracts already on the roster.
2. DT Javon Kinlaw
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Contract Terms: Three years, $45 million, $30 million guaranteed
The Washington Commanders, unwilling to pay defensive tackle Jonathan Allen over $20 million in 2025, released the two-time Pro Bowler on March 7.
Then the team turned around and handed $15 million a season to fellow tackle Javon Kinlaw, because nothing matters anymore.
Per Gilberto Manzano of Sports Illustrated, it’s a deal that just doesn’t make much sense.
“This deal was worse than the (Grady) Jarrett signing, because Kinlaw has never proved himself to be a consistent starter,” he said. “The 2020 first-round pick of the 49ers was a disappointment over his four seasons in San Francisco. But maybe GM Adam Peters should get the benefit of the doubt because he drafted Kinlaw with the 49ers and might have noticed a player turning a corner during his lone season with the Jets. It’s hard to give up on Kinlaw’s physical gifts, but he’s shown minimal progress in five seasons. He’s an average pass-rusher and struggles against the run. The Commanders probably would have been better off waiting for the draft to find a replacement for Jonathan Allen, who signed with the Vikings.”
Kinlaw did set a career-high in sacks with 4.5 last year in New York, but the 27-year-old has just 9.5 sacks in his career and has never had more than 40 tackles in a season. It’s like Peters is hell-bent on showing that San Francisco wasn’t wrong when they drafted Kinlaw.
The real kick in the teeth? The contract that Allen (a much more accomplished player) signed with the Vikings was for just $2 million more a season with similar guarantees.
Yikes.
1. OT Dan Moore
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Contract Terms: Four years, $82 million, $50 million guaranteed
Adding offensive line help in free agency can be a dangerous proposition. There are essentially two types of linemen who hit the open market—aging veterans and middling talents who almost always wind up being overpaid.
Offensive tackle Dan Moore definitely fits into that latter category.
There has been no shortage of criticism of Moore’s deal after the Tennessee Titans gave the 26-year-old over $20 million a season. For his part, Moore told Jim Wyatt of the team’s website that he intends to prove all the doubters wrong.
"Obviously I want to exceed expectations," Moore said. "But it's not only about proving the team right, it's about proving myself right. I feel like my expectations will always be higher than anyone else's are for me. I feel like by meeting my expectations, I'll exceed the team's expectations. So, not only do I want to prove them right, I want to prove them damn right, where (they're thinking), 'We got our guy. He didn't just do what we needed him to do, he did that and more.' That is the consensus I want in the organization."
The problem is that nothing in Moore’s career to date indicates he’s a $20 million a year tackle. Per Pro Football Focus, last year with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Moore allowed a whopping 12 sacks in 1,111 snaps while grading outside the top 45 players at his position.
Moore is an average (at best) tackle who is now a top-10 player at the position in terms of average annual salary.
That’s not the kind of move that’s going to get the Titans out of the AFC South basement.
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