Ranking the 25 Best Moves of the 2025 NFL Offseason

We are nearing a tipping point in the 2025 NFL offseason.

Sure, there will still be some impactful free-agent signings. We saw one just a few days ago, when Aaron Rodgers signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. There are vets who will find new homes and a trade or two as we move farther into the summer.

But we have just about hit the point where what has happened since March will matter less than what occurs between now and Week 1. How teams adapt to new schemes. How players adjust to new teams. The always-dreaded training camp injury that completely change a team’s outlook for 2025.

So, it appears a good time to look back at all that has changed this offseason, whether it’s coaching hires, veteran signings or rookie draft picks.

In all three categories, there have been moves that were head-scratchers. Others that were OK. And some that could have a major positive impact for the franchises savvy enough to make them.

That last group is the focus here. The wisest of the wise.

No. 25-No. 21: Smart Veteran Signings (and the Browns)

AP Photo/Terrance Williams

Cam Jurgens

25. The Cleveland Browns Quarterback Carousel

The Browns have been criticized for the “quantity over quality” approach under center, but for a team desperate to find a franchise quarterback, it makes quite a bit of sense. Sure, Dillon Gabriel may have been a reach in Round 3. But if the draft community was at all right about Shedeur Sanders, he was a gift in Round 5. As for Kenny Pickett, I’d probably have given the Philadelphia Eagles a fifth-rounder just to make Dorian Thompson-Robinson go away.

24. Bills Sign Edge Joey Bosa

The Bills finished the 2024 season with just 39 sacks, so adding pop to the pass rush was an offseason priority. There’s no guarantee Joey Bosa will do that—the 29-year-old has missed 23 games over the past three seasons and hasn’t had double-digit sacks in a season since 2021. But he hit that benchmark four times in his first six seasons, and the Bills are only on the hook for $12.5 million over one year.

23. Arizona Cardinals Sign Edge Josh Sweat

When last we saw Josh Sweat, he was giving Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes nightmares in Super Bowl LIX. That monstrous performance earned Sweat an equally robust contract from the Cardinals, where he will join the re-signed Baron Browning and youngster B.J. Ojulari on a pass rush that was middle of the pack in sacks a year ago. Got to get after the quarterback to succeed in today’s NFL.

22. Eagles Re-Sign OC Cam Jurgens

The Eagles are adopting an interesting strategy as they attempt to defend their Super Bowl title—the team ranks near the top of the league in spending on offense and near the bottom of the NFL in spending on defense. However, Philadelphia didn’t have much choice but to extend their Pro Bowl center after the best season of his career. He was 10th among interior linemen in pass block win rate in 2024.

21. Titans Sign OG Kevin Zeitler

The Tennessee Titans were a mess on the offensive line last year, and with everyone expecting them to draft Cam Ward first overall, the team had to improve the protection in front of him. It can be argued they overpaid offensive tackle Dan Moore Jr, but veteran guard Kevin Zeitler was another story; $9 million over one season for a reliable (if aging) lineman was a bargain.

No. 20-No. 16: Aaron Rodgers, Travis Hunter and Others

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

Aaron Rodgers

20. Atlanta Falcons Attack the Pass Rush

To be clear, the trade up in Round 1 of the 2025 draft that landed the Falcons Tennessee edge-rusher James Pearce Jr. at the cost of a 2026 first-rounder was a risky move. But they have ranked 31st in the NFL in sacks two of the past three years. Bringing in Pearce and fellow rookie Jalon Walker in the draft and signing veteran Leonard Floyd in free agency wasn’t just necessary, it was critical.

19. The Jacksonville Jaguars Trade Up for Travis Hunter

Yes, it was an expensive move. Trading up to draft Travis Hunter second overall cost the Jaguars their second-rounder in 2025 and their first pick in 2026. But not only did the Jaguars get a potentially game-changing wide receiver/cornerback with the two-way star, but all the hubbub surrounding him has also taken some of the spotlight off quarterback Trevor Lawrence, allowing him to focus on turning his career around.

18. Aaron Rodgers Signs with Pittsburgh Steelers

Frankly, the Steelers may not be markedly better with Aaron Rodgers under center in 2025 than they were with Russell Wilson a year ago. But after letting both Wilson and Justin Fields walk, Pittsburgh had painted itself into a corner. The Steelers expect to win every year, and they weren’t going to do that with Mason Rudolph leading the offense. If Rodgers somehow turns back the clock, Pittsburgh could make the AFC that much more of a meat-grinder.

17. Lions Sign CB D.J. Reed

For all the things the Detroit Lions did well last year, defending the pass wasn’t one of them—they were dead-last in the NFC in pass defense in 2024. With cornerback Carlton Davis III bolting in free agency, they badly needed a replacement. Not only did they get one in Reed, they also got an upgrade; the last time he had a passer rating against of 90 was 2019.

16. New England Patriots Hire Head Coach Mike Vrabel

The Patriots entered the 2025 offseason with a litany of issues on both sides of the ball and have addressed many, whether it’s drafting offensive tackle Will Campbell fourth overall or spending big bucks on improving the defense in free agency. But the biggest move of all was moving on from the disastrous Jerod Mayo "era" by hiring an experienced, no-nonsense head coach in Mike Vrabel.

No. 15-No. 11: Wide Receivers on the Move

AP Photo/Eric Thayer

DK Metcalf

15. Ravens Draft Safety Malaki Starks

It’s possible Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta is a sorcerer, because it seems like every year a wildly talented young player just falls into their lap in the draft. This year it was Georgia safety Malaki Starks, who was a gift with the 27th overall pick. It won’t be even a little surprising if Starks and Kyle Hamilton quickly form the best duo of safeties in the league.

14. Pittsburgh Steelers Trade for Wide Receiver DK Metcalf

Regardless of who Pittsburgh’s quarterback was going to be in 2025, it needed to upgrade at wide receiver, especially given all the smoke (which was correct as it turns out) that George Pickens’ days were numbered in the Steel City. Metcalf’s 2024 campaign wasn’t a great one, but he has three 1,000-yard seasons in six years and is the true No. 1 wideout the team was lacking before the deal.

13. Seahawks Remake Their Offense

The Seattle Seahawks have had three straight winning seasons, but two resulted in the team missing the playoffs. As a result, the offense got the snow-globe treatment. Klint Kubiak is in as offensive coordinator. Wideout DK Metcalf was traded to Pittsburgh and replaced by Cooper Kupp. Quarterback Geno Smith was shipped to Las Vegas in favor of Sam Darnold. NFL teams are often resistant to major changes; this year, the Seahawks embraced them.

12. Jacksonville Jaguars Hire Head Coach Liam Coen

There is zero doubt what the top priority was for the Jacksonville Jaguars was entering the offseason: “fixing” young quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Jags already gave him his bag, so player and team are married for a while. Coen worked wonders with Baker Mayfield as the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay. The hope on Florida’s northern coast is that history will repeat itself.

11. Dallas Cowboys Trade for WR George Pickens

The Dallas Cowboys head into every season with Texas-sized aspirations, but the team also had a 10-gallon hole at wide receiver opposite CeeDee Lamb. George Pickens had an up-and-down three years in Pittsburgh, but he never had less than 800 receiving yards in a season and the potential to be an excellent No. 2 receiver in Dallas. For a Day 2 pick in 2026 (plus a pick swap), Pickens is more than worth the "risk."

No. 10-No. 6: Big Bags for Big-Name Wide Receivers

AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Ja'Marr Chase

10. Los Angeles Rams Sign WR Davante Adams

Over the past three seasons, Cooper Kupp has logged zero 1,000-yard seasons and missed 18 games. Over that same span, Davante Adams has tallied three 1,000-yard seasons and missed three games. The Rams are legitimate playoff contenders in 2025, but they are an aging team in many respects. The window isn’t staying open forever. Upgrading from Kupp to Adams was another shrewd move from Les Snead.

9. Cincinnati Bengals Extend WR Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins

When a team has an elite quarterback who makes it clear he wants to keep his band together, you do your best to accommodate him. It wasn’t cheap: Chase is now the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback. But bringing back Chase and Higgins gives Joe Burrow one of the league’s most dangerous one-two punches at WR in the NFL again. Now if they can just figure out a way to re-up edge-rusher Trey Hendrickson.

8. New England’s Defensive Rebuild

The Patriots fell apart defensively down the stretch last season, and they spent massively in an effort to avoid a repeat in 2025. Defensive tackle Milton Williams got the biggest contract of any defender to switch teams in the offseason, and edge-rusher Harold Landry III, linebacker Robert Spillane and cornerback Carlton Davis III all received sizable deals in free agency.

7. Denver Broncos Double Down on Defense

Last year, the Broncos ranked seventh in total defense and third in scoring defense on the way to the postseason. They made a concerted effort to get even better on that side of the ball in the offseason, poaching a pair of quality starters from the San Francisco 49ers in safety Talanoa Hufanga and linebacker Dre Greenlaw and using their first pick in the 2025 draft on a top cornerback prospect in Jahdae Barron of Texas.

6. Raiders Hire Head Coach Pete Carroll and OC Chip Kelly

This was the first step in the Raiders' march toward respectability in the AFC West, and it may have been the most important. Carroll is a proven winner who has a Super Bowl on his NFL resume. Kelly is a brilliant offensive mind who just helped the Ohio State Buckeyes roll through the first 12-team College Football Playoff. This is a culture-changing hire in all the right ways.

No. 5-No. 1: Vikings and Raiders and Bears, Oh My!

AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn

Deebo Samuel

5. Jets Sign Quarterback Justin Fields

Why the Pittsburgh Steelers stubbornly refused to turn back to Fields last year even when the team faltered late is a mystery right up there with Stonehenge and those Easter Island heads. Fields has his flaws, but he’s also still just 26 years old and one of the NFL’s most dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks. Getting even an average NFL starter for $20 million a season is a felony in 11 states.

4. Minnesota Vikings Bolster the Trenches

After winning 14 games last year but faltering in the postseason, the Vikings went hard at the offensive and defensive lines in the offseason. The former added center Ryan Kelly and guards Will Fries and Donovan Jackson, while the defensive line added a pair of high-dollar tackles in Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. This isn’t going to be an easy team to push around at the snap in 2025.

3. Raiders Trade for Quarterback Geno Smith

The Raiders still have issues on both sides of the ball, but they weren’t going anywhere without addressing the situation at quarterback. Geno Smith isn’t Patrick Mahomes, but the 34-year-old is coming off the first 0-win season of his career with the Seattle Seahawks. If Smith wins 10 games in Las Vegas, they will build a statue of him outside Allegiant Stadium.

2. Washington Commanders Go All-In

After their surprise run to the NFC Championship Game last year, the Washington Commanders shoved their chips to the middle of the table this offseason with the trades for wide receiver Deebo Samuel and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil. Samuel gives them a sizable upgrade at wideout opposite Terry McLaurin, while Tunsil is one of the better blindside protectors in the league.

1. The Chicago Bears' Offensive Overhaul

This was a series of moves that all had the same goal: to help quarterback Caleb Williams take a step forward in 2025. The hiring of one of the NFL’s top offensive minds in head coach Ben Johnson. Overhauling an O-line that surrendered the most sacks in the league a year ago. Adding a pair of passing-game weapons in the draft in tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden III. A huge Year 2 from Williams is hardly guaranteed, but the Bears put him in position to succeed.