Ben Solak
The 2025 free agent class isn’t very good. The best names were Tea Higgins and Tray Smith, neither of which made it beyond the franchise tag stage. On ESPN’s Top 100 list, the best remaining player is Ronnie Stanley, a 31-year-old tackle with a history of severe injuries. DJ lead, CB2 on Jet looking for CB1 jobs. Chris Godwin is…well, Godwin is actually very good and I’ll pay him a lot (but even he’s 29 years old, with a history of injury). Sam Darnold ranks fourth.
This is bad news for fans of teams living in a seller looking for a year-long makeover, but it rarely works anyway. However, it’s great news for a sharp team. The competitiveness of this free agent class is not the size of the wallet, but the sharp eye of the evaluator. There are no Slam Dunk Players, but in the second, third and fourth tiers of NFL starters, it’s well worth it. Remember: The Eagles defense didn’t rise to Super Bowl Heights for $51 million, which gave Edge Rush Bryce Hough last offseason, but they gave linebacker Zack Boun $3.5 million. Great free agency wins are more frequent at margins than at center.
The list of potential free agent stills is large. Many players can improve by recovering from injuries, joining competitive teams, or adapting to new schemes. We distilled the list to 14 players. Some are simply underrated family names in current free agent discourse. There are indie bands you may not have heard of yet, but when people start listening to their music, they’ll explode.
Here’s my steal from the 2025 class:
coverage:
Biggest Trading Score | Best Available Free Agents
Offensive Free Agent Layer | Defense Free Agent Layer
Franchise Tag Deadline Winners and Losers
2024 Team: Detroit Lions | Ages entering the 2025 season: 28
