It was a quieter day on the news front, with the rush of initial signings slowing down as teams take stock from a busy Monday. We still had plenty of signings and a few trades, and more movement is still to come.
Now that we have a moment to breathe, we can take a step back and evaluate teams more holistically. After the first day, it can be tough to label quiet teams as “losers” when they could have easily made a slew of additions today. After the second day, however, we get a better picture of what teams are doing successfully and where they’ve fallen short.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some winners and losers from the second day of free agency:
Winner: Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy
McCarthy is a winner in more ways than one. The 2024 first-round pick out of Michigan tore his meniscus in the preseason and was forced to miss the season, watching Sam Darnold tear up the league in his stead. Now Darnold is in Seattle and his backup, Daniel Jones, landed in Indianapolis. Minnesota might still sign a veteran who can start if needed, such as Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson, but McCarthy should have the inside track for the starting job next year.
That alone would be enough to make McCarthy a winner, but the Vikings took the roster that won 14 games a season ago and made some serious additions. Breakout CB Byron Murphy is back and the Vikings added CB Isaiah Rodgers as well, someone who has flashed in limited opportunities in both Indianapolis and Philadelphia. Veteran DTs Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave bring the beef on the interior, massively upgrading a position of weakness on this roster. Most importantly for McCarthy, C Ryan Kelly and G Will Fries come over from Indy, where they helped form one of the league’s better offensive lines when healthy. They’ll provide McCarthy better protection on the interior of this offensive line.
Minnesota didn’t sit idle after being a surprisingly dominant team last season. They made critical signings in key areas to improve their roster, and now McCarthy will truly be in one of the best possible situations for a first-year starter. He’ll have every opportunity to succeed.
Loser: New York Jets
I glossed over this in my review yesterday, but the Jets made some odd choices in free agency yesterday and doubled down today by not doing much else. Well, one odd choice really. Justin Fields comes over from Pittsburgh to be the new starting quarterback in New York, agreeing to a two-year, $40 million contract — including $30 million in total guarantees — to take over from the Rodgers experiment.
$20 million a year for a starting quarterback isn’t bad at all in the year 2025, but looking around the league, it loses a lot of its luster. Darnold was the prize of the free agent quarterback group, and he signed with the Seahawks for $33 million APY. Jones, the former Giants starter, is heading to the Colts on a one-year, $14 million deal. Both Darnold and Jones are more accomplished quarterbacks than Fields to this point in his career.
Fields is consistently hailed as an upside play, but he’s already started 44 games in his four-year NFL career. In that span, he’s never topped 2,600 passing yards or 17 touchdowns in a season. Last season with the Steelers was his best by far, but he also couldn’t beat out the ghost of Wilson for the starting job once healthy. It’s a risky contract with questionable upside, especially considering they already had Tyrod Taylor on the roster — someone who is arguably a better quarterback even late in his career.
On top of that, the Jets haven’t done much else in free agency. They re-signed LB Jamien Sherwood and brought in CB Brandon Stephens and S Andre Cisco to reinforce the secondary, but New York still has major holes at right tackle, wide receiver, defensive tackle and safety that need to be addressed. There’s still time to fix these roster deficiencies, and quarterback was a need as well. But making Fields one of their two big outside additions in the early days of free agency doesn’t necessarily make this team better.
Winner: New York Giants
This one surprised me when I was prepping for this article, but I really like a lot of the moves the Giants have made to start free agency. They brought in CB Paulson Adebo from the Saints for $54 million over three years, a great signing given Adebo’s success in New Orleans. On Tuesday, they made another splash signing, nabbing the top safety on the market in Jevon Holland for three years and $45 million. New York still needs another corner, but combined with the breakouts of 2024 rookie CB Dru Phillips and S Tyler Nubin, they suddenly have a formidable secondary.
On top of that, I liked the additions of DTs Roy Robertson-Harris and Chauncey Golston to provide depth next to star NT Dexter Lawrence. Veteran WR Darius Slayton, one of the league’s better deep threats, returns on a three-year, $36 million contract. This roster might still have a tough time contending in 2025, especially on offense, but they’re much better now than they were last week.
Of course, some of these moves have been made to correct previous missteps by this administration. Bringing in Holland was necessary because they let Xavier McKinney walk last offseason. They just gave Slayton the same deal they refused to give to RB Saquon Barkley, and we all saw how that worked out. I’ve been vocal about the fact that I don’t believe HC Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen should have been retained — their mistakes have been well-documented. But just looking at the first two days of free agency, the Giants have made some great moves that will make their team better, and that deserves recognition.
Loser: Dallas Cowboys
Yeah, yeah, I get it. Low-hanging fruit. But Dallas finds themselves on this list for the second year in a row, and we have to talk about it. For starters, they did some good work retaining key pieces, re-signing DT Osa Odighizuwa for four years, $80 million, WR KaVontae Turpin for three years, $18 million, and S Markquese Bell for three years, $9 million. Odighizuwa and Bell, in particular, were cornerstones of the Dallas defense in 2024, and Turpin is one of the best kick returners in the league.
But the Cowboys significantly underachieved last year after a streak of three 12-win seasons in a row. Starting QB Dak Prescott was injured for much of the year, but Dallas was bad even when he was in the lineup. Over time, the roster deteriorated and the front office hasn’t done enough to replenish it.
It’s not like these roster holes were magically filled after the season. Without much in the way of additions, the Cowboys will face the exact same issues in 2025 that plagued them in 2024. So far, the only notable additions they’ve made are a pair of one-year deals for RB Javonte Williams and ED Payton Turner, as well as a two-year deal for DT Solomon Thomas. Williams could be a sneaky-good signing, especially at just $3.5 million, as he still has a lot of talent despite an injury-plagued rookie contract in Denver. Turner and Thomas are rotational defensive linemen.
Dallas still has major needs at linebacker, running back, edge rusher, wide receiver and potentially offensive line as well. That’s a lot to cover, and without addressing much of this in free agency, the Cowboys will be in for another season like the one they just had. At this point, many of the top players are off the market, and Dallas still has $52.2 million in cap space. They’re not dead yet, but they are running out of time.
Winner: Cornerback & Safety Markets
Several positions have done well early in this free agency cycle — offensive tackles come to mind — but I wanted to highlight the secondary. Many teams were aggressive in pursuing upgrades for the back end of their defenses, as the arms race for offensive weapons has created a natural market for players who can counteract those high-flying receivers.
At cornerback, Adebo (three years, $54 million), D.J. Reed (three years, $48 million), Kristian Fulton (two years, $20 million), Charvarius Ward (three years, $60 million), Stephens (three years, $36 million), Carlton Davis (three years, $60 million), Nate Hobbs (four years, $48 million), and Rodgers (two years, $15 million) all signed multi-year deals for significant money with new teams.
Meanwhile, safeties Talanoa Hufanga (three years, $45 million), Camryn Bynum (four years, $60 million), Holland (three years, $45 million), Tre’Von Moehrig (three years, $51 million), Jeremy Chinn (two years, $16 million) and Eric Murray (three years, $22.5 million) did the same. It was a fantastic market for both positions, and it’s not over yet. There are still quality options available for teams who missed out on the first run or who wish to double-dip in the market.
Loser: Older Veterans
While a few older veterans found new homes, including WR Davante Adams with the Rams and WR DeAndre Hopkins with the Ravens, most of the older, third-contract veterans are still on the market. Guys like WRs Amari Cooper and Stefon Diggs, TE Evan Engram, CBs Rasul Douglas and Kendall Fuller and S Justin Simmons are just a handful of the free agents over 30 who were expected to have at least some market, but it hasn’t materialized yet.
Instead, we’re seeing teams invest heavily in multi-year contracts for younger options. All else equal, of course teams want a younger player, but in many cases, less proven free agents are getting three or four-year deals with hefty guarantees over the shorter contracts for established greats. Over time, this happens to all players as they get older, but I didn’t expect it to be quite this stark.
