Below is a rolling list of NFL free agency signings and what they might mean for fantasy football purposes in 2025.
This list will be updated as transactions are made across the league. Keep up to date with free agency news on the Rotoworld player news page.
Quarterback Moves
Colts signed Daniel Jones to a one-year contract worth $14 million.
The allure of a possible Week 1 starting gig was too much for Jones to turn down after flaming out in New York and serving as Sam Darnold’s backup in Minnesota over the second half of last season.
Jones will have every chance to beat out Anthony Richardson for Indy’s starting job. Richardson is dead last in completion rate over expected since entering the NFL in 2023 and has been especially inaccurate on short-area throws. The canon-armed A-Rich is reportedly working with the biometrics coach who helped Josh Allen remake his throwing motion ahead of his breakout 2020 season. Perhaps that offseason work will deliver a QB who can outplay Jones in training camp and the preseason.
Jones’ mobility, according to The Athletic’s James Boyd, was a factor in the Colts’ pursuit of the veteran. Jones’ “abilities on the ground mean the offense won’t have to change much should Richardson miss more time due to injury,” Boyd said in mid-February. Jones’ mobility has been a fantasy factor: From the beginning of the 2022 season until the end of the 2023 season, a mere four QBs had more rushing fantasy points than Jones.
It’s certainly a less-than-optimal situation for Josh Downs and Michael Pittman, both of whom commanded targets at high rates in 2024. A Jones-led Colts offense would probably provide for pass volume than one led by the dual-threat Richardson. Jones is a reasonably accurate short-area passer. In 2024, he ranked 16th out of 42 qualifying QBs in accuracy on pass attempts between 0-9 yards. He ranked 19th in 2023. No one — not even Dorian Thompson-Robinson — had a worse catchable ball rate than Richardson in 2024.
One thing A-Rich has going for him is his ability to avoid negative plays while being pressured. Last year Richardson took a sack on 12 percent of his pressures, the sixth lowest rate in the NFL. He took just 14 sacks over 12 games.
Jets signed QB Justin Fields to a two-year, $40 million contract.
Fields walks away from Pittsburgh after the Steelers apparently would not agree to guarantee Fields the Week 1 starting job. He’ll get $30 million guaranteed.
The hyper-mobile Fields, one of the most efficient rushing quarterbacks in league history, will take over a New York offense being revamped after the torturous and short-lived Aaron Rodgers Experiment. Fields, who reunites with former Buckeyes teammate Garrett Wilson, is (very) likely to beat out Tyrod Taylor for the starting gig, though the Jets are reportedly comfortable with Taylor as a bridge starter.
Before he was benched last season, Fields had the tenth most rush yards on scrambles. In 2023, he was third in that category behind Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. Fields ranked fifth in yards after contact per rush as Chicago’s starter in 2023; only Jackson had more QB runs of more than ten yards that year. From the start of 2023 to Week 6 of 2024 — when Fields lost his starting gig — no quarterback had more rushing yards than Fields. This is a long way of saying Fields is an incredibly effective runner and therefore has plenty of fantasy intrigue wherever he goes. He has every chance to be a locked-in top-10 fantasy quarterback in 2025, quarterback rushing being a cheat code and all.
Passing is another story entirely. Fields since the start of the 2022 regular season has the 27th highest completion rate over expected (out of 44 qualifying QBs) and last season posted the third worst accuracy rate on intermediate throws. Only Aaron Rodgers and Anthony Richardson were worse on attempts between 10 and 19 yards.
Fields last season was surprisingly careful with the football. Through Week 6, when he was benched in favor of Russell Wilson, Fields had one of the NFL’s lowest rates of turnover worthy plays, per PFF. In New York, he’ll play behind an offensive line graded by PFF as the league’s 16th best pass-blocking unit. The Steelers last year ranked 24th.
Fields’ ability and willingness to escape the pocket and run and the Jets new offense will likely keep overall pass volume way down in 2025. Certainly that’s not great for Wilson. Total domination of targets and air yards could help counteract that for Wilson, however. He would seem to be a top-20 fantasy option if Fields indeed is the Week 1 starter. Fields is just two years removed from supporting DJ Moore as a top-7 fantasy wideout in Chicago, after all.
Seahawks signed QB Sam Darnold to a three-year contract.
It’s a sensible move for Seattle after they dispatched Geno Smith to Vegas and traded DK Metcalf to the Steelers in one of the most dramatic offseason makeovers in recent memory. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald took one look at his 2024 offense and did not like what he saw.
Before Darnold’s late season collapse — ending in a Wild Card blowout loss to the Rams — the journeyman former first rounder was third in completion rate over expected and sixth in drop back success rate in the decidedly QB-friendly Kevin O’Connell offense.
Darnold’s 2024 struggles are difficult to parse, making it tough to project how he might function as the Seahawks’ starter in 2025. He led 40 qualifying QBs in adjusted yards per attempt and completion rate over expected against the blitz, but faltered when pressured. In fact, his accuracy when pressured was in line with guys like Drake Maye and Mason Rudolph. Some are saying that’s not good. Darnold wasn’t exactly stellar on intermediate attempts in his comeback season: He ranked 16th in adjusted yards per attempt on throws between 10-19 yards, and 20th in accuracy. Darnold was about as good on intermediate throws as Cooper Rush.
Darnold finished 2024 as fantasy’s ninth highest scoring quarterback. Only four QBs logged more passing fantasy points than Darnold, thanks largely to a superb surrounding cast and a team that created plenty of neutral and positive game script for the front-running Darnold. In Seattle, he’ll have Jaxon Smith-Njigba and precisely no one else unless the Seahawks make a push to secure a top wideout in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Importantly, Darnold will play behind a Seahawks offensive line graded by Pro Football Focus as the league’s seventh worst pass blocking unit in 2024.
Raiders acquired QB Geno Smith from the Seahawks in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick.
Smith rejoins Pete Carroll in Vegas, and represents a monumental upgrade for Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers after they suffered the cruel fate in 2024 of watching Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell form one of the worst QB rotations in recent NFL history.
As Rotoworld’s Kyle Dvorchak wrote in his analysis of the Geno trade: “Vegas ranked 28th in EPA per passing play. Their two primary quarterbacks— Minshew and O’Connell— ranked 25th and 38th in completion percent over expected (minimum 200 drop backs). Pro Football Focus graded both passers outside of their top-32 quarterbacks.”
Smith, meanwhile, has become an analytics darling over the past few seasons in Seattle, even if the on-field results never followed. Since the start of the 2022 NFL season — when Smith took over for Russell Wilson in Seattle — Geno ranks 12th out of 32 qualifying QBs in drop success rate and 19th in adjusted drop back EPA (expected points added). He’s excelled at intermediate throws. In 2024, Smith had the league’s eighth highest adjusted yards per attempts on pass attempts between 10 and 19 yards. He was top-10 in completion rate over expected on such throws, and only Joe Burrow and Baker Mayfield had a better on-target rate than Geno in 2024.
Smith was shockingly good as a fantasy producer for much of his time with the Seahawks. Only Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, and Josh Allen had more passing fantasy points than Geno since the start of 2022. Look for Geno to feed Bowers relentlessly in 2025.
Running Back Moves
Panthers signed Rico Dowdle, formerly of the Cowboys, to a one-year, $6.25 million contract.
Carolina’s commitment to Chuba Hubbard as a lead back likely mean Dowdle will assume a clearcut RB2 role in the Panthers offense, and would inherit the lead back role should Hubbard miss time in 2025. Beyond that contingency value, Dowdle won’t have much going for him this season.
Dowdle in 2024 ranked 23rd out of 59 qualifying backs in PFF’s elusive rating, in line with Saquon Barkley and his new backfield mate Hubbard. He was solid as a tackle breaker: Only 13 running backs had a higher rate of yards after contact per rush last season. Dowdle was stuffed at or behind the line of scrimmage at the league’s sixth lowest rate, just behind Derrick Henry.
This is not to say Dowdle is elite. He’s not. He very much lacks the explosion of the game’s top backs. Still, Dowdle can function as a viable No. 1 back when given the chance. He’ll be an ideal later round selection this summer for Zero RB drafters. Dowdle and Hubbard will be running behind a Carolina offensive line graded by PFF as 2024’s eighth best run blocking unit.
Chargers signed RB Najee Harris to a one-year contract.
Probably this is the only landing spot in which Harris can maintain some sliver of fantasy usefulness. Shoutout Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman.
Harris inked a one-year deal with the Chargers and has a real shot to be the team’s Week 1 lead back unless LA invests heavily in running back during the draft (or if they bring back JK Dobbins, an unlikely outcome).
The Bolts last year were middle of the road in pass rate over expected. They began the 2024 season as one of the two or three run-heaviest teams, continuing the proud Harbaugh/Roman tradition of establishing the run no matter what. The team abandoned the run-heavy approach over the season’s second half; only five teams had a higher pass rate over expected from Week 8-18. A continuation of that second half trend would require Harris to take on the primary backfield pass-catching role to achieve something close to RB2/3 value in fantasy formats. I don’t know if that’s a good bet after Harris split route-running duties with the more efficient Jaylen Warren in 2024. After racking up 74 receptions as a rookie, Harris totaled 65 grabs over the past two seasons in Pittsburgh.
Harris, going into his age-26 season, managed a stunning five rushes of more than 30 yards over his four years (and 1,097 carries) with the Steelers. He’s never had a carry of more than 40 yards. The Chargers know what they’re getting in Najee: A prototypical between-the-tackles banger who will get four yards whether you need four or six.
Cowboys signed RB Javonte Williams to a one-year, $3 million contract.
I won’t bore you with the reams of metrics showing Williams over the past two seasons has been one of the worst backs in football. You’ll have to trust me that almost no one since 2023 has been less efficient and less explosive than Williams, who never really recovered from his 2022 knee injury.
OK, I’ll share this much: Rhamondre Stevenson and Alexander Mattison were the only backs in the NFL last season to post lower rush EPAs than Williams. Even Travis Etienne was better. OK, one more: Williams broke a tackle on a meager 5.7 percent of his carries last season; a mere 11 backs who saw at least 75 rushes had a lower rate.
Sure, Williams caught a career high 52 passes in 2024 with the Broncos, sixth most among running backs. His 1.22 yards per route run (24th amongst running backs) wasn’t nearly as bad as his rough 6.7 yards per catch. A target to Williams wasn’t nearly as effective as Sean Payton had hoped.
I have no idea as of this writing who will compete with Williams for carries and routes and targets in the Dallas backfield. Suffice it to say I’m willing to bet on almost anyone who takes on Javonte as the team’s lead back.
Wide Receiver Moves
Panthers WR Adam Thielen will return in 2025, finalizing a revised contract.
Thielen comes back to Carolina’s offense after being shockingly effective in 2024. Functioning as Bryce Young’s No. 1 target, Thielen averaged 14 PPR points over ten games. Only 24 receivers averaged more points per game.
Thielen was one of the league’s most efficient pass catchers in 2024, (somehow) leading all wideouts in EPA per target. He was targeted on 21 percent of his pass routes, not nearly among the highest rates, but not bad considering his age (34) and the run-heavy nature of the Panthers offense for much of the season.
Should Young’s vastly improved play over the final month of the 2024 regular season carry over into 2025, Thielen — who last year posted the third highest yards per route run of his career — is primed to be a primary beneficiary. He’ll be a sneaky later-round pick in PPR formats.
Jaguars agreed to terms with WR Dyami Brown, formerly of the Commanders, on a one-year, $10 million contract.
Brown cashes in on his hot finish to the 2024 season following three forgettable years in Washington. Brown came out of nowhere to establish himself as the Commanders’ No. 2 wideout in the postseason, gaining 230 yards and scoring one touchdown on 14 catches over the team’s three playoff games. Only Xavier Worthy had more receiving yards in the postseason.
Brown in 2024 was 89th out of 116 wideouts in ESPN’s open score, which measures a pass catcher’s ability to separate from defenders. Since entering the league, he ranks 325th out of 451 receivers in open score.
Before that spurt of production, Brown had been invisible in the Washington offense, with a grand total of 29 receptions from 2021 to 2023 at less than seven yards per target. A productive wideout at North Carolina before entering the NFL, Brown will look to parlay his hot postseason play into a WR2/3 role in the Jacksonville offense. He probably represents an upgrade over Gabe Davis and could replace Christian Kirk — now of the Texans — as a distant secondary option behind target eater Brian Thomas.
Bills signed Josh Palmer to a three-year contract worth up to $36 million.
The inventive-laden deal includes $18 million guaranteed for Palmer after he had almost 2,300 receiving yards and ten touchdowns over the past four seasons with the Chargers.
Entering his age-26 season, Palmer could immediately slot in as Josh Allen’s WR2 behind the zone defense-dominating Khalil Shakir. He’ll likely replace Mack Hollins, one of the league’s worst receivers, in the Bills offense.
Palmer in LA mostly operated as an inefficient downfield target for Justin Herbert. Calvin Ridley and Alec Pierce were the only two wideouts last season to average more air yards per target than Palmer. Despite low volume, Palmer’s air yards per game was similar to teammate Ladd McConkey.
Palmer should profile as a boom-bust weekly WR4 fantasy option in Buffalo’s offense. Josh Allen in 2024 ranked 24th out of 41 qualifying QBs in downfield passing accuracy. In 2023, Allen ranked 22nd.
Rams signed Davante Adams to a two-year deal worth $46 million.
Adams lands in LA after what was an “aggressive” recruitment campaign by Rams head coach Sean McVay. Adams, 32, will get $26 million guaranteed over his two-year contract.
McVay, according to reporting by The Athletic, wanted Adams “as a large-framed target … who can get open from several alignments.” Adams fits that description well: Last season in New York, Adams logged a career-high slot rate (47 percent) and was top-20 in both yards per route run and yards after the catch per reception over the season’s second half.
Overall, his yards per route run — a good measure of efficiency — was the sixth highest of his 11-year career. Not bad considering his miserable surroundings in both Vegas and New York. Not every metric was kind to Adams in 2024. His EPA (expected points added) per target was on par with unheralded wideouts like Greg Dortch and Ray-Ray McCloud. Throw out Adams’ games with the Raiders in 2024 and his EPA per target was still miserable, in line with Tank Dell and Dontayvian Wicks.
In LA, Adams will take on WR2 duties behind the target blackhole known as Puka Nacua. He should vacuum up the targets vacated by Cooper Kupp, and should be more efficient with those opportunities than the fading Kupp. Make no mistake: Nacua remains by far and away the Rams’ No. 1 receiver. Adams and Kupp in 2024 drew targets at almost the same per-route rate.
Adams should profile, at worst, as a plug-and-play WR2 in fantasy formats this season.
Steelers acquired WR DK Metcalf from the Seahawks in exchange for a second-round pick.
Metcalf apparently ditched the idea of playing in a warm climate and joined the massively run-heavy Pittsburgh offense that last year posted the NFL’s sixth worst success rate and ranked 22nd in passing touchdowns, tied with his former team, the Seahawks.
Metcalf’s 2025 prospects will hinge at least in part on who, exactly, is throwing him the football. The Steelers are expected to hang on to Justin Fields for another season and part ways with Russell Wilson, whose solid early play last season curdled into some of the most inefficient quarterbacking in the NFL. Fields has supported a viable top-15 fantasy receiver (DJ Moore in 2023) though Arthur Smith’s run-first, run-only offense could preclude Metcalf from seeing the necessary volume to achieve WR2 numbers. He could be firmly in WR3 territory if George Pickens stays put in the Steelers offense. Pickens and Metcalf occupying similar roles in an offense that last year had the league’s third lowest pass rate over expected could mean catastrophe for both of their fantasy outlooks in 2025.
Fields, as Sports Info Solution’s Brad Beatson pointed out, might not be a bad fit for Metcalf. Two-thirds of Fields’ targets to Moore in 2023 were on the boundary. Metcalf over his five seasons in Seattle saw 63 percent of his targets on the boundary. In other words, Metcalf doesn’t rely on over-the-middle looks, and Fields doesn’t throw it over the middle.
We talked on the Rotoworld Football Show last week about whether Metcalf profiles as a No. 1 receiver. The answer was no. Metcalf’s EPA per target since the start of the 2023 season is in line with Christian Kirk and longtime Seahawks teammate Tyler Lockett. He’s an elite air yards eater, as only seven receivers over the past two seasons have racked up more air yards than Metcalf. And his air yards share over that span has been greater than Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, among (many) others. No one saw more downfield targets (32) than Metcalf last year.
Pickens, of course, is also an air yards maven and a deep ball specialist. Both Metcalf and Pickens — if they indeed play alongside each other in 2025 — should be high-variance weekly fantasy options. When all or some of the air yards become real yards, their stat lines will be juicy. If not, well, you know that story. You can’t feed your family with air yards. I’ve tried.
Perhaps an upgrade at quarterback can generate the kind of efficiency Metcalf will require to be a valuable fantasy producer. He could become a value option if public opinion sours enough to plunge him down draft boards.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, meanwhile, will remain Seattle’s WR1, and probably by a wide margin with Metcalf out of the picture. JSN has not profiled as a prototypical NFL No. 1 receiver: Last year, he saw a target on 23 percent of his routes, ranking 44th out of 125 qualifying wideouts. Smith-Njigba was 51st out of 116 receivers in ESPN’s open score, which measures a pass catcher’s separation ability.
Unless the Seahawks add a high-profile wideout in the draft, JSN could be a borderline fantasy WR1 based on target volume alone. He should continue feasting on short-area targets in 2025. Only nine wideouts in 2024 had more targets between 0-10 yards than Smith-Njigba, who was 25th among receivers in yards per route run on short receptions.
Buccaneers re-signed Chris Godwin to a three-year, $66 million contract.
It’s by far the best outcome for Godwin’s fantasy prospects, as I discussed with Patrick Daugherty on a recent Rotoworld Football Show. Godwin, per NFL Network, left $20 million on the proverbial table to remain in Tampa.
Before his catastrophic Monday night garbage time injury against the Ravens, Godwin was as efficient as ever. He finished his 2024 campaign with career high marks in yards per route run, yards after the catch per reception, and receiving success rate in the pass-first Bucs offense.
Since the start of the 2023 NFL season — when Baker Mayfield took over in Tampa — Godwin is 22nd in EPA per target out of 160 qualifying wideouts, just a smidge lower than Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson. Godwin last season before his injury was 24th out of 116 qualifying receivers in ESPN’s open score.
The loss of offensive coordinator Liam Coen — now head coach in Jacksonville — could be the only speed bump for Godwin and the rest of the Bucs offense picking up where they left off in 2024. Tampa’s offense was over its expected pass rate in 12 of 17 regular season games last year.
Patriots signed WR Mack Hollins to a two-year, $8.4 million contract.
The former Bills wideout, who last year managed 31 receptions over 17 games as an every-down wideout, joins one of the NFL’s worst receiver rooms in New England.
There’s almost no path to fantasy viability for the slow-footed Hollins, even if the Patriots don’t upgrade considerably at wideout in the NFL Draft. The big-bodied Hollins — who’s scored a touchdown on nearly 10 percent of his career catches — could be a decent bet to lead New England in touchdown receptions, even if the yardage doesn’t come with the scores.
Tight End Moves
Broncos agreed to terms with TE Evan Engram, formerly of the Jaguars, on a two-year, $23 million contract.
Engram will fill a void in the Denver passing attack that Sean Payton tried to fill with various forgettable tight ends in 2024, with almost nothing to show for it. It would hardly be surprising if Engram take on a similar role to the one he occupied in Jacksonville: An underneath dump-off option and PPR slot machine.
Travis Kelce and Trey McBride are the only two tight ends with more receptions than Engram — who operates as a big slot receiver — over the past two seasons. He was on his way to another solid fantasy season in 2024 before he tore his labrum in Week 14 and missed the remainder of the year.
Engram last year was targeted on a healthy 27 percent of his pass routes in the Jaguars offense, the fourth highest rate among all tight ends. He could instantly become Denver’s No. 2 pass catching option behind Courtland Sutton.
