2025 NFL Free Agency: Biggest Losers From First Week of New League Year

With most regarding the 2025 free agency class as disappointing, this was a bad year to have a lot of cap space.

The “winners” of free agency often end up being the losers in the long run, and that could prove especially true for those who have splurged over recent days.

But as the dust settles on the first wave of free agency, there are several teams whose approach is worthy of criticism.

New Orleans Saints

There isn’t a huge issue with the contracts the Saints handed out, but they are losers simply because they refuse to accept their reality and rebuild.

After re-signing Chase Young (three years, $51 million) and tight end Juwan Johnson (three years, $30.75 million), and bringing in safety Justin Reid (three years, $31.5 million), the Saints are projected to have the fourth-lowest amount of cap space in the league in 2026.

The Saints have limited their future flexibility in a bemusing effort to try to contend with Derek Carr at quarterback. Their aversion to the reset button continues to defy logic.

Buffalo Bills

The Bills were rewarded for making the decision to let several well-liked veterans walk last offseason, as they again went deep into the postseason.

But their latest agonizing defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs has sparked some bizarre moves, possession receiver Josh Palmer’s three-year, $36 million deal chief among them.

Joey Bosa gives the Bills the heft they need at defensive end, but paying up to $15 million for a player who has missed 23 games in the last three years is rich.

With two further signings on the front seven — Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi, the latter suspended for the first six games — the Bills’ acquisitions will age poorly if they struggle defensively early in 2025.

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts made a pair of potentially astute acquisitions in cornerback Charvarius Ward and safety Cameron Bynum, electing to boost the defensive backfield rather than shell out to keep defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo and guard Will Fries.

But it is difficult to be optimistic about Indianapolis with the situation at quarterback, with Daniel Jones signed to a one-year deal to take part in an “open competition” with Anthony Richardson.

Heading into Year 3 with Richardson, the Colts are in a nightmarish spot. Richardson’s Colts career is likely over if he loses the job to Jones and, if Jones delivers what he did for most of his time with the New York Giants, general manager Chris Ballard will deserve to be out of a job come the end of 2025.

Dallas Cowboys

Dallas’ big call so far has been to bet that, at 30, Dante Fowler’s 11.5 sacks last year were not another flash in the pan.

Fowler is a downgrade at defensive end on Demarcus Lawrence, who departed for Seattle, and the underwhelming signings of failed former first-round picks Solomon Thomas and Payton Turner only serve to further doubts about Dallas’ team-building outside of the draft.

There is a skill to finding underappreciated assets in free agency, but the Cowboys’ deals suggest they are simply taking dart throws on names they recognize. It’s tough to know what the strategy is in Dallas, but there’s nothing to indicate it’s one that will have the Cowboys contending this season.