There will always be a handful of NFL teams that splurge with big-ticket agreements in the early portions of free agency, but there’s value to find in the second tier of free agents as well. This year only saw a couple of perceived blue-chip talents hit in the market like Milton Williams or Will Fries, so teams had to compete for a lot of solid starters that might not be household names.
Here is what amounts to an all-value team, a few signings that didn’t break the bank and should provide immediate relief to their new squads.
Compared to what other cornerbacks got on the first day of free agency, getting D.J. Reed for $16 million per year is a nice pickup for the Lions. General Manager Brad Holmes has shown a deliberate desire to upgrade the Lions cornerback room and Reed is the latest pickup.
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Reed will join 2024 first-round pick Terrion Arnold as the duo tries to make the transition easier for first-time defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard. They’ll (hopefully) have help from a healthy Lions defensive line, which should be among the better pass rushing units in the league. There’s a lot in flux for Detroit as they try to replace two of the best coordinators in football, but stacking talent at premium positions is a good way to try and help their next era of play-callers.
Joshua Palmer might not be the true top dog wide receiver Bills fans were hoping for, but with a quarterback as good as Josh Allen on the roster, that becomes less of a need. Still, they needed another qualified body at wide receiver and Palmer makes a lot of sense.
Palmer has experience playing every position that would be asked of him in Buffalo’s offense, but he was primarily used on the outside of the Chargers offense, where he was essentially a flatly average yet competent wide receiver. Buffalo’s passing game is structured better than where the Chargers were last season, so Palmer could see higher-quality opportunities come his way. Either way, the Bills have likely done enough to not see a passing game dropoff following an MVP season for Allen.
This is a solid pickup for the Bears, who needed a steady, veteran presence on the interior. Grady Jarrett isn’t the force up the middle at age 31 that he used to be, but he’s still a steady player and should fit in seamlessly at nose tackle on the Bears defensive line. He’s a nice upgrade over Andrew Billings and his presence will allow Billings to become a valuable rotation piece, creating depth for Chicago at a key spot.
If Gervon Dexter can take a leap as an explosive interior player in his third season, the Bears really might have a fearsome defense in 2025 — which will make life a bit easier for first-year head coach Ben Johnson.
One piece the Broncos' elite defense was missing a year ago was a real-deal off-ball linebacker to help defend the run and protect the middle of the field. Getting Dre Greenlaw is exactly what the Broncos need on paper, but he is somewhat of a risk due to only playing in two games last season following his Achilles tear in the Super Bowl.
Still, it’s a fair risk for a defense that was so close to being a unit that can win a playoff game in the right circumstances. The Broncos were at the top of nearly every defensive stat, but they still struggled in games against the Ravens and Bills, which are ultimately their competition if they want to win in the playoffs and advance deep into the postseason. Greenlaw is a strong start in the right direction.
The Rams’ young defense showed a lot of promise later in this past season, ranking seventh in expected points added per play (-0.06) over the final four weeks of the regular season, according to TruMedia. However, they were a below average defense when factoring in their full-season results with a clear need to improve their run defense.
In comes Poona Ford from the Chargers, who has been a fantastic run plugger for every team he’s been a part of. The Rams defense ranked 23rd in defensive success rate versus the run (41%) and 30th in stuff rate (15.3%). Ford will immediately improve their run defense, allowing the rest of their defensive line to play to their strengths, which is largely being upfield penetrators.
Patrick Mekari, OL, Jaguars (3 years, $37.5M)
Jacksonville definitely needed to upgrade the interior of their offensive line this offseason, which is easier said than done. With teams clamoring for offensive linemen, it can be difficult to find value in free agency for quality starters, but the Jaguars have done that with the signing of former Raven Patrick Mekari.
Mekari has experience playing all over the offensive line, but will likely settle in at guard with the Jaguars investing picks and extensions into their offensive tackle situation recently. Mekari started all 17 games last season for the Ravens and has only missed one game in three seasons, most of which was as a spot starter. He’s already shown to be a capable blocker for one of the league’s best offenses and should be an immediate upgrade that the Jaguars desperately needed. The Jaguars ranked 29th in both percentage of runs that went for five or more yards (31.4%) and yards before contact (1.15).
