• Will C.J. Stroud be OK? Stroud was sacked 52 times during the 2024 regular season, and now the team has overhauled even the strong parts of the unit.

• The Eagles are just fine: Their slew of free-agent departures shouldn’t concern anyone, as Howie Roseman has expertly constructed the roster to fill in any gaps.

• 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF’s best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.

Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

The first week of NFL free agency is in the books, and several rosters look vastly different from where they were at the season’s end. While there is still a long way to go before we get the full free agency picture, we have some idea of each team’s offseason direction.

Here, we’re looking at 10 free-agency takeaways and what they could mean for each team/player going forward.

The Patriots’ defense could be fun next season, but they haven’t surrounded Drake Maye with much talent

The Patriots entered free agency with, by far, the most cap space in the league, and they haven’t been shy about taking advantage of it, dishing out big-money contracts to players like Milton Williams, Carlton Davis, Harold Landry III and Robert Spillane. While these are exciting moves for a defense that regressed last season, it leaves a lot of questions about the offense, particularly in supporting Drake Maye.

New England’s offensive line and pass-catching group were paper thin in 2024, which caused many of the team’s problems. While they did add Morgan Moses and Wes Schweitzer to their offensive line and Mack Hollins to their receiver room, none of the moves are likely to massively improve an offense that ranked 30th in PFF grade last season. The Patriots still have significant cap space to make more splash signings.

The Bengals ensured their high-flying offense isn’t going anywhere at the expense of their defense

The Bengals pulled off what some thought was unthinkable and managed to sign both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to big-money extensions, making Chase the highest-paid receiver in football and Higgins the ninth-highest. That should keep Cincinnati’s offense among the league’s elite for the next three to four years.

However, despite Joe Burrow‘s MVP-caliber performance last season, the Bengals went 9-8 and missed the playoffs thanks in large part to a defense that was torched all year. Their top defensive player, Trey Hendrickson, has requested a trade, and the Bengals seem inclined to at least listen to offers. The team has also lost Akeem Davis-Gaither, Sam Hubbard and Sheldon Rankins, while Joe Bachie, Vonn Bell and Mike Hilton are free agents. Cincinnati’s defense allowed the seventh-most points during the 2024 regular season as is, and based on the lack of attention to that side of the ball this offseason, it could be one of the weaker units in the league next season.

The Cowboys seem to be gearing up for a Micah Parsons extension while also trying to fix their depth

It’s been a long time since the Cowboys made a big splash in free agency, and 2025 has been no different. They’ve handed out one-year deals to Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders, Payton Turner, Jack Sanborn and Dante Fowler Jr., among others, after restructuring Dak Prescott‘s and CeeDee Lamb’s contracts to create more cap space.

All this points toward the team working on a long-term deal to keep Micah Parsons in Dallas. After the Browns inked Myles Garrett to a four-year, $160 million contract, Parsons’ market value is clear. The Cowboys currently rank 11th in cap space, per Over the Cap, so a deal could potentially be in the cards sooner rather than later.

Are the Seahawks rebuilding or not?

The Seattle Seahawks have had one of the more interesting offseasons thus far, trading Geno Smith and DK Metcalf while cutting ties with Tyler Lockett. Those moves would make one think that Seattle wants to get out in front of a rebuild, but then the team doled out big contracts to quarterback Sam Darnold and wide receiver Cooper Kupp.

While Darnold had a great season in Minnesota this past year, his career inconsistencies cause concern for the long-term legitimacy of that performance. Kupp has dealt with injuries the past couple of seasons and will be 32 when the regular season kicks off, though he’s been productive when on the field. The Seahawks look like they’ll be one of the harder teams to assess ahead of the 2025 season.

Aaron Rodgers wants to take his time with his decision, but other teams may not be willing to wait

At 41 years old, Aaron Rodgers is on the open market for the first time in his career. While he didn’t perform nearly as poorly as many believe (his 77.8 PFF overall grade was nearly identical to his final season in Green Bay), he’s definitely not the same player who was a consistent MVP favorite.

The quarterback market has been relatively quiet, as Justin Fields and Sam Darnold are the only two free-agent quarterbacks to receive significant deals. Each team picking in the top three could use a signal-caller, while the Vikings and Steelers may also be looking for a short-term answer at the position. However, with Russell Wilson still being a free agent, Rodgers may not have his pick of the litter should he wait too long and Wilson land in a more coveted location.

Cam Ward will be a Tennessee Titans, barring anything crazy

The Titans’ focus in free agency appears to be shoring up their offensive line, as they brought in Dan Moore Jr. and Kevin Zeitler to aid a unit that earned the eighth-worst PFF pass-blocking grade and second-worst PFF run-blocking grade in 2024. They’ve also made some defensive additions, bringing in Cody Barton, Xavier Woods and Dre’Mont Jones.

Yet, the Titans haven’t been linked to any of the available quarterbacks. Will Levis posted the third-worst PFF passing grade among qualifying quarterbacks in 2024, and the only other quarterback currently on the roster is Brandon Allen, who would have graded out even worse than Levis had he played enough snaps to qualify. The lack of action at the quarterback position during this free agency period suggests the Titans plan on using the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward, considered by most draft analysts to be the top signal-caller in this year’s class.

Ward was the highest-graded quarterback in college football (92.9) last year, while his 91.7 PFF passing grade trailed only Jaxson Dart by .2 grading points. Ward’s 31 big-time throws ranked behind only Kyle McCord. With numbers like those, it’s easy to understand why Tennessee would prefer to bank on him rather than start a quarterback whose best years are likely behind him.

Ben Johnson does not

After a dazzling tenure as the Detroit Lions‘ offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson was brought on to be the next head coach of the division-rival Chicago Bears. One thing the Lions always had under Johnson was an elite offensive line, which finished second — behind only the Super Bowl champion Eagles — in PFF’s offensive line rankings.

The Chicago Bears fielded far from an elite offensive line last season, as Caleb Williams was easily the most-sacked quarterback in the league. While several of those 68 sacks were Williams’ fault, that’s still a hard number to swallow. The Bears wasted no time in fixing that issue, trading for Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson to man their guard spots and signing Drew Dalman to play center.

On paper, the team’s line got significantly better. With Johnson leading the way, the Bears may finally have a big-play offense.

Are the Texans even thinking about C.J. Stroud?

Stroud was sacked 52 times during the 2024 regular season, the second most in the league. That contributed to something of a sophomore slump for the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year. What did the Texans do in response? Trade their best offensive lineman, Laremy Tunsil, and former first-round guard Kenyon Green.

Tunsil was by far the team’s best pass blocker last season, recording an excellent 89.1 PFF grade in that regard and an 80.6 PFF pass-blocking grade on true pass sets during the regular season. Trading Green to the Eagles made a bit more sense, as he struggled mightily in pass protection to the tune of a 39.7 PFF grade and an even worse mark on true pass sets (19.9). They added Ed Ingram and Laken Tomlinson this offseason, but neither ranked among the top half of guards last season.

You can almost write in pen that the Texans will take an offensive lineman with their top selection in the 2025 NFL Draft.

After being the NFL’s biggest surprise last year, the Broncos won’t be sneaking up on anyone in 2025

Some knuckleheads ranked the Broncos as having the worst roster in football following the 2024 NFL Draft, and then, with a chance to revise that, ranked them as the second-worst roster following the 2024 preseason (it was me and Dalton Wasserman, we were those knuckleheads).

The Broncos proceeded to win 10 games and earn a playoff berth for the first time since winning Super Bowl 50. The defense, in particular, significantly improved thanks to Nik Bonitto, Brandon Jones and a Defensive Player of the Year performance from Pat Surtain II, among others. The unit ended with the 11th-best defense in terms of expected points allowed per play.

Denver reinforced its defense with two former 49ers playmakers in Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw while giving rookie standout Bo Nix another weapon in tight end Evan Engram. With the roster looking even stronger on paper and Nix expected to progress in Year 2, the Chiefs may finally have themselves some competition for the AFC West title.

The Eagles have let several key contributors walk, but that’s OK

After winning the franchise’s second Super Bowl, the Eagles had some decisions to make in the offseason. They let several key players walk in free agency, including Milton Williams, Josh Sweat, Mekhi Becton, Darius Slay, James Bradberry, Isaiah Rodgers and Oren Burks, while also trading Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to the Texans. That sounds like a lot. But the Eagles are built to survive such high-volume departures.

Williams can be replaced by Moro Ojomo, who came on late last season and earned an 89.5 PFF overall grade in the Super Bowl. Jalyx Hunt started to see an increased role late in the year and could be a very capable replacement for Sweat. And we all saw what the Eagles’ rookie cornerbacks accomplished last season to know they are in good hands despite losing their veteran options.

General manager Howie Roseman has built his roster to allow the Eagles to reload for next season rather than rebuild.