We’re looking at all NFL team’s free agent moves (in and out) and their NFL Draft to see who got better and by how much -- setting the tone for analyzing them for the upcoming season for FF purposes and for betting evaluations on team over/unders, etc.
We had Grok list all the moves and we show them first and then Ross and I (RC) weigh in on what we see with all the roster moves -- how they affect 2025 only. And ultimately we pick a winner.
We’ll do two matchups per day, within each division seeded from the 2024 final standings, for 16 days...then we’ll take the 16 winners and accelerate the matchups after that and advance the best ‘offseason’ moves teams through to the ‘Super Bowl’, declaring a final winner.
Jacksonville Jaguars 2025 Free Agency Losses:
CB Ronald Darby (Houston Texans)
S Andre Cisco (New York Jets)
C Mitch Morse (Retired)
RG Brandon Scherff (Free Agent)
TE Evan Engram (Denver Broncos)
TE Luke Farrell (San Francisco 49ers)
RB D’Ernest Johnson (Free Agent)
WR Christian Kirk (Houston Texans, via trade)
WR Devin Duvernay (Free Agent)
OG Blake Hance (Tennessee Titans)
QB Mac Jones (San Francisco 49ers)
Jacksonville Jaguars 2025 Free Agency Signings/Additions:
CB Jourdan Lewis (3 years, $24M, $12M guaranteed)
C Robert Hainsey (2 years, $12M, $6M guaranteed)
WR Dyami Brown (1 year, $10M, $5M guaranteed)
OT Chuma Edoga (2 years, $8M, $4M guaranteed)
TE Johnny Mundt (2 years, $6M, $3M guaranteed)
TE Chris Long (2 years, $5M, $2M guaranteed)
S Eric Murray (1 year, $5M, $2M guaranteed)
RG Patrick Mekari (3 years, $18M, $9M guaranteed)
QB Nick Mullens (1 year, $2M, $0.5M guaranteed)
Jacksonville Jaguars 2025 Rookie Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents:
WR/CB Travis Hunter (1st Round, No. 2)
S Caleb Ransaw (3rd Round, No. 88)
OL Wyatt Milum (3rd Round, No. 89)
RB Bhayshul Tuten (4th Round, No. 104)
LB Jack Kiser (4th Round, No. 107)
LB Jalen McLeod (6th Round, No. 194)
S Rayuan Lane III (6th Round, No. 200)
C Jonah Monheim (7th Round, No. 221)
RB LeQuint Allen Jr. (7th Round, No. 236)
DE Ethan Downs (UDFA)
DB Doneiko Slaughter (UDFA)
TE Patrick Herbert (UDFA)
DE Danny Striggow (UDFA)
S Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig (UDFA)
QB Seth Henigan (UDFA)
DL Eli Mostaert (UDFA)
G Sal Wormley (UDFA)
DL B.J. Green II (UDFA)
WR J.J. Jones (UDFA)
WR Quincy Skinner Jr. (UDFA)
DL Simeon Barrow Jr. (UDFA)
DB Daryl Porter Jr. (UDFA)
DB Mike Smith Jr. (UDFA)
EDGE Johnny Walker Jr. (UDFA)
DL Keith Cooper Jr. (UDFA)
OL J.J. Lippe (UDFA)
DB Melvin Smith Jr. (UDFA)
DL Anthony Booker Jr. (UDFA)
WR Theo Wease Jr. (UDFA)
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Indianapolis Colts 2025 Free Agency Losses:
C Ryan Kelly (Minnesota Vikings)
OG Will Fries (Minnesota Vikings)
DE Dayo Odeyingbo (Chicago Bears)
S Julian Blackmon (Free Agent)
LB Grant Stuard (Detroit Lions)
QB Sam Ehlinger (Denver Broncos)
TE Kylen Granson (Philadelphia Eagles)
Indianapolis Colts 2025 Free Agency Signings/Additions:
QB Daniel Jones (1 year, $14M, $7M guaranteed)
CB Charvarius Ward (3 years, $60M, $30M guaranteed)
S Camryn Bynum (3 years, $45M, $22.5M guaranteed)
RB Khalil Herbert (1 year, $2M, $0.5M guaranteed)
CB Corey Ballentine (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
C Wesley French (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
DT Neville Gallimore (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
CB David Long Jr. (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
Indianapolis Colts 2025 Rookie Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents:
TE Tyler Warren (1st Round, No. 14)
DE J.T. Tuimoloau (2nd Round, No. 45)
CB Justin Walley (3rd Round, No. 80)
OT Jalen Travis (4th Round, No. 127)
RB D.J. Giddens (5th Round, No. 151)
QB Riley Leonard (6th Round, No. 189)
DT Tim Smith (6th Round, No. 202)
LB Hunter Wohler (7th Round, No. 246)
WR Marcus Mbow (UDFA)
LB K.J. Cloyd (UDFA)
CB Shawn Asbury II (UDFA)
OL Theo Benedet (UDFA)
WR Derek Slywka (UDFA)
S Jaylen King (UDFA)
CB Cam Smith (UDFA)
DL Joe Moore III (UDFA)
S Trey Washington (UDFA)
LB Solomon Deshields (UDFA)
DE Desmond Little (UDFA)
OL Marshall Foerner (UDFA)
RB Ulysses Bentley (UDFA)
DT Joe Evans (UDFA)
WR Landon Parker (UDFA)
Ross Jacobs’ analysis...
Jacksonville Jaguars Off-season Grade: B+
Lots of really sharp moves by the new GM James Gladstone who continues to impress me. Much like the Bears, Jacksonville moved quickly to completely revamp their interior O-Line and I think they got comparable improvement and for a much lower cost than Chicago managed, only they did it with lesser names so the media doesn't care. They also added one of the best slot corners in the game, Jourdan Lewis, and the ascending Dyami Brown to add more speed to the offense. A very solid group of additions. On the other side their only real notable losses were Andre Cisco who was very inconsistent, Evan Engram who was on the wrong side of 30, and Christian Kirk who is massively overrated. The single greatest move of the entire off-season was probably Gladstone somehow convincing a division rival to actually give them a draft pick for Kirk when he was destined to be cut anyways.
Then the draft saw Gladstone make the very bold move to trade up for Travis Hunter and pick up several other useful players in Ransaw, Milum, Tuten, and Kiser. This was a fantastic start for the young GM and I'm excited to see what he does in the future.
Indianapolis Colts Off-season Grade: C-
The media is solely focusing on the big money spent on Charvarius Ward and Camryn Bynum, but the improvement in the secondary is off-set by their losses on the offensive line. Ryan Kelly and Will Fries were two of the better interior linemen in the league and suddenly the middle of Indy's line looks very sketchy. They also lost the rising Dayo Odeyingbo and solid starter Julian Blackmon. The draft saw them add some good players, Tyler Warren should be very good right away, JT Tuimoloau is underrated, and DJ Giddens was a steal in the 5th, but I don't think those are enough to give Indy a better grade.
Winner: Jacksonville Jaguars
Easy choice for me. Gladstone killed it in his first off-season with Jacksonville by rapidly addressing the offensive line and making a big move for Travis Hunter. They should go far in this tournament.
RC’s analysis...
Indianapolis offseason comments:
Adding Daniel Jones was the biggest move the Colts made this offseason...they absolutely needed something to protect themselves from what looks like the looming Anthony Richardson problem. QB is everything. Adding Ward-Bynum to the secondary was a real need too. Some nice adds by Indy, but then they lost a bunch of talent as well, especially key offensive linemen Fries-Kelly. Losing DE Odeuyingbo is something and Grant Stuard was a quiet loss that will sting special teams and LB depth, and the Lions just plucked him away.
A lot of +/- for Indy with at best a moderate gain (because of the desperation at QB) but could be seen as one step forward, one step back.
They did well enough in the draft...1-2 starters right away, 2-3 maybe 4 starters eventually over time. Not bad.
Jacksonville offseason comments:
The only thing the Jags lost in free agency that hurts them for 2025 is Evan Engram. I get the big picture move, but this is a step back for judging just 2025 impacts.
They brought in, via free agency, a lot of decent/lesser-known/lauded player moves...which is what free agency should be for healthy teams or rosters that need an enema (JAX is in the enema state). I see the logic in many of their subtle moves...their free agency power was in the overall quantity not one major quality/blows you away big ticket item headline move...they saved that splash move for the draft.
You know I loved the Travis Hunter trade...a brilliant trade, an instant impact for 2025. But they also got several more quality pieces in the draft to go-with. Milum at OL could start right away or just be a great rotational piece for 2025, then starting in 2026.
RC’s WINNER: Jacksonville
The Jags rebuilt themselves this offseason, the first season under new GM James Gladstone...he rebuilt not from the top-down, like a pyramid...they inverted the pyramid and just added loads of useful starters, rotational players, talented backups with their crowning jewel move of trading for Hunter. A very smart, savvy offseason.
The Colts by comparison feel like they are sinking in quicksand or has their team bus stuck in the mud and is spinning its wheels to try to get loose but can’t. The Jags beat them in this assessment...and the Jags probably just launched themselves past Indy to become the only real threat to the Texans in the AFC South in 2025.
*Officially Moving on in the Tournament* Jacksonville moves on to the AFC South finals to face Houston.
