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.
New Orleans Saints 2025 Free Agency Losses:
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (Seattle Seahawks)
DE Payton Turner (Dallas Cowboys)
CB Paulson Adebo (New York Giants)
S Will Harris (Miami Dolphins)
LB Willie Gay Jr. (Kansas City Chiefs)
WR Dante Pettis (Free Agent)
LB Nephi Sewell (Free Agent)
DE Tanoh Kpassagnon (Free Agent)
CB Lonnie Johnson Jr. (Free Agent)
New Orleans Saints 2025 Free Agency Signings/Additions:
S Justin Reid (3 years, $24M, $12M guaranteed)
C Will Clapp (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
OT Landon Young (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
DE Jonah Williams (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
TE Jack Stoll (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
OL Dillon Radunz (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
RB Velus Jones Jr. (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
WR Brandin Cooks (1 year, $4M, $2M guaranteed)
New Orleans Saints 2025 Rookie Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents:
OT Kelvin Banks Jr. (1st Round, No. 9)
QB Tyler Shough (2nd Round, No. 40)
SAF Jonas Sanker (3rd Round, No. 93)
LB Danny Stutsman (4th Round, No. 112)
CB Quincy Riley (4th Round, No. 131)
RB Devin Neal (6th Round, No. 184)
TE Moliki Matavao (7th Round, No. 248)
DE Fadil Diggs (7th Round, No. 254)
CB Dalys Beanum (UDFA)
P James Burnip (UDFA)
DE Jasheen Davis (UDFA)
S Elliott Davison (UDFA)
WR Moochie Dixon (UDFA)
OT Easton Kilty (UDFA)
LB Tyreem Powell (UDFA)
G Torricelli Simpkins III (UDFA)
DT Omari Thomas (UDFA)
WR Chris Tyree (UDFA)
RB Marcus Yarns (UDFA)
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2025 Free Agency Losses:
C Robert Hainsey (Jacksonville Jaguars)
OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (Cleveland Browns)
T Justin Skule (Minnesota Vikings)
ILB K.J. Britt (Miami Dolphins)
CB Tavierre Thomas (Minnesota Vikings)
G Royce Newman (Arizona Cardinals)
LB J.J. Russell (Free Agent)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2025 Free Agency Signings/Additions:
G Ben Bredeson (3 years, $22M, $12M guaranteed)
OLB Haason Reddick (1 year, $14M, $12M guaranteed)
CB Bryce Hall (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
S Kaevon Merriweather (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
DL C.J. Brewer (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
CB Kindle Vildor (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
P Riley Dixon (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2025 Rookie Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents:
WR Emeka Egbuka (1st Round, No. 19)
CB Benjamin Morrison (2nd Round, No. 50)
CB Jacob Parrish (3rd Round, No. 84)
OLB David Walker (4th Round, No. 121)
DL Elijah Roberts (5th Round, No. 157)
WR Tez Johnson (7th Round, No. 235)
S Shilo Sanders (UDFA)
S J.J. Roberts (UDFA)
DT Desmond Watson (UDFA)
WR Will Sheppard (UDFA)
C Jake Majors (UDFA)
T Ben Chukwuma (UDFA)
C Ben Scott (UDFA)
WR Garrett Greene (UDFA)
QB Connor Bazelak (UDFA)
RB Josh Williams (UDFA)
LB John Bullock (UDFA)
Ross Jacobs’ analysis...
New Orleans Saints Off-season Grade: C+
(Ross already wrote his up before the news hit, so he does not have him in the mix)
Didn't lose too much in free agency despite being up against the cap once again. Paulson Adebo hurts, but the others are replaceable. I can't say I understand most of their free agent signings either. They are all depth moves though so it's not a big deal.
The draft was up and down for the Saints. Kelvin Banks was such a smart pick in the first round when there was a lot of talk they could take a position they didn't need like TE. Of course, then they followed that up with Tyler Shough who I'm not a huge fan of. I get why they took him. It's a thin class and they needed someone that could start right away, but in the grand scheme of things he's just not very good. They should have just punted on QB this year and kept restacking the roster.
Their next several picks were mostly good/interesting. Jonas Sanker might be the best safety in this class. Danny Stutsman is athletic and a great run stuffer at LB. Quincy Riley isn't as athletic as the corners the Saints usually draft, but he gets his hands on the ball an awful lot. Fadil Diggs in the 7th round seems like a steal. He's got a few things to clean up, but he's athletic and this seems absurdly low for him. Not a big fan of Vernon Broughton. Overall, it's a very good group for New Orleans and helps them to earn a decent off-season grade.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Off-season Grade: B-
Tampa had a relatively quiet free agency period with their only major move in or out being the addition of Haason Reddick. If they get a full, motivated season out of him that will be a win. If they don't, oh well, it's a 1-year contract. He could/should be a big boost to their pass rush. Anthony Walker is a pretty good addition at inside linebacker as well.
Many people didn't see the point of the team drafting Emeka Egbuka, but it makes total sense. First, he's just a good player with excellent character. He'll be with the team for 10+ years and should be a captain sooner rather than later. Second, Chris Godwin is coming off another major injury and Mike Evans is probably playing his last year. Jalen McMillan is just ok. The cupboard was essentially bare outside that. Egbuka is a phenomenal 3rd receiver this year as Tampa tries to make a Superbowl push, he's insurance in case of an injury to one of the two stars, and he's the future #1.
After Egbuka, Tampa stacked back-to-back corners to restock the secondary, and Benjamin Morrison is one of my favorites from this class when healthy. He's not the most athletic but boy is he smooth and competitive. Parrish is very interesting as well and they should make a nice tandem. It wasn't a super splashy off-season for Tampa, but they definitely got better and are hoping to make a run at a title this year.
Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Both teams had good overall draft classes that I assess as roughly equal, but the Bucs also signed Reddick who, at least on paper, improves their pass rush significantly. It's been a big weakness for this defense recently and his presence could really help. That tips the scales to Tampa for me.
RC’s analysis...
New Orleans offseason comments:
Their only real loss was Paulson Adebo in free agency -- but now add a huge loss with the somewhat shocking retirement of Derek Carr. Losing Carr means the 2025 season, that was already on the ropes, is now for sure destined for disaster.
The Saints really didn’t bring anything in much in free agency, because they were pinched for money mostly, but added a SAF of note in Justin Reid...that ain’t gonna make up for the Adebo and Carr losses.
A solid job in the draft with Banks in the first, and then some salvation with Tyler Shough but Stutsman-Sanker-Riley-Diggs are all guys we had higher rated than where the Saints took them. So, good job overall by New Orleans in the draft.
Tampa Bay offseason comments:
The Bucs really didn’t lose anything in free agency of note. OC Hainsey was a mild hit to the O-Line, but they added OG Bredeson to kinda even it out. Outside of that, they spent money on Haason Reddick, which is a waste of money to me...but fine, he’s there now...he’ll help 2025.
Not the greatest draft for Tampa. Egbuka is solid but not a 1st-rounder, to me. They drafted a 1st-round human but not a 1st-round WR. But regardless, Egbuka will help/not hurt 2025. Benjamin Morrison is my favorite pick by them. Day three of the draft may be an issue unless Elijah Roberts comes through like he might be able to.
Great UDFA period. I think Shilo Sanders is a possible contributor, but I think SAF J.J. Roberts was a top 5 SAF talent and they got him for free, essentially. I like the gamble on 450+ pounder DT Desmond Watson as well.
RC’s WINNER: Tampa Bay Bucs
I would’ve picked the Saints if the whole Derek Carr thing was not even a thing, but losing Carr for 2025 is a huge blow that their solid draft cannot patch up for this upcoming season.
*Officially Moving on in the Tournament* Tampa Bay moves on to the NFC South finals.
