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 York Giants 2025 Free Agency Losses:
QB Drew Lock (Seattle Seahawks)
QB Tim Boyle (Tennessee Titans)
CB Adoree’ Jackson (Philadelphia Eagles)
CB Darnay Holmes (Free Agent)
EDGE Azeez Ojulari (Philadelphia Eagles)
DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches (Free Agent)
LB Carter Coughlin (Free Agent)
S Jason Pinnock (Free Agent)
S Dane Belton (Free Agent)
New York Giants 2025 Free Agency Signings/Additions:
QB Russell Wilson, QB Jameis Winston
OT James Hudson III (2 years, $12M, $6M guaranteed)
DT Roy Robertson-Harris (2 years, $10M, $5M guaranteed)
DE Chauncey Golston (3 years, $19.5M, $9M guaranteed)
EDGE Victor Dimukeje (1 year, $2M, $0.75M guaranteed)
LB Chris Board (2 years, $6M, $2.5M guaranteed)
LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (1 year, $2.5M, $1M guaranteed)
S Jevon Holland (3 years, $36M, $18M guaranteed)
CB Paulson Adebo (4 years, $76M, $38M guaranteed)
New York Giants 2025 Rookie Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents:
QB Jaxson Dart (1st Round, No. 25)
EDGE Abdul Carter (1st Round, No. 3)
DT Darius Alexander (3rd Round, No. 65)
RB Cam Skattebo (4th Round, No. 105)
OL Marcus Mbow (5th Round, No. 154)
TE Thomas Fidone II (7th Round, No. 219)
CB Korie Black (7th Round, No. 246)
CB O’Donnell Fortune (UDFA)
WR Landon Ruggieri (UDFA)
WR Antwane Wells Jr. (UDFA)
S Tommy McCormick (UDFA)
CB Ronald Delancy III (UDFA)
DL Jeremiah Ojo (UDFA)
WR Nate McCullum (UDFA)
WR Jordan Bly (UDFA)
RB Rushawn Baker (UDFA)
CB Bruce Harmon (UDFA)
G J.J. Lippe (UDFA)
LB K.C. Ossai (UDFA)
WR J.J. Jones (UDFA)
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Dallas Cowboys 2025 Free Agency Losses:
WR Brandin Cooks (New Orleans Saints)
DE DeMarcus Lawrence (Seattle Seahawks)
CB Jourdan Lewis (Jacksonville Jaguars)
QB Cooper Rush (Baltimore Ravens)
G Zack Martin (Retired)
OT Chuma Edoga (Free Agent)
LB Eric Kendricks (Free Agent)
RB Rico Dowdle (Free Agent)
Dallas Cowboys 2025 Free Agency Signings/Additions:
RB Javonte Williams (1 year, $3M, $1.5M guaranteed)
OL Robert Jones (1 year, $4.75M, $2M guaranteed)
DT Solomon Thomas (2 years, $8M, $4M guaranteed)
DE Payton Turner (1 year, $3M, $2M guaranteed)
LB Jack Sanborn (1 year, $2.5M, $1M guaranteed)
CB Kaiir Elam (Acquired via trade, contract not disclosed)
LB Kenneth Murray Jr. (Acquired via trade, contract not disclosed)
RB Miles Sanders (1 year, $2.5M, $1M guaranteed)
DE Dante Fowler Jr. (1 year, $8M, $4M guaranteed)
WR Parris Campbell (1 year, $2M, $0.5M guaranteed)
OT Hakeem Adeniji (1 year, $2M, $0.5M guaranteed)
OL Saahdiq Charles (1 year, $2M, $0.5M guaranteed)
QB Joe Milton III (Acquired via trade, contract not disclosed)
Dallas Cowboys 2025 Rookie Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents:
RG Tyler Booker (1st Round, No. 12)
DE Donovan Ezeiruaku (2nd Round, No. 43)
CB Shavon Revel Jr. (3rd Round, No. 75)
RB Jaydon Blue (5th Round, No. 147)
OL Ajani Cornelius (6th Round, No. 189)
RB Phil Mafah (7th Round, No. 222)
DT Tommy Akingbesote (7th Round, No. 238)
WR Traeshon Holden (UDFA)
CB Zion Childress (UDFA)
CB Bruce Harmon (UDFA)
TE Tyler Neville (UDFA)
TE Rivaldo Fairweather (UDFA)
LB Justin Barron (UDFA)
WR Josh Kelly (UDFA)
S Alijah Clark (UDFA)
S Mike Smith Jr. (UDFA)
Ross Jacobs’ analysis...
Dallas Cowboys Off-season Grade: C
The only real big loss for the Cowboys is Jourdan Lewis. He's become one of the better slot corners in the league, and the team was already low on corner depth. They weren't able to really add anyone of any note in free agency, but they did make a lot of cheap depth signings particularly on the defensive line and at linebacker, two positions that were issues in 2024.
The draft brought Tyler Booker to reinforce the line and while I'm worried about his lack of athleticism, with the right scheme he might help turn Dallas into a monstrous run-blocking unit overnight. Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah weren't the flashy names at RB that fans wanted, but they should be effective if the line gels the way I think it might. Mafah in particular could be devastating on power runs up the middle. The team also snagged Ezeiruaku, a very solid, professional edge rusher, to replace Demarcus Lawrence and took a gamble on Shavon Revel's health. If he can recover he could be quite the steal at corner, arguably the Cowboy's biggest position of need long term.
New York Giants Off-season Grade: C-
The Giants didn't lose much of anything in free agency, but brought in some decent depth and a few pretty good starters in Holland and Adebo. Did they overpay for those two? Arguably. But that's the price you pay in free agency. They weren't egregious contracts, so I'll give it a pass. The secondary is definitely better today than it was in 2024.
The draft could have been handled better to say the least. The media loves Abdul Carter, but we see some potential issues there, and Dart was just a massive waste of draft capital and won't be playing in 2025 anyways. Alexander has some potential and Skattebo might be ok if his lack of speed isn't a killer.
WINNER: New York Giants
I don't love this because I think in many cases the Giants’ upgrades are not nearly as impactful as the media thinks (and some like Dart are actually hidden downgrades), but the guys they added are still better than a handful of rookies for Dallas. Russell Wilson, Paulson Adebo, and Jevon Holland have all played in the league for multiple years and been successful. Abdul Carter is a decent pass rushing prospect despite some flaws. The Dallas draft brought some interesting pieces, but nothing that can match up with what the Giants did in free agency.
RC’s analysis...
Dallas offseason comments:
Dallas lost a lot of names from ‘the past’ but they weren’t really key/impact names in the current. I don’t see any real issues with what they let walk. but they did add several useful players back in free agency and trade -- no one real WOW signing/move, but it was a lot of small, smart bets. They got better in free agency, but more so for depth not frontline/impact players.
In the draft, they were again ‘economical’...taking good value, good/solid players. The more I look at their draft the more I like (not love) it.
An overall smart draft and wise players let go and savvy depth players brought in. Dallas may be trying to see what a roster of 50+ ‘C’ grade players can do in a season...does the depth matter if they don’t have the frontline impact guys enough to win?
NY Giants offseason comments:
Russ and Winston in, Dan Jones out is a solid upgrade.
Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo are solid secondary upgrades.
Abdul Carter and Darius Alexander are nice front seven upgrades.
The Giants didn’t lose much in free agency, because they didn’t have much to lose. Just about anything they did this offseason would be an upgrade. But big picture, the free agent signings were a little late in the process, a little desperate-looking, and not that great of a shift upwards. Their draft was fine but not a super-game changer.
RC’s WINNER: NY Giants
This is closer than I expected. I tried to give it to Dallas, I tried to make excuses/allowances -- but the nice jump at QB that NYG took with adding Wilson-Winston is such a major factor and then added a few other interesting pieces as well. It’s all too much for Dallas’s offseason to overcome.
For as solid as the Dallas draft was they didn’t have the homerun moves to compete with the Wilson-Winston upgrade on top of Carter-Alexander in the draft and Holland + Adebo added to the secondary.
*Officially Moving on in the Tournament* The NY Giants moves on to the NFC Playoffs
