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.
Cleveland Browns 2025 Free Agency Losses:
S D’Anthony Bell (Seattle Seahawks)
OL James Hudson III (New York Giants)
S Juan Thornhill (Free Agent)
DT Dalvin Tomlinson (Arizona Cardinals)
G Jedrick Wills Jr. (Free Agent)
RB Nick Chubb (Free Agent)
OL Nick Harris (Free Agent)
LB Jordan Hudson (Free Agent)
TE Geoff Swaim (Free Agent)
DT Michael Dwumfour (Free Agent)
RB John Kelly Jr. (Free Agent)
Cleveland Browns 2025 Free Agency Signings/Additions:
WR DeAndre Carter (1 year, $0.8M, $0.4M guaranteed)
OL Teven Jenkins (1 year, $3.05M, $1.5M guaranteed)
LB Jerome Baker (1 year, $2.5M, $1M guaranteed)
DE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (1 year, $4.75M, $2M guaranteed)
OT Cornelius Lucas (2 years, $10M, $5M guaranteed)
DT Maliek Collins (2 years, $20M, $13M guaranteed)
QB Kenny Pickett (Acquired via trade, contract not disclosed)
CB Tony Brown II (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
QB Joe Flacco (1 year, $4M, $3M guaranteed)
Cleveland Browns 2025 Rookie Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents:
DT Mason Graham (1st Round, No. 5)
LB Carson Schwesinger (2nd Round, No. 33)
RB Quinshon Judkins (2nd Round, No. 54)
TE Harold Fannin Jr. (3rd Round, No. 67)
QB Dillon Gabriel (3rd Round, No. 85)
RB Dylan Sampson (4th Round, No. 104)
QB Shedeur Sanders (5th Round, No. 144)
DL Adin Huntington (UDFA)
RB Ahmani Marshall (UDFA)
LS Brent Matiscik (UDFA)
S Donovan McMillon (UDFA)
DL Jason Ivey (UDFA)
CB Lamareon James (UDFA)
OL Cam’Ron Johnson (UDFA)
OL Justin Osborne (UDFA)
CB Dom Jones (UDFA)
OL Dartanyan Tinsley (UDFA)
EDGE John Pius (UDFA)
WR Mitch Van Vooren (UDFA)
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Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 Free Agency Losses:
OT Dan Moore Jr. (Tennessee Titans)
RB Najee Harris (Los Angeles Chargers)
WR Van Jefferson (Tennessee Titans)
QB Justin Fields (New York Jets)
G James Daniels (Miami Dolphins)
G Nate Herbig (Washington Commanders)
LB Elandon Roberts (Free Agent)
CB Donte Jackson (Los Angeles Chargers)
WR George Pickens (Just traded)
QB Russell Wilson (NYG)
DL Larry Ogunjobi (Buffalo Bills)
Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 Free Agency Signings/Additions:
WR D.K. Metcalf (Acquired via trade, 5 years, $150M, $60M guaranteed)
QB Mason Rudolph (2 years, $10M, $5M guaranteed)
QB Skylar Thompson (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
WR Robert Woods (1 year, $2M, $0.5M guaranteed)
CB Darius Slay (1 year, $10M, $5M guaranteed)
CB Brandin Echols (1 year, $3M, $1.5M guaranteed)
LB Malik Harrison (2 years, $8M, $4M guaranteed)
WR Ben Skowronek (2 years, $6M, $3M guaranteed)
S Juan Thornhill (1 year, $2M, $1M guaranteed)
TE Donald Parham (1 year, $1.17M, $0 guaranteed)
DT Daniel Ekuale (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
RB Kenneth Gainwell (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 Rookie Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents:
DL Derrick Harmon (1st Round, No. 19)
RB Kaleb Johnson (3rd Round, No. 67)
EDGE Jack Sawyer (4th Round, No. 123)
DL Yahya Black (5th Round, No. 158)
QB Will Howard (6th Round, No. 195)
CB Donte Kent (7th Round, No. 229)
S Sebastian Castro (UDFA)
TE J.J. Galbreath (UDFA)
K Ben Sauls (UDFA)
WR Roc Taylor (UDFA)
FB DJ Thomas-Jones (UDFA)
OG Aiden Williams (UDFA)
WR Ke’Shawn Williams (UDFA)
Ross Jacobs’ analysis...
Pittsburgh Steelers Off-season Grade: C+ (before the Pickens trade)
The big move for the Steelers was trading for DK Metcalf, a receiver that's been an annual letdown in Seattle and has a similar skillset to George Pickens (who I expect to be traded before the season starts). Does that really move the needle? Darius Slay might be the more impactful addition to compliment Joey Porter. They also let Najee Harris walk, which is addition by subtraction. Also out the door are both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields...and so far nobody has been signed to replace them. The grade I've given them is contingent on Aaron Rodgers signing eventually, a move I still think will happen although I can't imagine what the holdup is as it seems obvious for both sides.
The draft brought possibly the best defensive tackle, Derrick Harmon, a solid but boring RB in Kaleb Johnson to split with Jaylen Warren, Jack Sawyer, an unspectacular but productive defensive lineman, and underrated linebacker Carson Bruener. Will Howard is a complete nothing for me. Overall, a pretty good haul. A solid draft, an upgrade at corner and receiver, and, assuming Rodgers signs, a slight upgrade at QB is worth a respectable off-season grade. If Rodgers does not sign, however, you could drop this by a full letter grade as their QB situation will have degraded significantly.
Cleveland Browns Off-season Grade: C+
Cleveland's free agency looks like a wash. None of the names particularly stands out except Kenny Pickett as a cheap, upside shot at a QB. During the draft they passed up on Travis Hunter to trade down for several extra picks and Mason Graham. I'm not grading players they did not take, nor am I giving them credit for future draft capital since this is just a look at how the team improved for 2025.
I've said my piece about Graham multiple times, but at the end of the day he is still a starting defensive tackle so that's a net positive. The Browns followed up Graham with easily the best inside linebacker in the class in Schwesinger, two very solid and complimentary RBs in Judkins and Sampson, a productive "move" TE, and two cracks at QB.
No matter what you think of the two particular QBs in question, this was a smart move by Cleveland to keep taking shots at an important position. I happen to think Shedeur can absolutely be a starting QB in the NFL so I grade this move positively although I'm sure RC will not agree. The only thing holding me back from giving them a better grade is the fact that they didn't address their biggest weakness outside of QB at all. Cleveland's offensive line was putrid last year, and unless they all get healthy and return to form, it's going to be putrid again.
Winner: Cleveland Browns
You basically have to give this to the Browns by default. Free agency didn't change much, but the draft did at least bring them a handful of new starters. Schwesinger is great, Graham should be fine, and both Judkins and Sampson are useful.
The Steelers lost a couple of halfway decent offensive linemen, two QBs better than anyone else they have, and their big move of trading for DK Metcalf was offset by sending George Pickens packing as we predicted when they first acquired Metcalf.
The draft brought Derrick Harmon, and I guess Kaleb Johnson if you're into him but not much else for 2025. It isn't pretty, but the Browns definitely added more for this year.
RC’s analysis...
Pittsburgh offseason comments:
The Steelers lost several contributors and two useful QBs in free agency, and they replaced them with a lesser QB and an expensive, sketchy WR (DKM), and are one-year-too-late on Darius Slay. The QBs downgrade is massive...and I am not convinced that Aaron Rodgers is going here, but if he does -- all is forgiven.
The Steelers draft was OK but nothing special. They did get an impact starter in Derrick Harmon and an RB upgrade with Kaleb Johnson.
*Now add the loss of George Pickens...and this offseason has gone from bad-to-worse.
Cleveland offseason comments:
The Browns really lost nothing but depth pieces in free agency...the sign of a bad team sometimes is -- nothing to lose because they literally had ‘nothing’ for talent. And that’s the Browns’ franchise in a nutshell. The players they added were the usual Cleveland ‘nothing’. I mean, Flacco/Pickett is some hope, and Maliek Collins is useful. So, they got a nudge better in free agency. I guess?
They had an OK draft. Schwesinger was a great pick. Mason Graham starts right away, even though I don’t ‘see it’ in him as the star everyone else thinks. Judkins/Sampson is a fresh backfield (with no O-Line to block for them).
And yes I disagree with Ross on Shedeur. I think he’ll be a fast flameout in the NFL. He definitely wont give anything to 2025, as that’s what we are judging here.
The Browns net out a few more players/starters ahead of where they were -- but they needed to make a huge net positive, but they had a generic positive.
RC’s WINNER: Cleveland Browns
A default win to the Browns. The Steelers just keep getting worse...recently trading Pickens since we started this tournament. Cleveland couldn’t help but get better, even though they blew so many draft picks taking inferior things to what they could’ve gotten. Edge to the Browns here...the only time they’ll win something in the AFC North for the rest of the decade, probably.
*Officially Moving on in the Tournament* Cleveland moves on to the AFC Playoffs to face New England.
Offseason 25 Playoff matchups in Round 3, so far:
NYG v. CHI
CLE v. NE
