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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Chicago Bears 2025 Free Agency Losses:
OT Larry Borom (Miami Dolphins)
LB Jack Sanborn (Dallas Cowboys)
OL Teven Jenkins (Cleveland Browns)
DE Jacob Martin (Washington Commanders)
LS Patrick Scales (Free Agent)
S Kevin Byard (Free Agent)
WR Velus Jones Jr. (Free Agent)
Chicago Bears 2025 Free Agency Signings/Additions:
WR Olamide Zaccheaus (1 year, $2.5M, $1M guaranteed)
C Drew Dalman (3 years, $42M, $28M guaranteed)
OL Joe Thuney (Acquired via trade, 1 year, $16M, $16M guaranteed)
TE Durham Smythe (1 year, $2M, $0.5M guaranteed)
OL Jonah Jackson (Acquired via trade, contract not disclosed)
DT Dayo Odeyingbo (3 years, $30M, $15M guaranteed)
DT Grady Jarrett (2 years, $20M, $10M guaranteed)
LB Olasunkanmi Ogbongbemiga (2 years, $5M, $2M guaranteed)
CB Josh Blackwell (2 years, $6M, $3M guaranteed)
CB Nick McCloud (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
Chicago Bears 2025 Rookie Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents:
TE Colston Loveland (1st Round, No. 10)
WR Luther Burden III (2nd Round, No. 39)
OT Ozzy Trapilo (2nd Round, No. 56)
DT Shemar Turner (2nd Round, No. 62)
LB Ruben Hyppolite II (4th Round, No. 132)
CB Zah Frazier (5th Round, No. 169)
G Luke Newman (6th Round, No. 195)
RB Kyle Monangai (7th Round, No. 233)
S Major Burns (UDFA)
LB Power Echols (UDFA)
WR JP Richardson (UDFA)
K Jonathan Kim (UDFA)
WR Jahdae Walker (UDFA)
LS Luke Elkin (UDFA)
DE Xavier Carlton (UDFA)
DL Gio Paez (UDFA, minicamp invite)
Ross Jacobs’ analysis...
Chicago Bears Off-season Grade: A
I could quibble about the age and contracts of some of the free agents they signed/traded for, but there's no arguing the Bears got significantly better this off-season. In the span of a few days they fixed the interior of the offensive line, the most important thing they could have done. Why other teams don't get this aggressive to solve problems I'll never know. Now this doesn't mean Chicago suddenly has a great line, but it's at least respectable.
In the draft they added several more impact players in Loveland, Burden, Trapilo, and Frazier. That's a couple of excellent weapons for Caleb Williams along with a good starting left tackle and a very interesting corner prospect. Heck, Shemar Turner might turn into something at defensive tackle. He's certainly athletic enough. Again I don't love how high they took Loveland, but it's inarguable that he's a good player and adds something to the team.
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: Chicago Bears
The Giants got some nice "on paper" upgrades at QB, the defensive line, and the secondary, but I wonder if this might not end up like the 2024 version of the Titans when they brought in a really good-looking group and it just did not produce results. Is Russ going to look as solid without Pittsburgh's defense helping him out?
The Bears, on the other hand, will absolutely be better on the offensive line, maybe the most critical area in the sport in my opinion. They also added a few respectable defensive line pieces and some nice weapons to continue diversifying the offense for Caleb.
RC’s analysis...
Chicago offseason comments:
The Bears killed it in free agency...losing little-to-nothing but then signing and trading for offensive line strength, which is SO key and the thing most every team should be doing, but don’t. 2-3 impact offensive linemen added. That alone makes this a top 1-5 offseason. But they also added Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo at DT...another critical position to bolster. Beautiful job in free agency and trade.
In the draft, they were solid...several useful players, future starters and contributors. The Bears got markedly better this offseason...but if they don’t fix Caleb, it won’t play out as genius as it really is.
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: Chicago Bears
The Bears clearly win this to me. But just to address the Giants in this matchup...the power of their 2025 offseason is mostly in the QBs they signed in free agency, which was key/nice...but how much of an upgrade is Russ over Dimes? I’m no Dimes fan, but this is not like a massive upgrade...it’s just a solid upgrade.
The Giants got better, but Chicago got markedly better with the O-Line rebuild that the Giants should’ve done for the past 3 years but haven’t. Chicago easily moves on here.
*Officially Moving on in the Tournament* Chicago moves on to the NFC Finals
