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.
Denver Broncos 2025 Free Agency Losses:
RB Javonte Williams (Dallas Cowboys)
ILB Cody Barton (Tennessee Titans)
QB Zach Wilson (Miami Dolphins)
DB Tremon Smith (Houston Texans)
P Riley Dixon (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Denver Broncos 2025 Free Agency Signings/Additions:
LB Dre Greenlaw (3 years, $30M, $15M guaranteed)
S Talanoa Hufanga (3 years, $24M, $12M guaranteed)
WR Trent Sherfield (2 years, $6M, $3M guaranteed)
TE Evan Engram (2 years, $10M, $5M guaranteed)
ILB Justin Strnad (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
QB Jarrett Stidham (2 years, $8M, $4M guaranteed)
OT Matt Peart (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
LS Mitchell Fraboni (1 year, $1.5M, $0.5M guaranteed)
DL D.J. Jones (3 years, $15M, $7.5M guaranteed)
Denver Broncos 2025 Rookie Draft Picks and Undrafted Free Agents:
CB Jahdae Barron (1st Round, No. 20)
RB RJ Harvey (2nd Round, No. 60)
WR Pat Bryant (3rd Round, No. 74)
EDGE Sai’vion Jones (3rd Round, No. 101)
EDGE Que Robinson (4th Round, No. 134)
P Jeremy Crawshaw (6th Round, No. 216)
TE Caleb Lohner (7th Round, No. 252)
LB J.B. Brown (UDFA)
EDGE Johnny Walker Jr. (UDFA)
G Xavier Truss (UDFA)
C Nick Michalski (UDFA)
OT Jack Webb (UDFA)
C Eli Cox (UDFA)
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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)
Ross Jacobs’ analysis...
Denver Broncos Off-season Grade: B-
The tale of two cities...Denver had arguably the best free agency period of any team in the league, but their draft left a lot to be desired from my perspective. The Broncos got three massive upgrades in free agency, stealing both Greenlaw and Hufanga from the 49ers and picking up Engram from the Jaguars.
The draft on the other hand...Barron is tough and athletic, but is he really a big upgrade on Ja'Quan McMillian? RJ Harvey is respectable, but I feel like guys with his skill set can be had later in the draft. Again, is he a big upgrade over the very similar Jaleel McLaughlin? Both guys play the Darren Sproles 3rd down back role and not much else. And then you have Pat Bryant who almost nobody in the media even knew before Denver took him, and now they are all running to proclaim him the next Michael Thomas. Why? Because Sean Payton picked him so he must be good. I don't see it. Bryant reminds me a lot more of Tre'Quan Smith than Michael Thomas, and Sean Payton picked him too. Payton is good, but every player he takes is not magically a borderline Hall of Famer.
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.
Winner: Jacksonville Jaguars
This one could be controversial because it's easy to side with the big names that Denver acquired in free agency, but at the end of the day Hufanga is a safety and one that's not particularly great in coverage. Greenlaw, as good as he is, is coming off a major injury and is already injured again. And Engram is turning 31 and has just been fine, not great. The rookies are decent but not massive upgrades to me.
Jacksonville got a lot better on the offensive line despite signing no big names, they nabbed a really good slot corner from Dallas, and they got arguably the single best player in the draft in Travis Hunter, a guy that is basically two starters in one. Going from Christian Kirk and Parker Washington to Travis Hunter and Dyami Brown is a huge upgrade. Denver got two flashy veterans, but Jacksonville got multiple quality upgrades across the board.
RC’s analysis...
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.
Denver offseason comments:
No real losses for the Broncos in free agency...they let inconsequential players walk, smartly so. But then in replacement they signed several free agent 2025 impact players -- Engram, Hufanga, Greenlaw. Three brilliant signings if you’re focused on 2025. A huge upgrade in net impact talent in free agency.
In the draft...it was ‘OK’. A bit of a letdown. Jahdae Barron is fine. RJ Harvey helps. Then the rest of the draft is OK but mostly reaches, from my vantage point.
Overall, Denver added to/aided the 2025 cause nicely...but mostly from free agency, which is hard to do...but they did it.
RC’s WINNER: Jacksonville Jaguars
For me, as I looked at it from several different angles...my ‘winner’ comes down to the Evan Engram vs. Travis Hunter factor. More on that in a moment.
Both teams had a nice offseason.
Denver added three defensive starters (Greenlaw-Hufanga-Barron).
Jacksonville added one defensive starter (Lewis) but also added a ‘net’ two impacts to their O-Line (have to consider losing Scherff)...three ‘net’ new starters in total.
I think, in the battle of these 3 ‘net’ starters, you have to lean Denver for the 2025 impact...but you could call it a tie. Let’s call it a tie.
So, what we haven’t debated yet was the impact of Travis Hunter or Evan Engram. I certainly would rather have Hunter of the two, but before you put that as a then ‘win’ for Jacksonville here...the Engram add was good for Denver, but note it was a subtract from Jacksonville. What’s better for 2025 a +Hunter/add - Engram/loss or +Engram/add alone?
I lean Jacksonville because Hunter is like 1.5+ players and when you look at all the other smaller moves...the Jags did really well in the draft and Denver not as well as JAX. It’s close overall, but I’ll agree with Ross and go with the Jags.
*Officially Moving on in the Tournament* Jacksonville moves on to the AFC Finals to face New England.
