Free Agency Review

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins entered free agency after another disappointing season and several gaping holes on the roster. Unfortunately for our Fish Faithful, GM Chris Grier doesn’t seem to agree, since he spent most of free agency signing, well, nobody. After the initial flurry, the Dolphins signed several players of mediocre quality, mostly adding some needed depth to the roster. Tyrel Dodson is a solid, if unspectacular, linebacker and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is a decent WR3, but the rest of the free agent class doesn’t inspire confidence. The Dolphins’ historically struggle to put together a decent offensive line and I don’t think the re-signing of Liam Eichenberg or the three year deal given to James Daniels, who is coming off a major injury, are going to help them keep Tua upright. Fortunately, they signed Zach Wilson to back him up, so they should be fine.
 

New York Jets

The Jets’ 2024 season was somehow one of the most unsurprising, yet disappointing results in the entire NFL. After cutting ties with Aaron Rodgers at QB, the Jets find themselves in the all-too-familiar position of needing a quarterback. Their “solution” was to sign Justin Fields to a two year deal for $40 million. Now, I don’t hate the move altogether, I think there’s upside there and Fields never really got a fair shake in Chicago (dumpster fire) or Pittsburgh (benched for the corpse of Russel Wilson). The Jets have a decent OL and some good skill position players, so adding an athletic QB who is a real rushing threat might be just the element they need to at least be competitive on offense. The majority of their remaining free agents were brought in on one year deals, clear depth signings. Some added beef at 3T on defense and IOL for offense, always a good idea. I like the signing of Jamin Davis at LB, too. The Jets only had two LBs on the roster after the season, so this is necessary depth and a one year flier on a guy talented enough to be drafted in the first round a mere four years ago. A change of scenery might be just the ticket for him. As a Bills fan, I love the signing of CB Brandon Stephens, ostensibly to replace DJ Reed on the perimeter. Brandon Stephens was absolutely terrible for the Ravens last year and Josh Allen will brutally pick on him twice a year for the next two to three years. Love it.
 

New England Patriots

The Patriots entered the 2025 season with actual buckets full of cash to spend on free agents. And spend they did, though their purchases could be considered questionable. By far the biggest weakness of the 2024 Patriots was their OL and their complete inability to protect budding QB Drake Maye and their only real OL acquisition of 2025 was Old Man Moses at tackle. For some reason they felt the need to spend big on defense, signing Carlton Davis III, Harold Landry, Robert Spillane, and Milton Williams to big, multi-year deals. I like Williams and Davis, though I question whether Williams can keep producing at the same level when he isn’t surrounded by the extremely talented Eagles defense. The Pats also took some one year fliers on journeyman players like Tonga, Epps, and Schweitzer, middling players who could vie for starting roles on a talent bereft roster. They also stole Mack Hollins and his bare feet from the Bills, as well as K’Lavon Chaisson, a player I was really hoping the Bills would snatch up. The Patriots are so far behind the eight ball in terms of talent throughout the roster that one offseason isn’t going to fix it, but this is a decent start, assuming they actually hit on these signings and Meathead Vrabel isn’t as overrated a coach as I think he is.
 

Buffalo Bills

Ah, the only actually relevant team in the division had a quiet start to free agency. The biggest moves the Bills made involved extending their home grown talent, signing big extensions for Greg Rousseau, Khalil Shakir, and Terrell Bernard, not to mention a gigantic, yet somehow team friendly, deal to extend Josh Allen to 2030, as well as bring back key third-down back Ty Johnson. More work remains to be done with Christian Benford and James Cook waiting their turn for the big bag of money, too, though those deals may not get done until the summer or even after the season starts. After watching a strong DL dominate Patrick Mahomes in a way the Bills have only been able to dream about for the last 5 years, every potato with a microphone in front of them linked the Bills to every prominent EDGE player for either a trade or a signing. The Bills, perhaps learning from the Von Miller mistake, elected to take a low risk, high reward approach to the position, signing Joey Bosa to a one year deal for a “mere” $12 million. Unfortunately, the other moves the Bills made to address a weak DL have been derailed by the news of pending 6 game suspensions for Larry Ogunjobi and Michael Hoecht. Maybe this is just a cunning strategy to increase the odds that the Bills D might actually be healthy for the playoffs… Anyway, the only other non-depth signing was Josh Palmer from the Chargers, a route runner who excels at getting open against man coverage which the Bills desperately need. The Bills are clearly planning on bolstering their talent through the draft, as all good teams must, but whether they actually will is a major question mark.