Free Agent Additions: DT Milton Williams, OT Morgan Moses, CB Carlton Davis, LB Robert Spillane, DE Harold Landry, QB Josh Dobbs, WR Mack Hollins.
The Patriots had cap space and went to work, making a ton of splash signings right away, and even prying Milton Williams away from the Panthers. Some of the deals may seem like overpays (cough* Harold Landry) but for a team lacking a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball (outside of Christian Gonzalez), it makes sense to add all the help they can get.
Robert Spillane and Carlton Davis are great adds, and Davis and Gonzales are going to be a good CB duo. Mack Hollins is a solid WR, and considering the state of New England’s current WR room, he can legitimately be WR2.
The Patriots should have made a splash move for a legit WR for Drake Maye, but Vrabel is building up the defense, something he excelled at in Tennessee.
Free Agent Additions: S Richie Grant, TE Luke Farrell, RB Patrick Taylor, LB Luke Gafford, DT Kevin Givens, WR Demarcus Robinson, QB Mac Jones
Losses: Deebo Samuel (trade), LB Dre Greenlaw, S Talanoa Hufanga, CB Charvarius Ward, FB Kyle Juszcyk
The 49ers have added one starter-level player in Demarcus Robinson, who was a solid WR3 for the Rams last year. Richie Grant is not a good safety, and the 49ers are in trouble if he has to start in their secondary. He is not bad at blitzing the QB, but the last time he started a full season he surrendered 532 yards in 2023-2024. That is horrendous as a safety. He also gave up five touchdowns that season and got absolutely toasted by Sam LaPorta down the field.
The most head-scratching move is why the 49ers signed Mac Jones before Brock Purdy. The 49ers offseason has been off to a rough start.
Free Agent Additions: DT Grady Jarrett, G Joe Thuney, C Drew Dalman, DE Dayo Odeyingbo, G Jonah Jackson
After watching just one season of Caleb Williams running for his life, the Bears addressed their offensive line. Thuney is still good, albeit on the older side, but he has been an All-Pro in back-to-back years. Drew Dalman is good, however, inconsistent with his snaps. Jonah Jackson was credited with zero sacks given up last year per PFF. The Bears already have weapons, all they needed was to fix their line, which they seemingly have done.
The Grady Jarrett contract is pretty bad. A lot of money for a player who has been declining, but he’s still a contributing factor added to a bad to mediocre defensive line.
Free Agent Additions: RB Najee Harris, CB Donte Jackson, CB Benjamin St-Juste, LB Denzel Perryman,
Resigning’s: DE/DT Khalil Mack, WR Mike Williams, WR Jalen Reagor
Free Agent Losses: Gus Edwards, Joshua Palmer, DE Joey Bosa
Donte Jackson is a bad cornerback. He had a 50.0 PFF Grade in 2024(187th out of 223 qualifying CBs). He had five interceptions but gave up 508 yards on the season. He also had a 22% missed tackle rate. It is not a good sign that a relatively weak secondary in Pittsburgh did not resign him, and instead went for an older Darius Slay.
Benjamin St-Juste is even worse. He had a 47.4 PFF Grade last season (197th out of 223 qualifying CBs). He had no interceptions and gave up 638 yards on the season. One silver lining may be that he only had an 8% missed tackle rate, but he did allow a 107.0 passer rating when targeted. He has even been given the moniker “Benjamin St-Toast” by fans online.
Najee Harris has been in the league for four years. He has had four 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Each year his yards per carry hovers at 4.0, but never any better. His best season was 4.1 yards per carry, nowhere close to the mark of an elite RB. Harris has terrible acceleration and is such a stiff runner. Greg Roman and Harbaugh needed their bell-cow RB who will get a million carries and that is what Harris is.
Letting Josh Palmer leave, when Ladd McConkey was the only WR to show up against the Texans in the playoffs is certainly a choice. To top it all off, they brought back Jalen Reagor, who had seven catches all season. DK Metcalf was available, and for some reason, the Chargers did not go all in. Bad start to the offseason.
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