The offseason is underway for many NFL teams, and the new league year will be here sooner than later. Free agency is a critical part of the league’s calendar year, as teams have different motivations. Some teams are flush with salary cap space and must surround their young quarterbacks with weapons to hasten their development. Other teams are up against the cap but still must fill holes.
As vast as the motivations are for NFL teams, the quality of and profiles of free agents are even more wide-ranging. The free-agency guessing game is fun, and the following is my crack at accurately pegging a mix of quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, veterans and youngsters for new homes. Here are 2025 NFL Free Agency bold predictions.
2025 NFL Free Agency Bold Predictions
Tee Higgins is a notable absence from the following predictions. I believe the most likely scenarios for Higgins are getting franchise tagged again, signing an extension or getting tagged and traded. The Bengals would be foolish to allow him to walk without compensation.
Still, there are some intriguing free agents below. Many will have value in leagues of all sizes. Yet, I also sprinkled in a few quarterbacks who could have deep-league or Superflex value.
I didn’t even have to photoshop Joe Flacco into a new jersey for the article’s cover image. The Browns are in salary cap hell and Deshaun Watson ruptured his Achilles again while recovering from surgery for a torn Achilles. The Browns could pick a quarterback with the second pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. However, starting the clock on a rookie quarterback’s contract while in a disastrous cap situation would be front-office malpractice unless the organization believes one of the prospects is a game-changing franchise signal-caller.
Instead, they could turn to a familiar face to bridge the gap while tidying up their cap situation. Flacco embraced variance in 2023 for the Browns, slinging the ball all over the gridiron. He averaged 323.2 passing yards per game with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions in five starts for Cleveland in 2023. Flacco could have streaming or Superflex value as Cleveland’s starting quarterback in 2025. More importantly, his gunslinging nature would be ideal for the fantasy values of David Njoku, Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman.
Justin Fields acquitted himself well for the Steelers at the beginning of the season, setting the stage for him to enter a quarterback competition in 2025. The Colts made the head-scratching decision to sign Flacco as Anthony Richardson‘s backup last year. Flacco was a pocket statue and didn’t make sense stylistically as Richardson’s backup. They won’t make the same mistake again.
Shane Steichen can build the same offense for Richardson and Fields, allowing them to duke it out for the starting job. Furthermore, it should be an appealing landing spot for Fields to choose in free agency. Through 17 career NFL starts, Richardson has completed only 50.6% of his passes with more interceptions (15) than touchdown passes (12) and a pitiful 5.10 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, per Pro-Football-Reference.
Fields should believe he has a chance to beat Richardson for the starting gig, and the Colts would have two cracks at a potential long-term solution at quarterback. Fields, like Richardson, would also be a force multiplier for Indy’s potent rushing attack, opening up lanes for Jonathan Taylor, albeit while siphoning some of Taylor’s touchdown production.
Kyle Trask might seem like an odd inclusion, but the recent emergence of quarterbacks such as Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith and Sam Darnold should teach gamers a lesson. A new home and fresh start can jumpstart a player’s career. The Panthers want to give Bryce Young a longer leash after flashing his potential at times in 2024. Trask would be an intriguing young backup should Young’s development stall or if the No. 1 pick from the 2022 NFL Draft takes a step backward.
Carolina head coach Dave Canales coached Trask in Tampa Bay, and Trask was in an offseason quarterback competition with Mayfield before Mayfield’s resurgent 2022 campaign. Trask’s inability to beat Mayfield for the starting gig doesn’t look so bad after back-to-back stellar campaigns for Mayfield.
The Panthers invested significant resources into the offensive line last year. They also traded up to the 32nd pick to select Xavier Legette and struck gold in undrafted free agent Jalen Coker. Still, the Panthers must continue to add weapons to bolster their offense. Trask could step into a fantasy-friendly situation if Young were to falter.
The Cowboys didn’t adequately address the running back position before the 2024 season, and they mismanaged the allocation of touches until Rico Dowdle took over down the stretch. Dowdle is a free agent, but I expect the Cowboys to retain him. Dallas needs more help in their backfield than simply re-signing Dowdle.
Aaron Jones set career-highs in rush attempts (255) and rushing yards (1,138) this season for the Vikings, but with nearly 1,900 career touches on the odometer, forming a duo with Dowdle could benefit both running backs.
Jones’ pass-catching chops would also make him a natural passing-down choice. While the Cowboys and Mike McCarthy couldn’t agree on a new deal, eliminating one connective tie to Dallas, Jones has ties to the state of Texas. He was born and played high school and college football in the Lone Star State.
The Chargers were unceremoniously blown out of the playoffs. Nevertheless, reaching the playoffs in Jim Harbaugh’s first year as Los Angeles’ head coach was a success. They found building blocks for the future, but their backfield could look different next season.
Gus Edwards, Hassan Haskins and Kimani Vidal are under contract, but the Gus Bus was largely inefficient. According to Over The Cap, Edwards’ cap number for 2025 is $4.25 million, but they can save $3.125 million by eating only $1.125 million in dead cap. Therefore, I expect the club to cut Edwards.
J.K. Dobbins was the team’s top running back. He had a rock-solid season. According to the data suite at Fantasy Points, Dobbins had 195 rush attempts, 905 rushing yards (69.6 per game), 4.64 yards per carry, 2.27 yards before contact per attempt, 2.37 yards after contact per attempt, a 5.1% explosive run rate and nine rushing touchdowns in the regular season in 2024.
Dobbins wasn’t perfect, and he had an ugly 53.8% stuff percentage. Still, the Chargers won their bet on a player who dealt with many catastrophic injuries before the 2024 campaign. Dobbins is a free agent, but a reunion would make sense.
However, given Dobbins’ history of significant injuries, the Chargers should pair him with at least one backfield complement. Their success with Dobbins could embolden them to roll the dice again on a running back with a significant injury in their rearview mirror. In October of 2022, Javonte Williams tore his ACL, LCL and PLC in his knee. Williams has been unable to recapture his pre-injury form, tallying only 3.6 yards per carry and 3.7 yards per carry in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Williams might never recapture his pre-surgery form. Yet, perhaps further removal from his surgery will allow him to regain his pre-injury explosiveness. Joining an organization that helped Dobbins get back on track could appeal to Williams.
Meanwhile, Williams is a capable passing-down back. Among 52 running backs with at least 20 targets this season, Williams was Pro Football Focus’ (PFF) ninth-ranked pass-blocker. He was also targeted on 22.7% of his routes and had 54 receptions (three per game), 360 receiving yards (20 per game) and 1.20 yards per route run. The Chargers could view Williams as a stylistic fit with Dobbins with the upside to also provide value as a runner if Williams can recapture some of his pre-injury magic.
Chris Godwin’s 2024 campaign was cut short by a season-ending ankle injury. Barring a setback, the initial reporting after the injury didn’t indicate it would impact his 2025 season.
Godwin had a sensational injury-abbreviated walk-year for the Buccaneers. Among 113 wide receivers with at least 200 routes in 2024, Godwin was eighth in target share (26.1%), tied for 10th in targets per route run (0.28), tied for 11th in first-read percentage (31.6%), was sixth in receiving yards per game (82.3) and tied for 11th in expected half-point per reception points per game (15.6). Godwin had a 64.1% slot rate and a 35.9% wide rate, thriving with the high slot rate but demonstrating the versatility to play on the perimeter as well.
The Panthers desperately need a high-end wide receiver for their offense. Godwin would also provide the team with a veteran in a young wide receiving corps. As a big-bodied inside-outside wideout, he’d be the perfect mentor for Coker, who had a 60.8% slot rate and a 39.2% wide rate in his rookie campaign. The key to Godwin joining the Panthers will be his opinion of Canales. Carolina’s head coach was Godwin’s offensive coordinator in 2023.
The Commanders changed the franchise’s fortunes by selecting Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Terry McLaurin is a talented No. 1 wide receiver. However, the cupboards are bare behind him. Olamide Zaccheaus, Noah Brown, Dyami Brown and Zach Ertz will be free agents.
Sadly for Washington, Luke McCaffrey ran only 219 inefficient routes. The rookie slot wideout had 0.11 targets per route run, 0.77 yards per route run, 7.0 yards per target, 9.9 yards per reception and a 75.3% slot rate.
Daniels and Washington’s offense could use a reliable slot wideout, and Keenan Allen fits the bill. The veteran wide receiver put up the following numbers in 2024:
- 84.3% route participation
- 52.6% slot percentage
- 47% wide percentage
- 23.5% target share
- 0.23 targets per route run
- 28.9% first-read percentage
- 70 receptions (4.7 per game)
- 744 receiving yards (49.6 per game)
- 1.52 yards per route run
- 7 receiving touchdowns
- 13.6 expected half PPR points per game
Allen didn’t have a vintage season. However, he saved his best work for the end of the year. The savvy veteran also wouldn’t need to be Washington’s No. 1 pass-catching weapon, and his inside/outside versatility for the Bears would be a welcomed addition to the Commanders. Furthermore, according to Over The Cap, the Commanders are projected to have the third-most effective cap space in 2025, awarding them enough money to slightly overpay if needed to add Allen to their roster on a short-term pact.
The Cowboys have house cleaning to do for their salary cap. Nevertheless, they also need another wide receiver. Brandin Cooks is a free agent, and no one on the roster has proven capable of being a viable No. 2 receiver behind CeeDee Lamb.
Stefon Diggs could be a relative bargain on a prove-it deal after tearing his ACL at the end of October. He also might be more willing to take an incentive-laden one-year deal in Dallas to play on the same team as his brother than a similar deal with another organization. Finally, the Cowboys could use most of their draft resources on the defensive side of the ball if they double-dip on veterans Jones and Diggs at running back and wide receiver.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
