2025 NFL Free Agency: 5 boom-or-bust signings

Can Joey Bosa turn back the clock? Bosa will look to get back on track with the Bills this season, as his 2024 campaign with the Chargers saw him produce some of the lowest PFF grades of his career.

Can Grady Jarrett still be among the league's best? Jarrett is 32 years old now and coming off a career-low 62.1 PFF overall grade. At his peak, he was one of the best interior pass-rushers in football, but he hasn’t registered 50 or more pressures in a season since 2020.

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The first wave of 2025 NFL free agency has come and gone, and teams have handed out massive contracts in hopes of reshaping their rosters. While some deals look like home-run signings, others come with serious risks.

Using PFF’s live deal grader, which evaluated every major signing, and the PFF free agency tracker, which logged every transaction, we’re breaking down five boom-or-bust signings from this year's free agency period.

Note: This analysis focuses solely on 2025 free-agent signings and does not include contract extensions or trades.

Catch up on 2025 NFL Free Agency:

QB Sam Darnold signs with Seattle Seahawks

2024 PFF Grade: 80.7
2024 PFF WAR: 2.69
Contract: 3 years, $100.5 million ($55 million guaranteed)
PFF Projected Contract: 2 years, $60 million ($35 million guaranteed)
PFF Deal Grade: Average

Sam Darnold reunites with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who was with him in San Francisco in 2023. Darnold had an inspiring comeback season with the Vikings, finishing as the seventh-most-valuable quarterback, according to PFF’s wins above replacement metric. He’s not an upgrade over the recently traded Geno Smith, but it’s a nice consolation prize for a Seahawks team seemingly entering a rebuild.

DI Grady Jarrett signs with Chicago Bears

2024 PFF Grade: 62.1
2024 PFF WAR: 0.14
Contract: 3 years, $43.5 million ($28.5 million guaranteed)
PFF Projected Contract: N/A
PFF Deal Grade: Below Average

Jarrett is 32 years old now and coming off a career-low 62.1 PFF overall grade. At his peak, he was one of the best interior pass-rushers in football, but he hasn’t registered 50 or more pressures in a season since 2020.

EDGE Joey Bosa signs with Buffalo Bills

2024 PFF Grade: 61.1
2024 PFF WAR: 0.03
Contract: 1 year, $12.6 million ($12 million guaranteed)
PFF Projected Contract: N/A
PFF Deal Grade: Average

Bosa will look to get back on track with the Bills this season, as his 2024 campaign with the Chargers saw him produce some of the lowest PFF grades of his career. He notched just 40 quarterback pressures with a 13.5% pass-rush win rate. Before 2024, he did not record a win rate for a season lower than 16.4%. While this is his 10th season in the league, he still does not turn 30 until this summer, so if he can return to full health, there is certainly hope that he can improve his form.

DI Jonathan Allen signs with Minnesota Vikings

2024 PFF Grade: 57.3
2024 PFF WAR: 0.08
Contract: 3 years, $51 million
PFF Projected Contract: N/A
PFF Deal Grade: Average

Allen became a cap casualty as Washington restructured its roster to align with the new regime’s long-term plans. Now 30, his run-defense grades dipped into the 40s in each of the past two seasons, making the move justifiable. However, the Vikings are in a position to take a chance on Allen, hoping he can raise their defensive line’s floor as they push forward in what they still see as a winning window after a quarterback change.

QB Justin Fields signs with New York Jets

2024 PFF Grade: 71.0
2024 PFF WAR: 0.25
Contract: 2 years, $40 million ($30 million guaranteed)
PFF Projected Contract: 1 year, $11 million ($11 million guaranteed)
PFF Deal Grade: Average

The NFL has a long history of teams signing free agents who played well against them during the season, and the Jets’ signing of Fields looks to be the latest case. When Fields was still with the Bears in 2023, he shredded former Lions defensive coordinator (and new Jets head coach) Aaron Glenn’s unit in two games to the tune of 421 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, no interceptions and another 172 yards and a score on the ground with seven forced missed tackles.

The signing also unites Fields with Jets star receiver Garrett Wilson, who played with him at Ohio State in 2019 and 2020.

Fields started the first six games of 2024 for the Steelers before being benched in favor of Russell Wilson. In those starts, he tallied a 76.3% adjusted completion rate with six big-time throws and six turnover-worthy plays. On the ground, he recorded 305 yards and five scores.

The terms of his deal suggest that while Fields is the clear starter in New York for at least 2025, they are not yet fully committed to him long-term. This could imply the Jets may still have interest in another quarterback via the draft, albeit unlikely at pick No. 7 overall.