We have no more meaningful football for the better part of seven months, but that doesn't mean everything in the NFL is at a standstill.

NFL Free Agency is upon us, which means every team and fanbase can dream about getting better before the NFL Draft—here are some key dates to remember:

  • March 4th: 4:00 PM ET marks the deadline for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players.
     
  • March 10th-12th: Clubs are permitted to contact, and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2024 Player Contracts.
     
  • March 12th: The 2025 League Year and Free Agency signing period begins at 4:00 PM ET. The trading period for 2025 also begins at 4:00 PM ET.

The free agency class is not as loaded as last season for fantasy football where we had Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, and more on the move, but there are still key players that could make a difference depending on where they land.

Today, I'm joined by star teammates Matthew Freedman and Gene Clemons to preview what could happen in free agency for 2025 and go through the wildest scenarios … enjoy!

NFL Free Agency 2025 - The Biggest Situations To Monitor

Is Tee Higgins Going To Stay In Cincinnati?

There are rumors that the Bengals will use the franchise tag on Tee Higgins before signing him to a long-term deal—what's one team (not named the Bengals) you would like to see Higgins go to if this doesn't get done?

Kendall: Looks like the Bengals are finally going to be spending some money?! Mmm … not so fast. Per Tom Pelissero, the team “likely” will use the franchise tag on Tee Higgins for a second consecutive offseason if it can’t get a contract agreement by the March 4 deadline. We know that Joe Burrow has been very vocal about getting Higgins to stay in Cincinnati, but we'll see if the team actually listens to their franchise quarterback.

I don't mind him signing with the Bengals, but if I had to choose for fantasy football, I would love to see Higgins with the Washington Commanders. While Terry McLaurin is still in town, Higgins could be a big complementary piece to this Kliff Kingsbury offense. Plus, the team lacks actual depth behind McLaurin and if you give more weapons to your Offensive Rookie of the Year quarterback, it feels like only good things can happen. The Commanders also know how important it is to strike while they have a quarterback on his rookie deal—the window is open and they need to be aggressive.

Freedman: Given how stingy the Bengals have historically been with marquee players, I'm skeptical they'll actually sign Higgins to a long-term deal, as great as that would be. We'll see. But if Higgins does leave Cincinnati, I'd love to see him sign with the Chargers, who could use another established pass catcher for QB Justin Herbert. With the Chargers, Higgins would still get to play with a top-eight QB, and even if WR Ladd McConkey dominates targets, Higgins has already proven throughout his career that he can produce playing alongside another strong WR.

I admit that this might not be the best of landing spots for fantasy—but having Higgins might enable HC Jim Harbaugh and OC Greg Roman to open up the Chargers offense, and that would be fun to see.

Gene: This may be the right time for the Bengals to move on from Higgins. Looking at it from a practical standpoint, they are not a Tee Higgins away from a Super Bowl. You know who may be? The Buffalo Bills. Yes, I know that Josh Allen won the MVP this year, but nobody is going to look at his stats and go “Wow!” It was the lack of a reliable go-to receiver that really held the offense back at times in 2024. Adding a talent like Higgins would give Allen a big-bodied threat to break tackles on short passes and muscle up defensive backs on deep shots. He could also work closely with second-year receiver Keon Coleman to help him better take advantage of his physical gifts.

It's time to see if Higgins can truly be a legit WR1. This should be a no-brainer when you pick up a 6-foot-4, 220-pound, 26-year-old receiver in his prime. Load up that 2023 pass disbursement when they gave Stefon Diggs 160 targets. He is going to put up Diggs-esque numbers or better. That would be 50 more targets than Higgins' most-targeted season as a pro. His career catch percentage is 60%, which means conservatively, he would haul in 96 passes for over 1,334 yards thanks to his 13.9 yards per reception and double-digit touchdowns. Sign me up for that in fantasy.

For a comprehensive breakdown of where the best and worst landing spots for Tee Higgins would be, read here!

What About Chris Godwin and Stefon Diggs?

Who is more likely to sign back with their current team: Chris Godwin (Buccaneers) or Stefon Diggs (Texans)?

Kendall: I think both players here have a good chance to re-sign with their current teams, but Stefon Diggs going back to the Texans makes a lot of sense. The Texans were hit hard by injuries in 2024 and not only lost Diggs for the season, but Nico Collins missed time with a hamstring injury and Tank Dell suffered a dislocated knee as well as a torn ACL, MCL, and LCL in Week 16 against the Chiefs. While head coach DeMeco Ryans has said that Dell is "right on track" in his recovery, it seems very unlikely that he will come back in 2025 at all. 

That leaves a hole that needs to be filled, and letting Diggs go when he already seemed to have a good rapport with quarterback C.J. Stroud seems like it would be a mistake. I say this too because the NFL Draft is not necessarily loaded with wide receivers this year either. If Diggs is on the move I could see the New England Patriots trying to snag him. They are working with a ton of cap space and really need to get Drake Maye some weapons over there.  

Freedman: The last time we saw Godwin, he still looked like a good player with 50-576-5 receiving on 9.3 yards per target across seven games. He still looked like himself in 2024—and he has played his entire career with the Buccaneers, who won a Super Bowl with him in 2020. That's the kind of stuff that can make it easy for a team to want a player and maybe to be willing to overpay a little for his services.

Compare that to Diggs, who has been a diminished version of himself over the past two years (8.7 yards per target in 2015-22, 7.5 yards per target in 2023-24). Diggs has no goodwill built up with the Texans, who acquired him last year because he had notably worn out his welcome with his previous team. Plus, Diggs is more than two years older than Godwin.

There's almost no accounting for what NFL teams do, but I'd almost be surprised if Diggs ended up back with the Texans after he had just 47-496-3 receiving in eight games for them.

Gene: So part of this is my fandom peeping out. As a card-carrying Buccaneers fan, let me first say that I hope Chris Godwin is back. I think both he and the team will be incentivized to work something out. Godwin fits this Buccaneers offense perfectly because he does a lot of the things your typical slot receiver won't do effectively. He blocks in the run game, inside of the box, and on the perimeter. He's willing to take the big hit going across the middle. He's a first-down merchant and he works incredibly hard. He knows this offense and how he exists in it. That's extremely valuable as the team gets ready to break in yet another offensive coordinator with former pass game coordinator Josh Grizzard being promoted to the role.

The Texans offense is likely to get an overhaul as Rams passing game coordinator Nick Caley takes over for Bobby Slowik after the Houston offense fizzled throughout the season. That is what makes it difficult to assess whether Diggs will be re-signed. Part of his issues this year was getting acclimated to an offense that seemed to be disjointed. The other part was injury. Is he washed? Who knows. What we do know is that the Texans do not have a lot of proven weapons on the perimeter going into 2025 and we can not assume injuries will not be a part of this season like it was last season. It might be worth it to Diggs to run it back on a one-year deal to see if he can return to the level he enjoyed before coming to the Texans. It's also completely possible that the Texans will want to wash as much of 2024 clean. 

I think I’m going to call this one a tie. 

The NFL Free Agent Running Back Landscape

Last season we had a goldmine of free-agent running backs, but this season is not the same. Which free-agent running back are you keeping an eye on for fantasy football? Any landing spot predictions?

Kendall: It has to be Aaron Jones, right? While I would love to sit here and talk about Najee Harris making a difference for us in fantasy football or Jaylen Warren or even Rico Dowdle, the prize of this class in 2025 will be Jones. When Adam and I spoke with Kevin O'Connell at the Super Bowl, he told us that he would love to have Jones back and for fantasy purposes, we might not mind it?

He is coming off a career-high 306 touches and he is still a running back that can be efficient in both the pass and run game. We'll see if the Vikings bring him back, but if they don't I think we could see the Chargers or Raiders get involved. The Raiders signed Alexander Mattison to a one-year deal that didn't amount to anything and we all know who Zamir White is by now. They definitely need an upgrade and are a team to keep an eye on. 

Freedman: Aaron Jones really intrigues me. He turns 31 years old in December so I imagine that some fantasy investors will be willing to fade him in favor of younger RBs with more "upside" … but in the regular season, the dude just had 1,546 yards with 255 carries and 62 targets. In his first season with the Vikings, Jones still looked very much like the guy who averaged 1,300-plus yards and 10 TDs a year for the prior half-decade with the Packers.

Given that the Vikings have a strong offense and that we already can anticipate what Jones' role in the offense will be, I'd love to see him return to Minnesota for 2025.

Gene: When Najee Harris was drafted, people thought he could be the next Derrick Henry, the similarities were always superficial. Just because he was big and played at Bama, does not mean their running styles were anything alike. Also, Harris does not have the long speed and explosiveness of Henry. He's spent the first four years of his career trying to live up to the expectations of others. In a new place, he could focus on being the best Najee Harris he can be.

What Harris can be is a consistent force for a team, capable of leveling out an inconsistent run game. The best place to do that in my opinion would be with the Chargers. He would be a perfect fit in a Chargers offense that rewards tough running and is still willing to matriculate the ball down the field in old-school fashion.

Harris could fill the role as half of a two-headed monster in the backfield. He’s averaged four yards per carry for his career and for all of that time, it has been with a very mediocre passing game. If you put him with an improving passing game like the Chargers it might be the perfect marriage. It could mean revitalized value for Harris in fantasy.

For more of the best and worst landing spots for Najee Harris this summer, click here!

Is there a surprise cut candidate you could see hit the open market?

Kendall: I'm not sure if Christian Kirk would be a huge surprise, but he is someone who could be cut by the new regime coming into the Jacksonville Jaguars. First off, the emergence of Brian Thomas has to send Kirk to a WR2 role—you can't have as dominant of a season as BTJ had and try to split that role in 2025.

When we look at the money, cutting Kirk would be a $13.7M dead-money hit, but will also bring $10.4M in cap space. The four-year, $72M contract they gave him in 2022 was already egregious, so moving on wouldn't be the most shocking move of all time. Dwain McFarland broke down Kirk's career numbers and for target share and YPRR, they all align with WR3 levels. He also only has one 20%-plus target share season to his name. Let's let BTJ be the focal point and see what happens!

Freedman: Not much surprises me … so I'm probably not the ideal person to answer this question. That said, it would truly surprise me if the Chiefs cut TE Travis Kelce. It won't happen. There's a negative percent chance it will happen … but should it happen???

Again, no. It shouldn't happen. Cutting Kelce could create such negative badwill with the fanbase that it simply wouldn't be worth it.

But for football reasons … cutting Kelce could be justified. He's arguably not a top-five TE anymore, but he's the highest-paid player at his position.

Last year, he had a career-low 51.4 yards per game and 6.2 yards per target.

If the Chiefs want their offense to be more explosive next season, they probably won't want to funnel eight-plus targets a game to Kelce … and it will be hard to justify paying Kelce what they're paying him if they're not giving him a heavy workload.

The Chiefs won't cut Kelce. It would be shocking if they did … but they should at least consider it.

Gene: Even with Brandon Aiyuk coming off injury it could be possible that Deebo Samuel has played his last game as a 49er. Aiyuk is the immediate future for San Francisco which is why they gave him the big contract extensions last season. Samuel and the 49ers were on shaky ground before last season and his performance did nothing to steady the relationship. Of course, they would want to trade Samuel and let another organization figure out how to best utilize his unique talents but if they can't find a partner willing to dance, then a post-June 1 designation would give the team $5.1M in cap savings.

Where Will These Two Free Agent QBs End Up?

Sam Darnold vs. Russell Wilson — will either of them excite you for fantasy football depending on where they land?

Kendall: Ick. More than likely it's going to be Sam Darnold for me. I know that people will look at how Darnold finished in the playoffs and say he isn't worth much, but fantasy football is different! Here are his numbers for the 2024 season according to Ian Hartitz …

Darnold among 31 QBs with 300-plus dropbacks in 2024:

  • EPA per dropback: +0.127 (No. 14)
  • Completion percentage over expected: +3.9% (No. 7)
  • Yards per attempt: 7.9 (No. 6)
  • Passer rating: 102.5 (No. 6)
  • PFF pass grade: 80.3 (No. 9)

Darnold finished overall as the QB9, averaging 18.1 fantasy points per game. Now, this is where the landing spot becomes key. I still believe that the Vikings should bring Darnold back just in case J.J. McCarthy gets injured during the season. If they don't do that, then I don't hate him landing with Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders. I think no matter what, for fantasy, we have to realize that Kevin O'Connell is a quarterback whisperer, and what he was able to make of him was nothing short of impressive. Could Darnold find the same success elsewhere? Absolutely, but that was a fantasy-friendly offense he played with in Minnesota.

I also believe Darnold will be the first quarterback domino to fall during free agency—once he lands somewhere then all the other free-agent quarterbacks will fall into place. 

Freedman: Almost regardless of where he lands, Wilson will not excite me. Darnold, however, had an MVP-ish season last year with 4,319 yards and 35 TDs passing, and an 8.2 AY/A. He's unlikely to replicate that success wherever he plays this year … but he could still be a serviceable fantasy player in 2QB/superflex leagues if he lands with a capable offensive playcaller.

I'll be honest: The idea of Darnold with OC Chip Kelly on the Raiders—I like that.

But I don't like the idea of Wilson anywhere. 

Gene: Keep both away from me. Darnold will never find another situation like he had in Minnesota even if he finds a team willing to give him a starting role. Is he inheriting an offense full of weapons and an offensive mind who knows how to utilize them? I know it is probably not fair but his bad games are so much louder than his good games. Even though there were fewer bad games, they were at some of the worst times. I feel like that bad juju would follow him into a new season. The turnovers would be up and the touchdowns down. If he is a starter he will offer superflex value.

With Wilson, I can't remember when he was consistently fantasy-viable. Not even back in his Seahawks days. He was extremely effective, but how good was he as a fantasy QB? Wilson’s role now as a starter would simply be to lead the team to wins or competitiveness.

That's about the extent of it. He is not going to be a “set it and forget it” player for you. Of course, he could have a good performance in fantasy one week but he has never shown that consistency.

Curious about what other destinations make sense for these two QBs? Our team ran through the Best and Worst Landing Spots for Sam Darnold, as well as the Best and Worst Landing Spots for Russell Wilson!

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