The 6 best bargain NFL signings in the first 2 days of 2025 free agency

The NFL’s legal tampering period has come and gone. Before the 2025 free agent signing period could officially open, more than 70 of this year’s top 104 available veterans wound up with new contracts.

Some of these deals were prohibitively expensive – massive wagers placed on good-not-great players in a weak market for stars. Those players are set to play outsized roles on teams that need them. They could be the difference between making the playoffs and beginning draft preparations in December.

Underneath the headlines, however, lies the class of players who can not only help immediately, but create the capacity for their teams to grow into the future thanks to inexpensive contracts and the salary cap savings that come with them. These are the big name signings that came in under budget and have the potential to create a positive domino effect moving forward.

Let’s talk about them.

S Jevon Holland, New York Giants

Top 104 rank: 3

2025 contract: Three years, $45.3 million ($30.3 million guaranteed)

The Giants fielded a bottom-four passing defense last season. Their 103.1 passer rating allowed was third-worst. While former New York safety Xavier McKinney starred for the Green Bay Packers, Jason Pinnock struggled mightily in his stead.

That led to Holland, who signed for less in 2025 than McKinney the year before. He’s a chameleon on the back end, closing quickly to take big throws off the board – a number backed by his -11.4 completion percentage over expected (CPOE) in 2024 – a top-four mark among safeties. While that comes with a bit more boom/bust tendencies than you’d like (especially for a player who went without an interception last season), it’s still a significant upgrade for a team with a dire need.

And, again, it’s an inexpensive one. Holland can add support in both phases of the defense and has All-Pro upside but his $15.1 million annual average salary ranks only eighth among NFL safeties.

WR Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Top 104 rank: 10

2025 contract: Three years, $66 million ($44 million guaranteed)

Like his longtime running mate Mike Evans, it would have been tough to envision Godwin anywhere outside Tampa. And like Evans, the Buccaneers signed him to a modest hometown discount in hopes of keeping their NFC South title streak alive.

Godwin suffered a broken ankle that cost him the final 10 games of the regular season, but was playing some of the best football of his career before then. His 80 percent catch rate was a career high. He averaged 9.3 yards per target in an offense where his average catch came just 4.5 yards downfield. Former offensive coordinator Liam Coen used the threats of Evans and Jalen McMillan downfield to create room for his shifty wideout and Godwin used that space to crush defenses. His 0.52 expected points added (EPA) per target were the highest of his career since 2020.

This made retaining Godwin imperative to keep Baker Mayfield playing at his peak. Tampa Bay retained a player on pace for 1,400 receiving yards the season prior for less money than Michael Pittman or Calvin Ridley got in last year’s free agent market.

CB D.J. Reed, Detroit Lions

Top 104 rank: 12

2025 contract: Three years, $48 million ($32 million guaranteed)

Reed was not a cheap addition. But the Lions were able to replace Carlton Davis as their top veteran corner with a player who has similar skills but has played eight more games the last three seasons. And they did it while paying Reed 20 percent less than Davis got from the New England Patriots.

Reed hasn’t allowed a passer rating higher than 80.4 in any of the last four seasons. Those aren’t All-Pro numbers, but they’re “trust him in single coverage” ones. With Terrion Arnold on the opposite sideline, the former New York Jet sets the foundation from which the 2024 first round pick can grow.

While he’s 28 years old, he remains sticky in coverage. Reed’s 2.1 average yards of separation per target ranked fourth among cornerbacks with at least 100 coverage snaps last season, showcasing his ability to track wideouts across the field. He’s a trustworthy presence who escapes New York’s dysfunction for the high energy chaos of the Lions.

EDGE Malcolm Koonce, Las Vegas Raiders

Top 104 rank: 12

2025 contract: One year, $12 million

Koonce was a non-factor most of his NFL career. He had two sacks in his first 30 games. Then, in the final nine games of 2023, he exploded for eight. That set him up for a big contract year in 2024… only for a knee injury to cost him his season before it even began.

Giving $12 million to a player with 10 sacks in four seasons doesn’t seem like a bargain. Truthfully, there’s room for this modest bet to backfire. I don’t think it will.

Koonce thrived next to the constant chaos of Maxx Crosby, who the Raiders briefly made the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback. That helped boost his sack numbers, but doesn’t make them a mirage. At 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds he’s forced to win more with quickness, leverage and bend on the front lines of Las Vegas’s 4-3 and gets it done. He’s able to slide under long-armed tackles and slice to the pocket, as evidenced by his 15.6 percent pressure rate in 2023 – the same rate former Buffalo Bull and Raider Khalil Mack put up that same season en route to 17 sacks.

His lost 2024 makes this a one-year prove-it deal. If Koonce shines, he’ll be looking at a contract that doubles that salary for the near future.

G James Daniels, Pittsburgh Steelers

Top 104 rank: 30

2025 contract: Three years, $24 million ($10,735,000 guaranteed)

Daniels is a bigger injury risk than Koonce. He’s a 327-pound man rehabilitating a torn Achilles. That’s not the career ender it once was, but it could be an issue for a guard who’ll be counted on to pull and create lanes for a lightning quick tailback platoon in De’Von Achane and Jaylen Wright.

However, Daniels’s biggest strength is, well, his strength. He’s a better pass blocker than run blocker, and even if his top line speed is affected he should still be able to toss people around his phone booth. The former Pittsburgh Steeler and Chicago Bear was having the best season of his career in 2024 before departing for the season after four games. Pro Football Focus credited him with a single sack allowed and zero penalties in more than 200 snaps.

He’s only 27 years old, which further increases confidence in his return to full strength. In a landscape where Will Fries and Aaron Banks got more than $17 million annually, the Dolphins got a player capable of being just as good for less than half that.

S Elijah Molden, Los Angeles Chargers

Top 104 rank: 84

2025 contract: Three years, $18.75 million ($13.5 million guaranteed)

Let’s wrap up with a player who was a 2024 bargain pickup. Molden struggled early in his career as a slot corner with the Tennessee Titans, never once recording a passer rating below 104.9 in coverage.

Then he moved to Los Angeles, where Jim Harbaugh moved him over to free safety while juggling Derwin James in the slot and playing him alongside Alohi Gilman. That trio combined for more than 2,000 snaps and the Chargers went from ranking 26th in passing defense efficiency in 2023 to fifth last fall.

Molden was a big part of that despite breaking his leg in December. He allowed just 5.5 yards per target and a passer rating of 33.6 when lined up at free safety, per NFL Pro. He acquitted himself valiantly as LA’s last line of defense, breaking upfield to erase intermediate passes and getting on his horse to snuff out deep shots. He’s still growing into the position – and two of his three 2024 interceptions were tipped balls – but $6.25 million annually for a player who proved himself as a starter and still has upside is a solid deal.

Just missed: CB Paulson Adebo, New York Giants

Top 104 rank: 34

2025 contract: Three years, $54 million ($36 million guaranteed)

When news of Adebo’s signing first broke, it clocked his contract at $30 million over three years. That would have been a remarkable bargain for a Giants team that seemed like it would need to pay a premium to attract free agents. Then that was corrected to $54 million, which is an aggressive play for a rising cornerback who has a relatively minor profile in the NFL.

But it could work out. Let’s talk about why.

Adebo may not have been a high profile addition even if a broken leg hadn’t ended his 2024 after seven games. Such are the perils of playing for an aggressively forgettable New Orleans Saints team.

That’s a shame, because the 6-foot cornerback has been quietly very good for a team with few shining stars. Over the last two seasons he’s allowed just 55 percent of his targets to be caught, picking off seven passes while allowing only two touchdowns in 22 games. Watch his tape and you see a cornerback with good turn-and-run capabilities who engages well with physical wideouts to keep himself in the play.

The Giants needed more horses in their secondary. Dru Phillips looks like the answer in the slot. Adebo gives New York a player it can trust on the boundary – and with Holland providing cover in the middle, creates hope for a new era in New York’s pass defense.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: NFL free agency: The 6 best bargains of 2025 legal tampering period