The theme during NFL free agency has been to go big. Teams have put focus on the offensive and defensive lines, and the spending has added up.
Would it surprise you to learn that four of the top five biggest contracts during this 2025 NFL free agency period were given to linemen?
Teams have pushed a lot of their chips into fortifying the trenches this offseason to shore up their offensive and defensive lines. Included are the Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and Tennessee Titans each shelling out almost or more than $100 million in total value in contracts. Others like the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals also took big swings at impact players.
Through the first major wave of free agency, 10 offensive linemen signed deals worth at least $18 million annually, while 13 defensive linemen signed deals worth at least $20 million annually.
The biggest deals for linemen in free agency (with contract value):
Milton Williams, DT, Patriots: $104 million
Will Fries, OG, Vikings: $88 million
Dan Moore, OT, Titans: $82 million
Aaron Banks, OG, Packers: $77 million
Josh Sweat, EDGE, Cardinals: $76 million
And that’s not counting the extensions for Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett ($160 million), Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby ($94 million), Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley ($60 million) and Los Angeles Rams offensive tackle Alaric Jackson ($57 million), or the trades of offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Washington Commanders and guard Joe Thuney and center Jonah Jackson to the Chicago Bears that will each count for at least $16 million against the 2025 cap.
The top trench spenders and their biggest deals (excluding NFL teams that re-signed linemen through huge extensions):
Vikings ($187 million): OG Will Fries, DT Jonathan Allen, DT Javon Hargrave, C Ryan Kelly
Patriots ($174.2 million): DE Milton Williams, DE Harold Landry, OT Morgan Moses
Bears ($167 million): OL Jonah Jackson, OL Joe Thuney, C Drew Dalman, DT Grady Jarrett, DE Dayo Odeyingb
Titans ($98.5 million): OT Dan Moore, OG Kevin Zeitler, DT Sebastian Joseph
Commanders ($92.7 million): DT Javon Kinlaw, OT Laremy Tunsil, DT Deatrich Wise
NFL Free Agency Team EVE
The Chicago Bears’ attempt for improvement includes the offseason additions of, from left, guard Jonah Jackson, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and guard Joe Thuney. (AP)
These price tags are big, but the moves signal a shift in priorities for NFL teams heading into 2025: A good quarterback isn’t worth much if an O-line can’t protect him, and a good defense isn’t worth much if its front can’t win at the line of scrimmage. Eight of the top 16 teams with the lowest pressure rate allowed and 11 of the top 16 teams in defensive pressure rate in 2024 made the playoffs.
What do most of the teams mentioned have in common? They all have or plan to have young quarterbacks under center who need protection and/or play in divisions with franchise quarterbacks who need to be pressured.
On paper, these moves look good. Adding size and power up front is always a safe strategy for building a good team, but that doesn’t mean paying up will pan out.
So we’ve dug a little further into some of these teams’ decisions. For our purposes, we excluded the Browns, Raiders, Bills and Cowboys because the majority of their expenditures were used on extensions.
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings went the hardest on both sides of the ball. They shelled out $187 million on big-money contracts like Fries ($88 million) and center Ryan Kelly ($18 million) to shore up the offensive line, and Jonathan Allen ($51 million) and Javon Hargrave ($30 million) on the defensive line.
The Fries and Kelly signings look great considering both are among the best at protecting the quarterback and run blocking. Among interior offensive linemen, both players are squarely in the mix of dual-threat blockers
Vikings run and pass blocking
(RD-A%=Run Disruption-Allowed%/PR-A%=Pressure Rate-Allowed%)
The Allen and Hargrave signings, meanwhile, are a little less daunting considering neither eclipsed a 20% pressure rate or run disruption rate in 2024. Allen had a 15.2% pressure rate and 11.2% run disruption rate, while Hargrave looked a little better with a 17.1% pressure rate and 16.2% run disruption rate in just three games of work.
The Vikings’ reasons are simple: They want to keep J.J. McCarthy upright in his first year as a starter coming off a major knee injury, and they play in a division with great offenses and good quarterbacks.
After Sam Darnold was a highly effective quarterback in 2024 and Brian Flores proved to be an incredible defensive coordinator, the Vikes hope they can get even better production out of McCarthy with a better offensive line and a tougher defense with these additions.
New England Patriots
The Patriots went all-in for Philadelphia Eagles star defensive tackle Milton Williams on a massive $104 million deal after he had an impressive 2024 season with seven sacks, including two in their Super Bowl win.
New coach Mike Vrabel hopes Williams’ presence on the Patriots will have the same effect as some other star defensive linemen like Jalen Carter, Chris Jones and Quinnen Williams have had on other teams.
(ASR%=Adjusted Sack Rate/PR%=Pressure Rate)
New England also added veteran offensive tackle Morgan Moses, but those two players might not be enough to completely raise the tide for New England.
While the Patriots signed linebackers Robert Spillane and Harold Landy in free agency to add more speed on the outside, the team only saw its defensive line ELO score increase by 0.043 and its offensive line ELO actually dropped by minus-0.275.
Chicago Bears
Chicago made the most moves to fortify the lines through multiple avenues. The Bears traded for interior defensive linemen Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney before signing center Drew Dalman. Next, Chicago signed defensive lineman Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo.
In total, Chicago spent $167 million through their various acquisitions.
Dalman, Thuney and Jackson all ranked in the top 30 among offensive linemen in pressure rate allowed. However, only Dalman ranked in the top 30 in run disruption rate allowed.
Bears run and pass blocking
The hope for this huge offensive line overhaul is that the protection will help the development of Caleb Williams in his second season. Williams’ 2.71-second release time tied for 16th and 79.4% well-thrown rate tied for 30th in the NFL this past season out of 41 quarterbacks with at least 150 passing attempts.
On the defensive side of the ball, Garrett and Odeyingbo represented clear holes on the front four.
Garrett finished as the eighth-best run stopper in the NFL with a run disruption rate of 29.2%. While his 14.2% pressure rate isn’t as ideal, his presence in the middle of the defensive line was sorely missed by Chicago this past season. And now Odeyingbo will sit opposite Montez Sweat on the defensive line with his 17.4% pass-rush win rate.
In a division with McCarthy, Jared Goff and Jordan Love, the Bears need the defense to improve.
Tennessee Titans
What the Titans do in the 2025 NFL Draft remains a mystery, as they hold the No. 1 pick and can easily take quarterbacks Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders, stick with Will Levis or add a veteran in free agency or the trade market.
Whatever the Titans do, they believe they’ll have a better offensive line after signing tackle Dan Moore to a monstrous $92 million deal and then bringing in guard Kevin Zeitler on a smaller $9 million deal.
However, the numbers don’t necessarily back that up. Moore 11.3% pressure rate allowed and 12.4% run disruption rate allowed both ranked among the 37th-worst marks in the NFL this past season. These additions, on paper at least, dropped the Titans’ offensive line ELO score by -0.690.
Tennessee must really believe offensive line guru Bill Calahan still has some tricks up his sleeve.
Washington Commanders
The Commanders have a lot to prove in 2025 after they were decimated in the NFC championship game. The Eagles ran all over Washington with 229 yards and seven rushing touchdowns and stymied Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Washington’s moves this offseason are a clear attempt to fix the issues that plagued them in their final game of the 2024 season. The trade for veteran tackle Laremy Tunsil is the big one, as his 4.5% pressure rate allowed and 6.3% disruption rate allowed both finished in the top seven this past season.
Javon Kinlaw and Deatrich Wise are interesting acquisitions, but both are better run stoppers than pass rushers and should bolster the defensive front alongside Daron Payne.
The Eagles Effect
It’s hard to say for sure which moves will and won’t work based on 2024 numbers alone. The coaches, schemes and situations will all be different and could provide better — or worse — outcomes.
But the gambles these teams are willing to make on the offensive and defensive lines, rather than spend on other positions or spread the money across more players, means this is the direction NFL teams think the league is going when it comes to preparation.
And this idea makes sense: The Eagles won the Super Bowl primarily because they were incredible at blocking for Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley and even better at getting to Patrick Mahomes and stopping Kansas City’s offense.
The NFL is a copy-cat league, but the season isn’t won in March.
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