NFL free agency 2025: The best deals on defensive players (so far)

Super Bowl winners aren't entirely based on superstars. They are created by filling every hole in their roster intellectually and with the right money assigned to the right talent.

The 2024 Philadelphia Eagles were Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, the best offensive line in football, and with many of their defensive talent over the course of a year, many like Zack Baun signed a $3.5 million deal to become part of the show. Seeing enough to expand his role at Baun, Baun responded this year with an All-Pro season in which he signed a three-year, fat $51 million contract.

So, when you're trying to fill out your roster in the hopes of reaching the Super Bowl next season, I recommend hitting as many ridiculous bargains as possible. We'll show you the best bargains on the ball's defense based on contracts already created in the 2025 Free Agency Space.

Roy Robertson Harris, DL, New York Giants

Over time, there are players who are inexplicably liking you based on their own tapes, and you can't really let it go. Defensive lineman Roy Robertson Harris has been one of my peers for several years, and the process has been amplified over three full seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2021 to 2023. Robertson Harris can line up outside the tackle, outside the tackle, and he can line up outside the gup. Jaguar gave Robertson Harris a three-year, $30 million extension in 2023, and traded him for the sixth pick in October 2024.

Now, Robertson Harris has won a two-year, $9 million deal with a $5.3 million guarantee, which could go very well with the big blue line, already with a rich abundance with Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns and Cavon Tibode. This is a big bargain for a guy who had two sacks and 16 total pressure on two teams with 226 pass rushing snaps last season and 16 total pressure on two teams with 226 pass rushing snaps.

Leonard Floyd, Edge, Atlanta Falcons

Pass Rusher List Most regular season sacks from 2020 to 2024 TJ Watt, Myles Garrett, Trey Hendrickson, Nick Bosa, Micah Parsons, Haason Reddick, Maxx Crosby. Issue 8 of that list is Leonard Floyd, who has been a frequent traveler in recent years.

Floyd signed a four-year, $64 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021, and was released after the 2022 season. He signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the Buffalo bill in 2023, and moved to the San Francisco 49ers in 2024 on a two-year contract. Floyd scored a total of 11 bags and a total of 44 pressure last season with 373 bags of pass rush snaps. So the Falcons were able to grab him on a fully guaranteed $10 million contract for a year.

This is a big addition for the Falcon defense, which desperately needs edge help. Floyd can lock blockers with speed-to-power movements. He can bend the edges to flatten the rush passes. You can also rush through some gaps to ruin your protection and reach the quarterback.

Floyd turns 33 on September 8th, and he's not a long-term solution, but general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris move to highlight the entire pass rush plan, with the veteran offering a simple answer and at least some of the puzzle.

Dietrich Wise Jr., Edge, Commander Washington

The commander had two 10 sack edge rushes last season with Dante Fowler Jr. and Dolance Armstrong in 2024, both still on the roster in 2025, but you know how it is. That's why Washington stole former New England patriot Edge Rusher Dietrich Wise Jr. in a one-year, $5 million deal.

Last season, his fourth pick in 2017 from Arkansas, totalling 269 pass rushing snaps and 20 pressures, with 6'5 and 280 pounds, he has the inside/outside flexibility of flexibility. Two of his bags and six of his full pressure occurred when Wise aligned within the tackle.

Back in 2013 and 2014 when Commander Head Coach Dan Quinn was defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, returning to Michael Bennett with the Boom Seattle Seahawks Legion, Quinn has always loved Edge Dews, who can ruin protection by constantly moving around the line. A wise project is another project and he has all the tools to do it.

Robert Spiran, LB, New England Patriots

The former Wise team, the Patriots, have made it quite clear that they are fully committed to the defensive talent of the big ticket on this free agency slate. Former Philadelphia Eagles game defensive lineman Milton Williams won the biggest contract in 2025 (four years, $104 million, $66 million guaranteed), while Pat also signed Edge Rusher Harold Landry and cornerback Carlton Davis, playing a major role in the main dollar.

The big deal on this field is a three-year, $33 million contract and a three-year, $33 million contract guaranteed to former Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Robert Spiran. The NFL seasons with more than six NFL (four times with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the last two with the Raiders) have made the NFL the most attractive linebacker. On a defense that wasn't always meaningful last season, Spiran had two sacks, 13 pressures total, 110 solo tackles, and 51 stops, allowing 55 catches on 65 targets with 572 yards, 294 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, four pass breakups, and an rating of successful opponents of 111.0.

Spillane allows you to play halffield linebackers all day long in a nickel package. If you want to play dimes with him as the only linebacker on the field, he's fine with that too. He is a low-cost cog that gives the high-priced people around him much more flexibility.

Donte Jackson, CB, Los Angeles Chargers

Coach Jim Harbaugh has decided to bring former Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to LA on a 2024 charger. Ranked 9th in defensive DVOA After finishing 26th in 2023, Minter is not tied to one type of coverage. The charger could run at just as fast as crossing the field with Cover 4 or Cover-6 – but if you're playing with Minter's defense, it's better to have challenges and match the rules together.

The Chargers found a true up-and-coming guy in their fifth rookie Talheev last season, and they lost Christian Fulton in the Chiefs' Freedom Agency. The most interesting free agent reinforcement is former Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Donte Jackson.

The deal looks like a real bargain based purely on Jackson's metrics and tape with the Steelers in 2024. He allowed 38 catches on 62 targets for 508 yards, 241 yards after catch, four touchdowns, five interceptions, three pass deflections and an opposing passerby rating of 75.2. When Jackson was beaten for a touchdown, it was due to people like AJ Brown and Jammer Chase, and he wasn't beaten too badly. These were one or two stages of transactions in either way.

On the plus side, what makes Jackson fits exactly what Minter wants to do is that he is extremely sticky when he matches the receiver through the route and has a field vision to break out of his own challenges to prevent plays on picks and biases.

We can look back at Donte Jackson's deal, especially because of the prices paid by the chargers.