The first week of the 2025 NFL Free Agency is in the books. There were many moving pieces in what’s been an active week. From a fantasy perspective, we’ll be looking at the three Biggest Fantasy Football Free Agency Winners and Losers.
Fantasy Football Free Agency Winners:
Caleb Williams: QB, Chicago Bears
Arguably, the biggest winner of all the Free Agency Winners and Losers is someone who didn’t change teams at all. Caleb Williams is getting the help he desperately needs. After being sacked an astounding 68 times last season, the Bears invested heavily to protect him. A lot of these changes have been driven by the new head coach, Ben Johnson. Johnson brings an offensive-minded approach to a team that finished with the worst offense by yardage.
The three big additions were all on the offensive line. They signed Drew Dalman and then traded for Joe Thuney & Jonah Jackson. All 3 should allow for Caleb Williams to have more time to throw and develop. In redraft formats, we’re still not sold on Williams to instantly be a top quarterback overnight. Dynasty format is where we love Caleb Williams and should use this year to get into his comfort zone before taking a major jump in 2026.
Evan Engram: TE, Denver Broncos
After spending 5 years with mediocre stats with the New York Giants, Evan Engram saw a career resurgence in Jacksonville. 2022 & 2023 were career-best seasons for the veteran tight end. Specifically, 2023 where Engram put up 114 receptions and 963 receiving yards. These stats were good enough to finish as the fantasy TE2 in the season in PPR formats. This had Engram high on our list entering 2024 before a series of disasters struck Jacksonville. Engram only played in 9 games & quarterback Trevor Lawrence also missed extended time, hurting Engram’s performance.
The Jaguars traded away Engram to the Denver Broncos, where he is now the number two option for sophomore quarterback Bo Nix. This is an improvement after being in a crowded receiving group in Jacksonville. Bo Nix’s second-best option is Marvin Mims Jr., who only posted 503 receiving yards in 2024. These are rather disappointing numbers for Mims Jr, and expectations are high for Engram to outperform Mims Jr and the rest of the group. Engram is currently being ranked around TE13 in fantasy drafts for 2025, which is seriously underrated. Our expectations are Engram returns to being a top 5 tight end in PPR formats in 2025.
Minnesota Vikings Defense
The Minnesota Vikings surprisingly finished as the DST2 in fantasy last season. The unit was already solid all around but improved even more via free agency. The Vikings improved their defensive front with the additions of Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. They have 4 Pro Bowls between the two of them. The Vikings didn’t stop there, as they signed former Eagles’ cornerback Isaiah Rodgers. They were also able to retain 2 core players from last year’s defense in Byron Murphy and Harrison Smith. It’s unlikely that this unit will repeat their 2nd-place finish from last year. However, we are drafting them with confidence to finish as a top 5 unit, especially with the growth they’ve had early this offseason.
Fantasy Football Free Agency Losers:
San Francisco 49ers Defense
After finishing as a top-10 fantasy defense for two years in a row, the San Francisco 49ers finished as fantasy defense #20 in 2024. This past season, they were battered by injuries on both sides of the ball. Of the 11 starters on their defense, 7 of them missed time last season. This included star safety Talanoa Hufanga, Pro Bowler Nick Bosa, and rookie Tatum Bethune, to name a few. In addition to their stars, key backups such as Yetur Gross-Matos missed time. The 49ers’ defense took a big hit last year, and expectations were for their entire team to recover this offseason and set their sights on 2025. Instead, the 49ers moved on from 5 defensive starters and one premium backup. Any hope that the San Francisco 49ers would move back into the top 10 defensive units is lost for the foreseeable future. The 49ers may be the biggest loser of all the Free Agency Winners and Losers listed.
Drake Maye: QB, New England Patriots
The first season for rookie Drake Maye had its ups & downs. Finishing the season as fantasy QB23 was a bit of a letdown for the first-round pick. To Maye’s credit, the best receiver had to throw to was tight end Hunter Henry who only managed 674 receiving yards. The running situation was not much better as starter Rhamondre Stevenson had 6 fumbles on the year. The talent around Maye significantly hurt his ability to succeed.
This offseason was supposed to be focused on building around Maye, but the Patriots haven’t made a single significant move on offense yet. They whiffed on Cooper Kupp & Chris Godwin to join the team, even with offering $20 million more to Godwin than the Bucs offered. The Patriots appear to be taking a play out of the Bears’ playbook during the Justin Fields days. Maye is unable to succeed if management does nothing to support him. The second-year rise we were expecting to happen is going to need to wait one more year unless the Patriots make some serious moves in the draft.
Geno Smith: QB, Las Vegas Raiders
The Seattle Seahawks moved on from quarterback Geno Smith, trading him away to the Las Vegas Raiders. This move came after the Raiders released Gardner Minshew II. Smith will replace Aidan O’Connell as the starter in Las Vegas as the Raiders hope to dig themselves out of the bottom of the AFC West. Smith turned his career around in Seattle and got the chance to prove why he is still a starter with the Raiders.
The situation in Vegas is much worse than he had it in Seattle. In Seattle, Smith had a trio of quality receivers in Tyler Lockett, D.K. Metcalf, & Jaxon Smith-Njigba. On top of that, Smith had Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet to rely on. In his new home, Smith doesn’t have a running back or a true WR1. Jakobi Meyers has quietly been putting up stats, but he’s done this from target opportunities. Smith does have Brock Bowers, who is the TE1 in the league, that will help offset some of the losses he’s endured. However, it still won’t be enough for Smith to finish as a quarterback worthy of starting in fantasy. Likely falling outside the top 20, we are not drafting Smith in any format.
Let us know who YOU think is the biggest winner and loser over at The Fantasy Advice Network.
