Worst NFL Free Agency Signings: Overvalued Busts (2025)

At this point, the majority of highly sought-after free agents have already been signed. There are still quite a few, like wide receivers Amari Cooper and Elijah Moore, that could be impact players at some point next season, but they remain unattached to any team at this point.

For those who have found new homes, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. One of the quickest ways to kill a player's career is to ship them off to a much worse situation, and we've seen that happen plenty of times in the past. They then get held back from that point forward by said bad team.

It's a story as old as time. I guess it's not as bad as a player spending their whole career on a bad offense or defense and never realizing their full potential. Let's break down the worst NFL free agency signings ahead of the 2025 season.

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Sam Darnold, QB - Seattle Seahawks

The team didn't have a lot of options, to be fair, but trading away quarterback Geno Smith was a mistake. He was the reason the offense was even functional in 2024, as his elusiveness and awareness allowed him to dodge the constant pressure in his face due to the team's terrible offensive line and still make plays.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider signed a quarterback who was horrible when under consistent pressure last season. Detroit Lions defensive coordinator (at the time) Aaron Glenn figured out that if you just constantly sent exotic blitzes at Darnold, he would see ghosts yet again and completely crumble. And it worked to perfection.

Sam Darnold has the 3rd worst Total Sack EPA by any QB in any game played since 2000 😬

Darnold vs. the Rams ranks 15,467th out of 15,470 https://t.co/wtl2HljOrV pic.twitter.com/wGSvgllmk7

— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) January 14, 2025

I'm not sure how he thinks this will work out. He had plenty of chances to bolster the offensive line in free agency, but that's just not happening, obviously. Having three or four turnstiles in the trenches isn't a good plan for success for Darnold, whose career was basically dead in the water before he was lucky enough to start for the Minnesota Vikings.

He owes his success there to wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, the offensive line (which was a great pass-protecting unit last season), and head coach Kevin O'Connell, who is one of the league's best offensive minds.

I believe Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is a great coach and will maximize his players. I don't think Darnold will have anything like the season he had last year, especially with such a diminished WR group. No, the next guy on our list and WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling aren't proper replacements for DK Metcalf.

Cooper Kupp, WR - Seattle Seahawks

Considering the weak contract he got, it won't be much of a surprise if Kupp isn't very productive in 2025. He will be 32 years old before the season starts, and he got a huge downgrade at quarterback, going from Matthew Stafford with the Los Angeles Rams to the aforementioned Darnold.

Seattle Coop 🏠@CooperKupp | @Seahawks pic.twitter.com/gwfGgzq6r1

— NFL (@NFL) March 18, 2025

Kupp, who is primarily a short to intermediate route specialist and slot receiver, will play with WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was primarily a short to intermediate route specialist and slot receiver last season. The fit doesn't make a ton of sense.

Neither WR has the speed to burn, and Valdes-Scantling consistently taking the top off of defenses seems more like wishful thinking than a reasonable reality.

Kupp is also an injury waiting to happen. He has experienced three straight injury-riddled years of declining play, and at his age, that probably isn't going in the other direction. He may have a fine year in 2025 if last season's play was heavily hampered by the high-ankle sprain he suffered early in the season, but his long and brutal injury history is only piling up.

This is a strict downgrade in situation for him, unless Kubiak becomes some massive genius. Which, in my mind, is possible.

DeMarcus Lawrence, DE - Seattle Seahawks

Yes, that's right, we're in the midst of another disaster class from Schneider. I'm not sure if Seattle's ownership still thinks that he's capable of putting together a squad like the 2013 group that won the Super Bowl, but he got promoted after last season, so perhaps they do believe he can do so.

He's been coasting off those few great teams for a long time now, and since 2017, has consistently mismanaged the roster, leading the team to massively underachieve again and again.

Seattle's history of first- and second-round picks is especially egregious. Germain Ifedi, Jarran Reed, Malik McDowell, Rashaad Penny, LJ. Collier, Jordyn Brooks, and D'Wayne Eskridge, to name just a few. He's made some solid picks here and there, but they're interspersed with a minefield of busts, and Seattle's lack of success is a direct result of this.

John Schneider, in back to back years, is going to pull a total flop in free agency.

To have that much money to spend and not use it when you have glaring needs and there are players available that fit into schemes is atrocious.

This is an UGLY showing for JS. pic.twitter.com/ST0DeU1lsk

— Brayden (@seeeeaaaahawks) March 11, 2025

It would be cool if he could make up for his garbage drafting by making good signings in free agency, but he doesn't do that either, and instead handed a three-year contract worth up to $42 million to a defensive end who will be 33 years old before the start of the 2025 season.

He also played in... that's right, just four contests last season due to injury. Maybe Schneider thinks that will give him fresher legs.

What's the most prominent position group of need for the Seahawks right now? Offensive line! It has been for years (Schneider's ENTIRE time with the team, coincidentally), and there were quite a few free agents that would have been worth signing and would have significantly helped the team here, but Schneider continues to make stupid excuses about how it's a bad idea to spend money on protecting the quarterback, the most important position group in the NFL.

I was just looking on sportrac and the Seahawks have the cheapest offensive line in the league by a wide margin. At least John Schneider is getting what he paid for pic.twitter.com/aBPmcWKfH8

— Parker (@ParkerLewes) December 16, 2024

No team with the lowest-paid offensive line in the NFL has ever won the Super Bowl. The Seahawks have no shot in 2025, obviously.

Mecole Hardman, WR - Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are a bit behind schedule here -- they're still apparently stuck in the idea that they can have success and reach a Super Bowl with no real WR1 on their team, just like the Kansas City Chiefs did in the 2023 season. The thing is that the Chiefs had quarterback Patrick Mahomes-- wait, he's not been very good recently. Wait, that's right! They still had tight end Travis Kelce playing at an elite level.

Turns out if you don't have a dominant pass-catcher on your team, whether it's a receiver or a tight end, you're pretty much screwed.

Don't worry! Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said he wanted to "vomit" at the idea of having a WR1 and thinks his team has "a bunch" of WR1s. Cool story, but nobody bought it, and it became an issue in the playoffs. No surprise there.

#Packers HC Matt LaFleur on the pecking order of his WR room:

“I want to vomit every time I hear ‘No. 1 receiver,’ to be honest with you. It drives me crazy. That’s something that you guys talk about, I feel like we’ve got a bunch of them. I think the beauty of them is they’re… pic.twitter.com/nwsl2IQT6V

— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) August 13, 2024

What happens when you field a bunch of mediocre pass-catchers against a good pass defense, especially in the playoffs? You do virtually nothing and end up scoring only 10 points. So what do the Packers do? They signed former Kansas City Chiefs wideout Mecole Hardman.

Yeah, that will totally fix it. They'll now sport Jayden Reed, who can't beat man coverage; Romeo Doubs, who isn't very good yet and will complain when he doesn't get enough targets; Christian Watson, coming off an ACL tear; and Hardman, who's clearly not what he was drafted to be and will be yet another rotational piece on the offense, probably mainly while Watson recovers from his injury.

This is an obvious bust of a signing. The team doesn't have many options in the draft, either. I don't imagine Hardman will last long here because he's not very good.

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