4 NFL teams who got worse in free agency

These teams blew it in NFL free agency.

NFL Free Agency is underway with the majority of top names agreeing to deals with teams during the legal tampering period. A lot of deals are being made as we speak, so this is by no means a finished product — but already we’re getting a sense of who took strides forward, and which teams are stuck spinning the tires.

There are a lot of ways to “lose” during free agency. This can simple be the act of being forced to let talented players walk due to salary cap constraints, or overpaying players to the point where it’s going to hurt teams in the future. Today we dive into the organization who either had no choice but to sit on their hands during the legal tampering period, or who made some terrible moves.

No. 1: Tennessee Titans

What are the Titans thinking? Correction: I don’t know if the Titans know what they’re thinking.

It takes a special amount of talent to be the worst team in the NFL and still find a way to get worse in free agency, but here we are. The Titans entered Monday with almost $60M in salary cap space, and still found a way to botch this process.

A lot of that centers on the horrific signing of Dan Moore Jr. It’s expected that bad teams have to pay a premium to attract top talent, but Tennessee uniquely found a way to overpay a bad player to astronomical levels. Moore has been reviled by Steelers fans for years due to his terrible play and turnstile work at offensive tackle, yet the Titans seemingly missed this memo.

Tennessee signed Moore to a 4 year, $82M deal which was indicative of a weak talent pool at OT. That doesn’t mean the Titans had to make this deal though, and they played themselves.

Moore wasn’t in our list of Top 50 free agents. According to Pro Football Focus he was graded as the 46th-best offensive tackle in 2024, and allowed a league-high 12 sacks on the year. When you consider the fact this team is now paying a sub-par offensive tackle MORE money than Ronnie Stanley got from the Ravens it hurts even more — because Stanley is drastically better in every way.

There is a reason bad tams stay bad, and making free agent deals like this is the reason. Could the Titans somehow bounce back and salvage this period? Maybe a little, but the Moore signing is just so bad that it casts a shadow over everything else they do.

No. 2: Houston Texans

At this point it’s fair to question whether or not the Texans have a plan. All Houston had to do was keep pouring gasoline on the fire after exploding as one of the hottest young teams in the NFL in 2023 — instead it’s just been a series of steps backwards.

Monday was marred by loading up on mediocre, fringe receivers like Braxton Berrios and Justin Watson, which comes after trading for another mediocre receiver in Christian Kirk. It’s unclear what the organization thinks these guys will really add, but that wasn’t remotely the worst move of the day by Houston.

Inexplicably the team chose to trade Pro Bowl LT Laremy Tunsil to the Washington Commanders for draft picks. It’s the kind of move you see established winners with veteran rosters and plenty of depth make, not a team that struggled with protection last year and only had one decent pass blocker: Laremy Tunsil.

The Texans feel like a rudderless ship offensively. They’re making moves and sawing at the wheel, but nothing is happening. Even without massive amounts of cap space this team needed to be trying to find value upgrades for its offensive line in free agency, not trading away its best player and loading up on receivers.

Houston is repeating the same mistakes the Bengals made when it came to Joe Burrow, and it’s a damn shame.

No. 3: Seattle Seahawks

I absolutely understand the superficial frustration fans were beginning to have with Geno Smith and the lack of offensive production, but this ain’t it. Cutting Tyler Lockett was a necessary pain point. Being backed into a corner and having to trade D.K. Metcalf was rough.

To do those things AND THEN sign Sam Darnold to a $100M contract defies belief. Brass tacks there are serious, serious problems with moving forward with Darnold at QB:

1. Darnold is worse at handling pressure than Geno Smith
2. Darnold can’t mask OL deficiencies like Geno Smith
3. Darnold trended down at the end on the season in very concerning ways

Now you’re throwing him in with Jaxson Smith-Njigba as your only receiver, and hoping magically that Klint Kubiak can fix 20 different issues on offense with one wave of his hand. It’s just not a recipe that spells success.

Is there a way it can work? Sure, but getting this right feels like trying to thread a needle from a satellite while in orbit. Apollo 13 taught me there’s no margin for error.

No. 4: Dallas Cowboys

This is a problem the Cowboys brought on themselves. We knew Dallas wasn’t going to be a big player in free agency because of their ongoing cap issues, but God is this bad.

Dallas went 7-10 this season. Their moves to improve this team? Well, they signed Javonte Williams, and that’s pretty much it.

Every player who could improve the team is now gone. Every target who Dallas had interest in has committed elsewhere. All they can do is pick over the dregs like vultures when free agency is almost closed.

It was not a good day for the Cowboys.