Free agency week 1 summary and analysis
March 17, 2025
by Steve Thomas
Washington made quite a few moves at the start of the 2025 free agency season, both big moves and small, in an effort to allow the team continue to improve on its magical 2025 season that ended in the NFC Championship game. We’re going to take a look at all of the team’s moves, as well as where they could possibly go from here.
Summary of moves
Trades:
WR Deebo Samuel: trade with San Francisco for 2025 fifth round pick
LT Laremy Tunsil: traded 2025 third and seventh round picks, and 2026 second and fourth picks for Tunsil and a 2025 fourth round pick
Free agent signings:
DT Javon Kinlaw: 3 years, $45M, $30M guaranteed
DT Eddie Goldman: 1 year, $1.255M, $315K guaranteed
DT Deatrich Wise: 1 year, $5M, remaining details unknown
DT Jacob Martin: 1 year, contract details unknown
S Will Harris: 2 years, $8M, $3.39M guaranteed
CB Jonathan Jones: 1 year, $5.5M, $4.5M guaranteed
OG Nate Herbig: 1 year, contract details unknown
2024 players re-signed:
DT Sheldon Day: 1 year, contract details unknown
DE Clelin Ferrell: 1 year, contract details unknown
LB Bobby Wagner, $9.5M, $8M guaranteed
LB Nick Bellore: 2 years, contract details unknown
QB Marcus Mariota: 1 year, $8M, $7.39M guaranteed
RB Chris Rodriguez: $1.03M, none guaranteed
RB Jeremy McNichols: 1 year, contract details unknown
WR Noah Brown: 1 year, contract details unknown
WR K.J. Osborn: 1 year, contract details unknown
TE Zach Ertz: 1 year, $6.25M, $5.59M guaranteed
TE John Bates: 3 years, contract details unknown
C Michael Deiter: 1 year, contract details unknown
T Trenton Scott: 1 year, contract details unknown
K Zane Gonzalez: 1 year, $1.17M, none guaranteed
P Tress Way: 1 year, $2.8725M, $2M guaranteed
Please note that this list does not include the futures contract signings, which are the 2024 practice squad players who the team signed a few weeks ago.
Salary cap update
As shown above, as of Sunday night, I’m still missing contract information for many of these signings. That having been said, several of them won’t have a significant impact on cap space because of the Rule of 51. With the information we have now, Washington currently has about $21M in free cap space remaining. The draft picks will count for approximately $3.5M under the Rule of 51, which means that in a practical sense, the team has a little more than $17.5M in free cap space. As a guess, based on the number of players on whom we don’t yet have have contract details, I’d say that they’ll count for somewhere between $6M – $10M of additional cap space, taking the Rule of 51 into account. If that is at least in the ballpark, take would leave between $7M and $10M of free space at most. Washington has 71 players signed right now, and with 7 draft picks, this means they have 12 slots remaining. I assume most of those remaining 12 will probably be undrafted free agents, which will all be subject to the Rule of 51 and won’t count against the offseason cap.
Regardless, Washington is probably done signing players who will count for significant space unless someone unexpected becomes available. In that unlikely event, the team would probably have to make some roster moves to free up space.
Most impactful move
LT Laremy Tunsil: By trading for Tunsil, Washington has seemingly solved what I viewed as its most critical roster need, which was a high-performing left tackle to protect the team’s star quarterback, Jayden Daniels. I’d trade a net of three second round and lower picks for an elite-level left tackle any day of the week, as long as it didn’t include a first round pick. Tunsil is a five time Pro Bowler, and Washington somehow convinced the Houston Texans that this trade was a good one for them. Big ups to Adam Peters and company for getting it done. Tunsil is 30, which isn’t young, but he most likely has a least a few years of his prime left. That solves a big problem for Washington for awhile, and that makes this trade a resounding success. Hopefullly.
If I’m being honest, the fact that a player with his level of success was traded twice in six years is a bit questionable. Pro Bowl-level left tackles are rare enough that they don’t either get traded or become free agents very often. Why has it happened to Tunsil twice? Hopefully, the trades were more due to salary cap issues than anything else. I’m not aware of any negative character information about Tunsil except his ridiculous marijuana mask incident that came up during his 2016 draft process.
Terrible roster moves
None. Unlike many previous years, Washington didn’t make any moves that were obviously horrible signings to everyone but team leadership. Congratulations.
Most questionable move
DT Javon Kinlaw: Kinlaw is expensive – 3 years, $45M, $30M guaranteed, with a $7.5M cap hit in 2025 that rises to $18.4M in 2026. My problem with Kinlaw is that he’s widely viewed as being poor in run defense, and that’s Washington’s single-biggest defensive problem. They were absolutely terrible against the run last season, one of the worst in the NFL, and Kinlaw doesn’t seem to be a big help in that area. I don’t know why they’d guarantee such a big amount to an interior defensive lineman who doesn’t excel against the run. Hopefully the coaching staff has a plan to use Kinlaw in a positive manner despite his apparent shortcomings, because in 2026, with a cap hit of $18.4M, he almost has to start.
Best of the rest
LB Bobby Wagner: Wagner is old by NFL standards, and he does understandably have some holes in this game at this stage of his career. He’s also probably the best Washington could possibly get for 2025. Wagner is a valuable team leader – probably the most important one on the defense – so it made sense to bring him back. Washington should make an effort to look for an eventual replacement to groom behind Wagner.
S Will Harris: Look, Jeremy Chinn had his moments last year, but he’s not a Pro Bowl-level player, and the Raiders gave him a 2 year, $16.25M contract with a $6.6M cap hit in 2025. Washington got Harris as his replacement for less than half that amount – 2 years, $8M, with a $3M cap hit. I don’t think Harris will be a huge step down from Chinn, so in that regard, this is a good value signing.
QB Marcus Mariota: Mariota is just about the perfect backup for a quarterback like Jayden Daniels. They both play a similar style, which means that Mariota is able to seamlessly step in when necessary without the team having to make a major shift in playcalling. Mariota also has a clear understanding of his role in DC and has a great attitude. He will be a benefit to the locker room, not a problem who secretly wants to become the starter. His $8M cap hit isn’t small, but since is Daniels obviously on his rookie deal, the team only has a little under 6% of the overall salary cap space dedicated to this position group, which isn’t much.
WR Noah Brown: Brown only played in 9 games last season before suffering an injury, and had just 35 receptions in 56 targets, for 453 yards, 12.9 yards per reception, and 1 touchdown. Those aren’t amazing numbers. However, he showed talent and made some important receptions before he got hurt. His 2024 cap hit was only $1.2M, so even if the team gave him a raise, his cost to value ratio will still be a big positive for the team.
Remains to be seen
WR Deebo Samuel: My fear with Samuel is that at this point in his career, he’s more of a name than a premium player. There’s no doubt that he had one amazing season – in 2021, he had 77 receptions for 1405 yards, 18.2 yards per reception, and 6 touchdowns. As I wrote in my column two weeks ago (click here to read) , since Washington only traded a fifth round pick for Samuel, and is only stuck with his massive $17.5M salary cap figure for one year, it’s a good gamble for Washington. I went into great detail about his stats in that column, so I’m not going to rehash it all here. At a minimum, Samuel has proven to be a solid starter, and that’s worth a fifth round pick. However, nobody knows whether he can ever get back to his elite 2021 levels. That’s why he’s in the “Remains to be seen” category.
Remaining needs
In my perceived order of importance, Washington’s remaining needs are:
- Edge rusher: You aren’t going to convince me that the likes of Clelin Ferrell is good enough. I think it’s highly likely that the team spends a high draft pick on this position.
- Running back: They need a new starting running back, and while I like Chris Rodriguez, he probably isn’t it. They really need to do something to develop an above average running game that isn’t just Jayden Daniels. This is another position on which I see the team using a high draft pick.
- Offensive line: They need at least one more starter, at a minimum, probably two. Tunsil will take over left tackle, which will kick Brandon Coleman either inside to guard or to right tackle. We don’t yet know if he’s going to make it as a long term starter at either position. Plus, with Sam Cosmi out for the year, probably, they’ll need to replace him. I also don’t think Nick Allegretti is a plus-level starter, either. Realistically, I think two more lineman would be ideal. This is another position group for which Washington should probably use a high draft pick.
- Linebacker: Washington has Wagner and Frankie Luvu, both of which are above-average, but after them . . . very little. They need another starter.
Let me know what you think in the comment section below.