Building through free agency can hurt a team in the long term, depending on the types of deals that are given, but there’s plenty of evidence that it can help in the short term. So let’s be short-sighted today and look at the teams that have improved specific units on their teams the most after the early portion of the offseason (trades count, too), while considering scheme/team fits.
Bears offensive line
Acquisitions: RG Jonah Jackson (trade), LG Joe Thuney (trade), C Drew Dalman (free agent)
The Bears haven’t had a serviceable offensive line since 2013. New head coach Ben Johnson, who cut his teeth on the dominance of the Lions’ offensive line, didn’t want to just shore up the line’s weaknesses, he wanted to weaponize it. So, the Bears completely rebuilt the interior of the line.
Jackson, who played for Johnson with the Lions, has played like one of the best guards in the league when he’s been healthy.
The Chiefs decided to pay Trey Smith, one of the best young guards in the league, which made Thuney available. Thuney has been one of the most dependable linemen in the league, starting all but two games in his career, and he’s exceptional in protection and as a run blocker. He even kicked out to left tackle for the Chiefs’ postseason run.
Dalman isn’t in the same tier as Thuney and Jackson, but he was the best available center, a position that has been a problem spot for the Bears for years. Last season, quarterback Caleb Williams did a lot of work at the line of scrimmage, getting the offense into the right protection. Dalman will help relieve some of the pre-snap responsibilities.
Bears coach Ben Johnson on center Drew Dalman: “he’s going to be the quarterback of our offensive line.” He said he wants to add more to Dalman’s plate than he’s been exposed to in the past.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) March 13, 2025
The improved interior will join right tackle Darnell Wright (the 10th pick of the 2023 draft) and left tackle Braxton Jones. Wright has the potential to be one of the best right tackles in the league. He’s a road grader who fits what Johnson wants in an offensive lineman. Jones is an above-average starter — he allowed seven sacks, but Williams tends to hold the ball. Jones isn’t elite, but the Bears have to feel good if he’s their weakest link. It’s much easier to scheme help for one position than for multiple.
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The Bears are setting themselves up to take a huge load off Williams’ shoulders. Last season, Chicago ranked 22nd in rushing success rate and faced the third-most third-and-long attempts in the league. They will need Jackson to stay healthy and Wright to take the next step for the line’s potential to be realized. They also need to add a running back. It’s a rich running back class, but if Ashton Jeanty falls to No. 10, you have to imagine Johnson would sprint to the podium to get his Chicago version of Jahmyr Gibbs.
Colts secondary
Acquisitions: CB Charvarius Ward (free agent), S Cam Bynum (free agent)
Getting fired from the Bengals could be a boon for defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. Looking at the Bengals roster, which will likely end up losing Trey Hendrickson, compared to the defensive roster that the Colts are putting together, it’s a night-and-day comparison.
The Colts already had pass rushers with DeForest Buckner, Kwity Paye and promising second-year defensive end Laiatu Latu. Now, they’ve massively upgraded the secondary through free agency with the additions of safety Cam Bynum and cornerback Charvarius Ward.
Bynum is a versatile safety who was a key piece in Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ exotic scheme. He was asked to do a lot but mostly played in deep zones, which makes him an excellent complement to Colts safety Nick Cross, who started to excel when he was asked to play more underneath zones and closer to the box.
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Ward dealt with issues on and off the field last season, including the tragic death of his 1-year-old daughter in October, but should bounce back into being a top-tier cornerback who can jam at the line of scrimmage or play zone. He has experience in a man-heavy scheme with the Chiefs and a zone-heavy scheme with the 49ers. His versatility, along with Bynum, should fit nicely in Anarumo’s scheme. Anarumo is as good as any defensive coordinator at tailoring his game plans from week to week.
Rams receiver corps
Acquisitions: WR Davante Adams (free agent)
The Cooper Kupp era is over in L.A., but he has been regressing the last couple of years and hasn’t been healthy since his triple crown season in 2021, playing in just 34 out of a possible 51 games.
Adams struggled with drops last season, but he’s still a destroyer of man coverage. Last season, he ranked 12th in yards per route run against man coverage (2.69) while dropping 14.8 percent of his passes against man coverage (fourth-highest among receivers with at least 30 targets). Adams typically has very reliable hands, so this was an outlier season. If his drop rate regresses to the mean, he can still produce a high level in his most stable situation in years.
Puka Nacua might be the best receiver Adams has ever played with, so Adams will theoretically see his lowest rate of double-teams since the beginning of his career. With coach Sean McVay’s play calling and Matthew Stafford’s arm talent, Adams looks to be set up for a rebound season. The Rams’ offense hasn’t had this sort of threat on the outside since Odell Beckham Jr. joined the team midseason in 2021 when L.A. won the Super Bowl.
Patriots defense
Acquisitions: CB Carlton Davis (free agent), ILB Robert Spillane (free agent), DL Milton Williams (free agent), edge Harold Landry (free agent), K’Lavon Chaisson (free agent)
The Patriots came into the offseason looking to add offensive talent around second-year quarterback Drake Maye, who impressed last season, but so far, they’ve only been able to add to the defensive side of the ball.
Not that new head coach Mike Vrabel minds. In fact, he should be ecstatic with the defensive additions. Pairing a top corner with another top corner is a force multiplier for the secondary. Christian Gonzalez, the Patriots’ 2023 first-round pick, only allowed a completion percentage of 55 percent and a quarterback rating of 71.7 when targeted. Marcus Jones, who started opposite of Gonzalez last season for nine games, allowed a completion percentage of 63.1 percent and a quarterback rating of 97.6.
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Signing Davis, who allowed a quarterback rating of 77.1 when targeted last season, will ensure that opponents can’t just throw away from Gonzalez. Davis also allows the Patriots to return to their longtime defensive identity of playing a lot of bump-and-run man coverage. If they play a lot of quarters coverage, which Vrabel used with the Titans, having two strong outside corners frees up the safeties to bracket inside receivers and play the run more aggressively.
Spillane gives them one of the better run-stuffing linebackers. His lack of athleticism makes him a liability in man coverage, but he’s an underrated defender in zone coverage. He should have a lot of safety help with the corners being able to be isolated on the outside.
On the edge, the pass rush gets a nice boost from Landy and Chaisson. Chaisson, a former first-round pick who is just 25 years old, came on strong for the Raiders. He had 20 pressures and four sacks in the final six games.
It’s always dangerous to sign a player who finally has a breakout season in a contract year but Williams was a force for the Eagles rushing next to Jalen Carter last season. With defensive tackle Christian Barmore’s future in question, Williams will have a lot on his shoulders as the Patriots’ top interior rusher.
Broncos run defense
Acquisitions: SS Talanoa Hufanga (free agent), ILB Dre Greenlaw (free agent)
The Broncos looked like a team that could have been in a wasteland for a long time after the disastrous Russell Wilson trade, but they’ve quickly dug themselves out and have a roster that is ready to compete. Second-year quarterback Bo Nix looks like a legitimate starter and the Broncos are leaning into the advantages of having a quarterback on a rookie contract by spending big in free agency.
The Broncos’ rush defense was good for most of last season but fell off a cliff toward the end, giving up 381 yards (4.3 yards per carry) from weeks 15-17 (the Chiefs rested their starters against them in Week 18). Then they got gashed on the ground by the Bills in the wild-card round, giving up 210 yards (4.8 ypc).
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So far, they’ve re-signed defensive tackle D.J. Jones and signed Hufanga and Greenlaw. Both are coming off injuries, so of all the units on this list, the Broncos’ additions come with the most volatility. Greenlaw tore his Achilles in the 2023 Super Bowl. He came back late last season and showed the explosion that made him such a disruptive player. That was encouraging enough for teams to show interest in him during free agency. Greenlaw may have been overshadowed by All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner in San Francisco but if he’s healthy, he has an opportunity to establish himself as one of the best off-ball linebackers in the league.
Hufanga getting back to his best is more uncertain. He hasn’t been healthy in two seasons and didn’t look like himself when he played in 2024. At his peak, Hufanga was an instinctual safety who took calculated gambles, knifing into the backfield with reckless abandon. If the Broncos get anything close to that version, he’ll fit right into their meta of unpredictability. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph will unleash him as a blitzer.
The Broncos’ defense was already one of the best last season. Greenlaw and Hufanga could take it to the next level, but again, health is a concern.
New Bronco Talanoa Hufanga will look to regain his 2022 form when he was named All-Pro. (Peter Read Miller / Associated Press)
Vikings offensive line
Acquisitions: RG Will Fries (free agent), C Ryan Kelly (free agent)
Recently, the Vikings have valued athleticism on the interior to run their zone schemes, but they’ve added serious power to their line by signing two former Colts offensive linemen.
Center Garrett Bradbury was an average starter, but the Vikings saw a chance to upgrade and signed Kelly.
Fries is a high-end guard, but he broke his tibia in Week 5 last season. The Vikings feel good enough about his recovery and gave him a sizable long-term contract (five years, $88 million).
Both players come from a Colts offense that ran some gap scheme and more inside zone than outside zone. The Vikings have majored in outside zone with Kevin O’Connell, but the head coach could be transitioning to a more varied run scheme and adding some gap scheme like his mentor Sean McVay did with the Rams a couple of seasons ago.
Fries and Kelly will also fortify the middle of the pocket for quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The Vikings still could sign or draft a left guard to finish bolstering their line.
(Top photo of Cam Bynum and Davante Adams: Stephen Maturen and Luke Hales / Getty Images)
