All hail... the Giants? Ranking the NFL's top 10 free-agent signings

NFL free agency has been a whirlwind of big names and big contracts. The downtrodden New York Giants, who finished last season 3-14, have made two great pickups. 

Ranked in inverse order, here are the best deals so far. (All contract figures are from Spotrac.)

10. CB Paulson Adebo | New York Giants | Three years, $54M ($38.5M guaranteed)

Adebo had 10 interceptions in four years with the Saints but played in just seven games before suffering a broken leg in 2024. He still had three interceptions last season and is widely considered one of league’s best cornerbacks when healthy.

He’ll assume starting duties from Cor’Dale Flott and play alongside 2023 first-round pick Deonte Banks. Neither played particularly well last season, but both should benefit from the addition of a healthy Adebo. 

9. Safety Jevon Holland | New York Giants | Three years, $45.3M ($30M guaranteed)

With Holland, the Giants get a 6-foot-1, 205-pound playmaker to pair with safety Tyler Nubin, the team’s second-round pick in 2024. Holland had an uneven finish for the Dolphins last season, but per Pro Football Focus, he posted elite coverage numbers in 2021 and 2023.

8. Guard Will Fries | Minnesota Vikings | Five years, $88M ($44M guaranteed)

Quarterback Sam Darnold took nine sacks in a 27-9 loss to the Rams in a wild-card game last season. The Vikings want to avoid that in 2025, when J.J. McCarthy, the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, takes over the offense.

Fries played tackle and guard in four years with the Colts, but he only played in five games in 2024 before a broken right tibia ended his season. Before that, he proved to be effective as a run-blocker and pass protector.

7. LT Ronnie Stanley | Baltimore Ravens | Three years, $60M ($44M guaranteed)

Stanley, the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, was ranked as this year’s second-best free agent by NFL Network’s Gregg Rosenthal, which is quite an accomplishment given his injury history. Stanley earned a first-team All-Pro nomination in 2019 but missed 36 games over the next four seasons.

Finally healthy, he started all 17 games and made a second Pro Bowl appearance in 2024. With his new contract, Stanley is tied with Detroit’s Taylor Decker as the NFL’s 11th-highest paid left tackle.

6. DE Malcolm Koonce | Las Vegas Raiders | One year, $12M

Koonce missed the entire 2024 season with a knee injury but came into free agency as the No. 3 edge-rusher and No. 19 player overall on The Athletic’s list of the top 150 free agents. A third-round pick of the Raiders in 2021, Koonce was mainly used on special teams before starting 11 games in 2023.

He finished that season with 43 tackles and eight sacks, six in the last four games of the season. If not for his injury, Koonce wouldn’t be in a position to accept a one-year deal. Fortunately for the Raiders, he expects to be fully recovered by Week 1 of the 2025 season.

5. CB D.J. Reed | Detroit Lions | Three years, $48M ($32M guaranteed)

After losing CB Carlton Davis III to the Patriots (three years, $54M), the Lions wasted no time by signing Reed. The 28-year-old cornerback was a fifth-round pick of the 49ers in 2018 but spent the past three seasons as a Jet (32 passes defended in New York).

Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Reed allowed a passer rating below 90 in each of the past five seasons, including an 80.4 rating in 2024, 19th out of 77 cornerbacks. He also forced a tight window on 37.3% of targets, the fourth-highest rate in the NFL. Now Reed will look to help a secondary that allowed the third-most passing yards per game (244) last season.

4. LB Josh Sweat | Arizona Cardinals | Four years, $76.4M ($41M guaranteed) 

Sweat led the Eagles with eight sacks in the regular season and put on a show with six tackles and 2.5 sacks in the Super Bowl LIX win over the Chiefs. With Arizona, Sweat will join forces with his former defensive coordinator, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, who helped guide the seven-year veteran to the Pro Bowl in 2021 and a career-high 11 sacks in 2022 with the Eagles.

3. WR Chris Godwin | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Three years, $66M ($44M guaranteed)

The 29-year-old receiver was on pace for a fourth straight 1,000-yard season until a Week 7 ankle injury ended his 2024 season. At the time, Godwin ranked first among wide receivers with 50 catches, second with 576 yards and third with five touchdowns. 

While considered the team’s No. 2 receiver behind Mike Evans, Godwin would be considered an alpha on most NFL rosters. He led Tampa Bay pass-catchers with 1,333 yards in 2019 and 1,103 yards in 2021. 

2. LB Zack Baun | Philadelphia Eagles | Three years, $51M ($34M guaranteed)

After three unremarkable seasons with the Saints, Baun joined the Eagles to compete for an outside linebacker spot but took off once new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio moved him to inside linebacker during an early spring practice. 

Baun led Philadelphia with 151 tackles, a career-high 3.5 sacks and five forced fumbles in the regular season. He also had 33 tackles with two interceptions in the playoffs. Baun ended the year as the league’s highest-graded linebacker by PFF and finished fifth in AP Defensive Player of the Year voting.

1. WR Davante Adams | L.A. Rams | Two years, $44M ($26M guaranteed)

The three-time All-Pro receiver had 83 receptions for 1,063 yards and eight touchdowns for the Raiders and Jets last season and caught 526 passes for 6,650 yards and 59 touchdowns over the past five seasons.

At 32,  Adams may not be the same player who led the league in touchdowns in 2020 (18) and 2022 (14), but the Rams couldn’t ask for a better replacement for Cooper Kupp, who was released by the team Wednesday.