March Madness Betting Guide 2025 | Bracket Tips & Expert Picks
FTN Staff
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Free agency is one of the most exciting times of the offseason for the NFL. Established players are finding new homes, which could impact their relevance for fantasy the next season. Young players are earning their second contracts, and with that, they have a chance to earn a bigger role in line with their new compensation.
For fantasy football, analysts spend plenty of time looking at the fantasy-relevant positions (FTN’s Free Agency and Draft Tracker has been doing a fantastic job all week). However, there isn’t much consideration given to fantasy managers who play in IDP leagues. Today, that changes.
Below are some thoughts and takeaways for how the free agency period has impacted IDP leagues so far this offseason.
IDP Takeaways from Free Agency
Edge Defenders
This free agent class lacked impact players on the edge, but there were still players who saw their value increase in the opening waves of free agency. Identifying players with sack potential is key to finding edge production in IDP formats.
The biggest winner is Josh Sweat, who is coming off five straight seasons with at least 6.0 sacks and four consecutive years with at least 46 pressures. These numbers are even more impressive when you consider that Sweat has just one career season with a snap share above 65% thanks to the Eagles’ depth and rotations. The move doesn’t make Sweat a top-24 edge rusher, but he will be on the field enough to warrant hype as a player in the 25 to 36 range.
Joey Bosa will probably be a more exciting NFL addition than a relevant IDP player. Not only does he struggle to stay healthy (28 games played the last three seasons), but he now enters a Buffalo edge group with plenty of depth that has produced at the NFL level (Greg Rousseau, Michael Hoecht, A.J. Epenesa). That rotation will help keep him healthy but limits his ceiling compared to his time with the Chargers.
There were also some interesting landing spots for some younger players who can ascend to a larger role in 2025.
Malcolm Koonce returned to the Raiders on a one-year deal after missing 2024 due to a torn ACL. He generated 8.0 sacks on a 44% snap share in 2023 and, if healthy, could benefit from a lot of one-on-one matchups with teams scheming to stop Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins.
Dayo Odeyingbo secured a three-year, $48 million deal despite having limited production in a rotational role with Indianapolis to start his career. He hasn’t turned 26 and has three straight seasons with at least 3.0 sacks and got paid to be a starter in Chicago. He could become relevant with teams focusing their attention on Montez Sweat.
Defensive Line
Interior defensive linemen struggle to make a big impact over defensive ends in IDP leagues. However, finding a defensive tackle with pass-rushing juice does allow IDP managers a chance to load up on other positions to take a late-round option.
Milton Williams is the only player with that upside in this free-agency class. The veteran defensive tackle never logged a snap share above 48% in Philadelphia’s deep defensive line rotation. Because of that, he was a modest producer during his time with the Eagles, logging just 132 tackles (25 for loss) in his four seasons.
Despite the limited workload, Williams established himself as a pass-rushing presence from the interior. Williams amassed 11.5 sacks on just 1,274 pass-rushing snaps over four seasons.
He will have an opportunity to increase his snap share in New England, which gives him more opportunity to raise his sack totals. The Patriots defensive line isn’t nearly as talented as Philadelphia’s, but the supporting cast of Keion White, Christian Barmore and Harold Landry III isn’t bad either.
Inside Linebackers
The linebacker position is the most important position in IDP leagues because of their ability to tally high tackle marks, sacks from blitzes and interceptions in coverage.
There weren’t many established names among the off-ball linebackers, but there were some players who had a very good 2024 that will have an opportunity to make an impact for years to come.
The big name in this group is Zack Baun, a player who signed a one-year contract with the Eagles in 2024 as a situational edge-rusher but thrived as an off-ball linebacker. Baun finished as a First-Team All-Pro in his lone season with the Eagles, racking up 151 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and an interception.
Baun was the second-highest IDP scorer in 2024 (16.1 PPG) and returned to the Eagles on a three-year, $51 million contract. He is poised to have another excellent season with the Eagles’ talented defensive line eating up blocks and keeping him clean.
Another linebacker to monitor is Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood. Sherwood was a role player to start his career but got a chance to earn starts due to injuries at the linebacker position. Sherwood finished with the 17th-most points per game in IDP (13.2) while racking up 158 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks. He is set to reprise his role as a starter going forward.
Players to be cautious drafting in 2025 from the free agent class include Robert Spillane and Dre Greenlaw. Spillane was the LB6 in points per game in 2024 (14.1) with the Raiders and landed a three-year contract with the Patriots. New England will have a very good defensive line in front of him but has historically rotated its defensive personnel heavily. The Patriots do have a new coaching staff, but his role is far from a slam dunk, sharing a position group with productive veterans like Ja’Whaun Bentley, Jahlani Tavai and Christian Elliss.
Greenlaw was developing into one of the best coverage linebackers in the NFL before tearing his Achilles in Super Bowl LVIII. Greenlaw worked his way back in 2025 but logged just 34 snaps before being shut down for the season. Denver was an awesome landing spot, but it is impossible to truly know at this point how well he’s recovered from his injury with such a limited sample size.
Defensive Backs
Identifying the top defensive backs year over year can be a difficult process, especially because of how inconsistent interception totals can be. One thing that is clear, though, is that safety takes precedence over cornerbacks. The 19 of the top 25 IDP scorers at the DB position in IDP leagues were safeties, including 13 of the top 14 players.
Jevon Holland gets a fresh start after struggling with injuries during his time with Miami. Holland was never able to replicate his strong 2022 season (96 tackles, 1.5 sacks, two interceptions and one forced fumble) but still has plenty of upside as a dynamic two-way safety.
Another player with upside in a new home is Camryn Bynum, who signed a four-year $60 million contract with the Indianapolis Colts. Bynum has developed into a ball-hawk safety over the last three seasons (seven interceptions) while averaging 105 tackles per season. He primarily operates as a deep safety but can play in the box (519 career snaps) and the slot (592 career snaps).
An underrated signing who could register at the DB position in IDP leagues is Jeremy Chinn. Chinn is coming off a highly productive season in Washington (117 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and one fumble recovery). It was the third time in his career he had over 100 tackles. Chinn has logged over 875 snaps at free safety, as a slot corner (1,058) and as a box defender (1,595). He’s also played 325 snaps on the edge. He’s set to replace, and possibly upgrade Tre’von Moehrig (10.3 PPG) at a fraction of the price.
Speaking of Moehrig, he goes from playing a versatile role that allowed him to rack up tackles in Las Vegas to the likely deep safety for the Panthers. Moehrig played that role his first three seasons with the Raiders and averaged 64 tackles per season. He played more box snaps in 2024, which led to him posting a season-high 104 tackles.
