Ranking top 10 NFL offseason acquisitions: Daniel Jones, Sam Darnold putting up MVP seasons

The focus on the NFL Draft is so intense that one can make a living talking and writing about it 365 days a year.

That's understandable given how drafting well is the lifeblood for any NFL franchise to remain a Super Bowl contender consistently for years to come, but teams also need to hit on their swings in free agency in order to get over the hump to grab the Vince Lombardi trophy. The Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles used the free agency signing of Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley to win it all last season after he erupted for a historic 2,005 rushing yards en route to earning 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors.

So who are the most impactful veteran additions of the 2025 season through the first third, six weeks, of the current NFL season? Let's take a closer look at the 10 greatest hits early on this year.   

10. Minnesota Vikings sign CB Isaiah Rodgers

Transaction: Two-year, $11 million contract  ($8 million guaranteed) 

While the Vikings are still unsettled at the quarterback position, beginning the year with 2024 10th overall pick quarterback J.J. McCarthy and cycling to journeyman Carson Wentz, defensive coordinator Brian Flores and his defense just keep on chugging along as one of the better units in football. 

One of the reasons why Minnesota ranks as a top five defense is because of their free agency acquisition of former Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers. His 36.3 passer rating allowed as the primary defender in coverage stands as the fourth-best in the NFL among 122 players with at least 20 passes thrown their way this season, per TruMedia. 

9. New England Patriots sign DE Harold Landry III

Transaction: Three-year, $43.5 million contract  ($26 million guaranteed)   

The New England Patriots are in first place in the AFC East for the first time in years: they're experiencing their best six-game start to a season (4-2) since Tom Brady's last season in Foxborough in 2019 when New England started 6-0. One of the driving reasons for this hot start is the Patriots having a top 10 scoring defense (20 points per game allowed, seventh-best in the NFL).  

They've been great at stopping the run, 83.5 rushing yards per game allowed this season (fourth-best in the NFL), and they signed one of the better edge rushers in the league in free agency in Harold Landry III. His 4.5 sacks are tied for the eighth-most in football while his 25 quarterback pressures are tied for the 12th-most in the league. Landry is one of seven players with at least 25 quarterback pressures and 4.5 sacks this season along with Nik Bonitto, Byron Young, Aidan Hutchinson, Tuli Tuipulotu, Jeffery Simmons and Jonathan Cooper. 

8. New England Patriots sign WR Stefon Diggs

Transaction: Three-year, $63.5 million contract  ($22.6 million guaranteed)   

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has made the leap in Year 2. He ranks top 10 in the league in completion percentage (73.2%, second in the NFL), passing yards (1,522, fifth in the NFL ), passing yards per attempt (8.5, fourth in the NFL) and passer rating (112.5, fourth ). He also helped power his Patriots to one of the signature victories of the 2025 season, upsetting the then-undefeated, 4-0 Bills and 2024 NFL MVP quarterback Josh Allen in Buffalo on "Sunday Night Football" 23-20 in Week 5. 

Maye has certainly benefitted from the additions of four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in 2025. One could argue Diggs is the primary factor for his rise given Maye's 86.5% completion percentage (32/37) targeting Diggs is the highest completion percentage in the NFL among 51 duos with at least 30 targets between them in 2025, according to CBS Sports Research.  

7. Dallas Cowboys sign RB Javonte Williams

Transaction: One-year, $3 million contract

The Dallas Cowboys are off to an underwhelming 2-3-1 start to the 2025 season, but it's not because of their offense. First-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer's attack is the league's No.3 scoring offense (29.7 points per game) and the league's No. 1 total offense (387.5 total yards per game). Quarterback Dak Prescott is obviously a critical reason why, but so too is new bell cow running back Javonte Williams. The 25-year-old profiles as a top-five running back in football as a Cowboy, looking much refreshed after a gruesome knee injury in 2022 with the Denver Broncos that appeared to derail his football career. 

* Among 27 players with at least 65 carries this season

6. Carolina Panthers sign RB Rico Dowdle 

Transaction: One-year, $2.75 million contract

On paper, it would appear that Williams, Dowdle's successor as Dallas' lead running back, is off to a better start to 2025 than Dowdle. However, Dowdle has only had two weeks as Carolina's lead back with Chuba Hubbard (calf) missing the last two weeks. His production across Week 5 vs. the Miami Dolphins (206 yards rushing and a touchdown on 23 carries; 28 receiving yards on 3 catches) and Week 6 vs. the Cowboys (183 yards rushing on 30 carries; 56 receiving yards on 4 catches) is historic. Dowdle's 273 yards from scrimmage the last two weeks are the most in a player's first two starts with a team since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger, according to CBS Sport Research.

Add in how he challenged Dallas to "buckle up" before he ran them over for 183 yards, and he gets the slight edge early on over Williams.

* Among 27 players with at least 65 carries this season

5. Dallas Cowboys trade for WR George Pickens 

Transaction: Traded 2026 third-round pick and 2027 fifth-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Pickens, 2027 sixth-round pick 

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the following on Tuesday: "Certainly [George] Pickens is playing outstanding." 

That's a cold hard fact: Pickens' six receiving touchdowns are tied with the Detroit Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown atop the NFL this season, and Pickens' 525 receiving yards rank third in the league. His six receiving touchdowns are also tied for the most receiving touchdowns (six) in a player's first six games with the Cowboys since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger along with Amari Cooper, according to CBS Sports Research. Pickens has been so good that Dallas hasn't felt All-Pro No. 1 option CeeDee Lamb's absence (out with an ankle sprain) the last three weeks. That's miraculous. 

4. Pittsburgh Steelers sign QB Aaron Rodgers

Transaction: One-year, $13.6 million contract  

The Pittsburgh Steelers bungled the primes of 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year edge rusher T.J. Watt and seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Cameron Heyward the prior three years (2022-2024) by wandering through the quarterback wilderness post-Ben Roethlisberger with Kenny Pickett, Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. There's a reason why Pickens was having regular outbursts in Pittsburgh: he was obviously frustrated by passers who couldn't consistently get him the football. 

Aaron Rodgers being able to play like a borderline top 10 quarterback at the age 41 -- his 105.4 passer rating in 2025 is the 8th-best in the NFL -- in tandem with the Steelers' talented defense is why Pittsburgh is out to a 4-1 start in 2025, good for a stranglehold of first place in the AFC North early on. Rodgers' 10 touchdown passes in just five games this season are already the second-most by a Steelers quarterback in a single season since 2022. That's a glaring indictment on Pickett, Fields and Wilson, and a clear demonstration of how valuable Rodgers is to Pittsburgh simply by playing solid football by his lofty, future Hall of Fame career standards. 

* Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season

3. Green Bay Packers trade for and extend DE Micah Parsons 

Transactions: Traded DT Kenny Clark and two first-round picks to Dallas Cowboys for Parsons, re-signed him on four-year, $186M extension

Through five games played this season, the Green Bay Packers (3-1-1) are the NFC's No. 2 seed, and their defense is a strong reason why thanks to the addition of All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons. Parsons, who held out of training camp as a Cowboys in an effort to get a long-term extension, still ranks tied for fourth in the league in quarterback pressures (29) despite Green Bay being on their bye week in Week 5. Packers Pro Bowl edge rusher Rashan Gary is on pace to shatter his single-season career high for sacks of 9.5 after racking up 4.5, tied for the eighth-most in the NFL despite the Week 5 bye. 

One of the reasons Jerry Jones used to justify trading Parsons for Clark and two first-round picks was in order to bolster Dallas' run defense. Green Bay has the NFL's No. 1 run defense with Parsons on their defensive line. The Packers would do the trade for the 26-year-old Parsons and his subsequent extension 10 times out of 10. 

2. Seattle Seahawks sign QB Sam Darnold

Transaction: Three-year, $100.5 million contract ($55 million guaranteed) 

Not much was expected of the Seattle Seahawks after they traded away two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders and signed journeyman, former top five pick Sam Darnold in free agency. The Seahawks had +500 odds to win the NFC West in the preseason, per Sports Odds History, the lowest in the division. The Vegas sportsbooks felt Seattle was going to finish last in their division in 2025 with Darnold as their quarterback. 

Instead, Seattle is off to a 4-2 start in 2025, which is tied with the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams for the division's top record through the first third of the season. That's in large part because the Seahawks have the NFL's No. 5 scoring offense (27.7 points per game) with Darnold at the controls. He leads the entire NFL in pass yards per attempt with a 9.6 average, the fifth-highest in the first six games of a season in the last 35 seasons, minimum 150 pass attempts per CBS Sports Research. 

Darnold's deep passing prowess has unlocked former first-round pick wide receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba as a result: Smith-Njigba leads the NFL with 696 yards receiving this season with 42 catches, tied for the fifth-most in the league this year, on 56 targets, tied for the fifth-most in the league this year. The last player with as many receiving on that low of a target total through six games was the receiving G.O.A.T. Jerry Rice in 1986 with 723 yards receiving on 55 targets, per CBS Sports Research. 

The Seahawks' new franchise quarterback is also just the sixth quarterback averaging a completion percentage over 70% (70.8, seventh in the NFL) and over 9.5 yards per pass attempt (9.6, the best in the NFL) through the first six games of a season since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger, minimum 100 pass attempts. That's pretty, pretty good considering the first two quarterbacks to accomplish the feat -- Hall of Famer Kurt Warner in 1999 and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers in 2011 -- went on to win NFL MVP honors in their respective such seasons. 

* Won NFL MVP

1. Indianapolis Colts sign QB Daniel Jones

Transaction: One-year, $14 million contract

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones is tied with Los Angeles Chargers Pro Bowl quarterback Justin Herbert for the eighth-best NFL MVP odds in the 2025 season through six weeks of play, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. With a 5-1 record, the Colts are the AFC's No. 1 seed through six weeks. Reading the previous two sentences a month and a half ago would have resulted in an immediate drug test. 

How insane is Jones' 2025 season? He's already thrown eight touchdowns, which is the same number he had in 10 starts with the New York Giants in 2024, and Jones is currently producing career-highs in both passer rating (104.4) and completion percentage (71.7%) that are both way above his prior career highs of a 67.5% completion percentage in 2023 and a 92.5 passer rating in 2022. 

Jones is genuinely performing like a top 10 to top 5 quarterback across the board this season, which is a surreal statement given the Giants dumped him midseason last year after six years of underperforming his sixth overall pick draft status from 2019. New York was well justified in doing so, but with the Colts, Jones is thriving. 

It probably helps that Jones' five sacks taken through six games are the fewest by Jones through the first six games of a season in his career: the 2025 Indianapolis offensive line is the best of his seven-year career. He's rewarding their play with potentially All-Pro production.