The 2025 NFL Draft is in the books, but there are still several blockbuster trades and big-name cuts to follow in the offseason. So fear not, fans. There’s still plenty of time for your team to upgrade its roster before Week 1.
With that, let’s dive into 10 big names most likely to get cut here in the 2025 NFL offseason.
Which big-name star will get cut in the 2025 NFL offseason?
Kirk Cousins
The Atlanta Falcons entered 2024 as the team to beat in the NFC South after signing four-time Pro Bowl quarterback to a four-year deal worth $180 million. The deal included $100 million in guarantees for Cousins, who was coming off season-ending surgery on his Achilles tear.
Cousins appeared to be worth every penny early on, leading the Falcons to a 6-and-3 start. That included a season-series sweep over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, putting them in the driver’s seat for the division crown.
But Cousins began to implode in the second half, losing four straight starts that saw him throw zero touchdowns and eight interceptions. Cousins was benched in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr. for the final three games. Lo and behold, the Atlanta offense fared much better under the rookie.
The Falcons weren’t able to find a taker for Cousins leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft. Quarterback-needy teams like the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns used free agency and the draft to bolster their QB rooms, and the Tennessee Titans used the No. 1 pick on Cam Ward.
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If Atlanta can’t find a trade partner for Cousins, the best bet is to bite the bullet and release him. There’s no sense keeping a pricy quarterback on the roster when he clearly doesn’t want to be there, and Cousins deserves the chance to compete for a starting job elsewhere.
Now, releasing Cousins would cost Atlanta $40 million in dead money for 2025 and $25 million in 2026. But the Falcons are in a good spot financially, with their young stars playing under cheap rookie deals.
I mean, the Denver Broncos aren’t regretting releasing Russell Wilson and taking on $85 million in dead money, not after the rise of Bo Nix in 2024. Releasing Cousins avoids any drama and feelings of uneasiness in the locker room. It can only boost Penix’s morale and confidence, too.
Jaire Alexander
For the second straight year, the Green Bay Packers’ superstar cornerback was limited to seven regular-season games because of injury. Alexander declined to speak to reporters after their playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, claiming he had “nothing good to say.”
Injuries have limited Alexander to 34 total games over the last four years, and yet, Green Bay’s defense has still been rock-solid without him. Yes, they’re better when the two-time Pro Bowler is on the field, but the injury risks are just too great here.
Alexander has a $24.636 million cap hit for the 2025 season. That’s way too much for somebody who isn’t exactly in Patrick Surtain’s class…and the cap number jumps to $27.01 million in 2026.
If the Packers cut Alexander in the 2025 NFL offseason, they’ll save $17.11 million in cap space for 2025 and $19.5 million more for 2026. He’s merely a luxury for their defense now…not a necessity. So it feels like unless he agrees to a giant pay cut, it’s either trade or release for the 2018 first-round pick.
Marshon Lattimore
Looking to bolster their defense for a playoff run under rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, the Washington Commanders acquired the All-Pro cornerback in a blockbuster deal with the New Orleans Saints ahead of the 2024 trade deadline.
Injuries limited Lattimore to two regular-season game appearances, but he got healthy in time for the postseason. The four-time Pro Bowler, however, proved to be the weak link instead of an upgrade in Washington’s secondary.
According to Pro Football Reference, Lattimore allowed 10 of 14 pass attempts in his direction to be caught for 154 yards and a touchdown in Washington’s three playoff games. Lattimore yielded a 131.2 passer rating when targeted in those contests, too.
The thing is, Washington’s defense was already good before they traded for Lattimore. They also signed veterans Jonathan Jones and Will Harris to bolster their secondary before using a second-round pick on highly-touted Ole Miss corner Trey Amos.
Cutting Lattimore would save Washington $16 million in cap space. We know they paid quite the price to get him, and maybe he would find his form in a full season under defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. But if the Commanders don’t like what they see in training camp and preseason, don’t be surprised if Lattimore goes back to the open market.
Allen Lazard
The New York Jets signed Lazard to a four-year deal worth $44 million in free agency as part of their plan to bring Aaron Rodgers aboard. Lazard, of course, was just one of Rodgers’ many former Green Bay teammates to join the Jets in a movement that backfired entirely for all parties.
Lazard’s first year with the Jets was a bust, but one could easily chalk that up to Rodgers missing all but a few snaps in 2023. Lazard didn’t fare much better in 2024, though, finishing with just 37 passes for 530 yards and six touchdowns.
The Jets’ new brass wanted to move on from the failed super team experiment and chose to cut Rodgers and Davante Adams. So it’s now only a matter of time until Lazard is traded or cut. No offense to Justin Fields, but we doubt Lazard is about to put up career numbers with the dual-threat QB now behind center.
Lazard and the Jets agreed to a restructured deal, but that doesn’t at all mean he’s here to stay after the 2025 NFL season. If anything, it just helps the Jets’ chances of finding a trade partner.
If the Jets cut Lazard, they would take on a minimal dead money charge of $3.934 million. A trade would save $2.426 million in cap space. Bottom line: We’d be shocked if Lazard actually spent the entire 2025 season with the Rodgers-less Jets.
Noah Fant
The 2019 first-round pick never fully lived up to expectations with the Denver Broncos, and he was flipped to the Seattle Seahawks in the 2022 blockbuster deal involving Russell Wilson.
Fant’s production has been even worse in Seattle, though. He had two 600-yard seasons with the Broncos but hasn’t exceeded 500 with the Seahawks. It was mind-boggling when GM John Schneider gave Fant a two-year extension worth $21 million last NFL offseason, and the deal looks even worse a year later in 2025.
The Seahawks drafted another tight end, Miami’s Elijah Arroyo, with the No. 50 selection in round two. They signed Cooper Kupp to be their No. 2 receiver behind Jaxson Smith-Njigba, and that’s without mentioning the dynamic running back duo of Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet.
So Fant’s role in Seattle figures to reduce considerably in 2025. OR, if the Seahawks cut the Iowa product, they would save $8.91 million against the salary cap. Seems like an easy decision here, no?
Jamel Dean
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers handed Dean a four-year contract extension worth $52 million in the 2023 offseason, but they haven’t gotten their money’s worth through the first two years of that deal.
Dean missed four games to injury in 2023 and five more in 2024. Both years, the Bucs finished in the bottom five against the pass, and that was largely thanks to Dean suddenly becoming a liability in coverage.
With Dean’s production declining significantly, it doesn’t make sense for the Bucs to retain him unless he agrees to a significant pay cut. If the defending NFC South champions release Dean now, they’ll have a whopping $12.852 million against the cap and $13 million more in 2026.
The Buccaneers can always explore a trade for another veteran corner, perhaps the aforementioned Marshon Lattimore or Jaire Alexander? But Dean’s injury history, lackluster production since 2023, and hefty salary make him a hot trade slash release candidate with training camp inching closer.
David Njoku
Many were surprised when the Cleveland Browns gave Njoku a four-year extension worth $56.75 million in the 2022 offseason, given his lackluster production up to that point. But the deal proved to be a stroke of genius for Cleveland, with Njoku improving his production and earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2023.
But the Browns need to clear cap space and get younger across the board. Deshaun Watson will be gone by next year, and the “big three” offensive linemen of Jack Conklin, Wyatt Teller, and Joel Bitonio are nearing the end of their primes.
If the Browns were to cut Njoku, they would take on $6.935 million dead money charges in 2025 and 2026. They would clear $4.501 million for 2025 though, and an additional $17.396 million the following year.
Cleveland used a third-round pick on promising Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr., so Njoku is now expendable. And if he puts money aside, Njoku should welcome a trade or release since the Browns figure to be one of football’s worst teams in 2025.
Tremaine Edmunds
Most people agreed it was a significant overpay when the Chicago Bears gave Edmunds a four-year deal worth $72 million in 2023 free agency. He hadn’t been named to a Pro Bowl since 2020, and it didn’t take a genius to understand that Edmunds benefited from playing in the Buffalo Bills’ star-studded defense.
Sure enough, Edmunds has come nowhere close to living up to his contract in Windy City. He has just one sack, has been a significant liability in coverage, and finished with a lackluster 59.2 Pro Football Focus grade in 2024 — 119th among 189 linebackers.
If the Bears were to cut Edmunds in the 2025 NFL offseason, they’d take on a dead money charge of just over $10.637 million. But it would open up $6.8 million in cap space this year and $15 million for 2026.
Will Levis
A little over two years ago, Levis was widely projected to be an early or mid-first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. In one of the most shocking quarterback draft slides ever, however, Levis went undrafted in round one.
Finally, the Tennessee Titans traded up via the Arizona Cardinals to select Levis with the No. 33 pick in round two. After replacing Ryan Tannehill behind center, Levis showed some promise with eight touchdowns and four interceptions in nine game appearances, highlighted by a stunning comeback road win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 14 on ‘Monday Night Football.’
But Levis was unable to take that next step forward in his 2024 sophomore season, and his struggles led to Tennessee finishing as football’s worst team. They landed the No. 1 pick and used it on Miami product Cam Ward, ensuring Levis will never be the guy in Music City.
There may not be much interest in Levis on the trade market. Tennessee would be lucky to get anything better than a fifth-round pick for him. Nobody at this point is looking at Levis as a potential starter.
The Titans have two other veteran backup QBs, Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle, on their roster. So they don’t really need Levis, and cutting him would cost pennies against the cap since he’s on his rookie deal.
Mark Andrews
Make no mistake, the Baltimore Ravens’ passing game functions a lot better when tight end Mark Andrews is on the field. But the salary cap means you can’t keep all your star players, and the three-time Pro Bowler just might be the odd man out in the 2025 NFL offseason.
But a string of injuries and the Ravens’ rush-first offense have prevented Andrews from building off his monster 2021 season. You know, when he caught 107 passes for 1,361 yards and nine touchdowns?
Andrews set a career-high with 11 TD receptions in 2024, but that doesn’t justify a $16.9 million cap hit for a player whose role continues to reduce each year. With Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, and Rashod Bateman in the fold, Andrews’ chances of regaining that superstar-like form we saw in 2021 for Lamar Jackson remain slim.,
Cutting the Pro Bowl tight end would save Baltimore $11 million in 2025. That cap space could be used to bring in multiple impact players between training camp and the 2025 trade deadline.
The Ravens like to follow the philosophy of “better to get rid of a player a year too early instead of a year too late.” They can stay true to that mindset by cutting or trading Andrews before Week 1 begins.
