Insider Calls San Francisco 49ers Player The Best 2025 Free Agent Signing In The NFL

On the heels of arguably the best performance of his NFL career and a 3-0 record as the starter with the San Francisco 49ers, quarterback Mac Jones has drawn a lot of praise from around the football world. 

But Sports Illustrated 49ers insider Grant Cohn took things to another level on Monday October 6, 2025 when he made an extremely bold claim about Jones. 

Cohn argued in an article that he believes the 49ers adding Jones was the best free agent signing by any NFL team this past offseason. 

“He is currently saving their season after Brock Purdy injured his toe in Week 1,” Cohn wrote.

Why Cohn May Be Right

Grant Cohn is known for his hot takes meant to rile up 49ers fans, but this argument definitely has some merit to it. 

He argues that the 49ers would be 1-4 and not 4-1 if they had their backup quarterbacks from last season in town, which is probably accurate. The 49ers’ revitalized defense led by Robert Saleh is a huge reason for their early season success, but every game has been close and needed timely offensive production to ensure a 49ers win. 

The 49ers’ backups last season, Brandon Allen and Joshua Dobbs, went a combined 0-2 starting games for the 49ers. They may have managed to be 2-3 with Allen and Dobbs in town, still beating the New Orleans Saints, but definitely not better than that. 

Jones is not just keeping the 49ers afloat either, as Cohn points out. He is playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. 

“Through three starts, he’s undefeated, he has a 6-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and leads the NFL in pass attempts per game and passing yards per game,” Cohn wrote. 

Finally, Cohn pointed out just how much of a bargain Jones’s contract truly is. He signed with San Francisco for two years and only $8.4 million this offseason. Remember, the 49ers also signed franchise quarterback Brock Purdy to a 5-year, $265 million extension. 

Another layer to the argument that Cohn didn’t point out is the importance of the quarterback position. Without a competent quarterback, you can’t run a successful NFL offense. If Jones was a career journeyman at any other position and suddenly played like an All-Pro, it would matter much less. 

The fact that he’s doing it as a QB is all the more crucial for the 49ers. 

Other Big 2025 Free Agent Signings

But to really evaluate Cohn’s argument, we need to take a look back at all of the biggest 2025 offseason signings and see how Jones stacks up. 

Back in July, ESPN ranked Davante Adams’ signing with the Los Angeles Rams as the #1 offseason move in 2025. That was, of course, before any football games were played, but it made sense at the time based on the caliber of player that Adams is. 

Adams has unsurprisingly played good football. He has 357 receiving yards, tied for 13th in the NFL, and 3 touchdowns through 5 games. 

But he is unequivocally playing second fiddle to Puka Nacua in the Rams’ wide receiver room. Nacua leads the NFL with 588 receiving yards. Adams, meanwhile, has only surpassed 100 receiving yards in a game once. So his overall importance to the Rams’ early season success is not as outstanding. 

Josh Sweat’s move to the Arizona Cardinals was also undoubtedly a big signing, and he is second in the NFL with 5 sacks through 5 games. But the Cardinals are 2-3 on the season, so his great individual performance hasn’t kept them out of the bottom of the division. 

Finally, Sam Darnold has rebounded from a rough first game against the 49ers and is playing great early in the season with the Seattle Seahawks. He’s sixth in the NFL with 1,246 receiving yards and has nine touchdowns and only 3 interceptions. 

He could end up having a better season than Jones, but remember, he’s getting paid over $33 million a year to be a starting NFL QB. Jones is playing arguably better than him while getting paid only $4 million. 

49ers fans, do you think the 49ers’ signing of Mac Jones is the best contract of the whole 2025 NFL offseason? 

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