Hey,
I think you are mixing 2 concepts here:
To add a brand new custom field to leads, you do indeed use POST /api/v1/dealFields
to add it as deals and leads share their custom fields.
To add a value to a specific custom field of a lead, you can use POST /api/v1/leads
or PATCH /api/v1/leads/:uuid
, e.g.
{
"8f778459bfd0552cecfbcaa894ee30a82ac001eb": "my custom field value"
}