While this year did not bring a record-setting salary cap spike, a $20MM-plus bump occurred for the third straight offseason and fourth over the past five years. We continue to see year-to-year leaps that dwarf what the 2011 CBA brought.
Now that the franchise tag application deadline has passed, a clearer picture of the 2026 free agent market emerges. The aim for PFR’s top 50 remains contract-based, but as our Offseason Outlook series has illustrated, numerous deals carrying creative vesting structures have seen players secure favorable guarantees without the full amounts being locked in up front. So, this year’s list leans a bit more toward total guarantees as opposed to upfront security.
In Year 34 of full-fledged NFL free agency, here are the top options for teams to target once the legal tampering period starts:
The fifth-year option not being truly position-based affects a few of this year’s free agents, none more so than Linderbaum. Because all offensive linemen are grouped together under the tag formula, centers are almost never tagged. Few guards are. Linderbaum has presented the best case for a center tag in many years, and he is days away from bridging the gap that exists between the two interior offensive line positions.
The Ravens have seen four center Pro Bowl seasons in their 30-year history; Linderbaum has three of them (Jeremy Zuttah received the other). The Iowa alum has anchored the Ravens’ interior O-line, as the team continues to see guards come and go. Losing him would be significant for the AFC North franchise.
ESPN’s pass block win rate metric ranked Linderbaum fourth among all interior O-lineman last season; he ranked 13th in 2024. Pro Football Focus, conversely, has graded Linderbaum as a far superior run blocker. The agile lineman has certainly made a considerable difference for a run-reliant offense. The Ravens were able to keep Ronnie Stanley from testing free agency at the last minute in 2025, though the longtime LT was seeking a third contract. Will they do the same with Linderbaum?
That is an interesting distinction for a player who has never caught more than 47 passes in a season. Pierce is maybe more high-end No. 2 than true No. 1, but this is typically the type of player who cashes in on the market. As Daniel Jones is the best quarterback Pierce has played with (with Ryan at the end by his Indianapolis stint), teams undoubtedly see growth potential in the deep threat.
This year brings a deep crop of free agent edge rushers. With this being a premium position, questions surround the lot of prime-years players available. Phillips is coming off a bounce-back season, once under-the-hood numbers are considered, and will garner considerable free agency attention. The Eagles were able to keep breakthrough linebacker Zack Baun from testing the market last year, but they are running out of time with Phillips.
Finishing a season healthy did maybe as much for Phillips’ stock, after he went down with Achilles (2023) and ACL (2024) tears. Phillips’ injury past stretches back to college, when he briefly retired from the sport after a concussion and other maladies (including some from a moped accident). A transfer to Miami, however, reenergized him.
The former five-star recruit landed on the first-round radar with the Hurricanes and showed plus form with the Dolphins, combining for 15.5 sacks over his first two seasons. Year 2 included a career-high 25 QB hits. The 6-foot-5 EDGE was on his way to a career-best season in 2023, tallying 6.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss in eight games. A Black Friday Achilles tear stalled his momentum, and a September 2024 ACL tear continued the midcareer misery.
But with the NFL’s salary ceiling rising yet again, it would be hard to see this market settling south of $20MM per year. Last year, the Chiefs and Bills agreed to extensions (with George Karlaftis and Greg Rousseau, respectively) that included $64.8MM and $54MM in total guarantees. Phillips’ camp, representing a player who matches that duo with zero Pro Bowls, can aim for that range next week.
Among this market’s prime pass rushers, Hendrickson’s resume laps his peers. The Bengals sack ace finished back-to-back seasons with 17.5 sacks and has two more campaigns (2020, 2021) with at least 13. Hendrickson recorded at least 24 QB hits from 2020-24, topping out at 36 in managing to finish as Defensive Player of the Year runner-up on a bad 2024 Cincinnati defense. The Bengals appear set to lose their five-year defensive end cornerstone; this was preventable, but the team’s antiquated stand against post-Year 1 salary guarantees prevented an extension from being completed in 2025.
Hendrickson agreed to a one-year, $21MM extension in 2023 in fear the Bengals would use the franchise tag on him in 2025. With the Tee Higgins saga lasting past that point, Hendrickson miscalculated that. He now resides in a similar situation to Haason Reddick.
Also starting slowly, Reddick joined Hendrickson as a 2017 draftee who broke through in a 2020 contract year. Both players signed $15MM-per-year deals – Hendrickson in 2021, Reddick in 2022 – they outplayed. Age became an issue for Reddick, whose 2024 holdout backfired, and it is worth wondering how much it will impact Hendrickson’s free agency.
Last year represented a clear window for Hendrickson to cash in – at 30 and coming off the two straight top-level pass-rushing seasons – but he was negotiating with a difficult adversary. And he underwent season-ending core muscle surgery after a seven-game campaign. That will dock Hendrickson’s stock, but by how much?
From 2016-25, there have been 79 10-sack seasons from players aged 27-30. In that span, only 17 such seasons exist from players aged 31-34. These are the years a Hendrickson suitor is acquiring. Among pure EDGE players, that age-31-34 sack number plummets to 11. Hendrickson should do well next week, but the decision to sign that Bengals extension in 2023 could cost him thanks to an injury-shortened 2025.
Walker ranked 11th in pass block win rate last season and 14th in 2024. PFF was a bit less bullish due largely to the Penn State product’s run blocking. The advanced metrics site never ranked Walker higher than 40th overall among tackles. Similar skepticism did not derail Moore, and Walker will almost definitely do better than the $50MM guarantee Moore received from the Titans.
Seven LTs are on contracts that include at least $50MM in total guarantees. Not counting Will Campbell’s rookie deal, four more secured at least $40MM guaranteed. It would be stunning if Walker did not land at least $40MM guaranteed. Considering how rare it is that early-prime LTs hit the market – like the Steelers, the Packers used a first-round pick on a blindside successor (Morgan) – the former No. 249 overall pick will be one of this year’s FA winners.
The Broncos extended six players between late July and their bye week. After paying top-priority talents Courtland Sutton, Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto in camp, Denver turned to three other regulars – center Luke Wattenberg, defensive tackle Malcolm Roach and kicker Wil Lutz – during its bye. Franklin-Myers did not expect a new deal and has likely known what is about to happen on the market.
Although Franklin-Myers is approaching an age-30 season, the runway is clear for him to cash in. He is the best interior D-line option on this market – probably by a wide margin. After last year produced Milton Williams and other attractive interior D-line options, no one is rivaling Franklin-Myers – as of now, at least – in terms of unattached inside pass rushers.
The former Rams draftee and Jets extension recipient tallied 14.5 sacks over the past two years, serving as a complementary presence alongside Allen, Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper for a Broncos pass rush that came within four (68) of the 1984 Bears’ single-season record. Denver already extended Allen, Bonitto, Cooper and Roach, doing so after keeping DT D.J. Jones off last year’s market. The team could not reasonably afford a Franklin-Myers payday. He is about to do much better than the two-year, $15MM deal he agreed to following a 2024 draft-weekend trade/salary dump from the Jets.
Signing a four-year, $55MM Jets extension the team shed to make room for Haason Reddick’s contract (oops), Franklin-Myers also combined for 11 sacks from 2021-22. He could have a place with the Titans or Falcons, as Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich run those defenses, but the demand for inside pass rusher will be high enough teams without close connections to the eight-year veteran will pursue him.
Zach Sieler scored a $44MM guarantee from the Dolphins ahead of his age-30 season. That is a reasonable comp, but Franklin-Myers is hitting free agency and doing so without much market competition. The Colts gave Pro Bowler DeForest Buckner a $23MM-per-year deal before his age-30 season. With the cap climbing by around $50MM since that contract was finalized, a lesser player on a depressed market could rival that AAV (11th among DTs).
Franklin-Myers has been surrounded by good pass-rushing talent (Allen, Bonitto, Quinnen Williams) in his best years, so teams will need to be careful here. This is a prime candidate to be overpaid. Becoming the 13th active interior D-lineman to land $50MM guaranteed is not crazy considering the circumstances.
7. Malik Willis, QB. Age in Week 1: 27
This year’s Justin Fields, but that comp does not quite do this strange free agent profile justice. Increased rumblings are pointing to Willis outdoing Fields by a wide margin, mentioning the $30MM-per-year ballpark. That represents a significant risk given the former third-round pick’s small sample size.
Willis has started just six games. Three of those came with the Titans, when the mid-major college QB (after an Auburn transfer) was overmatched to the point Mike Vrabel started Josh Dobbs – signed days earlier off the Lions’ practice squad – over him in must-win games. But Willis, an afterthought during Will Levis’ 2023 rookie season, created a fascinating market for himself in Green Bay.
Plugged into Matt LaFleur’s offense quickly after Jordan Love’s Week 1 injury in Brazil, the mobile passer accounted himself much better – albeit in rejiggered structure aimed at helping the raw passer – in 2024. Willis’ Packers numbers are obviously not sustainable, but they have QB-needy teams’ interest.
He compiled a 6:0 TD-INT ratio in Green Bay, having completed 70 of 89 attempts at a college-y 12.1 yards per pass. Willis also averaged 6.2 yards per rush (29/261/3). There is a lot to like here, and a chunk of the NFL uses a version of the offense LaFleur runs as the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay trees grow.
That said, this has the potential to go down as a lesson for future free agency periods. Fields fared worse in a larger sample size – ahead of a two-year, $40MM Jets deal that featured $30MM guaranteed at signing – but he brought 44 career starts to the table. The numbers being thrown around for Willis are borderline irresponsible, as a few reports have tied him to a deal averaging at least $30MM per year. As PFR’s Nikhil Mehta pointed out, it took Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold flashing full-season Pro Bowl form to land their $33MM-AAV deals.
Darnold only received a pay-as-you-go structure from the Seahawks after his 35-touchdown pass season for a 14-3 Vikings team. Yet Willis will command this level of contract – even with the cap’s climb past $300MM – on six starts? It would be ironic that some of the same teams who passed on Willis during his memorable 2022 draft tumble are in on him now. But some of the clubs tied to him – the Browns, Dolphins, Cardinals – did not need QBs in 2022. The Steelers did (and do again), though Omar Khan was not yet their GM during that draft.
While Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins are/will be free agents, Daniel Jones being transition-tagged makes Willis the top prize in a year with major questions about the QB draft class. This should be one of the most interesting markets in free agency’s 34-year history. The Mayfield/Darnold/Jones/Geno Smith resurgences work in Willis’ favor, but at the expected cost, it will also be one of the riskiest bets the NFL has seen.
8. Zion Johnson, G. Age in Week 1: 26
On a Chargers offensive line ransacked by injuries, the solid, unspectacular left guard was in the lineup 18 times last season. Johnson has missed just two career games. His combination of age and durability will be coveted on a guard market not teeming with options entering their prime.
While this space correctly lauded the deep 2024 guard market, this one features several starters – Wyatt Teller, Isaac Seumalo, David Edwards, Teven Jenkins – gunning for third or fourth contracts. Another handful of 30-somethings are available too, shining a spotlight on a player seldomly discussed in Los Angeles.
Run block win rate regarded Johnson’s contract year highly, slotting him second among all interior O-linemen. Johnson helped the Chargers get by without Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris for an extended stretch last season. Although the 2022 first-rounder did not have a strong playoff game in Foxborough, his market will be robust.
The Boston College product has started 65 games, but guards face the same issue off-ball linebackers do when it comes to the fifth-year option. Whereas defensive ends and defensive tackles are separated, all O-linemen are grouped together under the option formula. That has helped fast-track guards to free agency. Johnson, a rookie-year right guard before a three-season run as the Bolts’ LG, should benefit soon.
Johnson joins Ed Ingram (Texans), Dylan Parham (Raiders), Chris Paul (Commanders) and mammoth Ravens blocker Daniel Faalele as notable first-time guard UFAs-to-be. It took a $63MM guarantee for the Panthers to lock down Robert Hunt in 2024, and that came on a $255MM cap. Lacking Johnson’s extended sample size, Will Fries scored a $44MM guarantee last year. Something in between, perhaps closer to the Fries number, will still represent quite the win for an unremarkable player hitting free agency at the right time.
9. Devin Lloyd, LB. Age in Week 1: 27
Much like the tight ends they occasionally are asked to shadow, the off-ball linebacker market has not displayed tremendous growth. Shaquille Leonard and the 49ers’ first Fred Warner extension moved the market past $19MM per year in summer 2021. Nearly five years later, Warner is the only player above $20MM per year at this position.
The All-Pro 49er is at $21MM AAV. Teams value this spot, but only to a point. Last year did include three deals between $15MM and $17MM per year – for Nick Bolton, Jamien Sherwood and Zack Baun. Lloyd has a chance to eclipse those accords.
Lloyd is coming off a strong contract year and is only in free agency because teams are skittish about the linebacker fifth-year option price. The 2020 CBA introduced a four-tiered option structure, but both the option and franchise/transition tag formulas still combine 3-4 edge rushers with off-ball ‘backers. That has led first-round ILBs to the market in recent years.
No team has exercised an off-ball LB’s fifth-year option since the Buccaneers picked up Devin White’s in 2022. Jordyn Brooks, Patrick Queen and now Lloyd and Quay Walker have played out their four-year rookie deals because of this CBA quirk.
Thrice a 110-tackle player through three seasons, Lloyd only recorded 81 stops in his platform year. Though, the Jaguars’ defense improved and its second-level anchor thrived, intercepting five passes – including a game-swinging 99-yard pick-six off Patrick Mahomes (much to Heidi Gardner’s dismay – tallying a career-high 10 QB hits en route to second-team All-Pro acclaim. Viewing Lloyd as a top-15 off-ball LB in 2023 and ’24, PFF slotted him third last season – as the Jags’ defense climbed from 26th to sixth from 2024 to ’25 (third in EPA per play).
Hitting free agency as a former first-rounder in his prime, Lloyd has an outside chance to score a market-topping deal. The Jags appear likely to let him walk, and big money will await a player who has become one of the league’s best all-around linebackers.
It is doubtful Lloyd will bury his position’s AAV record the way Tyler Linderbaum will, but outdoing Warner’s current deal – or joining he and Roquan Smith as the third $20MM-per-year ILB – is in play. A guarantee north $50MM – where only three ILBs (Warner, Smith, Tremaine Edmunds…for now) reside – should also be attainable.
10. Odafe Oweh, EDGE. Age in Week 1: 27
Each of the top three members in this EDGE FA class can make the case for being deserving of the biggest contract. Oweh may have the fewest red flags, but he just hasn’t quite shown the difference-making abilities Hendrickson and Phillips have. Though, he is squarely in his prime (unlike Hendrickson) and has no major injury history (unlike Phillips). Coming off his two most productive seasons, the 2021 first-round pick will do quite well next week.
It is rather interesting that the Ravens have relied mostly on older free agent types at outside linebacker post-Matt Judon and traded away a player who has become one of this year’s top FAs. Oweh struggled to start his contract year, registering zero sacks in his final five Ravens games, but came alive with the Chargers. Oweh tallied 7.5 sacks in 12 Bolts contests, making a big impact for a team that was missing Khalil Mack at the time. Los Angeles gave Oweh a 50% snap rate – that trails Phillips’ post-trade number (78%) – and PFF viewed him as far superior in the pass-rushing department compared to run stoppage.
Though, pass rushers are primarily paid to do exactly that. And ESPN slotted Oweh 10th in pass rush win rate last season. This came after a career-high 10 sacks and 23 QB hits in 2024. Oweh’s 28 QB pressures ranked 27th in 2024; he tallied 23 pressures in ’25.
The Bolts want him back, but a return to the Ravens would be interesting due to his familiarity with both that organization and its new HC (two-year Chargers DC Jesse Minter). Discounting Judon’s franchise tag, the AFC North team has not shelled out big money for an edge rusher since Terrell Suggs. Oweh having strung together similar seasons (nine TFLs in each) protects teams from a contract-year outlier, and the 6-foot-5 EDGE played 17 games in three separate seasons and missed more than two just once (a 13-game 2023).
11. Romeo Doubs, WR. Age in Week 1: 26
The Packers will consider retaining Doubs, but they appear to have shown their hand at receiver already. Green Bay gave Christian Watson a one-year, $11MM extension after using a first-round pick on Matthew Golden. Both Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks have one year left on their rookie deals.
These facts point Doubs to the market, where the former fourth-rounder should do very well. Age will be on Doubs’ side, and he might be the main beneficiary of a Colts decision to take Alec Pierce off the market – should that happen between now and free agency.
Unlike Wan’Dale Robinson, Doubs has played mostly as an outside receiver. He also brings good size (6-2, 204 pounds), bolstering his market further. The Packers added Golden and third-round WR Savion Williams last year, but Doubs remained a focal point in Matt LaFleur’s attack. He snared 55 passes for a career-high 724 yards. The Nevada alum also topped 600 yards in both 2023 and ’24, a more impressive feat seeing as Reed was healthy throughout those seasons (whereas he missed most of 2025).
Carrying an interesting profile as neither a pure deep threat nor a slot staple, Doubs is a quality route runner who should be paid in the WR2 range. Free agency regularly turns sidekicks into well-paid performers – often with undesired results – but this market may not have Pierce by Monday. With Jauan Jennings nearly three years older than Doubs, the four-year Packer is a good place to look for a long-term receiving cog.
It would seem an overpay were Doubs to eclipse $20MM per year, but that is not out of the question on the open market. The Jaguars gave Jakobi Meyers a three-year, $60MM extension to close his age-29 season. There also looks to be a gap for this type of receiver to settle in this offseason, as only two wideouts – Jerry Jeudy ($17.5MM) and Cooper Kupp ($15MM) – are tied to contracts between $14-$20MM per annum. Meyers and Jeudy respectively received $40MM and $41MM guaranteed despite only negotiating with one team. Doubs could eclipse that next week.
12. Alontae Taylor, CB. Age in Week 1: 27
Last year’s cornerback class skewed older. A host of third-contract-seeking CB2 types – Byron Murphy, Charvarius Ward, Carlton Davis, D.J. Reed – all essentially signed the same contract. Davis, Murphy and Ward each inked three-year, $54MM deals, while the Lions nabbed Reed for three years and $48MM. Effectively setting the third-contract CB market, this group undoubtedly influenced the Giants’ Paulson Adebo price. The former Saints starter signed with New York for the same rate (3/54) but outdid the others in total guarantees ($38MM) due almost certainly to his age (25 at the time).
Taylor is the same age Murphy was when he re-signed with the Vikings and carries a similar skillset, playing extensively inside and on the perimeter. He has logged, per PFF, 1,664 career slot snaps and 1,597 boundary plays. Former Saints teammate Chris Harris had a similar profile. While not exactly on the All-Decade-teamer’s level, the versatility here should allow for a contract north of Kyler Gordon’s $13.33MM-per-year deal – the ceiling for pure slots. Deommodore Lenoir secured a $17.96MM-per-year deal with a $43.27MM guarantee as essentially a two-position player. That set the table for Murphy last year.
The Saints have tried to retain Taylor, but he is now days away from free agency. PFF ranked the 6-foot CB outside the top 110 at his position in 2023 and ’24 and tabbed him 52nd last year. The advanced metrics site’s view is unlikely to reflect Taylor’s market, which is believed to be robust.
Set to turn 28 before the 2026 season ends, Taylor will need to score big during this free agency. Unlike the Ward/Davis/Reed contingent, he is unlikely to have the luxury of signing a three-year second contract and coming back for another big payday down the road. The Lenoir and Murphy markets should provide a preview of what is out there for Taylor.
13. Jaylen Watson, CB. Age in Week 1: 27
For readers new to this space, let’s run down the Chiefs’ M.O. at corner (as the process received a pertinent update Wednesday). Since Andy Reid has been Kansas City’s HC, the Chiefs have authorized one eight-figure-per-year cornerback deal – Kristian Fulton’s two-year, $20MM pact that is likely to be shed from the payroll – and made a brigade of homegrown starters one-contract players.
Marcus Peters (2018) and L’Jarius Sneed (2024) were traded, while Steven Nelson (2019), Kendall Fuller (2020) and Charvarius Ward (2022) left as free agents. The Chiefs have now traded All-Pro Trent McDuffie to the Rams for a four-pick package, scrapping the latest round of extension talks. The team has continued to churn out quality corner play at rookie rates, but with McDuffie gone, is re-signing Watson in the picture now? Giving Watson a deal south of $20MM AAV may be more palatable to the stingy CB organization than putting McDuffie in the Derek Stingley/Sauce Gardner $30MM-per-year bracket.
The first five of the above-referenced one-contract Chiefs cashed in elsewhere, and Watson would be poised to join this club. The Chiefs’ 2024 Sneed trade gave Watson the CB2 job alongside McDuffie, but a broken leg hijacked his season. Watson did return for the playoffs, but he was seen giving up a back-breaking Jalen Hurts-to-DeVonta Smith touchdown in Super Bowl LIX.
Watson’s 2025 went better, and he has created what should be a nice market. PFF graded Watson 17th among corners last season, and over his past 21 regular-season games, the 6-2 CB has allowed just one touchdown.
Although Watson is not a third-contract-seeking player like the Ward-Carlton Davis–Byron Murphy–D.J. Reed quartet was last year, his age (28 in mid-September) moves him near that CB cadre. With the cap rising, Watson could target the Sneed-Tyson Campbell–Jaylon Johnson tier (though, those deals having not worked out yet may cause teams worry moving past $19MM AAV). But it should be in play here.
A sizable guarantee gulf exists between The Sneed-Campbell-Johnson trio and the Ward-Davis-Murphy-Reed foursome, with the higher-priced troika each seeing $50MM-plus guaranteed compared to sub-$40MM. Watson’s camp will at least look to bridge that gap on the second-tier CB market.
14. Riq Woolen, CB. Age in Week 1: 27
A size-speed freak who displayed ball-hawking stretches, Woolen is a candidate to score big money. Inconsistency, a role adjustment under Mike Macdonald – during a season in which trade rumors swirled despite the Seahawks vying for a No. 1 seed – and a persistent penalty issue could work against the former fifth-round pick, but there are elements to like here.
The 6-4 corner blazed to a 4.26-second 40-yard dash time at the 2022 Combine, elevating the mid-major product’s draft stock. He continued a banner 2022 by intercepting six passes to help the Seahawks to the playoffs. Woolen intercepted 12 passes on his rookie deal and broke up 53, ranking in the 93rd percentile in forced incompletions (per PFF).
Macdonald used Josh Jobe in front of Woolen during the season’s second half, when the taller CB only topped 70% usage in one of the team’s final eight regular-season games. He still allowed a passer rating of 78.5, ranking 25th among 200-plus-snap CBs in 2025, according to The Athletic.
Woolen did clear the 70% snap barrier in both Seattle NFC playoff games, notably being whistled for a costly taunting penalty before allowing a third-quarter Rams touchdown. Woolen also defensed two passes against the 49ers and Rams in the postseason. Woolen may not be a boom-or-bust player, but the range of possible outcomes is wider than you’d like here. Free agents regularly carry these type of profiles; otherwise, they would be prioritized by their initial teams.
The three-year, $54MM deals given to Murphy, Ward and Davis went to more reliable CBs – though, Ward was coming off a down 2024 – while ex-Seahawk Reed (3/48) was more consistent in New York. All four of those more experienced CBs fetched at least $32MM guaranteed. Woolen’s age and ball skills should warrant a commitment on this level or just south of it.
15. Wan’Dale Robinson, WR. Age in Week 1: 25
Robinson hitting free agency a year ago would have shown a player coming off a measly 7.5 yards per reception. By far the Giants’ leading pass catcher in 2025, the former second-round pick created a solid market. This will be one of the more interesting FA derbies this year, as Robinson’s slot skillset and slight frame (5-foot-8, 185 pounds) will not be for everyone.
The Kentucky alum’s age works in his favor, however, and he is coming off his best season – a 92-reception, 1,014-yard showing. Robinson’s average depth of target rocketed from 4.8 in 2024 to 8.5 in ’25. With Malik Nabers going down early and Darius Slayton also struggling with injuries, Robinson benefited and helped Jaxson Dart’s development. Being able to attack more downfield boosts Robinson’s stock, but his role and stature do bring some likely limitations.
The Bills gave Khalil Shakir a four-year, $53MM deal as a surehanded slot/de facto WR1. Robinson put up better numbers in 2025 than Shakir has in any season, doing so with far worse quarterback play. With the cap rising to $301.2MM and Robinson hitting free agency – rather than negotiating with one team on an extension – he will be able to aim higher. Is he the best wide receiver in this FA class? No. But Shakir landed $31.8MM guaranteed without the benefit of a bidding war. Robinson should outdo that number too.
16. Isaiah Likely, TE. Age in Week 1: 26
For a bit, it looked like the Ravens would pay Likely and let Mark Andrews find a third contract in free agency. Instead, Andrews closed his age-30 season with another Ravens extension. Likely is now days away from searching elsewhere for his second contract. Andrews hitting free agency before turning 31 is slightly less interesting – as we have a few available players at this position in that age range – than a career No. 2 tight with plus athleticism being unattached before his age-26 campaign.
Likely ate into Andrews’ workload over the past three seasons. Between the 2023 and ’24 slates, Likely combined for 11 touchdown receptions. The 6-4 target averaged 13.7 yards per catch in 2023, playing as Baltimore’s lead tight end for that season’s second half – due to Andrews’ seminal ankle injury (as hip-drop tackles became scrutinized henceforth) – and averaged 11.4 yards per grab over the past two seasons. Despite Andrews returning in 2024, Likely posted a career-high 477 receiving yards.
If Doubs benefits from George Pickens’ tag, Likely is perhaps the lead beneficiary of the Falcons cuffing Kyle Pitts. Likely has shown himself to be versatile, playing inline or in the slot, and has come down with a host of impressive catches – and two memorable near-TDs (against the Chiefs and Steelers). Entering his prime without a full season of full-fledged TE1 work, Likely will be a player targeted heavily soon.
Mutual interest exists between the Ravens and Likely, and a Lamar Jackson extension would drop his cap number from its untenable $74.5MM place. A Jackson restructure will happen absent an extension, giving the Ravens more spending room. Andrews scored a three-year, $39.27MM extension – a decrease from his second contract. Would the Ravens be fine joining the Steelers as the only teams with two eight-figure-per-year TEs? (Pittsburgh might not be long for that setup, with Jonnu Smith a cut candidate).
Readers of this space regularly see how underpaid the tight end position is. The gap between the tops of the tight end and wideout markets already differ by more than $22MM AAV. With Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba extension-eligible, that chasm should grow this year.
Likely is not a strong candidate to exceed Trey McBride’s $19MM-per-year market-setting terms, but do not be surprised if he ends up not too far off that level. Only five tight ends are tied to $30MM guarantees; expect Likely to become No. 6 by next week, with Cole Kmet’s $32.79MM guarantee – negotiated without free agency – serving as a floor here.
17. Boye Mafe, EDGE. Age in Week 1: 27
Relegated to a rotational rusher as the Seahawks’ defense ascended in the franchise’s second Super Bowl-winning season, Mafe submitted plus production under Pete Carroll in 2023 (nine sacks, 16 QB hits, six pass deflections) and was more impactful in Mike Macdonald’s first Seattle season (six sacks, 12 QB hits).
The Seahawks, who saw both Uchenna Nwosu and DeMarcus Lawrence stay healthy after injury-plagued 2024 seasons, dangled Mafe at the trade deadline. While Lawrence’s retirement decision may affect Seattle’s Mafe plans, his 2025 demotion gave a pretty clear indication of his path. Another team will pay Mafe as a starter, though he is more likely to command No. 2 rusher money based on his career to date. Mafe’s best finish in pressures is 37th (2023), when he charted 25. The former second-rounder checked in with just three sacks and 17 pressures in 2025, but the Seahawks reduced his playing time.
One of the picks acquired in the Russell Wilson heist, Mafe played 50% of Seattle’s defensive snaps last season. That makes his two-sack, four-QB hit totals uninspiring. That separates him from the Phillips-Oweh wing of first-time UFA edges, but Mafe is a better athlete than Kwity Paye, who disappointed in his contract year. It is still difficult to peg this market, but quality speed rushers in their primes cash in.
Mafe landing somewhere between Jonathan Greenard’s $18MM-per-year deal and Jonathon Cooper’s $13.5MM AAV makes sense. Cooper scored $31.7MM guaranteed on a four-year deal without the benefit of free agency. Nearly 18 months later and with the cap $46MM north of where it was when the Broncos paid their No. 2 EDGE, Mafe could secure favorable terms. While it might take this to land the formerly productive player fresh off a Super Bowl role, a shorter-term deal that allows a team further evaluation and Mafe more time to raise his price could commence as well.
18. Jauan Jennings, WR. Age in Week 1: 29
What a period for 49ers receivers. Deebo Samuel earns first-team All-Pro acclaim in 2021 and requests a trade before a 2022 extension. Samuel does not justify the deal and is shipped out in 2025. Brandon Aiyuk becomes a more successful traditional receiver, earning second-team All-Pro acclaim in 2023 – the duo’s fourth year together. Aiyuk requests a trade in 2024, shops around extensively (Aiyuk rumors nearly reached 2018 Kirk Cousins-level saturation on the PFR pages) before an extension. Aiyuk then suffers an ACL tear, deletes the 49ers from his phone and is near an exit.
Meanwhile, Ricky Pearsall suffers a terrifying gunshot wound before flashing brightly – while also missing eight games due to separate injury issues in 2025. Jennings served as vital insurance amid this drama.
The former WR3 who moonlights as a gadget QB zoomed to 975 yards in 2024. Jennings was then linked to trade rumors before the 49ers gave the underpaid wideout an incentive package for 2025. Jennings plays through injuries during a 643-yard season that includes a career-high nine TDs. With Aiyuk’s exit imminent and Pearsall’s outlook foggy, the 49ers suddenly want to give Jennings a third contract.
This is an interesting free agency, because the former seventh-round find is nearing 30. He has proven to be a tenacious blocker who provides a big-bodied target. Sans Aiyuk and with Pearsall unreliable, Jennings came up big for Brock Purdy and Mac Jones last season, playing a critical part of the 49ers’ injury-ravaged playoff voyage. After an RFA tender preceded a two-year, $11.89MM extension in 2024, the recently outed instigator will outdo that by a wide margin soon.
The 49ers will have a glaring WR need if Jennings walks, but this will be his first time on the open market. Debuting at 24, the 2020 draftee needs to cash in now.
Jakobi Meyers’ deal (three years, $60MM, $40MM guaranteed) represents a good comp here, as Jennings is a few months younger. Though Jennings lacks Meyers’ longer run of starter-level production, it is unlikely this market drops where Darius Slayton’s ended last year (3/36, $22MM guaranteed). Something in between seems reasonable. That should still produce a solid guarantee for the late-blooming target.
19. Kwity Paye, EDGE. Age in Week 1: 27
Bringing more of a power-based approach, Paye is coming off a contract-year regression. He joined teammate Zaire Franklin in seeing his numbers dip under new Colts DC Lou Anarumo. In the Gus Bradley system, however, the bull-rushing Michigan alum fared much better. Paye combined for 16.5 sacks and 18 TFLs from 2023-24, and he notched six sacks and 10 TFLs in ’22. Paye might be more of a high-floor player than someone with an All-Pro ceiling; those still get paid at 27.
A career-long 4-3 D-end at 265 pounds, Paye is not especially twitchy for a player with his draft pedigree (No. 21 overall). He only tallied four sacks and nine QB hits in his contract year. Even in an apparent down year, Paye tallied 23 pressures – one behind Oweh’s 2025. Paye’s 2025 pressure count topped where he finished in 2023 (17), ’24 (22) and ’22 (20) in that category; he just got home more often in the other years. But pressures represent a more reliable measuring stick to judge a pass rusher compared to sacks.
The Colts drafted JT Tuimoloau in Round 2 last year, pairing him with 2024 first-rounder Laiatu Latu. Although Tuimoloau saw little action, Paye should still follow fellow 2021 draftee Dayo Odeyingbo out the door. The Colts preferred bigger DEs in previous years, with Odeyingbo joining Paye and Tyquan Lewis as such options. Paye looks to need a new team to believe in him. Fortunately, he plays a premium position.
Even when rookie deals are excluded, 27 edge defenders are tied to a guarantee of at least $20MM. Odeyingbo, who has not produced on Paye’s level as a pass rusher, scored a three-year, $48MM Bears pact that came with $32MM guaranteed. It would be odd if Odeyingbo (one six-plus-sack season) outdid his longtime Indy teammate, especially when the cap spiked by $20MM-plus once again. Paye does probably need a 4-3 scheme to secure this level of payday, but good money should be out there for the 30.5-sack player.
20. Rashid Shaheed, WR. Age in Week 1: 28
Shaheed made a significant return-game impact in Seattle, taking a punt and a kickoff back for scores. Both momentous sequences powered the Seahawks on their championship journey, but the former Kubiak Saints charge did not fit seamlessly into the offense. At least, the Seahawks did not use Shaheed like the Saints had at receiver. That could well be personnel-based, but the speedster only amassed 15 receptions for 188 yards in eight Seattle games.
The Saints paid Shaheed early, turning his ERFA tender into a two-year deal worth $6.19MM. That came after the Weber State alum’s best season – a 46-catch, 719-yard, five-TD 2023 – but by 2025, the parties were headed toward a split. That led to the trade, which brought back more than the Meyers deadline swap, giving the Saints fourth- and fifth-round picks.
Shaheed was on pace for nearly 900 receiving yards in New Orleans last season, and he didn’t spend much time working with ascending rookie Tyler Shough. The Spencer Rattler target still totaled 499 yards on a career-high 44 catches.
Teams are buying speed with Shaheed, who will almost certainly be deployed regularly on special teams. Earning two Pro Bowl nods and a first-team All-Pro selection (2023) for return work, the former UDFA should do well. It can be argued no one would benefit more from Pierce being taken off the market than Shaheed, a faster deep threat – albeit one without Pierce’s impressive numbers.
Both Darnell Mooney and Gabe Davis scored three-year, $39MM deals as long-range threats in 2024; Davis busted, while Mooney was effective in the first of his Atlanta seasons. Shaheed’s speed will also help free up space for teammates on underneath routes. That component combined with the special teams capabilities will help the Division I-FCS product. Mooney’s $26MM guarantee from 2024 should be the floor here.
21. Bryan Cook, S. Age in Week 1: 27
Some safety talents in this year’s class will be underpaid, as a buyer’s market forms here. There are several starter-level options available, which naturally could reduce the cost. No Xavier McKinney– or Jessie Bates-like player looks set to separate himself this year, though a few names should still do well. Cook is one of them.
The Chiefs have doled out more free agency dollars at safety compared to corner, but they have established a similar one-contract trend for starters. During the Steve Spagnuolo DC era, Kansas City let Mathieu, Juan Thornhill and Justin Reid leave after contract expirations. Cook was part of that assembly line. It would be a blow to the Chiefs’ secondary, which needs CB help after Trent McDuffie‘s trade exit (and could need more if Jaylen Watson leaves), to lose Cook. But Kansas City has continued to replace departing talent with rookie-deal cogs. It has become routine for the underrated coordinator by this point.
PFF ranked Cook fourth among all safeties last season. The Chiefs have primarily used Cook as a free safety, which will help the former second-round pick’s market. Free safeties tend to be valued more, though Cook does not have great ball production (three INTs in four seasons). He did rebound from a season-ending ankle injury – one that kept him out for the Chiefs’ championship stretch run in 2023 – but has not missed a game since.
With Reid leaving in free agency last year, Cook became a valuable piece for a K.C. team that – its 6-11 faceplant notwithstanding – still ranked sixth in scoring defense. Reid filled more roles than Cook under Spagnuolo, but Thornhill also used a starting Chiefs safety role to cash in. Cook will do better than both.
Cook, though, has lower mileage in being four NFL years younger. The 47-game starter saw Tre’von Moehrig and Camryn Bynum respectively land $34MM and $32MM guaranteed last year. Jevon Holland received a $30.3MM Giants guarantee. The crowded market may impede some of this year’s mid-tier safeties, but Cook is a candidate to become the ninth active safety to see a $30MM guarantee.
22. Kenneth Walker, RB. Age in Week 1: 25
No one benefits more from Breece Hall’s franchise tag than Walker, who already ended his contract year on a high note. The first running back to earn Super Bowl MVP honors since Terrell Davis 28 years ago, Walker is a candidate to re-sign with the Seahawks — but his price might be too high for the defending champs. The Seahawks saw Zach Charbonnet, who had forced a near-even timeshare in 2025, suffer an ACL tear in the divisional round. He will likely start the season on the reserve/PUP list, strengthening Walker’s leverage.
Walker’s 161 Super Bowl LX scrimmage yards aside, the Seahawks did not regularly entrust him with pass-catching or pass-blocking duties. Charbonnet was regularly used in this spot during the regular season, infuriating Walker fantasy GMs (who saw the slower back score 12 touchdowns to his five), and gave sub George Holani some pass-down work in the Super Bowl. The Iowa State alum has not proven himself a three-down back.
PFF, however, graded Walker – a two-time 1,000-yard rusher – as the NFL’s best back last season despite a woeful pass-blocking assessment. Deemed the sixth-worst pass protector among qualified RBs, Walker dazzled in the open field – as the Patriots found out – in Klint Kubiak’s scheme. That is a rather popular offense presently, and Walker staying healthy last season came at a good time. The former second-rounder missed six games in 2024 and two each in 2022 and ’23, injecting reasonable injury concerns into the equation. But he will be the top back available.
RB value has fluctuated a bit, but it stagnated to the point quality runners became bargains in recent years. The top of the market did not move from April 2020 (Christian McCaffrey’s Panthers extension) until June 2024 (his 49ers extension). But a flood of veteran bounce-back showings in 2024 led to some notable extensions (namely Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry).
This came two years after none of the three teams to tag a running back extended those players at the July deadline. While Barkley and Josh Jacobs each did well as 2024 UFAs, last year brought a dud on the market. Walker is better than any RB to reach free agency in 2025, though.
The 2023 draft class is poised to update this market, with Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs and De’Von Achane offseason extensions in play. The field of $30MM guarantees for RBs may double (from three to six) based on these deals. Hall’s absence on this market – a tough break for the four-year Jet – could see Walker threaten to reach that guarantee number.
The Kyren Williams and James Cook extensions ($11MM and $11.5MM per year, respectively, with guarantees at $23MM and $30MM) represent a place to start for Walker. With no RB guarantee topping $36MM, however, it is difficult to rank Walker too high even at 25 and as the top player available at the position.
23. Connor McGovern, OL. Age in Week 1: 28
Offering multiple full seasons of center and guard work, McGovern brings versatility without a swingman profile. He is poised to continue as a starter for the foreseeable future, extending the Connor McGovern pipeline – one in place since the since-retired Missouri alum’s 2016 debut – well into a second decade. The younger of the NFL’s two interior O-line Connor McGoverns is coming off a season in which he helped power James Cook to a rushing title. The Penn State alum may be the second-best center available.
Cade Mays rivals McGovern as the top Linderbaum consolation prize on this market, but McGovern is not too much older than the late-blooming Panthers starter and has offered a better body of work. ESPN’s pass block win rate metric ranked McGovern third among all interior O-linemen in 2024 and fifth in ’25, helping Josh Allen to MVP honors and allowing the future Hall of Famer to continue flourishing despite a continued post-Stefon Diggs receiver problem. PFF ranked McGovern as a top-10 center in each of the past two seasons.
Signed to a three-year, $22.35MM Bills deal as a guard in 2023, McGovern spent the 2022 season as a Cowboys guard as well. The former Dallas third-rounder has logged at least 600 snaps at all three interior O-line positions, specializing at center and left guard. Given the Bills’ success and their likely interest in extending younger RG O’Cyrus Torrence, McGovern has a clear route to free agency – where he should do better than he did three years ago.
The NFL only has four eight-figure-per-year center AAVs. Linderbaum will raise the market’s ceiling past $20MM per year. McGovern has virtually no chance of unseating Creed Humphrey as the next-highest-paid snapper, but a handful of teams (one more as of Tuesday, with the Bears’ Drew Dalman retiring) need help at the position. Matching Dalman’s three-year, $42MM Bears pact could be in play for the proven blocker. Dalman received $28MM guaranteed; McGovern should command something in that range
24. David Edwards, G. Age in Week 1: 29
Edwards saw a lengthy bout with a concussion – during a rough Rams Super Bowl title defense – in 2022 disrupt his career arc. He signed for barely the veteran minimum in 2023, and the Bills used the ex-Rams Super Bowl LVI starter as a backup initially. After cutting Mitch Morse in 2024, however, Buffalo re-signed Edwards and inserted him into its starting lineup. It is time for Edwards to cash in on a deal well beyond his two-year, $6MM Bills pact.
It would surprise if Buffalo retained both Edwards and McGovern and keeping one will be costly for a team doing work to carve out any cap space before the 2026 league year. We have seen consistent guards cash in on many occasions in recent free agency periods. First-time UFAs have obviously been more attractive to teams in recent years. Aaron Banks, Robert Hunt, Will Fries, Kevin Dotson and Jonah Jackson have each signed or re-signed for at least $16MM per annum since 2024. But guards past their second contracts have cashed in recently too.
Patrick Mekari signed a three-year, $37.5MM Jaguars deal ($22.5MM guaranteed) as a 2025 free agent. Known more as a super-utility player in Baltimore, Mekari – who signed that deal ahead of his age-28 season – has not proven himself like Edwards has.
Edwards finished last season 10th in run block win rate among all interior O-linemen, joining McGovern in helping Cook to the rushing title. The former fourth-round pick also ranked 12th among guards in pass block win rate. PFF slotted Edwards 22nd among guards last season and has viewed him as a top-30 guard in each of his previous three starter seasons (2020, ’21, ’24). On a market not housing as many strong first-time UFA candidates at guard, the persistent blocker should benefit ahead of his 29th birthday.
25. Mike Evans, WR. Age in Week 1: 33
The greatest offensive player in Buccaneers history has never hit free agency. He came close in 2024 but re-signed on a two-year, $41MM pact that included $29MM guaranteed at signing and $35MM guaranteed in total. Evans may be a one-year contract player at this stage of his career, but a two-year deal would make him worthy of this list. Considering the Rams gave Davante Adams a two-year, $46MM deal at 32, Evans landing something approaching those terms at 33 is not out of the question.
Certainly more reliable than remarkable, Evans will end up in the Hall of Fame at some point. His 11 1,000-yard receiving seasons smashed the NFL record to start a career and tied Jerry Rice – albeit in a much easier time to compile receiving numbers compared to when the WR legend played – with 11 straight 1,000-yard years at any point of a career. Evans only has two All-Pro nods – both second-team accolades – but one came in 2023. The 6-5 boundary receiver is still a difficult matchup for smaller corners in press coverage, and he is one of the era’s defining contested-catch presences.
Evans lost eight games to a broken clavicle last season, but the 2014 first-round pick battled back to help the Bucs down the stretch. It was for naught amid a Tampa Bay collapse, but the runaway leading receiver in franchise history – no one is within 5,000 yards of him – caught six passes for 132 yards in his first game back last December. That came in a loss, and the Bucs fired play-caller Josh Grizzard weeks later. But Evans showed he still has juice in Year 12.
Prior to that two-month injury absence, Evans carried an unconcerning medical sheet. He missed three games in 2024 but none in ’23 and just four from 2020-22. His Marshon Lattimore feud has brought multiple suspensions, but even though the Pro Bowl corner entered the NFL three years later, it is possible Evans outlasts his rival.
Khalil Mack signed the largest non-QB one-year deal (excluding franchise tags) by inking a fully guaranteed $18MM Chargers accord last March. Evans could top that. If the bidding runs high enough, a contract comparable to his 2024 agreement will be in play.
This receiver market is not exactly bereft of talent, but it is not too impressive, either. Evans’ presence inflates its Q rating, and he would be an immediate starter on just about any contender that wins this FA derby.
26. Braden Smith, RT. Age in Week 1: 30
The Colts paid left tackle Bernhard Raimann last summer and have Quenton Nelson – the NFL’s first $20MM-per-year guard – looming as an extension candidate in the final year of his deal. Oh, and they have Jones transition-tagged and Pierce unsigned. With Smith entering Year 9, he is almost definitely headed out of Indiana. In the back half of his prime, the veteran right tackle should still do reasonably well. Unavailability, though, has become a concern.
Smith missed five games in 2024, landing on the reserve/NFI list for what he later confirmed was a form of OCD. He battled at least four injuries – to his knee, hip, wrist and foot – in 2023, missing seven games, and was shut down last season due to a neck malady and a concussion. The longtime Indianapolis right tackle played out a four-year, $72MM deal but accepted a 2025 pay cut. The litany of issues over the past three seasons have probably hurt his value.
Then again, Smith made 105 starts before age 30, being part of some strong Colts lines – one of which driving Jonathan Taylor to the 2021 rushing title – during a two-contract Indiana stay. PFF graded Smith as a top-20 tackle from 2019-23, slotting him outside the top 40 in each of the past two years. ESPN ranked Smith 19th in pass blocking and eighth in run blocking in his injury-shortened 2023. And this market is not teeming with good RT options.
At least five teams have glaring RT needs, with multiple others probably considering an upgrade. This draft brings a couple of high-level RT prospects – Francis Mauigoa, Spencer Fano – that should fill two such openings, but the top end of the FA market will help other clubs.
Mike McGlinchey scored a $17.5MM-AAV deal ahead of his age-29 season (2023), while the Falcons gave Kaleb McGary a two-year, $30MM extension before an injury wiped out his age-30 slate (2025). Something in this range seems appropriate, though it would not surprise to see a team take a shorter-term route – which would reduce the guarantee number – due to Smith’s recent health concerns. Fourteen RT guarantees top $30MM.
27. Quay Walker, LB. Age in Week 1: 26
We come back to the pesky linebacker fifth-year option. Packers GM Brian Gutekunst effectively admitted Walker would have seen his exercised if the CBA separated 3-4 OLBs with non-rush ‘backers, but Walker instead joins Devin Lloyd as an attractive ILB option. Walker has offered prolific tackling work and sustained health, sprinkling in some moments as a blitzer throughout his Green Bay rookie contract. The Packers will have a hard time keeping him.
Walker has produced three seasons with at least 118 tackles, doing so despite missing 10 games during his rookie deal. The career-long starter also has nine career sacks and 29 TFLs. PFF doesn’t despise Walker’s work on the level reserved for Devin White ire, but the advanced metrics site has never ranked the Georgia product higher than 64th among off-ball LBs. His market is unlikely to align with those assessments, however.
Lloyd will likely command more money, but Walker shouldn’t fall to the Kenenth Murray-Titans level (two-years, $15.5MM). It is possible the Zack Baun–Nick Bolton–Jamien Sherwood tier ($15-$17MM AAV) may be out of reach – then again, none of those players ultimately tested the market – but it would be surprising if Walker did not outdo Robert Spillane’s three-year, $33MM Patriots pact. Seeing a $30MM guarantee is in play but bridging a gap between there and the next-closest guarantee number (Terrel Bernard’s $25.2MM) may be doable.
The Packers have until 11am CT Monday to negotiate exclusively with Walker. The Chiefs and Jets used that time wisely, respectively re-signing Bolton and Sherwood just before last year’s tampering period began. That figures to be a crucial window for the Pack and Walker.
28. Coby Bryant, S. Age in Week 1: 27
A starter on probably this decade’s defining defense, Bryant will join Riq Woolen and Josh Jobe in cashing in – from the Seahawks or elsewhere. While I’ve predicted the Seahawks will retain Jobe and let Woolen walk, Bryant’s road is a bit cloudier. The Seahawks already have Julian Love signed to a three-year, $33MM deal. That is a bargain, but with Devon Witherspoon on track for a monster extension and Jaxon Smith-Njigba on that course on the other side of the ball, concessions will need to be made. Bryant should be able to command more outside the Pacific Northwest.
Moving from the slot to free safety, Bryant excelled on deep patrol in Mike Macdonald’s suffocating defense. The Pete Carroll-era draftee intercepted a career-high four passes, after a three-theft 2024, and established himself as one of this market’s top DBs. Despite Love and Ty Okada regularly playing closer to the line of scrimmage, Bryant added four TFLs. PFF ranked Bryant as a top-30 safety in each of the past two seasons.
The Seahawks have loaded up at safety before, paying Quandre Diggs after (regrettably) giving Jamal Adams then-safety-record money. But the team has other priorities, along with Okada and the dynamic Nick Emmanwori (on a rookie deal through at least 2027) rostered. Even in a crowded market, it would surprise if Bryant did not command an eight-figure AAV.
Although the 2023 and ’24 safety markets featured one big payday apiece (Jessie Bates, Xavier McKinney), 2025 featured five deals worth at least $10.5MM per year. All five of those pacts brought at least $20MM guaranteed. Bryant will easily command that, with the Super Bowl bump – as excelling on a Macdonald-led defense (as Kyle Hamilton had) is suddenly worth more. Bryant won’t sniff Hamilton’s outlier $25MM-per-year terms, but the level where Bynum and Holland ended up ($15MM per, just more than $30MM guaranteed) is feasible.
29. Travis Etienne, RB. Age in Week 1: 27
Forced into a timeshare with Tank Bigsby after having the backfield to himself previously, Etienne saw haze creep into his contract-year outlook once the Jaguars drafted two running backs (Bhayshul Tuten, Round 4; LeQuint Allen, Round 7) while keeping Bigsby entering the season. But Etienne dominated in Week 1, and Bigsby was traded to Philadelphia. Etienne proceeded to complete a resurgent season. Like Kenneth Walker, the four-year Jaguars starter benefits from the Jets tagging Breece Hall.
Etienne recovered from a foot injury that erased his 2021 season – a rather good Jaguars year to miss – and has since submitted three 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Najee Harris delivered four on his rookie deal and only signed for $5.25MM. Etienne is a more dynamic back. He has a 476-yard receiving season (2023) on his resume, and Liam Coen’s offense received six aerial scores from its RB1. Nearly as important: Etienne has missed just two games since that foot injury.
Etienne is nearly two years older than Walker, but their career carry counts (897-821) are comparable. Though, Walker’s 480 college totes are favorable to Etienne’s Clemson workload (686 carries). Etienne did not necessarily make a mistake by staying in school for his senior season, but that was before NIL reshaped college sports. NFL-caliber RBs, especially in that era, typically left school as early as possible. College workloads are not discussed enough when it comes to long-term RB value. We may have a case to study based on where Etienne’s free agency deal lands.
There is also a case to be made Etienne should rival what Walker receives. While Walker is a marginal receiving option and is viewed internally and externally as a poor pass protector, PFF ranked Etienne fifth in pass pro among RBs last season. He also avoided a year of wear and tear thanks to the foot injury he has proved to be well past. That should factor into teams’ assessments.
Tony Pollard and Josh Jacobs hit free agency after their fifth seasons. Jacobs did better in terms of AAV ($12MM). Etienne’s camp could target the newly formed James Cook–Kyren Williams tier formed last year. A deal between $11-$12MM per year could be there for Etienne; Cook received $30MM guaranteed, Williams $23MM. Both contracts featured partial year-out guarantees while also providing the teams flexibility. Etienne would benefit more if the Seahawks re-signed Walker in the next few days, but with it perhaps being likelier the latter tests free agency, slotting Etienne in the middle of the overall pack seems fair.
30. Jamel Dean, CB. Age in Week 1: 29
Carlton Davis hit free agency a second time after his seventh season. After a contract adjustment that removed a season from his four-year, $52MM contract, his former Buccaneers teammate will follow suit. Davis was entering his age-28 season when he hit the market, while Dean is a year older before his second FA foray. Still, the former Super Bowl LV winner enjoyed a strong season in 2025. Though, myriad injuries could cause a problem with his market.
Last year, the oldest of the late-20s contingent of proven CB starters – Rasul Douglas – was left out in the cold, eventually settling for a one-year Dolphins deal worth barely $1.5MM. That marked a drastic disparity between he and the other four vets he was grouped with (Davis, Byron Murphy, D.J. Reed, Charvarius Ward). This year’s market features younger options – but most have questions. There aren’t as many proven 20-somethings like Dean, helping him carve out some space for FA pitches.
Dean agreed to a significant pay cut last year, dropping his 2025 base pay from $12.5MM to $4.25MM. He responded by allowing a 49.2% completion rate as the closest defender and a 63.1 passer rating (both his best marks since 2021). Among CBs to start at least half the season, Dean’s completion rate-allowed mark ranked ninth. Dean intercepted a career-high three passes, and PFF ranked the former third-round pick as the league’s fifth-best corner. Were injuries not an issue, Dean may still be a Bucs priority. But they do cloud his earning power.
Missing five games in 2024, Dean was forced out of others due to injuries. He missed four games in 2023 and then missed three 2025 contests, battling hip and shoulder maladies. While Reed and Ward landed between $32-$35MM guaranteed before age-29 seasons, not too many big-ticket guarantees go to soon-to-be 30-year-old CBs. Darius Slay scored $24.5MM at 32, while then-teammate James Bradberry re-signed for $20MM guaranteed before his age-30 season. Jalen Ramsey was irresponsibly given a three-year, $72.3MM pact before his age-31 slate.
After only one free agent corner received more than $30MM guaranteed between 2021 and ’24, last year’s market brought a course change – and it centered around players comparable to the 6-2 Dean. With less competition among this genre of CB this offseason, Dean should have many suitors. Will any pony up a three-year deal that comes with a comparable guarantee to his 2025 peers?
31. Jermaine Eluemunor, RT. Age in Week 1: 31
The Giants may have scared the NFL away from giving HBO’s fascinating Hard Knocks: Offseason project a sequel, but several important storylines emerged from season one. A subplot involving Eluemunor indicated the Giants wanted to lock him up for longer, but he preferred a two-year agreement. That decision looks wise, as a player who was tied to low wages (for the NFL, at least) for most of his career did well on a two-year, $14MM accord. Even though Eluemunor is past 30, he will do better this time around.
New York was planning to use Eluemunor at left guard during the 2024 offseason, but Evan Neal issues prompted the team to kick the UFA addition to his most familiar O-line post. It worked out, with Eluemunor starting 31 Giants games during his two years with the team. Eluemunor subbed for the injured Andrew Thomas at LT in 2024 and played a full season at RT last year. The former Ravens fifth-round pick has become a late bloomer, and his past with John Harbaugh (2017-18) will be worth monitoring as the ex-Baltimore czar takes over in New York.
Eluemunor played for $990K in 2021, $1.25MM in ’22 and $3MM in ’23. It turned out he was undervalued in Las Vegas. The Giants have made many transactional missteps under Joe Schoen, but Eluemunor is one of the embattled GM’s success stories. With Jaxson Dart on a rookie contract, it would help the Giants’ cause if they re-signed the RT. A good market should await the sneaky-reliable pass protector.
Several teams need RT help immediately. The FA crop is slim, and with Braden Smith coming off three seasons shortened by injury or illness, Eluemunor’s stock has likely gone up. Eluemunor has missed just six games over the past five seasons. Something between the Morgan Moses (three years, $24MM) and Kaleb McGary (2/30) deals is reasonable. Although the Panthers gave Taylor Moton a two-year, $44MM deal at 31, the Carolina blocker is a higher-regarded player. But a big Eluemunor raise should be coming.
32. K’Lavon Chaisson, EDGE. Age in Week 1: 27
It might take another “prove it”-type contract given how underwhelming Chaisson’s Jaguars rookie-deal performance was. The Panthers also cut the former first-round pick in 2024. After quietly registering five sacks as a 2024 Raider backup, Chaisson became a key presence for the Super Bowl-bound Patriots. Chaisson finished with 7.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and 18 QB hits. The 18 hits were nine more than the LSU product totaled in any prior season.
He of five sacks in four Jags seasons, Chaisson is on a poor man’s Haason Reddick trajectory. However, it only took the former miscast Cardinals off-ball LB only until Year 4 to break through. The former No. 20 overall pick – the first of the Jags’ two Round 1 choices in the Jalen Ramsey trade – did so in Year 6. But first-round picks usually receive a few chances, and Chaisson finally showed something in New England. He stuck the landing on an unexpected breakout by sacking Justin Herbert twice and C.J. Stroud once; Chaisson finished with a playoffs-high four TFLs.
This market has a buyer-beware light blinking incessantly, but a team will bite. There are too many clubs in need of EDGE assistance. Certainly better as a team’s No. 2 edge defender compared to an anchor, Chaisson could command something in the Alex Wright–Jonathon Cooper–Carl Granderson range ($11-$13MM per year). Teams’ comfort zones will be tested if the guarantee reaches Cooper-Granderson territory (between $31MM and $35MM). The Browns extended Wright for just over $21MM guaranteed. Something in between these price points may get it done.
Arden Key went from LSU bust to a player who commanded $7MM per year (in 2023 money), being productive on that Titans deal, while Chase Young – a better player than Chaisson but someone who spent years as an uncertain commodity – rewarded the Saints on his three-year, $51MM deal in 2025. Chaisson will not command that, but he might not end up too far south of it.
33. Cade Mays, C. Age in Week 1: 27
A handful of starter-level centers are due for free agency, with two cap cuts (Tyler Biadasz, Lloyd Cushenberry) and one potential release (Elgton Jenkins) providing options. But more than a quarter of the league needs help at the pivot. Mays joins Connor McGovern as the Tyler Linderbaum consolation prizes.
Taking over as the Panthers’ full-time center in Week 3 of last season, Mays also started eight games at the position in 2024. In the half-season 2024 sample, Mays ranked eighth in pass block win rate. A former sixth-rounder out of Georgia, Mays could sign an eight-figure-per-year pact soon. Linderbaum is set to change the marketplace; that will only help Mays as a fellow first-time free agent (as opposed to the above-referenced cap casualties or McGovern, a seven-year vet).
Mays is not an especially agile player, but he brings power that will be useful to some center-needy clubs. Fellow two-season starter Luke Wattenberg recently inked a four-year, $48MM Broncos extension that came with $27.37MM guaranteed in total. That is a reasonable comp. It will be worth wondering if the Biadasz, Mays and McGovern (and if he’s released, Jenkins) markets cannibalize each other, but there are enough needs and sufficient cap growth for all three to do well.
34. Cade Otton, TE. Age in Week 1: 27
While not a top-shelf athlete at his position, Otton is a young tight end on a market that lost Kyle Pitts to the franchise tag. Otton does not bring Isaiah Likely’s upside, but he might present a higher floor. The Buccaneers’ Rob Gronkowski successor caught 59 passes in each of the past two seasons and combined for 1,172 yards in that span. Also a capable blocker, the former fourth-round pick will generate interest in a league that has seen more multi-tight end sets spring up in recent years.
It should be reminded that Austin Hooper once set a tight end salary record by hitting free agency, signing a four-year, $42MM deal with the Browns in 2020. As this space has discussed, the Patriots holding Gronkowski to his six-year extension in 2012 and Travis Kelce not maximizing his value (on the field, at least) suppressed the TE market – to the point the league still does not have a $20MM-per-year player at the position. Hooper’s 2020 reminds of the power the market brings, even at an undervalued position.
Otton has only cleared 10 yards per catch in one of his four seasons (2023, 10.2), but he has operated both as an inline tight end and in the slot. He helped Baker Mayfield considerably as his skill-position players kept dropping last season, catching 29 passes for 319 yards from Weeks 5-9. The Bucs, who have enjoyed great success retaining their own under Jason Licht, will have a big need if Otton departs next week.
The $12.5MM-per-year Cole Kmet–Jake Ferguson tier should be a place to start for Otton. The 6-5 target’s 11 career TDs and 9.7-yard career average per grab should keep him out of the market’s upper reaches, but Kmet and Ferguson each topped $30MM guaranteed on four-year deals. David Njoku did the same on a 2022 extension. The cap is more than $90MM higher in 2026. Even if Otton’s guarantee falls into the Mark Andrews–Dalton Schultz–Pat Freiermuth area, that is still north of $21MM.
35. Dallas Goedert, TE. Age in Week 1: 31
In fall 2021, Goedert and Mark Andrews signed second contracts. They inked near-identical extensions. The Ravens gave Andrews a four-year deal worth $56MM, while Goedert inked a four-year contract worth $57MM. It is possible history repeats itself here.
Andrews, a 2018 third-round pick, signed a second Ravens extension – a three-year, $39.27MM pact – in December 2025. Like Goedert, Andrews will play an age-31 season in 2026. A superior blocker coming off a better 2025 season, Goedert should be in position to use an Andrews deal as a springboard once again.
Unlike Andrews, Goedert has no Pro Bowls on his resume. That is an increasingly less meaningful distinction, but it is a bit surprising one of the game’s best all-around TEs – granted, the Eagles’ Super Bowl appearances in 2022 and ’24 nixed any alternate invites – has never been honored. Goedert also deals with injury issues annually. Last year brought only one missed game due to injury, but the former second-round pick missed six contests with injuries in 2024, three in 2023 and five in 2022. That will be an issue for teams.
But Goedert was a key part of Saquon Barkley’s 2024 dominance, and he caught 11 touchdown passes last season – an Eagles TE record. Goedert has averaged more than 11 yards per reception four times, most recently in 2024, and he has been a plus blocker throughout his career. The South Dakota State alum is declining, as a 9.9-yard average in 2025 partially shows, but he still totaled 591 yards in Kevin Patullo’s disjointed offense.
The Eagles gave Goedert a pay cut after trade rumors swirled last year, and he could very well head elsewhere soon. Andrews’ late-season extension brought $25.94MM guaranteed (eighth among TEs). If a team signs off on a Goedert three-year offer, it will need to include at least that much guaranteed.
36. Nick Cross, S. Age in Week 1: 25
Free safeties occupy more slots among the top 20 highest-paid players at the safety position, but some of their strong safety brethren – Xavier McKinney, Talanoa Hufanga, Grant Delpit, Julian Love – reside here too. It is possible Cross will be caught in the wash of a crowded market, but his age and production point to considerable interest.
The Colts are highly unlikely to pay Cross, as they overhauled their secondary payroll – by signing Camryn Bynum and Charvarius Ward (to go with Kenny Moore’s $10MM AAV) and trading for Sauce Gardner’s monster extension – in 2025. There is no room for Cross in Indy. Cross will be able to shop around. If he is smart, he will use his age advantage to ink a medium-term deal with an eye on being back in free agency – or using a potential market trip as extension leverage – in his late 20s.
Whereas most of the players in this market will be in their late 20s by Week 1, Cross turns 25 this offseason. Having two more mid-20s seasons to market, after playing well in two defensive systems over the past two years, represents a weapon Cross has his peers do not. That could well matter, even if this position may be the most crowded in this year’s FA class.
Deemed unready over his first two seasons, the Maryland alum combined for 266 tackles (11 for loss) and four interceptions from 2024-25 in Gus Bradley and Lou Anarumo’s defenses. Bradley charge Julian Blackmon’s free agencies have been a dud, but Cross was more productive. His 16 pressures ranked third among safeties last season. This is a box player, but Moehrig’s move to the box in 2024 helped garner him a three-year, $51MM Panthers accord. Cross has also seen nearly 700 free safety snaps over the past two seasons, offering some versatility – even if he is best closer to the line of scrimmage.
37. Chig Okonkwo, TE. Age in Week 1: 27
More than a fourth of the league will be looking for a starting tight end this offseason. The early emergences of Brock Bowers and Sam LaPorta notwithstanding, this position traditionally features a steep learning curve. Eyeing rookies and expecting immediate impact can prove frustrating. With Kyle Pitts off the market, there might be more money out there for a tight end coming into his prime.
Okonkwo could also be graded on a curve. He played with a breaking-down Ryan Tannehill and an overmatched Malik Willis as a rookie, and much of his next two years came with Will Levis targeting him. The 6-3 pass catcher, who clocked a 4.52-second 40-yard time at the 2022 Combine, has two 500-yard receiving seasons on his resume. He has not been especially consistent, but QB issues have followed the Maryland alum for much of his career.
The former fourth-round pick is coming off his best season – 56 catches, 560 yards – and a team will pay to have him start in 2026. Undersized at 238 pounds, Okonkwo still will generate intrigue due to his production with basement-level – Cam Ward’s rookie year qualifies as such – QB play. Fourteen TE contracts carry $20MM-plus in guarantees. Juwan Johnson fetched $21.25MM guaranteed last year and broke through, at 29, for a career-best season. A team selling itself on Okonkwo’s late 20s should happen.
Although this market has some other notable options – Isaiah Likely, Cade Otton, Dallas Goedert, David Njoku, Travis Kelce (though, it is Chiefs or retirement for the all-time great) – Okonkwo presents a nice speed-age combination. And having never missed a game represents a big plus for the intriguing starter.
38. Kamren Curl, S. Age in Week 1: 27
Curl’s market underwhelmed two years ago, settling at just two years and $9MM. That two-year deal was purposeful, as Curl knew he could make it back to free agency in his prime. A glut of talented safeties exists this year, but Curl is one of the best available. And last year showed a crowded market can still yield rewards for its best players, with five eight-figure-per-year safety pacts handed out.
Curl played nearly 300 snaps in the box and more than 650 at free safety last season, while also logging more than 100 in the slot. The Rams extended Quentin Lake but used the young safety in slot more, though Los Angeles also has Kamren Kinchens. This offseason probably breaks up the two-year all-Kamren pair on the L.A. back line. PFF ranked Curl 11th among safeties last season, grading him second overall in run defense at the position.
Not set to turn 28 until March 2027, Curl has three late-20s seasons to market. Teams wanted to see more in 2024, though the safety market has yoyoed over the past decade. Curl registered two sacks last season and intercepted his first two passes since his 2020 rookie year. He also made a career-high 122 tackles. With ability to play in the box and at FS, the former Washington seventh-rounder is running out of time to cash in. He should do well this time around.
39. Leo Chenal, LB. Age in Week 1: 25
Were it not for Chenal, the Chiefs would be on a five-game losing streak to the Broncos. The young linebacker, however, bulldozing Alex Forsyth resulted in a dramatic blocked field goal in November 2024. That helped put the Nick Bolton sidekick on the map, and Steve Spagnuolo found an increased role for the former third-round pick last season. Chenal played a career-best 53% of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps in 2025, but his Kansas City place is murky thanks to the Bolton contract and Drue Tranquill’s presence.
The Chiefs found money to franchise-tag Trey Smith last year, essentially swapping Joe Thuney’s money for Smith’s payday. K.C. could orchestrate a similar switcheroo with Tranquill and Chenal, as the former is going into an age-31 season; Chenal will turn 26 in October. Tranquill can be cut for $6MM in savings, possibly opening the door for a Chenal payment. The Chiefs also just traded Trent McDuffie to clear nearly $14MM in cap space. A Jawaan Taylor release then added $20MM more, giving Kansas City $24MM-plus as of Wednesday night.
Chenal has functioned as Kansas City’s No. 3 linebacker. Similar to Azeez Al-Shaair’s role during the Fred Warner–Dre Greenlaw duo’s heyday, Chenal played far less than the top two LB cogs on his team. But PFF has rated him as a top-20 off-ball LB in each of the past two seasons. And Spagnuolo has used the Wisconsin alum in myriad roles. This included a spy position on Lamar Jackson. Chenal has also been effective as a blitzer, totaling six sacks and 13 QB hits over the past three seasons.
Free agency regularly rewards promising part-time players, and Chenal’s age – being younger than both Devin Lloyd and Quay Walker – works in his favor here. Like safety, however, this year’s ILB class supplies depth. But a guarantee at or near $20MM should not be ruled out.
40. Josh Jobe, CB. Age in Week 1: 28
Jobe figures to be the easiest member of Seattle’s free agent DB starter trio – which also includes Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant – to retain. Considering the Seahawks developed him – after the Eagles moved on following their 2024 training camp – into a starter exclusively during Mike Macdonald’s tenure, it would stand to reason this is a way to ensure some continuity alongside Devon Witherspoon. A Jobe deal probably would be the easiest to complement Witherspoon’s upcoming windfall.
A year older than Woolen, Jobe brings now-or-never vibes as a free agent. We saw last year this age range be rewarded at the position, but 2025’s group of late-20-something corners carried more starter experience. Jobe may not have time to accumulate that if he accepts a one- or two-year deal. It would seem necessary for the former UDFA out of Alabama to capitalize on the momentum being a Super Bowl LX starter has generated and take his FA swing now.
Playing a career-high 818 defensive snaps (and starting more games than Woolen – 15-7), Jobe allowed a measly 49.5% completion rate as the closest defender last season. Among boundary corners with at least eight starts, that ranked ninth leaguewide. Jobe’s statistical resume is plain, with just two career INTs (granted, he only saw extensive defensive action in two seasons) and zero TFLs. He did break up a career-high 12 passes last season while starting three postseason games for a dominant Super Bowl-winning defense.
Unexplored guarantee territory exists between last year’s late-20-something CB signees and pure slots. Among veteran CBs, only Jalen Ramsey’s outlier contract (due to his age) resides between Brandon Stephens’ $22.98MM Jets guarantee and D.J. Reed’s $32MM Lions number. The Seahawks could explore that territory to retain the 5-11 Jobe on a medium-term agreement.
41. Wyatt Teller, G. Age in Week 1: 31
Teller slogged through an unusual contract year. Extension rumors emerged early in the fall, and Teller lost playing time to backup Teven Jenkins. Cleveland does not have Jenkins under contract, either, as the three-year Bears starter was surprisingly available for just $3.1MM in 2025. As the Browns have their entire starting front five from 2025 unsigned, Teller has confirmed he will not be part of Todd Monken’s offense. Teller is hitting free agency either at the tail end of his prime or early in his NFL twilight years.
The market for 30-something guards may not be robust, but there are not many sure things among first-timers this year. Alijah Vera-Tucker’s three season-ending injuries in five years make him a “prove it” deal candidate. Dylan Parham, Ed Ingram and Daniel Faalele also carry questions entering their first free agencies.
Teller is also nearly two years younger than Isaac Seumalo, who played out his Steelers contract. He is three years younger than longtime teammate Joel Bitonio and nearly five years younger than the historically experienced Kevin Zeitler – a trusted guard mercenary at this point.
It is undeniable Teller peaked a few years ago, helping Nick Chubb to a string of 1,000-yard seasons. The Bills erred when giving up on Teller, a 2018 fifth-round pick, in 2019. He then started six-plus seasons in Cleveland. That worked out to 94 starts; in that time, Teller teamed with Bitonio to form a top-tier guard duo for a few seasons. Teller earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2020 and ’21 and received three straight Pro Bowl invites from 2021-23.
An MCL sprain sidelined Teller for four games in 2024, and he missed 2025 time because of a calf injury – and the Browns reducing his snaps for Jenkins late in the season – but he missed only one game due to injury from 2021-23. Teller will start elsewhere in 2026. Will the questions on this year’s guard market bump his price up?
Teller played out a four-year, $56.8MM extension. Bitonio signed a three-year, $48MM deal at 30, while the Bears gave Joe Thuney a two-year, $35MM extension at 33. Thuney is better than Teller, but those accords show early-30-something contracts are doled out to proven guards.
42. Cor’Dale Flott, CB. Age in Week 1: 25
This is an age-based bet. Teams will be intrigued by the prospect of acquiring an experienced starting cornerback in his mid-20s, which is largely unavailable on this market. Flott outplayed former first-rounder Deonte Banks, with the Giants demoting their top 2023 pick in favor of a 2022 third-round choice who needed to change positions — from the slot to the perimeter — during his rookie contract.
Flott, who does not turn 25 until August, started 37 games in New York and played nearly 1,200 snaps on the boundary between the 2024 and ’25 seasons. PFF ranked Flott just outside the top 40 among CBs in 2025, when he started a career-high 14 games. The Giants turned to the LSU alum, as Banks’ stock nosedives, opposite 2025 UFA addition Paulson Adebo and are interested in re-signing him even after changing coaches.
The Giants appeared keen on demoting Flott after signing Adebo last year, but the LSU product wrested a starting job back from Banks. The 6-2 defender then broke up a career-high 11 passes and submitted his best coverage work (per Pro-Football-Reference) by allowing merely a 52.2% completion rate as the closest defender and holding QBs to 73.3 passer rating. These numbers were much better than Flott’s 2024 work (66.7%, 89.0), but age and a 37-start profile work in his favor. A guarantee north of where the Jets went for first-time UFA Brandon Stephens ($22.98MM) is reasonable considering Stephens’ 2024 contract year was worse than Flott’s 2025.
43. Dre’Mont Jones, EDGE. Age in Week 1: 29
Ranked eighth on the 2023 version of this list, Jones indeed cashed in following his Broncos rookie contract. He did not live up to the three-year, $51MM Seahawks pact – a then-record for an outside Seattle FA signing – and was released as the NFC West team built a Super Bowl roster last year. Among Seattle’s cap casualties before the 2025 league year, Jones did the best job bouncing back. He delivered a career-high seven sacks and 24 QB hits, being traded from the Titans to the Ravens at the deadline.
Jones is also back on a PFR top 50 in a different position. The Seahawks converted the former 3-4 defensive end into an edge presence, but he was not as effective in his first full-time year in that role. After a four-sack season featuring 13 QB hits (and a demotion), Jones received his walking papers and signed a one-year, $8.5MM Titans deal. Jones then led the Ravens in pressures following his arrival. His 28 pressures between Baltimore and Tennessee ranked 28th last season. That matched Josh Sweat and outflanked higher-profile UFAs-to-be Odafe Oweh, Kwity Paye and Joey Bosa.
A power rusher stemming from his time as an interior D-lineman, Jones has made an uncommon transition. After continuing as a 3-4 D-end in 2023, the former third-round pick played 523 outside snaps in 2024 and 699 in ’25. Jones still offers the ability to match up well with interior O-linemen, however, supplying versatility. Not a traditional EDGE with high-end athleticism and a bevy of pass-rush moves, Jones still has 37.5 career sacks and 47 TFLs despite spending more than half his career inside.
Dayo Odeyingbo parlayed his time as a Colts power DE into a three-year, $48MM Bears deal. At this stage of Jones’ career, that is overly aspirational. As a sidekick edge rusher still in his 20s, Jones will still command a reasonable market after his turnaround 2025.
44. Alijah Vera-Tucker, G. Age in Week 1: 27
Players have cashed in after an injury-wrecked season. Allen Robinson scored a monster Bears free agent deal after missing almost all of the 2017 season. Kirk Cousins commanded a $100MM guarantee after an Achilles tear, while Daniel Jones is following in the savvy earner’s footsteps. But what about when three years are wiped out by injury?
Vera-Tucker would be this market’s top guard maybe even if he still had two of those years shortened by major injuries, but No. 3 last year makes this one of 2026’s strangest markets. PFF graded Vera-Tucker as the No. 9 overall guard in 2024, when he logged 916 RG snaps after the Jets made good on their pledge to stop toggling him between guard and right tackle. The Joe Douglas-Robert Saleh regime viewed Vera-Tucker as having Pro Bowl potential at guard.
The Jets changed regimes and stopped their extension efforts after the Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner deals, and Vera-Tucker suffered a triceps tear just before the season. This came three years after a separate triceps tear; Vera-Tucker also sustained an Achilles tear in October 2023.
Vera-Tucker has encountered triceps tears in both arms; teams would be advised to proceed with caution here. That said, the dearth of second-contract guard options could allow for the malady-prone blocker to score a multiyear deal rather than merely a “prove it” pact.
Ex-Jets OCs Mike LaFleur and Nathaniel Hackett reside in Arizona, while Saleh needs a Peter Skoronski complement in Tennessee. It might take until 2027 for Vera-Tucker to cash in, but he is better than Mekhi Becton. A team may well roll the dice early in what could be a buy-low opportunity.
45. Isaac Seumalo, G. Age in Week 1: 32
Seumalo is a 10-year veteran seeking his fourth contract, but he may have played too well to ignore here. The Super Bowl LVII starter brought good value on a three-year, $24MM Steelers contract. As the team has changed coaching staffs, Seumalo is days away from testing the market for a second time.
The Steelers needed to give the former third-round pick a better contract than the Eagles did in 2019, when he signed a three-year deal worth $17.55MM. On a Pittsburgh line flooded with rookie contracts, Seumalo did his part and was 3-for-3 in playoff berths with his second Pennsylvania club. Seumalo ranked third in pass block win rate and fourth in run block win rate last season. In 2024, Seumalo placed seventh in the run-blocking category.
Like Wyatt Teller, Seumalo could take advantage of a host of first-time UFA guards with big questions – be it injury- or performance-related. Joe Thuney’s two-year, $35MM Bears extension included $33.5MM guaranteed. Seumalo will not command that, but a three-year pact including two guaranteed years – or a partial Year 2 guarantee – should be reasonable. If that is the case, a likely $20MM-plus guarantee will await a proven blocker who would help a handful of contending teams at a position that has been treated increasingly well in free agency.
46. Joey Bosa, EDGE. Age in Week 1: 31
For teams uneager to wade into the deep waters at the edge defender position in free agency, Bosa represents an interesting midlevel alternative. On a Hall of Fame trajectory before injuries slowed him in Los Angeles, Bosa has played 29 games over the past two years – after suiting up for only 14 from 2022-23. He is certainly a risky bet, and the sack production has waned in recent years. But the 10-year veteran made an impact with Buffalo and could do damage as a No. 2 rush presence.
Bosa led the NFL with five forced fumbles last season. While he only tallied five sacks – his second straight year with that total – the former No. 3 overall pick matched Odafe Oweh with 24 pressures. Bosa’s 16 QB hits were his most since 2021. Bosa also finished fourth among edge rushers in run stop win rate in 2024, after the Chargers gave him a pay cut.
The Bills probably overused Bosa last season as well, giving him a 64% defensive snap rate after he had played between 50-54% of the Chargers’ snaps over the previous three seasons. Moving the former Pro Bowler back toward that level as a wingman for a high-profile EDGE could be a scenario that entices contending teams. Though, it is certainly possible Bosa takes another one-year deal. His last came with $12MM guaranteed.
DeMarcus Lawrence secured a three-year, $32.5MM Seahawks deal last year; that pact came with $18MM guaranteed ahead of an age-33 season with the longtime Cowboy coming off a Lisfranc injury. After Bosa stayed mostly healthy over the past two seasons, something similar – adjusted for 2026 inflation – could be in the cards.
47. Jaquan Brisker, S. Age in Week 1: 27
This free agent class just contains so many first-stringers at safety; some proven back-line defenders will need to settle for below-market deals. Brisker may not be where that line is drawn, but it also may not come too far south of here. Brisker would probably rank higher were he not shut down by a concussion in 2024. A concussion apiece caused Brisker to miss time in 2022 and ’23, and his most concerning head injury came in 2024, when a 12-game absence commenced.
Complementing 2025 INT leader Kevin Byard to give Chicago a high-level safety tandem, Brisker resurfaced with a 17-game season. The hard-hitting DB topped 100 tackles in 2022 and ’23, despite missing two games in each season, and combined for eight TFLs in those campaigns. While the former second-round pick has only four career INTs, he broke up nine passes in 2023 and eight in ’25.
PFF has never ranked Brisker inside the top 40 at the position, and the depth of this class – not included on this list: Byard, Jalen Thompson, Jaylinn Hawkins, Kyle Dugger, Andre Cisco, Harrison Smith, Donovan Wilson, Alohi Gilman, Reed Blankenship, Xavier Woods, C.J. Gardner-Johnson – will make it difficult for too many safeties to land near the market’s upper reaches.
But four UFA safeties scored $20MM guarantees last year, with three of those – Tre’von Moehrig, Jevon Holland, Camryn Bynum – topping $30MM. Brisker is a candidate to at least climb past $20MM guaranteed on his second contract.
48. Joseph Ossai, EDGE. Age in Week 1: 26
Even though Ossai signed a one-year deal as a 2025 free agent, he is only heading into his age-26 season. That makes the longtime Trey Hendrickson supporting-caster an atypical 2026 free agent. Ossai’s sack stats do not excite, but he has been a steady pressure artist over the past two seasons. He will do better than a one-year, $6.5MM contract – his 2025 terms.
Perhaps destined to be forever known as the player whose late hit on Patrick Mahomes moved the Chiefs into field goal range during an AFC title game in which the Kansas City megastar was hurt and throwing to a skeleton-crew WR cast, Ossai has quietly recovered from that sideline misstep. The former third-round pick finished in the top 40 in pressures in 2024 (with 23) and added 22 in 2025. The latter number may be more impressive considering Hendrickson (10 missed games) was not there to command attention from O-lines.
The Nigerian rusher, who missed his full rookie season due to injury, added nine TFLs in a 14-game 2025. He also ranked sixth in ESPN’s run stop win rate among edge players in 2024. Ossai offers plus speed at this position, which is a trait some of the edges on this year’s market lack.
The youngest EDGE on this list, Ossai will fare better as a 2026 UFA. This draft does feature some strong first-round options, but teams will not be viewing Ossai as a lead rusher. At best, Ossai is a No. 2 option with reasonable upside. Aiming for an Alex Wright– or Dorance Armstrong-level deal – the two are respectively on $11MM- and $10MM-AAV pacts, each seeing just more than $20MM guaranteed – may be within reach for a player who should have better sack seasons ahead.
49. Dylan Parham, G. Age in Week 1: 27
Parham is not carrying much FA buzz, but he is a four-year starter (63 games) in his prime. There is no major injury history here. Although the Raiders are coming off a miserable season – during which Pete Carroll fired OC Chip Kelly – this type of guard gets paid annually.
Kelly and Brennan Carroll received criticism for mismanagement in 2025, and PFF ranked Las Vegas’ front five as the NFL’s worst. Part of that stemmed from Kolton Miller’s half-season absence and major struggles at center and right tackle as well. But Parham, who has logged seasons at LG and RG, held his own. The former third-round pick graded in the top 20 in pass block win rate last year (19th) and in 2024 (14th). PFF graded Parham 17th among guards two seasons ago and 37th last year.
Great players rarely reach the market. Instead, average and above-average talents are regularly overpaid. This FA guard class has some third- and even fourth-contract candidates set to see notable cash, in part because of issues involving some of the first-timers. Parham might be a sleeper candidate to see eight figures per year or close to it in a league with a $301.2MM salary cap.
50. Jalen Nailor, WR. Age in Week 1: 27
Nailor is among the late-20s receivers set to be available. With Justin Jefferson’s at-signing guarantee ($88.7MM) still a receiver record and Jordan Addison a first-round pick (albeit one who has encountered legal trouble), Nailor’s second contract likely comes from outside the Twin Cities.
When the previous Jefferson-Addison third wheel (K.J. Osborn) hit free agency, no notable market formed. Also a 5-11 slot-based wideout, Nailor has differentiated himself with gaudy yards-per-catch figures (14.8, 15.3). He has benefited from playing with Jefferson, but per ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano, coaching staffs are high on the former sixth-round pick – drafted in Kevin O’Connell’s first Minnesota offseason.
We saw Dyami Brown receive $10MM from the Jaguars last year despite zero 400-yard seasons in Washington. Nailor has two, the second despite concerning QB play from J.J. McCarthy. A place as a midlevel No. 2 wideout or a high-end slot – on a team that can afford it, perhaps one with a rookie-deal QB in place – could unlock a new level for the crafty Michigan State product.
There are seven guards earning $20MM per year, yet Creed Humphrey’s $18MM-AAV contract tops the center market. Only two centers (Humphrey and Cam Jurgens) earn more than $12MM – now that Drew Dalman surprisingly elected to retire and the Titans have cut Lloyd Cushenberry. Linderbaum will almost definitely become the NFL’s first $20MM-per-year center, and this free agency could remind of when Antoine Winfield Jr.’s 2024 Bucs extension briefly dragged the safety market past cornerback.
Richardson completed fewer than 48% of his passes that season, one of the least accurate starter slates this century, but Pierce (824 yards in 2024) continued his ascent from the Matt Ryan/Gardner Minshew years. He hit another gear in 2025 (1,003 yards in 15 games) and will benefit soon – from either a Colts re-signing or a big-ticket free agency deal. With George Pickens franchise-tagged, Pierce tops this year’s receiver market.
Philly sent Miami a third-round pick for the rental rusher, and while he only finished his comeback season with five sacks, the 2021 first-rounder’s 35 QB pressures ranked 12th leaguewide. His pressure rate (18.8% — far north of Trey Hendrickson or Odafe Oweh’s 2025 numbers) ranked fourth among players with at least 250 defensive snaps.
The Bengals offered Hendrickson a backloaded extension – three years, $95MM – last year but saw the disgruntled D-end reject it due to insufficient guarantee protection beyond Year 1. The Steelers’ T.J. Watt extension included full guarantees for the 2026 and ’27 seasons. Watt is more accomplished than Hendrickson, but he is also 31 and had tallied fewer sacks between the 2023 and ’24 seasons. The Bengals’ offer also trailed the Texans’ Danielle Hunter AAV of $35.6MM despite the latter being the same age with a similar resume.
The Packers turned to Walker, a 2022 seventh-round pick, as their David Bakhtiari fallback option and saw him far outplay his draft position. Walker started 48 games from 2023-25, fending off first-round pick Jordan Morgan for the Green Bay LT gig. Morgan is poised to commandeer it (by default, as Broderick Jones did in Pittsburgh post-Moore), but Walker will cash in elsewhere.
ESPN’s Stephen Holder reports there has been “positive movement” over the past 24 hours with respect to negotiations with Pierce. An agreement this afternoon “feels possible,” he adds. Of course, nothing has been finalized yet and the Colts need to keep in mind Jones’ situation. A transition tag could be in store in his case, something which would lead to a reduced one-year cost at the quarterback position. That would also, however, leave the door open to Pierce departing in free agency.
“I’m proud of Nick; I’m happy for Nick. Look, sometimes for players, there’s going to come a point where you and I don’t agree, and you don’t like me because of finances,” Ballard said during an appearance on The Fan Morning Show. “There’s this big pie, and I can slice it up and give you a piece of the pie, but someone (else) might be willing to give you a bigger piece, and if that happens, we’ve both done our jobs.
Age may be working against one of Indianapolis’ core defenders. Ballard did not ensure Zaire Franklin would be back with the Colts for a ninth season. Franklin (30 in July) is tied to a three-year, $31.26MM contract. The Colts would save $9MM by cutting their top tackler, who is due an $8.24MM base salary in 2026 — the final year of his deal.
