2016 NFL Free Agents

Community Tailgate: Top Free Agents Of 2016

As the NFL regular season nears its home stretch, there are plenty of topics and storylines to discuss, and PFR’s Community Tailgate is designed to address those stories. What’s the Community Tailgate all about? Well, it’s pretty simple. We’ll highlight one of the top stories going on in the NFL. Then, in the comment section below, we want you to weigh in and let us know what you think.

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Earlier this week, two AFC clubs with plenty of future cap room took advantage of that long-term flexibility by locking up their leading receivers. The Browns signed tight end Gary Barnidge to a three-year extension, while the Raiders locked up wideout Michael Crabtree for four years. The moves took a pair of intriguing free-agents-to-be off the market for 2016, and in the coming weeks, we’ll likely see several more potential free agents taken off the board, having signed extensions with their current teams.

That doesn’t mean that there won’t still be plenty of intriguing free agents available this winter, however. In our first installment of our 2016 free agent power rankings last night, we had a hard time narrowing down the options to just 10. These were the 10 players we chose, ranked by how much guaranteed money we think they could land on long-term deals this offseason:

  1. Von Miller, OLB (Broncos)
  2. Alshon Jeffery, WR (Bears)
  3. Josh Norman, CB (Panthers)
  4. Muhammad Wilkerson, DL (Jets)
  5. Russell Okung, T (Seahawks)
  6. Kelechi Osemele, G (Ravens)
  7. Cordy Glenn, T (Bills)
  8. Eric Berry, S (Chiefs)
  9. Brock Osweiler, QB (Broncos)
  10. Kirk Cousins, QB (Washington)

We noted at the bottom of the list that players like Kelvin Beachum (T, Steelers), Mike Daniels (DL, Packers), Malik Jackson (DL, Broncos), Olivier Vernon (DE, Dolphins) Eric Weddle (S, Chargers), and Derek Wolfe (DL, Broncos) just missed out. However, those weren’t the only other players we considered.

There are a pair of talented defensive ends set to reach free agency, and based on talent alone, you could make the case that Greg Hardy and Jason Pierre-Paul should be on the list. Still, Hardy has become toxic in Dallas, as more details about his domestic violence case have surfaced, and it’s hard to imagine any team signing him to a big, long-term contract. As for JPP, any potential suitor would have to seriously consider how his injured hand will affect him going forward. He has been solid since returning to the Giants, but he has yet to record a sack in four games this year.

There are at least a couple talented running backs set to hit the market, in Lamar Miller and Doug Martin. But running backs typically don’t make out too well in free agency, so it’s hard to imagine either player landing a DeMarco Murray-type contract — especially after the league has seen how that Murray deal has worked out this year for the Eagles.

What do you think? Does our list look about right to you, or are there changes you’d make? Are there other players on our list of 2016 free agents that you think deserve more consideration for the top 10 or 15 FAs available this winter? Weigh in below with your thoughts!

2016 NFL Free Agents

Pro Football Rumors’ up-to-date list of 2016 NFL free agents is below. These are players who are eligible for restricted or unrestricted free agency after the 2015 season. The player’s 2016 age is in parentheses. Players are generally sorted by the position at which they played most in ’15, or the position at which their most recent team listed them.

Players who finished the 2015 season on an NFL roster but don’t have a contract for 2016 are listed below, along with a few other notable free agents who didn’t finish the 2015 season on an NFL roster, and several players who have been cut since the season ended.

Players eligible for restricted free agency are marked with (R), while non-exclusive franchise and transition players will be marked with (F) and (T) respectively. Exclusive rights free agents are not included. All other free agents are assumed to be unrestricted.

If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us. For instant free agent updates, be sure to follow us on Twitter @pfrumors.

Updated 12-8-16 (10:29am CT)

Quarterbacks

Jimmy Clausen (29)
Matt Flynn (31)
Josh Freeman (28)
Bruce Gradkowski (33)
Tarvaris Jackson (33)
Ryan Lindley (27)
Johnny Manziel (24)
Sean Renfree (26)
Michael Vick (36)
Charlie Whitehurst (34)
T.J. Yates (29)

Running Backs

Montee Ball (26)
Joe Banyard (27)
Ahmad Bradshaw (30)
Bryce Brown (25)
Donald Brown (29)
Anthony Dixon (29)
Kendall Gaskins (26)
Toby Gerhart (29)
Jonas Gray (25)
DuJuan Harris (28)
Roy Helu (27)
Kendall Hunter (28)
Fred Jackson (35)
Steven Jackson (33)
Isaiah Pead (26)
Trent Richardson (26)
Stevan Ridley (27)
Zac Stacy (25)
C.J. Spiller (29)
Daniel Thomas (29)
Pierre Thomas (32)
George Winn (25)

Fullbacks

Tyler Clutts (32)
Derrick Coleman (26)
Austin Johnson (27)
Jorvorskie Lane (29)
Will Tukuafu (32)
Darrel Young (29)

Wide Receivers

Jared Abbrederis (25)
Seyi Ajirotutu (29)
Miles Austin (32)
Jason Avant (33)
Brenton Bersin (26)
Dwayne Bowe (32)
Vincent Brown (27)
Jeremy Butler (25)
Andre Caldwell (31)
Michael Campanaro (25)
Marques Colston (33)
Riley Cooper (29)
Jerricho Cotchery (34)
B.J. Daniels (27)
Aaron Dobson (25)
Brandon Gibson (29)
Chris Givens (26)
Leonard Hankerson (27)
Brian Hartline (30)
Stephen Hill (25)
Damaris Johnson (27)
Jacoby Jones (32)
James Jones (32)
Greg Little (27)
Denarius Moore (28)
Marlon Moore (28)
Joe Morgan (28)
David Nelson (30)
Hakeem Nicks (28)
Chris Owusu (26)
Rueben Randle (25)
Jerome Simpson (30)
Marcus Thigpen (30)
Kenbrell Thompkins (28)
Brian Tyms (27)
Bryan Walters (29)
Nate Washington (33)
Wes Welker (35)
Griff Whalen (26)
Myles White (26)
Roddy White (35)
Kyle Williams (28)
Mike Williams (29)

Tight Ends

Scott Chandler (31)
Orson Charles (25)
Owen Daniels (34)
Dorin Dickerson (28)
Jim Dray (29)
Daniel Fells (33)
Chase Ford (26)
Garrett Graham (30)
Brian Leonhardt (26)
Anthony McCoy (29)
Matthew Mulligan (31)
Brian Parker (24)
Bear Pascoe (30)
Andrew Quarless (28)
Allen Reisner (28)
Konrad Reuland (29)
Alex Smith (34)
Matt Spaeth (32)

Tackles

Jason Fox (28)
Bryce Harris (27)
Lamar Holmes (27)
Jamon Meredith (30)
Erik Pears (34)
Byron Stingily (28)
J’Marcus Webb (28)

Guards

Jon Asamoah (28)
Mackenzy Bernadeau (30)
Willie Colon (33)
Paul Fanaika (30)
Andrew Gardner (30)
Tyronne Green (30)
Todd Herremans (34)
Josh LeRibeus (27)
Lance Louis (31)
Jacques McClendon (28)
Mike McGlynn (31)
Brandon Mosley (28)
Patrick Omameh (27)
Garrett Reynolds (29)
Geoff Schwartz (30)
Amini Silatolu (28)
Shelley Smith (29)
Dallas Thomas (27)
Johnnie Troutman (29)
Louis Vasquez (29)

Centers

Brian De La Puente (31)
Brian Folkerts (26)
Khaled Holmes (26)
Lemuel Jeanpierre (29)
Doug Legursky (30)
Will Montgomery (33)
Drew Nowak (26)
Mike Person (28)
Dallas Reynolds (32)
Trevor Robinson (26)
Lyle Sendlein (32)
James Stone (24)
Bryan Stork (25)
Fernando Veslasco (31)
Julian Vandervelde (29)
J.D. Walton (29)
Ryan Wendell (30)

4-3 Defensive Ends

Frank Alexander (27)
Kroy Biermann (31)
Alex Carrington (29)
Quinton Coples (26)
Demarcus Dobbs (29)
Larry English (30)
Wallace Gilberry (31)
Greg Hardy (28)
Chris McCain (24)
Damontre Moore (24)
Ropati Pitoitua (31)
George Selvie (29)
Matt Shaughnessy (30)
Josh Shirley (24)
Bjoern Werner (26)
C.J. Wilson (29)
Jarius Wynn (30)

3-4 Defensive Ends

Chris Canty (34)
Clifton Geathers (29)

Defensive Tackles

Brandon Bair (32)
Da’Quan Bowers (26)
Red Bryant (32)
Barry Cofield (32)
Dwan Edwards (35)
Kenrick Ellis (28)
Andre Fluellen (31)
Bruce Gaston (24)
Nick Hayden (30)
John Hughes (28)
Ishmaa’ily Kitchen (28)
Terrance Knighton (30)
Sammie Lee Hill (30)
Mike Martin (26)
Henry Melton (30)
C.J. Mosley (33)
Louis Nix (25)
Leon Orr (24)
Randy Starks (33)
Alameda Ta’amu (26)
Ian Williams (27)

4-3 Outside Linebackers

James Anderson (33)
Jayson DiManche (26)
Darius Fleming (27)
Khaseem Greene (27)
A.J. Hawk (32)
David Hawthorne (31)
Danny Lansanah (31)
Jamari Lattimore (28)
Travis Lewis (28)
Orie Lemon (29)
Nick Moody (26)
Eric Pinkins (25)
O’Brien Schofield (29)
Tony Steward (24)
Jason Trusnik (32)

3-4 Outside Linebackers

Jason Babin (36)
Adam Hayward (32)
Manny Lawson (32)
Dezman Moses (27)
Andy Mulumba (26)
Mike Neal (29)
Jonathan Newsome (25)
Calvin Pace (36)
Scott Solomon (28)
Lamarr Woodley (32)

Inside Linebackers

Jasper Brinkley (31)
Kavell Conner (29)
Shelby Harris (25)
Amarlo Herrera (25)
Nate Irving (28)
Nico Johnson (26)
James Laurinaitis (30)
Curtis Lofton (30)
Casey Matthews (27)
Joe Mays (31)
James-Michael Johnson (27)
Sio Moore (26)
DeMeco Ryans (32)
Andy Studebaker (31)
Justin Tuggle (26)
Uani ‘Unga (29)

Cornerbacks

Phillip Adams (28)
Cortez Allen (28)
Alan Ball (31)
Bill Bentley (27)
E.J. Biggers (29)
Zackary Bowman (32)
Jalil Brown (29)
Tarell Brown (31)
Brandon Browner (32)
Crezdon Butler (29)
Perrish Cox (29)
Antonio Cromartie (32)
Chris Culliver (28)
Pierre Desir (26)
Ras-I Dowling (28)
Greg Ducre (24)
Randall Evans (24)
Cortland Finnegan (32)
Jamell Fleming (27)
Charles Gaines (24)
Jayron Hosley (26)
Demontre Hurst (25)
Tramain Jacobs (24)
Charles James (26)
Keenan Lewis (30)
Nick Marshall (24)
Trumaine McBride (31)
Demetrius McCray (25)
Dee Milliner (25)
Chris Owens (30)
Shaun Prater (26)
Denzel Rice (23)
Cassius Vaughn (29)
Darrin Walls (28)
Melwin White (26)
Cary Williams (32))

Safeties

Antonio Allen (28)
Will Allen (34)
Larry Asante (28)
Dion Bailey (24)
Omar Bolden (27)
Terrence Brooks (25)
Sergio Brown (28)
Stevie Brown (29)
David Bruton (29)
Josh Bush (27)
Chris Clemons (31)
Craig Dahl (31)
Louis Delmas (29)
Josh Evans (25)
Dashon Goldson (32)
Winston Guy (26)
Will Hill (26)
Jaiquawn Jarrett (27)
Don Jones (26)
Jordan Kovacs (26)
Sherrod Martin (32)
Taylor Mays (28)
Danny McCray (28)
L.J. McCray (25)
Tevin McDonald (24)
Brandon Meriweather (32)
Rahim Moore (26)
William Moore (31)
Ryan Mundy (31)
Nick Perry (26)
Sean Richardson (26)
Antrel Rolle (34)
Brandian Ross (27)
Cooper Taylor (26)
Ross Ventrone (30)
Brock Vereen (24)
Jimmy Wilson (30)

Kickers

Josh Brown (37)
Travis Coons (24)
Jordan Gay (26)
Shayne Graham (38)
Garrett Hartley (30)
Zach Hocker (25)
Josh Scobee (34)
Blair Walsh (26)

Punters

Britton Colquitt (31)
Tim Masthay (29)

Long Snappers

Danny Aiken (28)
Clint Gresham (30)
Rick Lovato (24)

Over The Cap and FOX Sports were used in the creation of this post.