Many of the top names have already agreed to deals, but as free agency officially begins, these are the top names available.
The NFL’s official start to their new league year is here, but due to the league’s negotiating or “legal tampering” period, many of the big-name free agents are already off the market. That’s because the negotiating period allows agents and teams to enter into contract talks even though pen cannot be put to paper until the start of the new league year.
Last year was a frenzy during the negotiating period, with most of the top players gone by the time the market actually opened. A whole bunch of deals were cemented right at 4 p.m. ET when the league year started, and that’s the case this year as well. Players can continue negotiating with other teams after agreeing in principle to a new deal — nothing is final until the contract is signed and submitted to the league office. But once something is reported as a done deal, there is minimal flip-flopping.
It’s likely this trend — the biggest players agreeing to deals before free agency actually starts — will continue.
That said, there are still plenty of good to great players still out there, waiting to find a team for the 2019 season. Below, we’re going to point you to the best still available — in alphabetical order — at each offensive and defensive position.
Quarterback
Signed: Derek Anderson, Teddy Bridgewater, Nick Foles, Ryan Griffin, Taylor Heinicke, Brett Hundley, Matt Schaub, Tyrod Taylor
Best Available: Blake Bortles, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Colin Kaepernick, AJ McCarron
Nick Foles is getting paid a ton of money by the Jaguars, and after that the market gets a little bit stale. Obviously, the best available quarterback (Kaepernick) is probably not going to get signed. Another team will surely try and kick the tires on Blake Bortles, while old standbys like Fitzpatrick and McCown are the more reliable of the group.
Others available: Sam Bradford, Matt Cassel, Blaine Gabbert, Mike Glennon, Robert Griffin III, Josh Johnson, Sean Mannion, Josh McCown, Brock Osweiler, Mark Sanchez, Tom Savage, Trevor Siemian, Geno Smith, Joe Webb
Running Back
Signed: Kenjon Barner, Le’Veon Bell, Tevin Coleman, Mike Davis, Andre Ellington, Frank Gore, Kareem Hunt, Carlos Hyde, Mark Ingram, Latavius Murray, Adrian Peterson, Zach Zenner
Best Available: Jay Ajayi, C.J. Anderson, Marshawn Lynch, Isaiah Crowell, T.J. Yeldon
There’s still a strong market for running backs, with young guys like Ajayi and Yeldon available. It’s a strong group of running backs, and even the players below all have shown they have something to offer.
Others available: Ameer Abdullah, LeGarrette Blount, Alfred Blue, Doug Martin, Alfred Morris, Ty Montgomery, Bilal Powell, Stevan Ridley, Darren Sproles, Jonathan Stewart, Spencer Ware
Wide Receiver
Signed: Danny Amendola, Tavon Austin, Cole Beasley, Josh Bellamy, John Brown, Jamison Crowder, Phillip Dorsett, Bruce Ellington, Larry Fitzgerald, Devin Funchess, Maurice Harris, Marvin Hall, Adam Humphries, Jordan Matthews, Donte Moncrief, J.J. Nelson, Cordarrelle Patterson, Breshad Perriman, Andre Roberts, Eli Rogers, Golden Tate, Kevin White, Tyrell Williams
Best Available:Randall Cobb, Michael Crabtree, Jordy Nelson
The biggest names to change teams at the wide receiver position were not free agents — Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. were both traded — but there are still some talented pass catchers out there. Veterans like Crabtree are always looking to prove they still got it.
Others available: Dez Bryant, Chris Conley, Pierre Garcon, Justin Hardy, Chris Hogan, Dontrelle Inman, Jermaine Kearse, Rishard Matthews, De’Anthony Thomas, Demaryius Thomas, Mike Wallace, Terrance Williams
Tight End
Signed: Dwayne Allen, Nick Boyle, Charles Clay, Demetrius Harris, Jeff Heuerman,Jesse James, Tyler Kroft, Matt LaCosse, Marcedes Lewis, Luke Stocker, Geoff Swaim, C.J. Uzomah, Clive Walford
Best Available:Jared Cook, Tyler Eifert, Austin Seferian-Jenkins
Most of what remains in the tight end market includes veterans who never quite developed as receiving threats or veterans who have a history of injuries. It’s not a great market, one of the weaker ones in recent years.
Others available: Darren Fells, Antonio Gates, MarQueis Gray, Jermaine Gresham, Michael Hoomanawanui, Lance Kendricks, Logan Paulsen, Richard Rogers, Dion Sims, Levin Toilolo, Maxx Williams, Luke Willson
Offensive Line
Signed: Oday Aboushi, Jamon Brown, Trent Brown, James Carpenter, A.J. Cann, Jon Feliciano, D.J. Fluker, Ramon Foster, Max Garcia, Mark Glowinski, Denzelle Good, Jonotthan Harrison, Bobby Hart, Seantrel Henderson, Mike Iupati, Ja’Wuan James, Eric Kush, Kendall Lamm, Ted Larsen, Spencer Long, Cornelius Lucas, Bobby Massie, John Miller, Mitch Morse, Ty Nsekhe, Michael Ola, Kevin Pamphile, Matt Paradis, Mike Person, Greg Robinson, Rodger Saffold, Ty Sambrailo, Brian Schwenke, Donovan Smith, J.R. Sweezy, Billy Turner, Earl Watford, Daryl Williams
Best Available: Matt Kalil, Josh Kline, Jeremy Parnell, Ryan Schraeder
As usual, teams did their best to re-sign their own offensive linemen. It’s rare that a high-end tackle or guard makes it to free agency, and when they do, they are quickly snatched up, as was the case with Brown and Paradis.
Others available: Jeff Allen, Joe Barksdale, T.J. Clemmings, Chris Clark, Nick Easton, Cameron Fleming, Ereck Flowers, Garry Gilliam, Ryan Groy, Ulrick John, T.J. Lang, Andy Levitre, Jordan Mills, Marshall Newhouse, Cedric Ogbuehi, Tyler Shatley, Quinton Spain, John Sullivan, Travis Swanson, Jared Veldheer, LaAdrian Waddle, Josh Wells, Stefen Wisniewski
Edge Rusher
Signed: Shaq Barrett, Anthony Chickillo, Frank Clark (franchise tag), Jadeveon Clowney (franchise tag), Dee Ford, Trey Flowers, Dante Fowler Jr., Markus Golden, Brandon Graham, DeMarcus Lawrence (franchise tag), Steven Means, Alex Okafor, Brooks Reed, John Simon, Preston Smith, Za’Darius Smith, Terrell Suggs, Cameron Wake
Best Available: Ezekiel Ansah, Adrian Clayborn, Justin Houston, Clay Matthews, Shane Ray
Just look at the signings to determine the value of the edge rusher position in the NFL — all of the top players got franchise tags except for Flowers and Fowler, who were quickly locked up.
Others available: Sam Acho, Jerry Attaochu, Connor Barwin, Vinny Curry, Kony Ealy, Eli Harold, William Hayes, Bruce Irvin, Michael Johnson, Dion Jordan, Matt Longacre, Aaron Lynch, Cassius Marsh, Benson Mayowa, Pernell McPhee, Derrick Morgan, Nick Perry, Frostee Rucker, Derrick Shelby, Frank Zombo
Defensive Tackle
Signed:Tyson Alualu, Henry Anderson, Angelo Blackson, Malcom Brown, Christian Covington, Carl Davis, Mario Edwards, Johnathan Hankins, Margus Hunt, Malik Jackson, Grady Jarrett (franchise tag), Brandon Mebane, Mike Pennel, Jordan Phillips, Sheldon Richardson, Shamar Stephen
Best Available: Timmy Jernigan, Corey Liuget, Darius Philon, Ndamukong Suh, Muhammad Wilkerson
There weren’t many top-end defensive tackle talents available in free agency. The ones who have had recent success on the field either agreed to terms quickly, or were given the franchise tag.
Others available: Allen Bailey, Tyeler Davison, Dominique Easley, Rodney Gunter, Ziggy Hood, Ricky Jean-Francois, Zach Kerr, Earl Mitchell, Haloti Ngata, Ahtyba Rubin, Danny Shelton, Brent Urban
Linebacker
Signed: Kwon Alexander, Ray-Ray Armstrong, Anthony Barr, Preston Brown, Deone Bucannon, Bruce Carter, Thomas Davis, , L.J. Fort, Neville Hewitt, Jordan Hicks, Mychal Kendricks, Justin March-Lillard, David Mayo, C.J. Mosley, Denzel Perryman, Craig Robertson, Adarius Taylor, Damien Wilson, Paul Worrilow, K.J. Wright
Best Available:Mark Barron, Jamie Collins, Gerald Hodges, Brandon Marshall
C.J. Mosley, Kwon Alexander, and Anthony Barr got big-time deals to kick off free agency and there’s still a few quality players left on the market — especially for teams looking for run stoppers.
Others available: Stephone Anthony, Josh Bynes, Will Compton, Kyle Emanuel, Najee Goode, Mike Hull, Cameron Lynch, Kevin Minter, Mark Nzeocha, Kevin Pierre-Louis, Vincent Rey, Kelvin Sheppard, Nathan Stupar, Manti Te’o, Ramik Wilson
Cornerback
Signed: Robert Alford, Justin Bethel, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Bryce Callahan, Justin Coleman, Ronald Darby, Pierre Desir, Phillip Gaines, Antonio Hamilton, Kareem Jackson, Kevin Johnson, Tony Lippett, Jason McCourty, Steven Nelson, Brian Poole, Darryl Roberts, Bradley Roby, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Eric Rowe, Buster Skrine, Jason Verrett, B.W. Webb, Blidi Wreh-Wilson
Best Available:Darqueze Dennard
There weren’t many big-name cornerbacks on the market this year, but there are still a few names who can help defensive units. Teams looking for a quality cornerback that isn’t a world-beater, but still effective should be able to find some value in free agency.
Others available: Bashaud Breeland, Tramaine Brock, Morris Claiborne, E.J. Gaines, Brent Grimes, Davon House, Nevin Lawson, Rashaan Melvin, Captain Munnerlyn, Orlando Scandrick, Sam Shields, Kayvon Webster, Shareece Wright
Safety
Signed:Adrian Amos, Chris Banjo, Antoine Bethea, Terrence Brooks, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Landon Collins, Tashaun Gipson, Colin Jones, LaMarcus Joyner, Tyrann Mathieu, Adrian Phillips, Eric Reid, Earl Thomas, Kenny Vaccaro, Jaylen Watkins, Jimmie Ward, Eric Weddle
Best Available: Eric Berry, Tre Boston, Johnathan Cyprien, Glover Quin
Yet another strong year for the safety position, and this time, they didn’t wait around to get deals done. Notable guys like Landon Collins and Tyrann Mathieu made it to the open market, and quickly agreed to deals with their new teams. However, there is still some meat left on the bone at the position.
Others available: Mike Adams, Jahleel Addae, Kurt Coleman, Chris Conte, Clayton Geathers, Marcus Gilchrist, George Iloka, Kendrick Lewis, Mike Mitchell, Reggie Nelson, Ron Parker, Curtis Riley, Andrew Sendejo, Darian Stewart