10 Best Available NFL Free Agents

The Super Bowl is over and done with. Our eyes now turn torward to the offseason, where championship hopes are born or crushed. The first big event on the calendar is free agency, set to officially open on March 13. Free agents will be able to negotiate with interested teams starting on March 11. And this year's crop is chock-full of game-changing talent, making for a very enticing free agency period indeed.

Now, some of the top-end talent is going to be taken off the board between now and March thanks to the franchise tag. The tag window opened this week and while nobody is in a rush to use it there will be at least a half-dozen teams using the tag on their most coveted free agent over the next two weeks. So the pool might be thinned when things really get going. As of now the only player linked to a possible franchise tag is Tampa Bay Buccaneers All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr., which means he won't be on this list but also ensures both Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans will be unrestricted free agents.

More news on the franchise tag front will trickle out. In the meantime, we're going to rank the best available free agents heading into the new league year.

10. Jaylon Johnson, CB, Chicago Bears

Johnson has happily gone on a media tour after the Bears' season ended, singing his own praises as he campaigns for a big free agency. He'll probably get one as one of the top secondary players on the market. The former second-round pick had a great year in 2023, recording four interceptions and 10 passes defended in 14 games while playing a big role in the dramatic improvement of Chicago's defense down the stretch. His PFF grade of 90.8 is well above-average and he seems primed to take another leap given he's somehow only 24 years-old with four NFL seasons under his belt.

Johnson's body of work, while impressive, is fairly limited though. Teams may not be eager to give him CB1 money based off one great year. He'll be getting paid; how much is the question.

9. Christian Wilkins, DT, Miami Dolphins

It's a rich free agency for defensive tackles, which is not great for Wilkins. He's a good player, don't get me wrong. Wilkins has been an elite run defender for years and managed to boost his pass-rushing stats in 2023, setting career highs with nine sacks and 23 quarterback hits last season. If he can maintain those numbers he's tremendously valuable; defensive tackles who are stalwarts in the run game and can pin their ears back to go after the passer are rare commodities in the NFL.

However, even with his improvements, Wilkins is not the best DT available on the market. Nor is he the second-best. And the dramatic increase in his sack and QB hit numbers reek of contract year inflation. But teams bet on potential and Wilkins may still have more to unlock.