The Athletic predicts Giants sign four of NFL’s top 50 free agents

The New York Giants have $79 million in salary cap space and The Athletic believes they will use it on four of the top 50 free agents.

The NFL’s free agency frenzy is still on for next week beginning March 18 at 4:00 p.m. ET. There’s a lot of speculation regarding who will sign where. The New York Giants currently have $77.8 million in available cap space to use to sign players and are expected to be major players.

That isn’t being reflected in a recent article by Sheil Kapadia published The Athletic predicting where the Top 100 free agents will land, however. According to Kapadia, the Giants will only land four of the top 50 unrestricted free agents and some those names are less than inspiring.

15. Cory Littleton (LB): Giants

Littleton would make sense for a number of teams, including Washington and the Raiders. But the Giants have money to spend and need to build up one of the least talented defenses in the NFL. They add the play-making, three-down linebacker.

34. Bradley Roby (CB): Giants

Roby is more of a second-tier corner, but he can play man coverage and has the versatility to line up on the outside or in the slot. Roby signed a one-year deal with the Texans as a free agent last offseason and will likely be looking for something more substantial this time around.

47. Germain Ifedi (RT): Giants

It feels like they’ve been trying to rebuild their offensive line for over a decade now. Ifedi fills a hole for the Giants at right tackle and helps their run game get back on track.

49. Leonard Williams (DT): Giants

After GM Dave Gettleman inexplicably sent a pair of draft picks to the Jets for half a season of Williams (0.5 sacks last season), it’s tough to see him letting the 2015 first-round pick walk in free agency.

Littleton would be an ideal signing for the Giants, or any team that he decides to go with. He’s a leader on defense and a Pro Bowl-caliber special teamer who’s still young enough (26) to become part of the young core the Giants are building.

Williams is basically a “must-sign” thanks to the foolish deal general manager Dave Gettleman made in acquiring him. The Giants have to sign Williams because they will have wasted draft picks if they don’t and probably won’t get any relief from the league in the way of compensatory draft picks if he signs elsewhere.

You can pretty much keep the other two. Roby is not a top veteran corner and I’m not sure what value he’ll bring for the price they’ll have to pay him. Ifedi is an average lineman who is probably not the upgrade they need. May as well resign Mike Remmers or let Nick Gates continue to grow there.

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Texans 2020 NFL free agency target: Broncos CB Chris Harris

If the Houston Texans are looking for another Denver Broncos cornerback to upgrade their secondary, Chris Harris could be the solution.

Because of the fact the Houston Texans’ two starting cornerbacks are set to hit free agency on March 18, corner is a priority for the AFC South champions to address in the offseason.

If the Texans choose to use free agency to upgrade the position and not leave it chance with Gareon Conley, Lonnie Johnson, Cornell Armstrong, and some rookies, then Houston will have to spend cash in free agency.

Enter the Denver Broncos’ Chris Harris. Pro Football Focus’ Anthony Treash envisions the Texans signing the former Super Bowl champion, and teammate of current Texans cornerback Bradley Roby, to a two-year deal worth $13 million in free agency.

It seems likely that Chris Harris Jr.’s time in Denver is coming to an end. Harris moved to outside corner from the slot in 2019 and had the worst season of his career from a grading standpoint. Still, we cannot forget that he was the third highest-graded slot corner in 2018. The Houston Texans are a team in need of cornerback help in the slot and potentially willing to pay for the veteran’s services to contend. Among all 32 teams in 2019, the Texans were 32nd in slot coverage grade, where they surrendered a 122.4 passer rating. That is no bueno.

Harris will be 31 years old when Week 1 kicks off in 2020. Certainly he has a more meritorious career than Roby with four Pro Bowl appearances a first-team All-Pro selection in 2016. However, age could be a limitation. Harris did play 16 games in 2019 after playing 12 in 2018. It was the first time since 2012 that the 5-10, 199-pound cornerback missed a game.

It also worth noting that the Texans reportedly tried to trade for Harris during Week 8 of 2019 when they sustained a rash of injuries to cornerback. Ultimately, the club struck a deal with the Oakland Raiders to acquire Conley, their former 2017 first-round pick.

With $61.3 million in salary cap space to spend, the ninth-most in the NFL, Houston would have the resources to sign Harris if they still consider him an upgrade.

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2020 NFL Free Agency: Best Texans options for the Saints

The New Orleans Saints will consider Houston Texans free agents like Bradley Roby, Vernon Hargreaves, and Chris Clark during free agency.

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The New Orleans Saints will consider pending free agents from every team around the league, so we’re surveying the potential free agent class in a daily series that will run up to the beginning of the signing period. Today’s entry focuses on the Houston Texans, who offer the Saints some interesting options at a few key positions:

CB Bradley Roby
CB Johnathan Joseph
CB Phillip Gaines
CB Vernon Hargreaves
DT Brandon Dunn
DT D.J. Reader
FS Mike Adams
ILB Dylan Cole (RFA)
K Ka’imi Fairbairn
LS Jon Weeks
LT Chris Clark
OLB Barkevious Mingo
OLB Tyrell Adams
QB A.J. McCarron
QB Joe Webb
RB Carlos Hyde
RB Lamar Miller
RB Taiwan Jones
SS Jahleel Addae
TE Darren Fells
T Roderick Johnson (ERFA)
WR Deandre Carter (ERFA)

The Saints should be in on all of the Texans cornerbacks, though Bradley Roby and Johnathan Joseph figure to be the most expensive. With just three corners under contract right now, it’s important that the Saints start adding warm bodies to the depth chart, and Vernon Hargreaves would make sense as a backup with starter’s upside. He led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in snaps played last year before he was cut (following a bad game against Michael Thomas), and the Saints should be familiar with him given their past clashes in the NFC South.

A reunion with Chris Clark might make sense. The backup left tackle spent the 2019 offseason with the Saints before landing on injured reserve, leaving a few days later with an injury settlement. He joined the Texans in midseason and played frequently at right tackle, appearing on 342 snaps during seven games. It might be wise for the Saints to bring him back into the fold as a backup plan for oft-injured left tackle Terron Armstead.

Don’t sleep on backup quarterbacks Joe Webb and A.J. McCarron. The Saints are likely to lose Teddy Bridgewater in free agency, and might not match a contract offer for Taysom Hill if other teams set a high price. Even if their job is just to hold a clipboard on the sidelines, the Saints should look for an experienced backup to Drew Brees after his five-game absence last year.

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6 free agent CBs the Lions should explore signing in 2020

It’s a great FA cornerback class with players available at all levels of the price range

The Detroit Lions have a pretty solid track record of finding free agent cornerbacks who provide an immediate boost to the defense. From Rashean Mathis to Johnson Bademosi, DeShawn Shead to Rashaan Melvin, the Lions have found several capable short-term answers at cornerback on the free agent market in recent years.

The 2020 CB market offers the chance to do even more. Several potential long-term fixtures at corner are hitting free agency. There are some veteran stopgaps available too. Here are some the Lions should look at signing if the price is right, presented in alphabetical order…

Ronald Darby, Eagles

Darby makes sense for Detroit on a couple of levels. Foremost is his direct experience playing under new Lions defensive coordinator Cory Undlin. Darby spent the last three seasons in Philadelphia with Undlin as his position coach.

The 26-year-old is coming off his worst season as a pro, a season where he battled through a hip flexor injury that eventually landed him on injured reserve. In other words, he’s affordable and has something to prove.

Prior to the bad 2019, and pretty much every CB in Philadelphia had a bad 2019 campaign, Darby was an above-average starter for both the Eagles and Bills. He’s at his best in press-man coverage on the outside and aggressively attacks the run — the two biggest requirements to play in Matt Patricia’s defense. Give him a one-year prove-it deal and hope Darby does indeed prove he’s back to his prime form from 2016-2018.

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DeAngelo Hall: Texans’ Bradley Roby is No. 2 on best free agent cornerbacks list

NFL Network analyst DeAngelo Hall says that Houston Texans CB Bradley Roby will be the second-best corner on the open market in free agency.

Love him or hate him, but former three-time Pro Bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall knows the position he played in the NFL for three teams over his 14 seasons.

Hall, who is now an analyst for NFL Network, released his 10 best free agent cornerbacks, and a Houston Texans corner set to hit free agency is second-best on his list.

Roby impressed Hall so much he almost landed the top spot over the Denver Broncos’ Chris Harris.

I was this close to putting Roby at No. 1, but he isn’t as consistent as his former Broncos teammate. Roby bet on himself last season by signing a one-year contract with the Houston Texans, and it paid off for both parties. The 27-year-old cornerback, who I expect will get a long-term deal this offseason, is an asset on the perimeter or in the slot. He’s a versatile corner who can make an immediate impact for the team that signs him.

Roby produced 38 tackles, two tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, eight pass breakups, and a forced fumble. The problem was Roby, who had missed just one game since the Denver Broncos drafted him in the first round in 2014, missed six with the Texans due to a hamstring injury. This injury, along with a slew of others, led the Texans to trade for former Oakland Raiders 2017 first-round pick Gareon Conley and claim ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-rounder Vernon Hargreaves off waivers.

Houston will have to make big decisions at cornerback in the offseason. Roby was a starter alongside two-time Pro Bowler Johnathan Joseph, who will also hit free agency on March 18. If the Texans let Joseph and Roby go, they will lose their starters from Week 1.

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4 players the Texans need to re-sign before free agency begins

The Houston Texans have four players with expiring contracts they need to re-sign before free agency begins on March 18.

NFL free agency kicks off on March 18 when the new league year begins at 3:00 p.m. Central Time. However, the legal tampering period for free agency starts on March 16.

Like all 32 NFL teams, the Houston Texans have players set to become unrestricted free agents. Here are four players the Texans need to come to terms with immediately and not allow to hit free agency.

1. cb bradley roby

The former 2014 Denver Broncos first-round pick provided the Texans with 38 tackles, two tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, eight pass breakups, and a forced fumble. The only downside with Roby’s one year with the Texans was he missed six games due hamstring injuries. The 10 games played were the least of his career, and Roby only missed one game with the Broncos in his entire five seasons with the club. The hamstring injuries were a fluke, and Houston needs to bring him back.

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6 cornerbacks the Jets should target in free agency

Jets Wire takes a look at six cornerbacks Joe Douglas and company should target in free agency.

The Jets struggled at multiple positions in 2019, but no unit was worse than New York’s cornerbacks.

Aside from Brian Poole, who is set to hit free agency, the Jets got little to no production out of their corners throughout the season. Trumaine Johnson and Darryl Roberts were downright awful. Bless Austin showed some flashes of potential in his rookie year, but found himself benched by season’s end. Arthur Maulet and Maurice Canady had their moments, but are not exactly proven starters that New York can rely on entering 2020.

Fortunately for Joe Douglas and the Jets, there are plenty of solid free agent cornerbacks available this offseason. Which ones should New York target? Let’s take a look.

Chris Harris

Although he is getting up there in age, Harris remains one of football’s upper echelon cornerbacks. Opposing quarterbacks seldom threw at the 31-year-old in 2019 as Harris anchored a Broncos secondary that ranked just outside the top 20 in passing yards allowed per game.

Harris is by far the best cornerback on this year’s free agent market. However, he is on the wrong side of 30 and will be worth around $11 million per year, according to Spotrac. The Jets have been burned handing out large contracts to aging corners in recent years, which could give the front office pause on pursuing the four-time Pro Bowler.

Will Douglas and company go all-in and take a shot at bringing Harris to the Big Apple? If New York deems the veteran worth his price tag, it will be firmly in the race for his services.

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Texans should keep Bradley Roby as their slot cornerback

The Houston Texans ought to consider keeping cornerback Bradley Roby around as a slot cornerback.

The Houston Texans have a bevy of decisions to make in free agency, especially since two of their starting cornerbacks are without contracts.

Houston may understandably move on from Johnathan Joseph, who will be 36 years old when the 2020 regular season kicks off. However, they could still get some utility out of Bradley Roby.

According to Pro Football Focus, the former 2014 Denver Broncos first-round pick was one of the sixth-best slot cornerbacks in the NFL in 2019.

When lined up in the slot, Bradley Roby's 8.8 coverage snaps per target ranked 6th among 52 qualified cornerbacks. pic.twitter.com/xacu1gefWL

— PFF HOU Texans (@PFF_Texans) February 10, 2020

Slot corner was a position the Texans didn’t figure out until well after the regular season kicked off. In fact, Aaron Colvin, the slot corner for Week 1, blew a coverage in the New Orleans Saints game that setup a last-second field goal and a 30-28 loss.

Bringing back Roby would solve that issue. Currently, the Texans have Gareon Conley, Vernon Hargreaves, and Lonnie Johnson all under contract. With a youth movement evident in Houston, the Texans could use some experience, and Roby would be an adequate fit in the slot.

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3 cornerbacks the Redskins should target in 2020 NFL free agency

The Redskins could use another lock-down defender out on the edge to accompany Quinton Dunbar and the Washington secondary.

Tight ends, wide receivers, linebackers, backup quarterbacks, offensive lineman…

The Washington Redskins have several needs to fill this offseason in either the draft or free agency and they’ll likely have a good chance to do so considering that they could have upwards of $90 million of available salary-cap space should they make a few expected moves in the next couple of months.

One of the growing areas of need for the Redskins is at the cornerback position. Though they realized a great NFL talent in Quinton Dunbar last season, plus the expected continued rise of Fabian Moreau and Jimmy Moreland, it still would greatly help them to add another piece this coming season in order to increase their depth.

During the last few weeks of the season, when their starting lineup was dealing with injuries, the Redskins were led to start a number of practice squad players out on the numbers, which had a result that should have been expected. To make sure that doesn’t happen again, Washington should pay attention to these players in NFL free agency.

Bradley Roby — Houston Texans

HOUSTON, TEXAS – JANUARY 04: Bradley Roby #21 of the Houston Texans fails to intercept a pass intended for Isaiah McKenzie #19 of the Buffalo Bills during the fourth quarter of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at NRG Stadium on January 04, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Roby is the first player that comes to mind for us because of his time spent with Redskins defensive coordinator, Jack Del Rio, in Denver with the Broncos. Roby has never had a season without an interception, and he’s defended more than 10 passes in all but two years of his career. Roby is also an adept tackler at the corner position, and he’s forced eight fumbles in his career.

Roby is coming off of a one-year contract with the Texans and is set to become an unrestricted free agent. He may not be the best cornerback on the open market, but for what the Redskins need, and the price they will be willing to pay, he could be a perfect fit in Washington.

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Panthers 2020 potential free agent target profile: CB Bradley Roby

Houston cornerback Bradley Roby (5-foot-11, 192 pounds) may be able to help.

Since their run to the Super Bowl in 2015, the Panthers have ranked in the bottom half in the NFL in pass defense. In 2019, they ranked No. 14 in passing yards allowed, giving up an average of 231 yards per game.

This was a contract year for James Bradberry and he wants elite corner money, Tre Boston was on a one-year deal and the only starter returning in 2020 as of right now is Eric Reid. Some more help in the secondary would not hurt the Panthers as they try to get back to their dominant defensive ways. Houston cornerback Bradley Roby (5-foot-11, 192 pounds) may be able to help. He is our fourth 2020 potential free-agent target.

Career stats

Roby was selected No. 31 overall by the Broncos in the 2014 NFL draft. Through most of his pro career, Roby has been primarily a nickel back. He became a starter for Denver in 2018 and the Texans in 2019. In 89 career games, Roby has amassed 274 tackles, four sacks, eight forced fumbles, nine interceptions and 68 pass breakups.

Pros

Roby is a corner who has the ability to play nickel or outside in any defensive scheme. During his first four years in the NFL, Roby was considered to be one of the top nickel corners in football. Over the last two years, Roby’s been lining on the outside or shadowing the opposing team’s best receiver. He has the size and speed to cover most receivers but he is better suited at the nickel role where he thrived in Denver. In 2017, Roby had his best year. He was ranked the third-hardest corner to complete a pass against, according to Pro Football Focus.

Cons

Roby has had some struggles the last two seasons as he transitioned to a full-time starting outside corner. Like Marcus Peters, Roby is sort of a gambler. He wants to create turnovers, which is fine. The problem is when he’s wrong it can lead to big plays. One of his coaches from the Broncos stressed that Roby stop “chasing the ball.” The coaches would have to work on his discipline.

Probability: Low

This Carolina defense has other priorities to address before cornerback. However, if the team loses Bradberry to free agency, then acquiring Roby would be more likely. Even if Bradberry stays, the team could use a true full-time nickel corner, and Roby could be the best on the market.

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