While simply entering a contract year is not a guarantee of increased fantasy football production, gamers look for any extra on-field motivation to put their fake squads over the top.
The key when evaluating such data is to treat it as another piece of the puzzle and not get too caught up in this extra info. This offseason, largely due to COVID-19 creating a decrease in the salary cap, more free agents opted for one-year deals than usual. Therefore, an increase in players with greater focus on striking a monster payday following the upcoming campaign is at what could be an all-time high as they’ll return to the market in less than a calendar year.
The data is based on USA TODAY Sports’ partner Spotrac.com’s free-agent charts.
Notes: All notable players listed below will be unrestricted free agents as of March 2022. Ages reflect how old the player will be upon the opening free agency. Players in bold font are considered to have the most to gain from a strong season.
2021 Contract-year players
| Player |
Pos
|
Age
|
2021 team
|
Status
|
| Ben Roethlisberger |
QB
|
40
|
PIT
|
UFA
|
| Taysom Hill |
QB
|
32
|
NO
|
UFA
|
| Teddy Bridgewater |
QB
|
30
|
DEN
|
UFA
|
| Ryan Fitzpatrick |
QB
|
40
|
WAS
|
UFA
|
| Andy Dalton |
QB
|
35
|
CHI
|
UFA
|
| Jameis Winston |
QB
|
28
|
NO
|
UFA
|
| Cam Newton |
QB
|
33
|
NE
|
UFA
|
| Jacoby Brissett |
QB
|
30
|
MIA
|
UFA
|
| Marcus Mariota |
QB
|
29
|
LV
|
UFA
|
| Mitchell Trubisky |
QB
|
28
|
BUF
|
UFA
|
| Dwayne Haskins |
QB
|
25
|
PIT
|
RFA
|
| Blake Bortles |
QB
|
30
|
GB
|
UFA
|
| Player |
Pos
|
Age*
|
2021 team
|
Status
|
Player |
Pos
|
Age*
|
2021 team
|
Status
|
| Melvin Gordon |
RB
|
29
|
DEN
|
UFA
|
James Conner |
RB
|
27
|
ARI
|
UFA
|
| David Johnson |
RB
|
31
|
HOU
|
UFA
|
Kerryon Johnson |
RB
|
25
|
PHI
|
UFA
|
| Gus Edwards |
RB
|
27
|
BAL
|
UFA
|
Giovani Bernard |
RB
|
31
|
TB
|
UFA
|
| Leonard Fournette |
RB
|
27
|
TB
|
UFA
|
Damien Williams |
RB
|
30
|
CHI
|
UFA
|
| Phillip Lindsay |
RB
|
28
|
HOU
|
UFA
|
Tevin Coleman |
RB
|
29
|
NYJ
|
UFA
|
| Raheem Mostert |
RB
|
30
|
SF
|
UFA
|
Matt Breida |
RB
|
27
|
MIA
|
UFA
|
| Rashaad Penny |
RB
|
26
|
SEA
|
UFA
|
Wayne Gallman |
RB
|
28
|
SF
|
UFA
|
| Mark Ingram |
RB
|
33
|
HOU
|
UFA
|
Jordan Howard |
RB
|
28
|
PHI
|
UFA
|
| James White |
RB
|
30
|
NE
|
UFA
|
Nyheim Hines |
RB
|
26
|
IND
|
UFA
|
| Sony Michel |
RB
|
27
|
NE
|
UFA
|
Chase Edmonds |
RB
|
26
|
ARI
|
UFA
|
| Jeff Wilson |
RB
|
27
|
SF
|
UFA
|
Jaylen Samuels |
RB
|
26
|
PIT
|
UFA
|
| Marlon Mack |
RB
|
26
|
IND
|
UFA
|
Justin Jackson |
RB
|
26
|
LAC
|
UFA
|
| Nick Chubb |
RB
|
27
|
CLE
|
UFA
|
Boston Scott |
RB
|
27
|
PHI
|
RFA
|
| Ronald Jones |
RB
|
25
|
TB
|
UFA
|
Salvon Ahmed |
RB
|
24
|
MIA
|
RFA
|
| Player |
Pos
|
Age*
|
2021 team
|
Status
|
Player |
Pos
|
Age*
|
2021 team
|
Status
|
| Allen Robinson |
WR
|
29
|
CHI
|
UFA
|
Rashard Higgins |
WR
|
28
|
CLE
|
UFA
|
| Chris Godwin |
WR
|
26
|
TB
|
UFA
|
Josh Reynolds |
WR
|
27
|
TEN
|
UFA
|
| Davante Adams |
WR
|
30
|
GB
|
UFA
|
Courtland Sutton |
WR
|
27
|
DEN
|
UFA
|
| Alshon Jeffery |
WR
|
32
|
UFA
|
UFA
|
Christian Kirk |
WR
|
26
|
ARI
|
UFA
|
| Will Fuller |
WR
|
28
|
MIA
|
UFA
|
Anthony Miller |
WR
|
28
|
CHI
|
UFA
|
| Robby Anderson |
WR
|
29
|
CAR
|
UFA
|
Demarcus Robinson |
WR
|
29
|
KC
|
UFA
|
| Jamison Crowder |
WR
|
29
|
NYJ
|
UFA
|
Willie Snead |
WR
|
30
|
LV
|
UFA
|
| T.Y. Hilton |
WR
|
33
|
IND
|
UFA
|
James Washington |
WR
|
26
|
PIT
|
UFA
|
| JuJu Smith-Schuster |
WR
|
26
|
PIT
|
UFA
|
DJ Chark Jr. |
WR
|
26
|
JAC
|
UFA
|
| Emmanuel Sanders |
WR
|
35
|
BUF
|
UFA
|
Michael Gallup |
WR
|
26
|
DAL
|
UFA
|
| A.J. Green |
WR
|
34
|
ARI
|
UFA
|
Tre’Quan Smith |
WR
|
26
|
NO
|
UFA
|
| Keelan Cole |
WR
|
29
|
NYJ
|
UFA
|
Keke Coutee |
WR
|
25
|
HOU
|
UFA
|
| Sammy Watkins |
WR
|
29
|
BAL
|
UFA
|
Marquez Valdes-Scantling |
WR
|
28
|
GB
|
UFA
|
| Mike Williams |
WR
|
28
|
LAC
|
UFA
|
Auden Tate |
WR
|
25
|
CIN
|
UFA
|
| DeSean Jackson |
WR
|
36
|
LAR
|
UFA
|
Greg Ward |
WR
|
27
|
PHI
|
RFA
|
| Tyrell Williams |
WR
|
30
|
DET
|
UFA
|
Allen Lazard |
WR
|
27
|
GB
|
RFA
|
| John Brown |
WR
|
32
|
LV
|
UFA
|
Steve Sims Jr. |
WR
|
25
|
WAS
|
RFA
|
| Tim Patrick |
WR
|
29
|
DEN
|
UFA
|
Jakobi Meyers |
WR
|
26
|
NE
|
RFA
|
| Antonio Brown |
WR
|
34
|
TB
|
UFA
|
Preston Williams |
WR
|
25
|
MIA
|
RFA
|
| Breshad Perriman |
WR
|
29
|
DET
|
UFA
|
|||||
| Player |
Pos
|
Age*
|
2021 team
|
Status
|
| Zach Ertz |
TE
|
32
|
PHI
|
Team option
|
| Jimmy Graham |
TE
|
36
|
CHI
|
UFA
|
| Rob Gronkowski |
TE
|
33
|
TB
|
UFA
|
| Eric Ebron |
TE
|
29
|
PIT
|
UFA
|
| Gerald Everett |
TE
|
28
|
SEA
|
UFA
|
| Jared Cook |
TE
|
35
|
LAC
|
UFA
|
| Mo Alie-Cox |
TE
|
29
|
IND
|
UFA
|
| Robert Tonyan |
TE
|
28
|
GB
|
UFA
|
| Logan Thomas |
TE
|
31
|
WAS
|
UFA
|
| O.J. Howard |
TE
|
28
|
TB
|
UFA
|
| Hayden Hurst |
TE
|
29
|
ATL
|
UFA
|
| Evan Engram |
TE
|
28
|
NYG
|
UFA
|
| David Njoku |
TE
|
26
|
CLE
|
UFA
|
| Mike Gesicki |
TE
|
27
|
MIA
|
UFA
|
| Mark Andrews |
TE
|
26
|
BAL
|
UFA
|
| Dallas Goedert |
TE
|
27
|
PHI
|
UFA
|
| Jordan Akins |
TE
|
30
|
HOU
|
UFA
|
| Ian Thomas |
TE
|
26
|
CAR
|
UFA
|
| Chris Herndon |
TE
|
26
|
NYJ
|
UFA
|
| Will Dissly |
TE
|
26
|
SEA
|
UFA
|
| Dalton Schultz |
TE
|
26
|
DAL
|
UFA
|
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