Before Derek Carr moved to New Orleans, Geno Smith stayed in Seattle, Daniel Jones got a big new deal, and Lamar Jackson led a list of franchise-tagged players that also included Commanders defensive lineman Daron Payne, Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, Giants running back Saquon Barkley, Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, and Jaguars tight end Evan Engram, the upcoming 2023 class of free agents was packed with marquee names.
Now that those names are off the board, this class is less exceptional in a headline sense — but it doesn’t mean that there aren’t still all kinds of players that could positively alter the course of any team. This class is now wider than it is tall, but it’s very wide. Which is to say, there is impressive talent soon to be available when the new league year begins at 4:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday March 15. And a lot of that talent will be more available to the teams that have really done their homework.
With that in mind, we have done our homework here at Touchdown Wire. This list of the top 151 players who will be free agents when the new league year starts is based on comprehensive tape study, and scouring all kinds of metrics to make sure everything matches up as much as possible in the inexact science of player evaluation. The guys up top are (or should be) still marquee names, though most of them are not offensive skill players.
Where it gets interesting is as you go down the list, Here, you’ll see players who may have tried their best in the wrong systems, players who may have failed to live up to their potential at this time, players who are just getting the hang of things, players who are hanging on to the last vestiges of their estimable careers, and players who might just need the right circumstance and opportunity.
Here, without further ado, is the second half of our list of the top 151 free agents for the 2023 league year, concluding with Nos. 76-151.