With free agency looming in the National Football League, all 32 teams are getting ready to dip into the open market to try and acquire players that could be the missing link to a Super Bowl run. There are dozens of players who can provide an impact on new teams next year, but here are Touchdown Wire’s top 25 free agents.
Many of these players are likely to return to their current teams either with a new long-term deal or via the franchise tag, but as they say in the league, “…on any given Sunday.”
1. Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys
Quarterbacks are going to top this list, given the importance of the position in today’s National Football League. Sure, any pantheon of quarterback rankings will have living legends such as Drew Brees and Tom Brady atop the list, but if you are a current franchise looking to lock down your quarterback for the next five years or more, you are going to prioritize the QB who turns 27 this summer. The Dallas Cowboys likely find a way to bring Prescott back via a long-term deal or the franchise tag, but if he somehow finds a way to the open market, expect plenty of suitors.
2. Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees is still playing the quarterback position at an extremely high level. Last season, according to PFF’s charting data, he led the NFL last season in Adjusted Completion Percentage (ACP) with a number of 82.9, and according to NFL Next Gen Stats, Brees was second in the league with a 6.3 jump from his Expected Completion Percentage (xCOMP) of 68.0% to his actual Completion Percentage (CP) of 74.3%, behind only Ryan Tannehill. Brees had declared that he is “Who Dat Nation for life” recently on Boston sports radio, but a team that is close to making a run at a title but needs immediate help at the quarterback position – and can afford him – is at least going to pick up the phone.
3. Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots
Arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady is set to truly test free agency for the first time in his career. While Brady and the New England Patriots experienced a setback last season, with the quarterback putting up pedestrian numbers while the franchise was bounced out of the playoffs in the Wild Card round for the first time since 2009, with weapons around him and in the right offense Brady is still capable of leading a team deep into the playoffs. New England might still be the best situation for him, given his familiarity with the offense, but teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Chargers are expected to take a run at the six-time Super Bowl Champion.
4. Amari Cooper, WR, Dallas Cowboys
Expectations are high that the rookie class of wide receivers is going to have an instant and immediate impact on the NFL next season. Draft expert Daniel Jeremiah declared before the Scouting Combine that on his draft board, he has “27 wide receivers with top three-round grades in this draft.” That may depress the market for free agent WRs somewhat, but you cannot deny that Amari Cooper is a top-flight talent at the position with the ability to run a diverse route tree immediately for a franchise. His impact on quarterback Dak Prescott was almost immediate when the Cowboys acquired him two seasons ago, and at just 25 years old he has years of high-level production ahead of him.
5. Chris Jones, DL, Kansas City Chiefs
Over his last 29 regular season games, Chris Jones has tallied 24.5 sacks. Those are impressive numbers for an interior defensive lineman, and under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo last season Jones showed the positional flexibility to play in a variety of alignments up front for the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense. The organization has stressed that retaining Jones is a top priority for them, and you can expect him to return to KC either with a long-term deal or under the franchise tag. However, teams that have a lot of cap space like the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills will likely inquire once the tampering window opens if Jones is not inked or tagged by then.