by Free reign is underway in the NFL as teams execute on their offseason plans. The NFL world will wait and see where Lamar Jackson will end up in the non-exclusive franchise tag bidding, while other teams that don’t need quarterbacks will engage in bidding wars for the best free agents available.
Here’s a look at the top 10 available free agents based on Pete Prisco’s Top 100 Free Agent Rankings. The madness has begun.
Jackson has the non-exclusive franchise tag, meaning the Ravens can match any offer that comes his way from another team. Baltimore has five days to fold, and if the Ravens decline, they get two first-round picks in return.
The Ravens are 45-16 in Jackson’s 61 starts since joining the league in 2018. They average 28.0 points per game when Jackson is on the field compared to 20.0 when Jackson is missing games. Jackson is one of six players in NFL history to have 100+ career passing touchdowns and 4,000+ rushing yards, and the fastest to reach the mark after 31 games. The Ravens are averaging 184.8 rushing yards per game with Jackson as a starter in his career — the most of any starting quarterback since the 1970 merger.
Basically, Jackson is the best free agent on the board. There should be a frenzy to sign him for quarterback-needy teams. Former MVPs aged 26 don’t find free hands every day.
The Chiefs, who allow Brown to test the free-agent market, have other teams salivating to get one of the league’s best tackles up their offensive line.
Brown has been one of the top tackles in the game for the past four seasons, the only offensive tackle to make the Pro Bowl in each of the past four years. The Chiefs’ left tackle allowed four sacks and 39 pressings in the regular season while allowing 10 pressings in three postseason games. Brown hasn’t allowed a sack since Week 15 against the Texans and just two sacks since Week 9 against the Titans.
Good left tackles are hard to find in this league. Brown is one of those players.
The list of good free agent safeties continues with Gardner-Johnson, who was tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions last season despite only playing 12 games. Only Trevon Diggs and Justin Simmons have more interceptions than Gardner-Johnson over the past two seasons.
The Eagles are trying to hold Gardner-Johnson, but he has a strong market. Opposing quarterbacks only had a 63.8 passer rating last season, targeting Gardner-Johnson, who can play both safety and cornerback.
Seumalo is a good starting guard in the league and will be an impactful starter for any team he lands with in 2023. He allowed a sack and 17 pressings for the Eagles last season, allowing for a pressing rate of just 2.7%.
Clowney had just 29 pressures and two sacks in 12 games last season, certainly not the season he wanted to go freehand. The 10.2% pressure rate was the lowest since 2018, while Clowney’s four quarterback hits are the lowest since his rookie season — when he only played four games.
Outside of Clowney’s 2021 season, when he had 53 pressures and nine sacks with 19 quarterback hits, Clowney has been held to three sacks or fewer in three of the past four years. He hasn’t finished a season with 20 quarterback hits since 2018 and has been pressured under 30 in a second season in the last three years.
Schultz is one of the best tight ends out there, especially for his ability to catch passes. Schultz has hauled in 135 catches (fourth place among tight ends), 1,385 yards (sixth place) and 13 touchdowns (fifth place) over the past two years — showing how good he was as a passcatcher among his peers.
Ya-Sin, one of the fine man-cover corners in the game, allowed a 63.2 passer rating when opposing quarterbacks targeted him last season. He allowed only 51.7% of passes thrown his way to be caught with no touchdowns allowed.
For teams looking for a reliable corner, Ya-Sin offers excellent value for money.
Thornhill is one of the more affordable safeties in this free-agent league with three interceptions and 71 tackles with a sack. Opposing quarterbacks targeting Thornhill completed only 55.8% of their passes and had a 63.0 pass rating.
Some teams will get a good starter at Thornhill.
Ngakoue is a pure pass rusher, which makes him attractive for teams that need an edge player. He’s not good against the run, which could hurt his value.
Risner has been a starter since his rookie season in 2020. He was better at pass protection than running play, but that could be because he’s a converted tackle. He will be 28 in July.
