The 2024 NFL season is officially in the rearview mirror, and 31 teams around the league will spend the next seven months trying to improve their rosters to compete with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, while the Eagles themselves will try to maintain their position as the best roster in football.
The first stage in the offseason player-acquisition process is free agency, which begins in just a few weeks. For a few days in the beginning of March, there will be a massive spending spree around the NFL, and it’s likely that a lot of players on our list of the top offensive free agents below will become significantly richer men.
Speaking of, the top 25 offensive free agents are …
| Player | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tee Higgins | WR | Bengals |
| 2. Trey Smith | OG | Chiefs |
| 3. Chris Godwin | WR | Buccaneers |
| 4. Ronnie Stanley | OT | Ravens |
| 5. Sam Darnold | QB | Vikings |
| 6. Stefon Diggs | WR | Texans |
| 7. Drew Dalman | C | Falcons |
| 8. Will Fries | OG | Colts |
| 9. Cam Robinson | OT | Vikings |
| 10. Alaric Jackson | OT | Rams |
| 11. Kevin Zeitler | OG | Lions |
| 12. Amari Cooper | WR | Bills |
| 13. Marquise Brown | WR | Chiefs |
| 14. Mekhi Becton | OG | Eagles |
| 15. DeAndre Hopkins | WR | Chiefs |
| 16. Josh Myers | C | Packers |
| 17. Teven Jenkins | OG | Bears |
| 18. Zack Martin | OG | Cowboys |
| 19. Najee Harris | RB | Steelers |
| 20. Aaron Jones | RB | Vikings |
| 21. Dan Moore Jr. | OT | Steelers |
| 22. James Daniels | OG | Steelers |
| 23. Keenan Allen | WR | Bears |
| 24. Brandon Scherff | OG | Commanders |
| t-25. Russell Wilson/Justin Fields | QB | Steelers |
Higgins is expected to be franchise tagged for a second straight year, technically taking him off the open market, but we’ve seen before that franchise-tagged players are gettable if you’re willing to offer enough draft capital and an appropriate contract. If the Bengals won’t pay him what he’s worth, then there will be some team willing to meet the price on both fronts — and in that case, he remains the top available player.
Smith is pretty clearly the next-best available player, and he’s almost surely going to be playing for a new team next season due to Kansas City’s cap situation. Any team looking for an interior lineman should be looking his way first. There are other players available at the position, though, with a bunch of depth at guard in particular: Fries, Zeitler, Becton, Jenkins, Martin, Daniels and Scherff are all quality starters. Some of them have age (Zeitler, Martin, Scherff) or injury (Becton, Martin) issues that could hold them back from being their best selves, but there is a lot of depth among the group either way.
The same is true of receiver, by the way. Godwin and Diggs are each coming off significant knee injuries, but both showed this season that they can still play at a high level. There’s less risk in Godwin because he’s younger, but Diggs might cost less due to the age/injury combination. Even beyond those two players, though, there is a lot of depth on the receiver market.
Both Chiefs wideouts are available this offseason, and it might not cost that much to get them considering their own age (Hopkins) and injury (Brown) issues. Hollywood could be a really good buy low for somebody in the same way he made for a smart bet for the Chiefs this past year, only to have the dice roll come up snake eyes due to his preseason shoulder injury. Cooper didn’t make much of an impact upon his arrival in Buffalo and that might drive his price down, but he was terrific in Cleveland the last couple years and had a personal issue derail some of his time with the Bills, which at least partially explains the drop in playing time and production. Then there’s Allen, who is clearly not the same physically as he once was, but can still be a reliable underneath target in the slot. You’ll want to limit his playing time and make sure he’s not your top option in the passing game, but he can help.
The running back market isn’t great, but it’s not terrible. Harris and Jones can still be part of backfield rotations, and players like Rico Dowdle and J.K. Dobbins will also be out there. Raheem Mostert was just released and will be available as well, and some team might want to take a shot on trying to recapture what Javonte Williams was early in his rookie contract, before his injury.
The quarterback class is … not great. Darnold may have cost himself a significant amount of money with his performances in Week 18 and the first round of the playoffs, but he is still the top option out there. He may not get a long-term deal anymore, though, and may now be viewed as more of a mid-tier bridge quarterback than surefire starter. After him, you can take your pick of Steelers quarterbacks. There’s not much upside in Wilson anymore so Fields seems like the better bet to me, but the league might not see it that way. If you miss out on those guys, there’s always young players like Trey Lance, Mac Jones and Zach Wilson, or long-term backups like Jacoby Brissett and Marcus Mariota. Or hey, someone might take another shot on Jimmy Garoppolo.
