The NFL’s attention is focused on the upcoming Super Bowl matchup, but behind the scenes, the other 30 teams are starting to gear up for 2024 free agency, which officially opens at 4 p.m. ET on March 13 after two days of legal negotiating between available players and front offices. Believe it or not, that’s only six weeks away.
We looked at the group of players primed to hit unrestricted free agency — because of either expiring contracts or deals in line to void — and ranked the top 50 who might end up available, starting with two defensive stars. Factors in building the list include age, positional value, expected future production and scheme versatility. And remember, this ranking could change a good deal before we actually reach free agency, with teams extending their stars or applying the franchise tag. Don’t worry, though — we will have an updated top 100 in March.
Right now, two quarterbacks make the top 50, but there are multiple playmakers on both sides of the ball who could sign for big money. Let’s stack the free agent class.
Jump to top-ranked:
QB | RB | WR | OL | DL | LB | DB
1. Chris Jones, DT, Kansas City Chiefs
Age entering 2024 season: 30
Jones had 10.5 sacks this season and shows the versatility to align off the edge, where his pass rush win rate jumps from 19.6% to 22.1%. The eight-year veteran is still a game-wrecking talent on the defensive front as a true disruptor. He has 75.5 sacks, 12 forced fumbles and 26 pass breakups over his career, and he should get a big contract come March after returning to the Chiefs in 2023 on a one-year deal.
2. Josh Allen, EDGE, Jacksonville Jaguars
Age entering 2024 season: 27
Allen’s 17.5 sacks tied for second in the NFL this season, but he also had 66 tackles, 51 pressures and 2 forced fumbles. He’s a versatile, 6-foot-5 edge defender who can rush the passer, defend the run or even drop into coverage. Allen fits as a base 3-4 outside linebacker, with the ability to rush in multiple sub-fronts because of his frame and closing speed.
3. Kirk Cousins, QB, Minnesota Vikings
Age entering 2024 season: 36
Before tearing his right Achilles in Week 8, Cousins was completing 69.5% of his throws and had 18 touchdown passes to five interceptions. He’s an easy fit for a system with play-action elements in the pass game, and he should be viewed as an immediate upgrade for many offenses this offseason.
4. Justin Madubuike, DT, Baltimore Ravens
Age entering 2024 season: 26
Madubuike had a career-high 13 sacks this season after posting 5.5 in 2022. The foot quickness and short-area juice jump off the tape, which allows him to leverage blockers and create interior pressure. The arrow is pointing up on him; he can win one-on-one or push the pocket in schemed fronts, and he pursues to the ball consistently. He also had 12 tackles for loss and a pair of forced fumbles last season.
5. Christian Wilkins, DT, Miami Dolphins
Age entering 2024 season: 28
Wilkins has the position versatility to produce in multiple NFL fronts; he can align as a 3-technique, play nose tackle or even slide to the edge. He’s an explosive mover off the ball with the lateral juice to impact both the run and pass defense. Wilkins recorded 9 sacks, 35 pressures and 63 tackles this season.
6. Brian Burns, DE, Carolina Panthers
Age entering 2024 season: 26
Burns had 12.5 sacks in 2022 and followed it up with eight more this season. His pass rush win rate of 21.7% also ranked seventh in the NFL. Burns is just now entering his prime playing years, and he has high-end edge-rushing traits, including the speed, explosive power and lower-body flexibility to consistently create pocket disruption.
7. Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Age entering 2024 season: 25
The 6-foot-4 target can produce at all three levels of the route tree, making him our top wide receiver in free agency. Higgins has 24 touchdowns over four seasons, along with two 1,000-yard seasons — despite sharing targets in the Bengals offense with Ja’Marr Chase. He has the inside/outside alignment flexibility and vertical stretch traits to post high-end numbers as a volume pass-catcher.
8. Danielle Hunter, EDGE, Minnesota Vikings
Age entering 2024 season: 29
Hunter’s 16.5 sacks ranked fifth in the NFL this season, and he also had 54 pressures, 23 tackles for loss and 4 forced fumbles. With his long frame and great short-area speed, Hunter has the upper-level pass-rushing traits that NFL teams want on the edge.
9. Jaylon Johnson, CB, Chicago Bears
Age entering 2024 season: 25
Johnson had a career-high four interceptions this season, and he has logged 34 pass breakups over his four pro seasons. He can challenge in both press and off-man alignments, and he plays with the backfield vision to drive on the ball in zone schemes. Johnson is a physical corner who fits best in today’s split-safety systems.
10. Antoine Winfield Jr., S, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age entering 2024 season: 26
Winfield is an impact defender with the multi-dimensional traits to match in coverage, create pressure and showcase range to the ball. Entering his peak years, he already has 15 sacks, 11 forced fumbles and 7 interceptions over his career.
11. L’Jarius Sneed, CB, Kansas City Chiefs
Age entering 2024 season: 27
Sneed has the traits to match up on the perimeter or play a disruptive role as a slot defender, using his 6-foot-1 frame to challenge receivers. He is a scheme-versatile corner who can fit in both man and zone systems. Over a four-year career, Sneed has 10 picks and 6.5 sacks — and he had nine pass breakups in 2023.
12. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age entering 2024 season: 31
Evans has the frame to isolate as the boundary X receiver, creating matchup potential outside the numbers. The vertical ability is still there — Evans’ 11 catches on passes thrown 20 or more yards downfield tied for 10th this season — and he has the route traits to uncover. With 1,255 receiving yards (ninth) and 13 touchdowns (tied for first) this season, Evans should be viewed as a priority target in free agency.
13. Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age entering 2024 season: 29
Mayfield topped the 4,000-yard mark and threw 28 touchdown passes this season, leading the Buccaneers to a playoff win. He’s at his best when throwing in rhythm from the pocket, and he uses his quick release and arm talent to decisively target multiple levels of the field. A good fit for an offense with a lot of play-action and schemed verticals, Mayfield moves up our free agent board given his production over the second half of the season, including two 300-yard playoff games.
14. Robert Hunt, G, Miami Dolphins
Age entering 2024 season: 28
At 6-foot-6 and 322 pounds, Hunt has the movement ability to mirror and win in pass pro, where he registered a pass block win rate of 89.6% this season. He’s a fit for multiple run schemes, too, as Hunt can reach and climb as a zone blocker or displace defenders on gap concepts.
15. Chase Young, EDGE, San Francisco 49ers
Age entering 2024 season: 25
The start to Young’s pro career has been disrupted by injuries, but he played in 15 games this season. He was traded from Washington to San Francisco at midseason, and he compiled a combined 7.5 sacks in 2023, including 2.5 in seven games with the 49ers. Young is just entering his prime years, and he has the physical tools to produce double-digit sack production.
16. Leonard Williams, DT, Seattle Seahawks
Age entering 2024 season: 30
Williams, who was acquired in-season from the Giants, had 5.5 sacks, 33 pressures and 62 tackles this season. He’s a versatile player along the defensive front, with straight-line power at 6-foot-5, 305 pounds. Williams can create interior pressure and hold the point to clean up against the run game.
17. Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Indianapolis Colts
Age entering 2024 season: 26
With his physical 6-foot-4 frame and high-end ball skills, Pittman can play on the boundary or create vertical matchups from slot alignments. He has the vision to produce on catch-and-run concepts, with 44.5% of his career-high 1,152 receiving yards coming after the catch this season. Pittman’s 109 receptions in 2023 were also a career best, and he is more than willing to work the dirty areas of the field.
18. Bryce Huff, EDGE, New York Jets
Age entering 2024 season: 26
After recording a total of 7.5 sacks over his first three pro seasons, Huff produced 10 in 2023 for the Jets — and his pass rush win rate of 21.8% ranked eighth in the league. He’s a flamethrower off the edge, with an electric first step and the lower-body flex to turn the corner at a high rate of speed. Huff is a 3-4 outside linebacker with major upside in nickel passing situations.
19. Kendall Fuller, CB, Washington Commanders
Age entering 2024 season: 29
A veteran with savvy coverage technique and transition speed out of his pedal, Fuller grabbed two interceptions this season, giving him a total of 16 in his career. He’d be a smart fit for a quarters-based system. And Fuller can set an edge against the run, too, with 79 tackles in 2023. I see a player who can boost the profile of a contender’s secondary.
20. Tyron Smith, OT, Dallas Cowboys
Age entering 2024 season: 33
Availability has been a concern for Smith; he has missed 33 games over his past four seasons. When healthy, however, the veteran is a detailed technician with the physical demeanor to win on the edge. In 13 games this season, Smith had a pass block win rate of 89.1% and a run block win rate of 78.8%.
21. Jonathan Greenard, EDGE, Houston Texans
Age entering 2024 season: 27
Greenard’s career-high 12.5 sacks tied for 10th in the league, and his 22.0% pass rush win rate ranked sixth. With his explosive lower body and hip flexibility, Greenard can launch off the ball. And he has developed his hand usage to create more counter moves. Greenard is also an instinctual player against the run, logging 52 tackles in 2023.
22. Jonah Jackson, G, Detroit Lions
Age entering 2024 season: 27
Jackson is an interior mauler who can keep the pocket firm in pass pro, evidenced by a 93.2% pass block win rate this season. He also plays with a physical edge in the run game, with the ability to latch onto defenders and move them off the ball.
23. Calvin Ridley, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Age entering 2024 season: 29
As a sudden-mover in the route tree, Ridley can create second-level separation and test defenses vertically; he had 17 receptions of 20 or more yards this season. He gets out of his breaks with speed. Overall, Ridley caught 76 passes in Jacksonville this season, finishing with 1,016 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
24. Kevin Dotson, G, Los Angeles Rams
Age entering 2024 season: 27
After being traded from Pittsburgh in the 2023 offseason, Dotson put up the best tape of his career. He finished with a pass block win rate of 92.4% and run block win rate of 73.5%. A phone-booth brawler, he’s at his best in a gap run scheme.
25. Kyle Dugger, S, New England Patriots
Age entering 2024 season: 28
Dugger has rare position versatility at 6-foot-2 and 222 pounds, with the impact traits to play from depth or roam underneath as a hybrid defender. That makes him a fit for a multiple defensive system that uses dime personnel. Dugger has 343 tackles, 9 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and 2.5 sacks in his four pro seasons.
26. Mike Onwenu, OT, New England Patriots
Age entering 2024 season: 26
At 6-foot-3 and 350 pounds, Onwenu has the ability to play guard or tackle. But I see him as a better fit inside at guard, where he can use his size and power to move defenders in gap schemes and anchor in pass pro. Onwenu posted a pass block win rate of 88.7% at guard this season.
27. Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants
Age entering 2024 season: 27
Barkley has the traits to operate and produce in any pro system, thanks to his ability to hit home runs when he has the ball in his hands. He’s a true lead back — a volume player — who has amassed 288 receptions and 47 total touchdowns over his six pro seasons, and he tied for ninth this season in runs for 10-plus yards (26). But while he is averaging 98.8 scrimmage yards per game over his career, he has only played two full seasons since being draft No. 2 in 2018.
28. Marquise Brown, WR, Arizona Cardinals
Age entering 2024 season: 27
Brown has the vertical speed to threaten defenses down the field, with separation quicks and easy acceleration after the catch. Given his slight frame (5-foot-9, 180 pounds), Brown isn’t a contested-catch target. But he can create explosive plays and has 28 touchdown receptions on his career résumé. Ten of them came on throws of at least 20 air yards.
29. Chidobe Awuzie, CB, Cincinnati Bengals
Age entering 2024 season: 29
Awuzie returned from a 2022 ACL injury to post 1 interception, 3 pass breakups and 57 total tackles this season. At 6-foot and 200 pounds, he not only has the man coverage skills to challenge on the perimeter but also the fluid movement traits and closing speed to play off the ball in zone schemes. Awuzie could upgrade a secondary for a contending team.
30. Jonah Williams, OT, Cincinnati Bengals
Age entering 2024 season: 26
Williams, who had a pass block win rate of 85.4% this season (53rd out of 69 qualified tackles), doesn’t have upper-tier power or length at the position. But he wins with technique, gaining depth to create blocking angles and pass-set lines. He can help an offensive front on the right side, and he gets a boost here because he plays a premium position.
31. Kenny Moore II, CB, Indianapolis Colts
Age entering 2024 season: 29
He’s still one of the top slot corners in the league, picking off three passes this season, giving him 17 interceptions for his career. Moore has the profile to play inside, and he’s rugged and aggressive versus the run game. But he also has the awareness to play in space and can match in coverage.
