Pro Football Focus Top 50 NFL Free Agents

[maury77]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-the-top-50-nfl-free-agents-of-2019

The top 50 NFL free agents of 2019

BY MICHAEL RENNER • JAN 28, 2019

Sep 30, 2018; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (90) in action during the game against the Detroit Lions at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

After much debate inside the PFF offices, the official rankings are here. While we have over a month to go before free agency and these are sure to change with franchise tags, re-signings, and cap casualties (we’ll be updating accordingly), this is where we stand at the moment. 2019 is the year to be in need of edge and safety help, but not quite the offseason to pick up talent on the offensive side of the ball.

The Cowboys asked him to prove it, and Lawrence did just that. His 89.5 overall grade this season ranked seventh among all edge defenders in the NFL. Soon to turn 27, Lawrence is the rare elite edge defender hitting free agency in his prime.

On the one hand, he’ll be 30 years old coming off a broken leg. On the other, he’s been unquestionably an elite safety nearly his entire career. Thomas earned 90.0-plus grades each of the past two seasons, and even if he loses a step at his age, he’s still the best safety on the market. 

Flowers may be one of the best values in this year’s free agency class. He’s never put up huge sack totals, but he’s been one of the most versatile and consistent pass rushers in the NFL over the past couple of seasons. He produced 60-plus pressures in 2017 and 2018 while playing from virtually every alignment on the Patriots’ defensive line.

Graham may be 31 next season, but he’s aging like a fine wine. He’s notched 213 pressures over the past three seasons, and he is arguably the best bull-rushing edge defender in the NFL. Graham may never be a high sack total guy, but he impacts both the run and the pass at a high level.

Interior pressure is at a premium in today’s NFL and Jarrett is one of the premier pass-rushing defensive tackles entering his prime. His 86.7 pass-rushing grade this past season was fifth-best among all interior players. He’ll be 26 next season and this year’s interior class is relatively thin.

The physical tools are off the charts, and we love the way he’s progressed every year grade-wise, but the pass-rushing still isn’t at an elite level. His 78.8 pass-rushing grade this past season was a career high. Still, he’s a movable chess piece and elite run defender who might actually be at his best rushing the passer from the interior.

Collins, like the rest of the Giants’ defense, didn’t have his best season in 2018, but we’ve seen enough in the past to know what he’s capable of. Collins is one of the games premier box safeties and teams could even covet his skills in a nickel linebacker role. In his best season in 2016, Collins led all safeties with 46 stops.

Clark now has three straight seasons with 50-plus pressures and has yet to turn 26. He notched multiple pressures in every single game this season and is about as safe as it gets in that regard for this year’s free agent class.

The high end from Ford this past season was special. He racked up 78 total pressures and had a 91.0 pass-rushing grade. The worry is that his next best season had only 53 pressures and a 66.9 pass-rushing grade.

He’s only 25, but there is already a legitimate injury tag attached to Darby after playing all of 921 snaps the past two regular seasons. The high level is still there though, as we saw in the Eagles’ Super Bowl run. That year he allowed a catch rate of only 53.7 percent and a passer rating of 72.3.

Amos has been one of the most consistent safeties in the NFL, as his 85.5 and 89.5 coverage grades the past two seasons have ranked among the top 10 at the position both years. Amos isn’t the playmaker that teammate Eddie Jackson is, but he has been extremely sound on the back end.

When on the field, Bell was arguably the best running back in the NFL. The problem is that he hasn’t been on a football field in over a year and his last season was his least productive since his rookie year. Bell earned only a 71.0 overall grade on over 400 touches in 2017.

After a dominant 2017 outing saw Joyner earn the franchise tag, he took a marked step back this past season. He had 10 combined interceptions and pass breakups in 2017, and that dropped to only two this past season. Still, he’s a missile on the back end who is one of the soundest tackling safeties in the NFL with only nine misses over the past two seasons.

He may not be the every-down dominant defensive tackle he once was, but in a rotation, he can still provide dominant play as we’ve seen this postseason. He racked up 48 pressures this past season while still racking up 887 snaps.

Paradis was a top-three graded center in the NFL before going down with a broken ankle midway through the 2018 season. He’s likely limited to a zone scheme, but he’s been one of the best centers in the NFL when playing in such a system. He’s never graded lower than 74.0 for a single season in his career.

He’s not a true number one receiver – and you won’t find one in the FA class – but he’s an excellent complementary piece. He’s one of the most elusive receivers in the league and deadly on screens. His 58 broken tackles over the last three years are the most of any receiver in the NFL.

Hicks looked on his way to becoming one of the league’s elite linebackers early in his career before injuries took their toll. He earned 84.6 and 91.1 coverage grades in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Hicks has only managed 1,043 snaps since though with injuries, but the talent is still there.

Williams looked like one of the best right tackles in the NFL in his only full pro season back in 2017. He earned a 78.0 pass-blocking grade that year but only played 56 snaps this season before being placed on IR. He’ll have to prove his knee is healthy, but he’s produced the single best season of anyone in this free agent tackle class.

Early in his career, it looked as if Richardson was on the path to becoming one of the league’s elite 3-techniques. Over the last three years though he’s never quite taken the next step. His 83 pressures over the last two seasons are solid, but a clear step below the top pass-rushers in this class.

Clinton-Dix has been one of the most consistent playmakers at the safety position in the NFL throughout this career. He’s notched at least three picks in every single season of his career. He’s never quite taken the next step in terms of consistency though, and it’s concerning that a safety-needy team like Green Bay was so willing to part ways with him.

So many teams are simply looking for consistency at tackle and James brings that. His lowest pass-blocking grade over the past four seasons is only 67.3, which is far from liability territory. Injuries are a concern as just one of those four years was a full season, but he has plug-and-play ability at right tackle.

Barrett’s price tag in free agency got torpedoed by the Broncos draft Bradley Chubb, but he still performed admirably in a part-time role. He’s earned a pass-rushing grade above 70.0 every single season of his career and earned an 82.6 overall grade as a starter in 2017.

He’ll be viewed by many as a slot corner only, but that’s a position that’s increasing in value every year. He earned coverage grades of 81.3 and 77.3 in that position the past two years and is undoubtedly one of the best full-time slots in the NFL. Callahan allowed only a 75.6 passer rating into his coverage this past season.

Saffold was a stalwart on one of the best offensive lines in the league this past season. He earned the third-best run-blocking grade among all guards in 2018 and could fit in any scheme you’ll find in the NFL. He won’t get a mega-deal as he turns 31 this offseason, but he’s nowhere near the end of his usefulness.

Mathieu had to take a prove it deal after the injuries piled up and he was cut in Arizona. Mathieu proved he’s still more than capable of making plays around the line of scrimmage. While he looked uncomfortable as a deep safety at times, he earned the fourth-best run-defense grade of any safety and notched the seventh-most stops. Not even 27 yet, Mathieu looks over his injuries woes.

Brown had a fantastic season switching from right tackle in San Francisco to left tackle in New England, but he’s not without worry. Offensive linemen don’t have the greatest track record leaving line coach Dante Scarnecchia and Tom Brady’s quick release. Brown still struggled against some quicker rushers as well, most notably Jerry Hughes and Yannick Ngakoue.

Mosley has been the definition of solid throughout his career. He’s played 5,160 snaps including the playoffs in his career and only his 2015 season had a grade below 70.0. He’s also been incredibly sound as a tackler, with single-digit misses each of the last two seasons.

While he was a cornerback this past season, Jackson may also have a second act to his career that sees someone coveting him for his ability to play safety. Houston dabbled with him there and in the slot this past year, and it led to his highest graded season since 2014.

Smith is a very intriguing prospect after a breakout season of sorts in 2018. His 76.9 overall grade was a career high, and he racked up over 50 pressures and 20 run stops as a full-time starter. 

McCourty will be 32 next season, but we’ve seen him revive his career in two very different schemes in Cleveland and New England the past two seasons. His 79.1 overall grade this past season was his highest since 2012.

This one is a pure projection for the 26-year-old quarterback. Bridgewater looked ‘back’ enough after an 80.9 preseason grade in 2018 for the Saints to give up a third-round pick for him. At the same time, his lone regular-season start in Week 17 he earned an uninspired 59.0 overall grade (albeit with backups).

Smith wasn’t even on the radar before a breakout year saw him tally 60 pressures in the regular season. He has some versatility to play outside and inside that will be coveted, but it’s worth questioning whether 2018 was a fluke or sign of things to come.

We saw Barr play at an All-Pro level in 2015 with a 90.0 overall grade, but that might as well be a different player altogether at this point. He hasn’t earned a coverage grade above 70.0 since then, and he tallied a meager 20 stops this past season. The best fit for him might be to kick him back to the edge where he played at UCLA.

He’ll be 32, but even if he has lost a step from the 4.49 he ran at the combine in 2009, Cook is still a fantastic athlete for the position. His 1.83 yards per route this past season was seventh-best among tight ends.

After a breakout contract year for the Chargers in 2017, Boston ended up having to take a prove-it deal with the Cardinals and was yet again solid. He had 10 combined interceptions and pass breakups on 30 targets.

The high level from Fitzpatrick this past season was inspired, while the low was the reason he wasn’t given a starting job anywhere the last time he was a free agent. If you need a backup to come in and win a few games when your starter gets injured, there’s probably not a better option in the league right now.

The Lions were forced to franchise Ziggy Ansah after how desperate they were for edge help last offseason, but he managed to see the field for only 146 snaps due to injury. He’ll be 30 next season now and hasn’t notched 50 pressures in a season since 2015.

Once a promising rookie, Anderson never quite regained form after an ACL tear, and he was dealt for a late rounder to the Jets last offseason. However, he quietly put together his best season as a pro in 2018, and his 48 pressures were the 12th- most of any interior player in the league last season.

While he still gives up too many big plays, Nelson turned into a playmaker himself in 2018. He managed 10 pass breakups and four picks while allowing a catch rate of only 53.1 percent in his coverage.  In a weak corner class, Nelson is trending up at the right time.

Morse has never been anything special as a pass blocker, but his work in pass protection would be an upgrade for many teams. He earned an 81.2 pass-blocking grade and allowed only four pressures on 443 pass-blocking snaps this past season. While he’s never played anywhere other than center in the NFL, he has the body type to play guard as well.

Williams had a breakout 2016 without Keenan Allen, but he has been unable to replicate that success with Allen in the lineup. His 1.41 yards per route was 54th among 96 qualifying receivers in 2018 and a far cry from his 1.83 figure in 2016.

Wright has been trending downwards ever since he earned an 88.3 overall grade back in 2015. The Seahawks linebacker hasn’t graded above 70.0 in coverage since, and he will be 30 next season. He’s still one of the best tackling linebackers in the NFL and has only one season with double-digit misses in his career (2014).

While the production still doesn’t match his top-five draft selection, there are still reasons to covet Fowler. The biggest being that he hasn’t even turned 25 yet. The second-biggest is that he’s improved grade-wise every single season of his career with his performance in the NFC Championship being arguably the most impressive of his career.

Roby finally got his chance to prove himself as a full-time starter with Aqib Talib gone, and it did not go as planned. He allowed a 65.9 percent catch rate and 117.3 passer rating this past season. There’s still solid play from the past to lean back on, but his stock took a big hit in 2018.

One of the most consistently effective slot receivers in the NFL, Beasley had the seventh-most yards from the slot of any wideout in 2018. It’s also worth noting that he has all of 14 dropped passes in his entire career for a drop rate of only 4.0 percent.

Wilkerson looked much improved with a 76.5 overall grade the first three weeks of the season in Green Bay before breaking his leg against Washington. He fell off a cliff in New York after signing a big contract and had back-to-back overall grades below 70.0. For a man who’s not even 30, it’s difficult to think he can’t get back to quality play.

We might finally get a chance to see what Nsehke can do as a full-time starter at tackle. Washington utilized him as a swing backup for basically every position but center in his tenure there. He performed admirably jumbling around but looked best at tackle where he had a handful of highly-graded performances.

The deep threat ability that saw Brown rack up 370 deep yards and over 1,000 total receiving yards in 2015 didn’t suddenly go away. Brown just hasn’t had a quarterback that could find him since. His seven deep receptions in 2018 were 28th-most in the league.

Desir was a perfect fit with his size and length in the Colts Cover-2-heavy scheme this past year, and Desir earned a career-high 77.7 overall grade. He’s not a guy you want playing a ton of man coverage, but enough teams are zone-heavy enough to give Desir a shot.

The special ones can be ageless sometimes, and Wake qualifies as such.  He’ll be 37 next season but had an 81.1 pass-rushing grade yet again in 2018. While injury is obviously a concern at his age, Wake has registered at least 50 pressures in every full season of his career.

[Jetster]

I could see Trey Flowers as the Jets #1 target in free agency on the defensive side of the ball. Incredibly versatile, and if the Jets end up with #3 without being able to trade back, a guy like Gary could be the pick & in two fell swoops the Dline in done. Gary is another versatile Dlineman that can play inside or end.

If the Jets signed Flowers & a 2nd tier guy like Fowler, drafted Gary, that's a pretty damn good front. I think Gase will look to free agency to get experience on the Oline & draft a Center/Guard with one of our 3rds. It's going to take 2 years to complete this team, so suring up the trenches is the 1st order of business. 

[New York Mick]

Get your ED in FA and pick up a few OL as well then try to trade down and get an OT and playmakers. It’s a good FA market and the Jets have the money. Don’t **** around like last year. 

[jamesr]

Five safeties in the Top 20? I thought safeties had little impact in the modern game?  

[sec101row23]

This list is predominantly defensive players.  You NEED to draft offense, it’s very very simple.  

[CrazyCarl40]

46 minutes ago, jamesr said:

Five safeties in the Top 20? I thought safeties had little impact in the modern game?  

Well if their teams saw the value in retaining them, why would be on the way to free agency? Also, if there are so many impact safeties in free agency, it tells you even more that you’d never have to draft one in the top ten. I know your post is tongue in cheek, but your point is not without it’s own  holes. 

[bla bla bla]

Would be nice to have seen them star players who won't be hitting the market. I feel this gives a lot of false hope as 1/3 of these players won't hit FA.

[RVAJet815]

So out of these 50, how many actually hit the market? 15? 20? I'd love Flowers and at least 2 or 3 of the OL, but the bottom line is it's gonna be a depressed FA market. Outside of Bell, there's not much to be had at the talent positions, but there will be some limited help available defensively (Clark, Flowers, some safety help. Mac needs to do work on D in FA, and then draft almost exclusively offense.

[Augustiniak]

39 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

This list is predominantly defensive players.  You NEED to draft offense, it’s very very simple.  

and basically most of the top 10 + players in the draft are considered to be defense as of now as well.

i think there's a big disconnect between the classic way of grading/evaluating players and their actual value/impact in today's modern game.  it's why classic scouts like mccagnan fall in love with guys like leonard williams.  

i also think you need to consider drafting players based on not only how they grade out but how they can impact guys around them.  an OLB may have a slightly higher grade than an OT but if the OT can help darnold become better you need to understand how it impacts the entire team.  

 

[freestater]

Thanks for posting. Pretty good reference. Definitely think this is where we grab an edge guy. Possibly two. If we nabbed Paradis, I'd love to see a QB hungry team give us lots of picks. ? wouldn't we all? Jonah Williams or Jawaan Taylor in the 1st would be nice.

[Philc1]

2 hours ago, jamesr said:

Five safeties in the Top 20? I thought safeties had little impact in the modern game?  

Landon Collins is maybe the most overrated player in the nfl

[Philc1]

42 minutes ago, RVAJet815 said:

So out of these 50, how many actually hit the market? 15? 20? I'd love Flowers and at least 2 or 3 of the OL, but the bottom line is it's gonna be a depressed FA market. Outside of Bell, there's not much to be had at the talent positions, but there will be some limited help available defensively (Clark, Flowers, some safety help. Mac needs to do work on D in FA, and then draft almost exclusively offense.

No way Lawrence hits the market the cowboys either extend or tag him

 

It will be interesting to see what the pats do with Flowers/Trent Brown.  They don’t like to pay players unless it’s Tom Brady’s Swiss Bank account

[Philc1]

2 hours ago, New York Mick said:

Get your ED in FA and pick up a few OL as well then try to trade down and get an OT and playmakers. It’s a good FA market and the Jets have the money. Don’t **** around like last year. 

Only edge rusher on this list who hits the open market is Fowler and maybe Clowney

[sec101row23]

37 minutes ago, Augustiniak said:

and basically most of the top 10 + players in the draft are considered to be defense as of now as well.

i think there's a big disconnect between the classic way of grading/evaluating players and their actual value/impact in today's modern game.  it's why classic scouts like mccagnan fall in love with guys like leonard williams.  

i also think you need to consider drafting players based on not only how they grade out but how they can impact guys around them.  an OLB may have a slightly higher grade than an OT but if the OT can help darnold become better you need to understand how it impacts the entire team.  

 

The problem with Maccagnan is that he places little value on offensive skill players.   He’s avoided legit talent in the draft and looks to sign bargain guys in free agency.  He has essentially bought his entire O-line, with Shell being his lone successful draft pick in 4 years.  

You look at that list and you’ll see why you need to draft WRs and O linemen, the good ones rarely become available.  You can fill out an entire defense in free agency this year, you can’t even come close to doing so on the offensive side of the ball.   

[Augustiniak]

2 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

The problem with Maccagnan is that he places little value on offensive skill players.   He’s avoided legit talent in the draft and looks to sign bargain guys in free agency.  He has essentially bought his entire O-line, with Shell being his lone successful draft pick in 4 years.  

You look at that list and you’ll see why you need to draft WRs and O linemen, the good ones rarely become available.  You can fill out an entire defense in free agency this year, you can’t even come close to doing so on the offensive side of the ball.   

there aren't even good rbs either, excluding bell and hunt who are available for unique reasons.

mccagnan has clearly misprioritized his positional emphasis so far in drafts, but now he's on another coach and if he doesn't equip gase with enough talent around darnold he will be gone.  i have to believe that by now mccagnan understands that even with a good pick like adams, that's not going to elevate the jets to compete for the division nor will it save his job.  

 

[JohnnyLV]

7 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

The problem with Maccagnan is that he places little value on offensive skill players.   He’s avoided legit talent in the draft and looks to sign bargain guys in free agency.  He has essentially bought his entire O-line, with Shell being his lone successful draft pick in 4 years.  

You look at that list and you’ll see why you need to draft WRs and O linemen, the good ones rarely become available.  You can fill out an entire defense in free agency this year, you can’t even come close to doing so on the offensive side of the ball.   

Well the  hope at least is that under Gase his drafting priorities will change. I am still baffled he's here. His positional value under Bowles was ludicrous. Yet everyone wants us to take another DT. List above has 2 of our former #1 picks. Protect Darnold. Give Darnold weapons. Should be the entire focus of our offseason. Fill in defense later, rely on Williams to coach that side.

[peebag]

We have to be aggressively active in the OL targets in FA. Period.

[sec101row23]

11 minutes ago, Augustiniak said:

there aren't even good rbs either, excluding bell and hunt who are available for unique reasons.

mccagnan has clearly misprioritized his positional emphasis so far in drafts, but now he's on another coach and if he doesn't equip gase with enough talent around darnold he will be gone.  i have to believe that by now mccagnan understands that even with a good pick like adams, that's not going to elevate the jets to compete for the division nor will it save his job.  

 

We were talking about that in the draft forum.  Maccagnan needs to move the needle of this franchise on the offensive side of the ball.  He’s done nothing to do so.   Drafting defensive lineman after defensive lineman has done nothing for this franchise over the last decade.  He’s in position to be able to do that in this draft, but he probably won’t.   

[RVAJet815]

18 minutes ago, peebag said:

We have to be aggressively active in the OL targets in FA. Period.

Problem is the guys in FA are either older or coming off injuries. It's no magic elixir to fix everything and you're gonna have to overpay by a LOT since it's a sellers market. I wouldn't mind a Paradis or Saffold, but It has to be both FA and the draft. 

[Augustiniak]

13 minutes ago, sec101row23 said:

We were talking about that in the draft forum.  Maccagnan needs to move the needle of this franchise on the offensive side of the ball.  He’s done nothing to do so.   Drafting defensive lineman after defensive lineman has done nothing for this franchise over the last decade.  He’s in position to be able to do that in this draft, but he probably won’t.   

it gets back to positional value in the modern nfl and how to truly get the most out of your qb.  investing in OL to give darnold a bit more time can really make a difference with someone like him, the way he can move around and throw.  guys like burnett can be weapons if you give him a bit more time.

[Scoop24]

If Darby really hits FA . He should be among the first 3 calls we make . 

[Beerfish]

2 hours ago, jamesr said:

Five safeties in the Top 20? I thought safeties had little impact in the modern game?  

That fact that 5 safeties are making it into the top 50 means that safeties are easy to come by and thus you should not be using massive resources on them.

[peebag]

1 hour ago, RVAJet815 said:

Problem is the guys in FA are either older or coming off injuries. It's no magic elixir to fix everything and you're gonna have to overpay by a LOT since it's a sellers market. I wouldn't mind a Paradis or Saffold, but It has to be both FA and the draft. 

The true problem is, that we won't be able to trade down and the value within the first round is defense.  Ok, so be it.  But with no 2nd round pick, we'd be going into the 3rd round looking for a starter.  I don't like those odds.

[RVAJet815]

The true problem is, that we won't be able to trade down and the value within the first round is defense.  Ok, so be it.  But with no 2nd round pick, we'd be going into the 3rd round looking for a starter.  I don't like those odds.

Fair. Still believe that trading down is doable, but we'll just have to wait and see. I agree it's less than ideal but the good news is we need pretty much everything but QB. Unfortunately that's also the bad news.

[Jet Nut]

1 hour ago, Beerfish said:

That fact that 5 safeties are making it into the top 50 means that safeties are easy to come by and thus you should not be using massive resources on them.

Or it means a few had bad years, were injured or are on teams with cap issues.

And of course, can be resigned by their teams, none are gone at this point.

[kelly]

2 hours ago, Philc1 said:

Landon Collins is maybe the most overrated player in the nfl

pretty much..

 

?

[Paradis]

Just another reason to consider DK Metcalf in the first. 

(If successful of course) you’ll never see him on this list. 4/5 of the DTs we’ve drafted we let go, or traded. Even now we talk about Williams being traded. 

WR1? Never sniffs FA. 

[New York Mick]

3 hours ago, Philc1 said:

Only edge rusher on this list who hits the open market is Fowler and maybe Clowney

I’ll take both. 

[jamesr]

6 hours ago, Beerfish said:

That fact that 5 safeties are making it into the top 50 means that safeties are easy to come by and thus you should not be using massive resources on them.

Does the same logic apply to edge rushers (6 in the top 20)?

[GreenFish]

This is a good starter list. Sign them all and see where we are after the smoke clears. 

[GreenFish]

4 hours ago, Paradis said:

Just another reason to consider DK Metcalf in the first. 

(If successful of course) you’ll never see him on this list. 4/5 of the DTs we’ve drafted we let go, or traded. Even now we talk about Williams being traded. 

WR1? Never sniffs FA. 

DK Metcalf would be awesome. I would love for us to trade down with a team like the Broncos and select him with the 10th pick. He’s being mocked in the late teens. I’ll snatch him up and never look back. 

[GreenFish]

We should really try and focus on the trenches and getting Bell.  Sure up the edge positions and the interior OLine. If we can do that, I’ll be happy. I would love a trade back and for Macc to pick DK Metcalf and then another WR on day 2. Then use the rest of the picks on best player available with a focus on the OLine. 

[Saul Goodman]

Laurence won’t hit the FA market

Bell should absolutely be second on the list

Sheldon Richardson and Mo Wilk are underachieving slugs

 

[Paradis]

45 minutes ago, GreenFish said:

DK Metcalf would be awesome. I would love for us to trade down with a team like the Broncos and select him with the 10th pick. He’s being mocked in the late teens. I’ll snatch him up and never look back. 

No trade down. Just take him at 3 and be at piece with it. 

[Larz]

Great offseason to be looking for offense