100 NFL Free Agents in 2000 Words

Too Deep Zone won't waste your time with a long free agent preview. Here's the short-and-sweet skinny on everyone from Ronnie Stanley to Sam Darnold to [insert over-the-hill WR here].

All NFL free agents can be lumped into one of five easy-to-understand categories. Everything else written about them is either elaboration or filler.

Category One: Actual Difference Makers

The rarest type of NFL free agent is the legitimately great player still close to his prime. Such players usually only reach the market because they played for long-time powerhouses experiencing a salary cap crunch.

While Category One free agents have the potential to tip the balance of playoff power by signing with contenders, most contenders lack the cap space to accommodate them, which is why they are free agents. So Category One players often end up signing with rebuilding teams looking for a jolt of instant quality and credibility.

2025 Category One Free Agents: Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton is surprisingly young (you may be reading this on his 25th birthday!) and an exemplar of Category One: the Chiefs would love to keep him but are forced to pay for Travis Kelce’s Farewell Tour instead.

Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley turns 31 next week but is still a Pro Bowler and has been relatively healthy for the last two years. News happens fast this time of year!

It may feel like Chris Godwin has been around since Jon Gruden coached the Buccaneers, but he just turned 29, and his October ankle injury shouldn’t be that much of a concern.

Niners cornerback Charvarius Ward missed much of last season due to a family tragedy. He reached the Pro Bowl in 2023 and played at a high level for several years before that.

Zack Baun would have been a Category One free agent, but well-run teams like the Eagles do everything they can to keep such players from reaching the open market.

If that list feels skimpy to you, consider it a harsh reminder of the perils of trying to improve a team through free agency

Category Two: Ring Chasers

Three years ago, he might have been a Category One free agent. And maybe he has a year or two of modest production left. But the Ring Chaser is clearly past his prime. He’ll generate headlines in March but is likely to bring disappointment come September.

While “Ring Chaser” sounds derogatory, and not all of these players are just hanging around hoping to stumble into a late-career Super Bowl (some just want more dough or, you know, love the game or something), these free agents are only quasi-useful to Super Bowl shortlisters who might benefit from a half dozen more sacks at premium prices or a veteran WR3 for a few six-yard catches on third-and-5.

Top 2025 Category Two Free Agents: Khalil Mack appears ageless. So did Von Miller when he signed with the Bills. Longtime Chargers teammate Joey Bosa has not been 100% healthy since 2021 but might be a fun tag-team partner for his brother.

Running back Aaron Jones helped Sam Darnold look competent in 2024 and could be a useful security blanket for some other quarterback this year.

Eagles cornerback Darius Slay didn’t ask to be here. He still has a year or two left, but there’s a reason why all the fuss in the Super Bowl was about Quinton Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.

Tyler Lockett, just released by the Seahawks, headlines a long list of Category Two receivers with huge names who would not be on the market if their fuel lights weren’t blinking ominously.

The Buccaneers and Commanders liberated Lavonte David and Bobby Wagner from this list by re-signing them late last week.

Other 2025 Category Two Free Agents: Wide receivers Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen, DeAndre Hopkins, Stefon Diggs. Edge rusher Matthew Judon. Safety Harrison Smith. Offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler. Tight end Zack Ertz. Quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers.

Category Three: Failed Prospects

Scouting reports are sticky. Teams never forget a player who once had a first-round grade on their draft boards, and they love low-risk reclamation projects. If the failed prospect just had a flicker of success, so much the better: maybe another team did most of the hard rehabilitation work! Or maybe that was just the flame dying out for good. Either way, Category Three prospects are worth the risk at the right price. They only occasionally sign for the right price.

Top 2025 Category Three Free Agents: Saints edge rusher Chase Young recorded 5.5 sacks last year and flashed some of the skills that made him the second pick in the 2020 draft. The Saints cannot keep him because they invested all their money in LoomisCoin.

Eagles guard Mekhi Becton also had a solid year while sandwiched among Pro Bowlers and blocking for a unicorn. He’s been an injury and/or conditioning issue waiting to happen for most of his career.

Steelers quarterback Justin Fields is, well, you know. But he can play a little.

Other 2025 Category Three Free Agents: This is a quarterback-heavy category, because no one remembers or cares about failed-prospect linebackers: Daniel Jones, Trey Lance, Zach Wilson, Mac Jones, etc. Wide receivers Jalen Raegor, Elijah Moore, Velus Jones.

Category Four: Mister One Useful Trait

Know-it-all NFL analysts like me love Mister One Useful Trait. He’s fun to gush about because he is soooooo good at one thing.

Take Bryce Huff last year. He was a one-dimensional edge rusher the Jets only deployed on obvious passing downs. But his pressure metrics were amazing! The Eagles splurged on a reported $51.1-million contract for Huff, validating the pro-scouting expertise of all of us who placed him near the top of the 2024 free agent board.

Huff then disappeared onto the back of the bench because he cannot play the run at all. Who knew? Besides the Jets, of course?

Luckily for the Eagles, Zack Baun was also Mister One Useful Trait last year: the rugged, hustling special teamer. So there is value to be found in Category Four, just as there are winning scratchers to be found at your corner bodega.

Category Four is a dangerous place for rebuilding teams to shop: there are more Huffs than Bauns in this group, and projecting these players into bigger roles is a great way to learn why they did not earn such roles at their last stops.

Top 2024 Category Four Free Agents: Tight end Mike Gesicki can’t block. At all. Defenders phase through him like he’s a ghost. Gesicki proved useful as the Bengals’ heavy-slot WR3 last year, but the Bengals … [inserting late edit] are paying Gesicki? Welp, even the Bengals gotta pay someone.

Marquise Brown … oops, is re-signing with the Chiefs. News happens fast this time of year!

Darius Slayton, meanwhile, can run fast and catch deep balls from bad quarterbacks. The Panthers are calling!

Mack Hollins belongs here, though an anything-for-the-team special teamer whose only receptions seem to be long touchdowns in playoff games is technically good at two things.

Poona Ford is a hustling fireplug-shaped defensive tackle with a fun-to-say name. He’s a fine 30-snap role player, but he’s severely overrated for all the reasons listed in the first sentence.

Nate Hobbs is very good at covering shifty slot receivers and not very good at much else.

Dante Fowler is on a journey from Category Three to Category Two, having made a brief whistle stop in Category One. He’s a sack cherry-picker at this point (exploiting sack-prone quarterbacks, bad lines, third-and-30 situations, and other “plays the Giants a lot” situations), but a useful one.

Other 2025 Category Four Free Agents: Jets edge Haason Reddick is a younger, flightier Donte Fowler. This is the catch-all category for kickers, punters and long-snappers. And while Davantae Adams may best fit Category Two, let’s place him here because of his unique Aaron Rodgers flypaper capabilities.

Category Five: Guys

This is the most controversial category. These guys are Guys. Maybe they were the Super Bowl MVP for a few quarters. Maybe they are veteran starters leaving great teams, or high-production starters cut from terrible teams. Maybe your favorite podcaster has a 20-minute video all queued up outlining their strengths and weaknesses. But they are just Guys.

Guys can help a rebuilding team get its footing and round out a contender’s roster. Heck, the Commanders reached the NFC Championship Game thanks to a 2024 free agent class full of Guys.

But here’s the thing: great teams draft, develop and retain their Guys. When they get rid of Guys, it’s because those Guys have gotten too old and/or expensive. A team that loads up on Guys in free agency is usually overspending just to tread water. The Commanders realize this, which is why so many of their 2024 Guys are hitting the market, even though they have the money to retain many of them.

(I wanted to include a song called “Guys” here but did not like my choices. So here are Ringo and the boys singing “Boys.”)

In summary, most of these Guys can play. Some could play roles for contenders. Signing one or two of them could make a small difference. Signing five or six of them, however, will make just as small a difference.

Top 2025 Category Five Free Agents: Edge Josh Sweat was an Eagles Guy for seven years. He’s about to cash in on the Super Bowl Larry Brown-style.

Linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga are 49ers Guys: capable starters who won’t look quite as impressive playing for the Giants. Javon Hargrave is a 49ers Guy with injuries, De’Vondre Campbell one with heavy baggage.

Justin Reid is a safety-for-hire whom the Chiefs hired three years ago. He and defensive lineman Charles Omenihu headline a list of Chiefs Guys who won’t turn the team that signs them into the Chiefs.

Receiver Christian Kirk and tight end Evan Engram are Guys the Jaguars overpaid; both were injured for much of 2024. If you are impressed by their raw production totals for an intermittently-competitive team and think they are more than just Guys at this point in their careers, you may be Trent Baalke.

Asante Samuel of the Chargers, Paulson Adebo of the Saints and Carlton Davis of the Lions are cornerback Guys: you have heard of them, and they can start, but they are also coming off injuries and are being let go by teams that have a need at their positions. (The Saints, of course, cannot pay their 2025 Guys because they are still paying their 2021 Guys.)

Byron Murphy of the Vikings, D.J. Reed of the Jets and Rasul Douglas of the Bills are also cornerback Guys. Cornerback and safety are big “Guy” positions because performance levels vary wildly, making many teams wary of splurging after a good season.

Other 2024 Category Five Free Agents: All running backs except Aaron Jones fit here, including Najee Harris. So do almost all guards and centers, including longtime starters like Ryan Kelly of the Colts or semi-impressive young veterans like Drew Dalman of the Falcons.

Hustling off-ball linebackers who run around and make a bajillion tackles for bad teams like Robert “Mick” Spillane of the Rams and Jamien “Robin of” Sherwood (the last nickname is still being workshopped) also fall here.

Oh, do you think we forgot Sam Darnold? He was a Category Three failed prospect last year. He appeared to be headed for Category One last November. But now he is just one of the Guys who can stabilize a position for a weak team for a year or two. That position just happens to be quarterback, making Darnold one of the most important players in this free agent class, and by far the most important of the Guys. But all journeyman bridge starter/mentor quarterbacks are Guys.

OK, maybe I did not name-drop 100 free agents (it’s closer to 55), but I could fill up the name count by just listing lots of running backs and journeyman quarterbacks as Guys. But we didn’t crack 2,000 words until the last sentence! Brevity!

The NFL’s consensual fondling period begins on Monday. Too Deep Zone will be here on Tuesday morning with a steamy account of the first round of foreplay. But keep these five categories in mind as the transaction wire starts buzzing. One Category One signing (or departure) can be as important as several Other Category moves. And no team wins the Super Bowl by winning free agency. No, not even the 2024 Eagles.