Free agency is about to kick off, and there will be some quality young talent hitting the market. For teams looking for running backs and pass catchers, there are options available.
Most notably, Kenny Golladay, Aaron Jones and Hunter Henry aren’t going to be protected by franchise tags. Their teams have decided against tagging them, so they’ll be available to the highest bidder, with no limitations.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Curtis Samuel, Corey Davis and Will Fuller are also available with no restrictions, as are Jonnu Smith, Chris Carson and Kenyan Drake. Those 10 players (at least in my opinion) are the most intriguing skill-position players available.
It should make for an interesting month. The salary cap is going down, but surely there were will teams interested in picking up proven veterans, allowing them to address other positions in the draft. Of the top 10 free agents on my personal board, none are older than 27.
I have not listed Chris Godwin and Allen Robinson. They’ve been protected with franchise tags.
On the list below, you’re seeing what I believe are the best 25 RB-WR-TE available in free agency, along with his current age. For the stats, you’re seeing the season-long production by the player in his best season of the last three years (either 2018, 2019 or 2020 – whichever one was best).
BEST RECENT SEASONS BY TOP 25 SKILL FREE AGENTS | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rk | Pos | Player | Age | Year | Run | Rec | Tot | TD | PPR | Rk |
1 | WR | Kenny Golladay | 27 | 2019 | 0 | 1,190 | 1,190 | 11 | 250.0 | 9 |
2 | RB | Aaron Jones | 26 | 2019 | 1,084 | 474 | 1,558 | 19 | 318.8 | 2 |
3 | TE | Hunter Henry | 26 | 2020 | 0 | 613 | 613 | 4 | 145.3 | 12 |
4 | WR | JuJu Smith-Schuster | 24 | 2018 | 13 | 1,426 | 1,439 | 7 | 298.9 | 8 |
5 | WR | Corey Davis | 26 | 2020 | 0 | 984 | 984 | 5 | 193.4 | 29 |
6 | WR | Curtis Samuel | 24 | 2020 | 200 | 851 | 1,051 | 5 | 212.1 | 24 |
7 | WR | Will Fuller | 26 | 2020 | 0 | 879 | 879 | 8 | 188.9 | 32 |
8 | TE | Jonnu Smith | 25 | 2020 | 4 | 448 | 452 | 8 | 140.2 | 16 |
9 | RB | Chris Carson | 26 | 2019 | 1,230 | 266 | 1,496 | 9 | 240.6 | 12 |
10 | RB | Kenyan Drake | 27 | 2019 | 817 | 345 | 1,162 | 8 | 216.2 | 17 |
11 | TE | Rob Gronkowski | 31 | 2020 | 0 | 623 | 623 | 7 | 149.3 | 9 |
12 | WR | Nelson Agholor | 27 | 2020 | 0 | 896 | 896 | 8 | 185.6 | 34 |
13 | WR | Rashard Higgins | 26 | 2020 | 0 | 599 | 599 | 4 | 120.9 | 63 |
14 | WR | T.Y. Hilton | 31 | 2018 | 0 | 1,270 | 1,270 | 6 | 239.0 | 14 |
15 | TE | Kyle Rudolph | 31 | 2018 | 0 | 634 | 634 | 4 | 151.4 | 7 |
16 | WR | Marvin Jones | 30 | 2020 | 0 | 978 | 978 | 9 | 227.8 | 18 |
17 | WR | Antonio Brown | 32 | 2018 | 0 | 1,297 | 1,297 | 15 | 323.7 | 5 |
18 | RB | Leonard Fournette | 26 | 2019 | 1,152 | 522 | 1,674 | 3 | 261.4 | 7 |
19 | TE | Jared Cook | 33 | 2018 | 0 | 896 | 896 | 6 | 193.6 | 5 |
20 | WR | Josh Reynolds | 26 | 2020 | 5 | 618 | 623 | 2 | 126.3 | 62 |
21 | WR | Breshad Perriman | 27 | 2019 | 16 | 645 | 661 | 6 | 138.1 | 51 |
22 | TE | Dan Arnold | 25 | 2020 | 0 | 438 | 438 | 4 | 98.8 | 22 |
23 | TE | Gerald Everett | 26 | 2020 | 2 | 417 | 419 | 2 | 94.9 | 24 |
24 | WR | Sammy Watkins | 27 | 2019 | 12 | 673 | 685 | 3 | 140.5 | 50 |
25 | WR | Golden Tate | 32 | 2018 | 34 | 795 | 829 | 4 | 182.9 | 31 |
—Ian Allan