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More than a week before free agency officially begins, the top shelves have been mostly emptied.
From the first edition of the top 25 free agents this offseason, eight of the players were given the franchise tag. Here’s all who got tagged: Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins, Jacksonville Jaguars DE Josh Allen, Carolina Panthers DE Brian Burns, Chicago Bears CB Jaylon Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers S Antoine Winfield Jr., Indianapolis Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr., Kansas City Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed and Baltimore Ravens DL Justin Madubuike.
All of those players got non-exclusive tags and theoretically can negotiate with other teams, but that rarely happens in the NFL. Another top-25 free agent, New England Patriots safety Kyle Dugger, got the transition tag. Also, Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans signed a two-year extension.
All of these moves took a huge bite out of what was already a so-so free-agent class. That’s a major bummer to teams sitting on a lot of salary cap space.
The NFL salary cap is set at a whopping $255 million, and teams will find players to spend it on. Free agency officially starts March 13, and many players on the list could be extended before then, but here are the top 25 potential free agents as the new league year approaches.
Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones (95) did not get the franchise tag from the team. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
1. Kansas City Chiefs DL Chris Jones
Jones went from perennially underrated to a three-time Super Bowl champ and a potential Hall of Famer. He’ll turn 30 in June but has plenty to give as a first-team All-Pro each of the past two seasons. He reportedly wanted $30 million per year during his holdout last season, and he should end up among the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL. He told the crowd at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, “I ain’t going nowhere.” We’ll see if that ends up being true.
Cousins is an interesting case. He’s often criticized but has put up good numbers throughout…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-top-25-free-agents-includes-russell-wilson-justin-simmons-saquon-barkley-and-more-155036289.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-03-07 23:05:14
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