The NFL’s free agent market is scheduled to open Tuesday afternoon.
The NFL’s free agent market is scheduled to open Tuesday afternoon.
The question is: Will any NFL free agents remain available at that point?
That is overstating the case, of course. Plenty of players eligible for unrestricted free agency will have their services up for grabs when the market officially opens at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday. But after a weekend of maneuvering league-wide and reports of deals being lined up between teams and some of the top available free agents during the league’s three-day negotiating window, it’s clear that Tuesday’s market opening could be comparatively anticlimactic.
Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, widely regarded as the top available free agent, reportedly is in line to receive a six-year, $114 million contract from the Miami Dolphins that includes $60 million in guaranteed money, ensuring his departure from the Detroit Lions. Other top free agents such as cornerback Byron Maxwell, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and linebacker Pernell McPhee reportedly have agreements lined up as well: Maxwell with the Philadelphia Eagles, Maclin with the Kansas City Chiefs and McPhee with the Chicago Bears.
With some would-be free agents having been franchise-tagged and others having re-signed with their teams, the destinations of only two of the top 10 free agents in The Washington Post’s rankings remained unknown as of Monday afternoon (barring a last-minute unraveling of the Suh and Maclin deals). That intensifies the spotlight on the free agent deliberations of Dallas Cowboys tailback DeMarco Murray, last season’s NFL rushing leader, and San Francisco 49ers guard Mike Iupati.
There is other intrigue, of course. Wide receiver Torrey Smith has written an online farewell to the Baltimore Ravens and is thought to be headed to San Francisco. But there have been no indications of a deal with the 49ers being finalized. Brian Hoyer, perhaps the best remaining option in an underwhelming class of free agent quarterbacks, is believed to be planning to sign with the Houston Texans. But the New York Jets reportedly had not given up as of early Monday afternoon on signing him.