2026 NFL Free Agency: The Top 100 Players Available and Potential Fits
#NFL Free Agency #Salary Cap #Von Miller #Franchise Tag #NFL Offseason #Roster Management #Football Contracts
📌 Key Takeaways
- The 2026 NFL free agency period officially begins on March 11, with legal negotiations starting March 9.
- Teams are expected to commit over $1 billion in new contracts during this signing window.
- The market is heavily weighted toward defensive players, who make up 55 of the top 100 available list.
- The Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks lead the league with the most players currently set to hit the open market.
📖 Full Retelling
🏷️ Themes
Professional Sports, Sports Economics, Player Personnel
📚 Related People & Topics
Von Miller
American football player (born 1989)
Vonnie B'VSean Miller (born March 26, 1989) is an American professional football linebacker for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). Miller played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies, where he earned consensus All-American honors and the 2010 Butkus Award. He was se...
Franchise tag
NFL roster management strategy
# Franchise Tag (NFL) The **franchise tag** is a strategic designation utilized in the National Football League (NFL) that allows a club to retain a player who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. By applying this tag, a team ensures the player remains under contract for an additional...
📄 Original Source Content
The Super Bowl is over, but one of the key offseason events that might shape next year's Super Bowl champion is only a month away. NFL free agency opens on March 9, and players can start officially signing with new teams on March 11. Between now and then, many of these players will come off the market, re-signing with their original teams or getting the franchise tag. Over a billion dollars worth of new contracts will be written by NFL teams in a short amount of time. We don't want this list to be strictly financial, so we've tried to hit on a variety of positions, touching on offense and defense, players old and young. Again, the best players rarely make it to the open market, so talent is hard to find and value is even tougher. You will see teams cut veteran players to get under the salary cap in the next month, including players good enough to crack this list. There's a slight defensive tilt to our top 100, with 55 players on defense, including 15 edge rushers. Only two teams didn't get a player on here: the Dolphins and Vikings. The Packers and Seahawks led the way with six each. 100. Von Miller, edge rusher, Commanders Miller, 36, managed to lead Washington with nine sacks in 2025 while playing rotational snaps on an affordable $6 million deal. Can he do it again for Year 16? Of course, he can. He's the NFL's active career sack leader with 138.5, a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he's playing for a fraction of what he cost a few years ago. He played in his heyday for Gary Kubiak in Denver, so could he finish his career with Klint in Las Vegas? 99. Alohi Gilman, S, Ravens Gilman, 28, helped turn around the Ravens' season after he was acquired from the Chargers. He has a history with Jesse Minter from their Chargers days, so he could stay in Baltimore, or follow John Harbaugh to the Giants, or reunite with Brandon Staley and the Saints. He's active around the ball, with five career forced fumbles and six recoveries, not bad for a defensive back. He ju