Come March 7, teams can start to negotiate with free agents from other franchises. It starts one of the craziest periods of the National Football League offseason, with 32 teams all trying to get better by either signing their own players, or reaping the talents of others. It is fascinating to watch, with hundreds of millions of dollars trading hands within the span of a few hours.
The NFL will be seeing a ton of really good players hitting the open market this spring, with many of them coming on the defensive side of the ball. All of that said, some of those talents will be locked up before teams can officially sign free agents from other organizations. Look for franchise tags to be slapped on some of the better players, while others are given huge contracts to avoid hitting free agency.
In the final analysis, there are going to be some terrific players who are going to hit the market. Last year, the free agency prize was Ndamukong Suh, who left the Detroit Lions to sign a six-year, $118 million deal with the Miami Dolphins. Who is going to get that huge payday this year? Let’s look at the top five players with an expiring contract.
Next: No. 5