Top 25 NFL free agents for 2018

13. Carlos Hyde, RB, San Francisco 49ers

Hyde still hasn’t rushed for 1,000 yards in a season, and his yards per carry average dropped to 3.9 this year. But he played all 16 games for the time in his career, and set career-highs with eight rushing touchdown and 59 receptions. That relative nose for the end zone and newfound versatility will bolster his market value come March.

The 49ers’ new regime of general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan did not commit to Hyde long-term, with trade rumors right into the trade deadline and what seemed to be an easy readiness to replace him with rookie Matt Breida throughout this year. So letting him walk as a free agent feels like a formality, and Hyde still has some peak years, even for a running back, left at 27 years old.

If another running back on this list gets spoken for (again) via the franchise tag, or gets a long-term deal to stay put, Hyde will have a case to be the top free agent running back available this year. As it is he’s No. 2 at the position for me, with a lot of tread left on the tires (655 career carries) compared to plenty of other running backs we’ve seen as they headed into their fifth NFL season.