NFL free agency 2018: Best defensive linemen available

You can’t win in the NFL if you can’t win in the trenches. Here are the five best free agent defensive linemen that could be available this spring.

While keeping one’s quarterback upright is paramount to NFL success, to contend for and win a Super Bowl requires a team to be proficient in the pass rush and in the trenches. Basically, if you’re favorite NFL team is lousy along the defensive line, you have no chance at hoisting a Lombardi Trophy. Sure, the New England Patriots kept it interesting, but they are the Patriots.

The biggest reason the Philadelphia Eagles were able to win their first Super Bowl was their dominance in the trenches. Philadelphia’s offensive line and defensive line were equally loaded with outstanding players all around. It helps having defensive line monsters like the interior pass-rushing beast that is defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.

While this is not a deep free agent class across the board, there are several excellent players that will be available to make teams better, even along the defensive line. Since there are many promising edge products coming out in the 2018 NFL Draft, teams may not have to pay as big of a premium in the defensive line market this spring in free agency.

Though it was hard to narrow it down to five, here are the five best defensive linemen that will be hitting free agency this spring. Will some stick with their current employers or will they take their talents elsewhere for 2018? We will all find out soon enough.

He’s old, but he is special. The ageless pass-rushing phenom known as Julius Peppers could be entering his 17th season in the league out of North Carolina. Peppers is a nine-time Pro Bowler and a three-time All Pro with three different franchises, most notably the Carolina Panthers.

He is fourth all-time in sacks with 154.5. Peppers just finished his first season back with the Panthers in 2017, his ninth overall with the franchise that drafted him No. 2 overall out of North Carolina in 2002. Though 37 years old in 2017, Peppers recorded 11.0 sacks in his first year back in Charlotte. That was his 10th season with 10 or more quarterback sacks.

At this stage of his career, Peppers is probably a year-to-year player. With eight more sacks, he could achieve 100 career sacks strictly in Panthers uniform. While he did have surgery this offseason to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Peppers suit it up for at least one more season with the Panthers.

In 2017, Peppers made $3.5 million in salary, so he’s not going to command a huge contract at this stage of his career. He has already made a ton of money in his time with the Panthers, Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. It’s doubtful that some other team than the Panthers will be able to land the future Pro Football Hall of Famer, but he is still an insanely productive player this late into his career.