NFL free agency 2018: Best defensive linemen available

After an injury-riddled first four years in the league out of Iowa with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, defensive lineman Adrian Clayborn has been a prominent part of Dan Quinn’s pass rush with the Atlanta Falcons. Clayborn is coming off his best season in the NFL, due in large part to the greatest pass-rushing game we’ve seen in years.

He ate Dallas Cowboys backup left tackle Chaz Green alive in 2017. Clayborn recorded a ridiculous six sacks in that game for Atlanta. That nearly had him 10 quarterback sacks on the season and had Clayborn pushing for a semi-serious Pro Bowl nod. While he will be 30 years old in 2018, Clayborn is at least a high floor pass rusher a team could extend an offer to.

After his first year in Atlanta, Clayborn signed a two-year extension with the Dirty Birds in 2016 worth $8.5 million. In his three years with the Falcons, Clayborn has appeared in more games and recorded more sacks than in his four years with the Buccaneers. Yes, the injury concerns are always there with Clayborn, but he has reinvented himself as a reliable defensive lineman in Atlanta uniform.

The Falcons may want to bring him back, but expect Clayborn to draw interest on the open market. A lot of teams in the NFL run the same Atlanta/Seattle Seahawks defensive scheme, so plugging in Clayborn up front could be an ideal upgrade for teams looking for one in the trenches. Atlanta would hate to lose him, but don’t expect the Falcons to pay out the wazoo to keep him. The Falcons have a bunch of young players that will be exiting their rookie contracts here shortly.