Here are some of the best pass rushers hitting 2022 NFL free agency this offseason.
If an NFL team cannot get after the opposing quarterback, then that team is going nowhere fast.
Though not quite as critical as getting the quarterback position right, it is so hard to win in this league when you cannot trust who is coming off the edge. Being able to sack an opposing signal-caller or disrupt his timing is paramount towards winning with any consistency. Maybe even more importantly, having reliable edge rushers when a team is up big is a great way to close out games.
Here are some of the best edge rushers who could be looking for new teams in NFL free agency.
NFL free agency 2022: 5 best pass rushers hitting the market
Calais Campbell is coming off a down season, but he is a future hall of famer
The ageless Calais Campbell has already solidified himself of future Canton enshrinement one day down the line in the not-so-distant future. The six-time Pro Bowler, 2017 First-Team All-Pro, the 2020 Walter Payton Man of the Year and the former Mayor of #Sacksonville has done seemingly everything in his illustrious career but this one thing: Win a Super Bowl championship as a player.
Campbell played for one in his early days with the Arizona Cardinals and came within a game of another during his first year in Jacksonville. While he had a good first year with the Baltimore Ravens two years ago, Campbell was kicked inside and only had 1.5 sacks. He is 6.5 away from getting to 100 in his career. Campbell may need to play two more years, but let the big dog eat!
Though he could re-up with Baltimore, his former defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale is now with the New York Giants. While that team is not ready to win just yet, going to play for a coordinator he knows well could lead to him joining his fourth NFL team. Better yet, look for Campbell to take a potential discount to link up with a title contender to ride off into the sunset.
Campbell turns 36 years old in September, but his impact from a culture standpoint is undeniable.
Jason Pierre-Paul has one more big contract left, so where could he end up?
Jason Pierre-Paul has been getting after opposing quarterbacks in the NFL for a dozen years now. He spent his first eight seasons with the New York Giants, winning his first Super Bowl as a member of the 2011 team. After that, he has spent the last four years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, helping them win their second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history two years ago.
While last season was a down year for him, Pierre-Paul is only one good season up to his standard of breaking the 100-sack threshold. Though he has missed games every now and then throughout his NFL career, Pierre-Paul is one of the most underrated edge rushers of his generation. The question remains if he will re-up with the Buccaneers on a new contract in this offseason cycle.
2022 will be his age-33 season out of South Florida. Even if he has flourished playing for Todd Bowles the last few years, Pierre-Paul could go to a team like the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams and play alongside an emerging star in Leonard Floyd. What this really comes down to is what he prioritizes more: Winning a third Super Bowl or securing the bag at all costs.
Pierre-Paul is young enough to have one, maybe two more Pro Bowl seasons left in the tank.
Randy Gregory has to be the most intriguing pass rusher hitting the market
The talent has always been there, but he has not always been. Randy Gregory is coming off perhaps the best season of his NFL career with the 2021 Dallas Cowboys. Six sacks in 12 games and making a career-high 11 starts for America’s Team. While Gregory flourished in his first year playing for Dan Quinn, somebody could take a huge swing on the biggest gamble of free agency.
Gregory was a former second-round pick out of Nebraska by the Cowboys organization. Unfortunately, off-the-field issues in his early-to-mid-20s derailed his once-promising career. The good news is he is still young enough to be a productive player in this league. He may not ever be a 10-sack guy, but he has shown he can get you half-a-dozen playing in 75 percent of the games.
Are the Cowboys the front-runner to retain Gregory’s services? Absolutely. They drafted him and they have continued to believe in him every step of the way. Not only that but Quinn returns for a second year as coordinator and there is no state income tax in Texas. Of course, some bad team out there could drop a heaping sum of cash on his doorstep and see if he will pick that thing up.
No doubt about it, Gregory is the ultimate wild card when it comes to this year’s edge rusher class.
Two-time Super Bowl champion Von Miller’s free agency will be fascinating
Once thought to be a Denver Bronco for life, Von Miller ended his 11th NFL season out of Texas A&M as a two-time Super Bowl champion, this time with the Los Angeles Rams. Along with emerging start Leonard Floyd and all-world home wrecker Aaron Donald, this pass-rushing trio proved too much for the plucky Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl 56 only a week and change ago.
Miller is not the same player he once was in his prime, but apparently, there is more in the tank than Denver realized. After missing all of the 2020 season with an injury and being traded over to the Rams midseason, Miller’s free-agency stock is back to being sky high. He could go back to the Rams and play with Donald again. He might return to Denver. Or he may go join a third NFL team.
One place that would be interesting is the Dallas Cowboys. He could replace Gregory and play for his hometown team. Another spot that might make some sense for Miller is the Minnesota Vikings, as his former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell takes over that side of the ball in the Twin Cities. Former Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell is calling the shots now in Minneapolis.
Miller will have plenty of suitors in his free agency, as he seeks one last huge pay day in his career.
Chandler Jones did unspeakable things to Taylor Lewan way back in Week 1
And we have arrived at the top pass rusher hitting the market in Chandler Jones of the Arizona Cardinals. He achieved 10-plus sacks for the seventh time in his career, earning his fourth trip to the Pro Bowl in what will almost certainly be a Pro Football Hall of Fame career. Of course, he got five on it when the Cardinals took on the Tennessee Titans and that Taylor Lewan turnstile Week 1.
Whatever Jones gets as a signing bonus next year, half should go to his agent, the other half to Lewan. They did something special together, For The Boys! The only way this could be even better is if Jones leaves the Valley of the Sun and comes to the Music City to be Lewan’s teammate. Tennessee did have the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC playoffs last year before getting Bengal-ed.
Ultimately, Jones will get to pick and choose where he ends up. He could stay in Arizona and see if the Cardinals can contend for a championship next year. They could be the third NFC team in a row to play a Super Bowl in their own stadium. The last two won, you know. As far as who ends up with Jones, that team better have deep pockets because he is going to cost a pretty penny or two.
Without debate, Jones will be the market-setter when it comes to getting after the quarterback.