• Dalton Risner and Jermaine Eluemunor represent affordable OL options: Risner is a five-year starter who has yet to record a season with a PFF pass-blocking grade below 65.0, and Eluemunor has earned a 64.0-plus PFF pass-blocking grade in four straight seasons.
• The ball-hawking Geno Stone is a budget free-agent safety: Stone led the position in interceptions last season.
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When 2024 NFL free agency opens, we will see plenty of big-money deals. Those headliners get all the attention, but it’s often the less-heralded moves that wind up becoming the best additions.
Here, we take a look at one high-priced and one budget free-agent option at every position.
Quarterback
High-priced: Kirk Cousins
Coming off a season in which he earned an 86.1 PFF grade, ranking ninth among quarterbacks, before suffering a season-ending Achilles injury, Cousins should be in high demand. A return to the Minnesota Vikings or a move to a team like the Atlanta Falcons or Las Vegas Raiders are strong possibilities.
Budget: Jacoby Brissett
We’re just a season removed from Brissett ranking 12th in the NFL in PFF passing grade (75.2), and while he’s unlikely to be a team’s new franchise quarterback, he’s a very capable bridge starter for a team in transition.
Running Back
High-priced: Saquon Barkley
Barkley is still only 27 years old, and while he averaged just 3.9 yards per carry in 2023, 2.9 of those yards on average came after contact. He’s dealt with injuries throughout his career but is a prototypical RB1 in the NFL and will be a real test of teams’ lack of desire to spend big at the position.
Budget: Zack Moss
Moss is 26 years old and has only 493 NFL carries to his name after four years in the league. He has earned a 72.0 PFF rushing grade or better in every season and will be an attractive low-cost option for a lot of teams.
Wide Receiver
High-priced: Calvin Ridley
What once looked like a very strong wide receiver free-agent class at wide receiver has quickly dried up. Ridley didn’t hit the heights of his 2020 season with the Atlanta Falcons last year, but it was his second-best campaign in the league statistically. He will attract a lot of interest in free agency.
Budget: Curtis Samuel
Samuel won’t be the top option in any passing game, but he has earned PFF receiving grades of 70.0 or better in each of the past two seasons and has dropped just 7.6% of the catchable targets thrown his way in his career. That’s a player who fits on most teams as a second or third receiver
Tight End
High-priced: Noah Fant
Fant has just one season with a PFF receiving grade of 70.0 or better to his name, but his size and athleticism make him tough to bring down after the catch, with five missed tackles on 32 receptions in 2023.
Budget: Gerald Everett
Everett has forced 45 missed tackles on 163 receptions over the past three seasons and has reliable hands, dropping just 3.8% of the catchable passes thrown his way in 2023.
Offensive Tackle
High-priced: Tyron Smith
It may be on a one-year deal, but Smith likely won’t be cheap to acquire in free agency. When healthy, he is still one of the premier pass blockers in football, allowing just 21 total pressures on 610 pass-blocking snaps last season.
Budget: Jermaine Eluemunor
Eluemunor has been on the field for at least 175 pass-blocking snaps and earned a 64.0-plus PFF pass-blocking grade in four straight seasons. He won’t cost too much and is a starting-caliber NFL offensive tackle.
Interior Offensive Line
High-priced: Mike Onwenu
Onwenu might wind up as a starting right tackle in 2024, but he saw starts at both right guard and tackle last year. Through four seasons in the league, he has never earned a PFF pass-blocking grade below 68.0.
Budget: Dalton Risner
Risner had to wait to sign in season in 2023, so it’s possible he won’t be in high demand once again. That being said, teams could do a lot worse than a five-year starter who has yet to record a season with a PFF pass-blocking grade below 65.0.
Interior Defensive Line
High-priced: Christian Wilkins
Wilkins figures to get paid in a big way this offseason, coming off his third straight season with a PFF grade above 70.0. He enjoyed his best statistical season as a pass rusher in 2023, registering 61 quarterback pressures from 609 pass-rushing snaps.
Budget: Maurice Hurst
If you’re signing Hurst, it's not to start. However, he can be a really solid addition as a role player on most defensive lines in the league. He earned PFF run-defense and pass-rushing grades above 75.0 on 302 snaps with the Cleveland Browns in 2023.
Edge Defender
High-priced: Danielle Hunter
Hunter has earned PFF pass-rushing grades above 75.0 in each of the past four seasons and is coming off a year in which he racked up 80 quarterback pressures on 614 pass-rushing snaps. Given the lack of quality at the top of the edge defender market this offseason, he’s going to draw a lot of interest.
Budget: Andrew Van Ginkel
Thrust into a full-time role in 2023, Van Ginkel put together a career year, earning a 90.6 PFF pass-rushing grade and racking up 53 quarterback pressures from 321 pass-rushing snaps.
Linebacker
High-priced: Patrick Queen
Queen hits free agency at the perfect time, coming off the best season of his young career in 2023. The team that signs him will have to accept that he's going to miss some tackles, whiffing on at least 14% of his attempts in every season of his four-year career, but he’s an aggressive linebacker who will make plays in coverage, against the run and as a blitzer.
Budget: Blake Cashman
Cashman is not going to make a lot of splash plays, but he was the eighth-highest-graded linebacker in the NFL in 2023 (82.1). He’s likely going to fit into the lower range of free-agent deals at the position but will do a solid job as a starter for whoever signs him.
Cornerback
High-priced: Kendall Fuller
While he might be a better long-term fit on the inside, Fuller is still a capable outside starting cornerback. Not only is he good in coverage, but he has also earned a 70.0-plus PFF run-defense grade in each of the past six seasons.
Budget: Steven Nelson
Nelson has earned PFF coverage grades of 72.0 or better in each of the past two seasons with the Houston Texans, allowing just two touchdowns from 1,224 coverage snaps in that span. He is capable of making plays on the ball, too, with 20 combined interceptions and pass breakups over those two years.
Safety
High-priced: Xavier McKinney
McKinney brings an interesting grading profile, coming off the highest-graded season of his career (87.8) in 2023. He was somewhat boom or bust, though, with four games of earning a PFF grade below 60.0 and three games with a PFF grade above 80.0.
Budget: Geno Stone
A ball hawk for the Ravens in 2023, Stone led all safeties with seven interceptions and earned an 85.3 PFF coverage grade in 2023. He did miss 21.0% of his tackle attempts, so he is unlikely to command a top-of-the-market deal.