With the new league year just around the corner, it's time for all 32 NFL teams to turn their attention to NFL free agency in a bid to improve their rosters for a new campaign.
Here are the top free agents at edge defender, taken from PFF's free agency rankings.
Editor's note: For up-to-the-minute updates based on everything we’re hearing around the NFL, go to PFF's free agency rankings, where you can sort by position, team needs, and more all offseason long.
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QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | iOL | DI | EDGE | LB | CB | S
1. EDGE Marcus Davenport
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Injuries once again hampered Davenport’s season, but he’s a remarkably effective pass rusher off the edge when healthy, and his talent alone could be worth the gamble in free agency — especially given the relative lack of edge rushers available. Since he entered the league in 2018, Davenport’s 17.8% pass-rush win rate and 13.9% pressure percentage are both top-20 marks among edge defenders, and he’s also earned a very respectable 82.1 run-defense grade for his career, which ranks 16th over the span.
Davenport has five straight campaigns grading above 70.0. The issue is that he’s yet to log 600 snaps in a single season. At the end of the day, top-20 edge defenders against the pass and run don’t reach free agency often, and while his injury list is long, it doesn’t include any devastating ligament tears.
2. EDGE Jadeveon Clowney
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Clowney’s somewhat bizarre NFL journey continues, and he will almost certainly be playing elsewhere in 2023 after comments he made about frustration with his role in Cleveland led to him being inactive for Week 18. The multi-year deal he’s been seeking for several offseasons may ultimately never come at this point, and he’ll be a year-to-year mercenary for around $10 million annually.
Clowney has also struggled to stay on the field due to a handful of injuries over the past few years, failing to reach 500 snaps played for the second time in three seasons. All of that said, Clowney still flashes his tantalizing No. 1 overall pick talent just enough to make him an intriguing option for many teams. Clowney — always a stout run defender and strong edge setter — also missed just 7.4% of potential tackles, his first season below 12.5% since 2016.
3. EDGE Charles Omenihu
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Omenihu thus far in his career has been more of a rotational player, but he’s been on a tear as a pass rusher over the past two seasons, especially after the Houston Texans traded him to the 49ers. Omenihu’s 20.4% pass-rush win rate since 2021 ranks 12th among edge defenders, and his 13.6% pressure percentage ranks 24th.
Omenihu also brings versatility along the defensive line with his 6-foot-5, 280-pound frame enabling him to line up over tackles or as a true end outside the opposing tackle's outside shoulder, though he doesn’t use his size as much as one would like in the run game, missing far too many tackles over his entire career.
4. EDGE Arden Key
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Key made the most of a one-year flier with the Jaguars after a strong 2021 season with the San Francisco 49ers that got his career back on track, earning his second consecutive 70.0-plus pass-rush grade to go along with 90 quarterback pressures and 11 sacks over the stretch.
Key’s 14.6% pressure percentage over the past two seasons ties for 17th among edge defenders, and he’s still an ascending player with the ability to rush the passer from all over the defensive line.
5. EDGE Samson Ebukam
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Ebukam signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers two years ago and made the most of it, setting a career high in pressures (34) in 2021 and then resetting his high watermark with 43 in 2022 on a career-best 11.8% pressure rate.
Ebukam also represents a fit in any defensive front, transitioning from a stand-up outside linebacker with the Los Angeles Rams to more of a three-point stance defensive end in San Francisco. Even as more of a rotational player, he can add a productive 500-600 snaps to any pass-rush unit.
6. EDGE Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Okoronkwo finished the 2022 season on an absolute tear, with his 88.5 pass-rushing grade since Week 7 ranking as the sixth-best mark among edge defenders.
Okoronkwo’s 22.9% pass-rush win rate ranked seventh and his 17.5% pressure percentage ranked eighth among edge defenders over the same span, and he became a starter for the first time in his career in Week 11, proving even more disruptive despite the uptick in snaps. He’s a very interesting free agent if teams think he can pick up where he left off and continue to win at a high level off the edge, especially in a class severely lacking in young edge talent.
7. EDGE Yannick Ngakoue
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Ngakoue’s 2022 production makes us wary once you look at his underlying metrics, with his 9.5 sacks this past season well above the expectation of a player with his pass-rush win rate and pressure rate. That being said, he’s registered at least eight sacks in every season of his seven-year career and was a more menacing pass rusher on a per-snap basis from 2017-21.
Ngakoue is a pure pass-rush specialist, offering very little in run defense over his career, but his ability to get home from a wide-nine alignment is a very valuable trick to have in the bag.
8. EDGE Leonard Floyd
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
9. EDGE Brandon Graham
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
*Re-signed with Eagles
Graham is likely going to re-sign with the Eagles as a rotational pass-rush specialist or retire, but he’s worthy of making this list, as the ageless wonder had the first 10-sack season of his career at age 34 and was an absolute problem on passing downs. Graham’s 22.9% pass-rush win rate ranked sixth among edge defenders, and his 17.1% pressure percentage came in at seventh.
The fact that Graham finished top 10 in both metrics coming off a torn Achilles at his age is remarkable, and there are no signs he can’t run it back in 2023.
10. EDGE Melvin Ingram III
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
A year after Ingram was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs and immediately became their best edge defender for the stretch run, he signed a steal of a one-year deal with the Dolphins and once again played at a very high level, far outpacing his compensation.
Ingram is a rotational player at this stage in his career, with fewer than 600 snaps in three straight seasons, but he’s still very effective, earning his eighth straight overall and pass-rush grades above 70.0 while generating quarterback pressure on over 10% of pass-rush reps for the eighth consecutive season.
11. EDGE Justin Houston
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Just like Miami Dolphins edge defender Melvin Ingram III, Houston was forced to sign a modest one-year deal and completely outplayed his contract from day one even as a rotational pass-rush specialist with just 400 snaps on the season. Houston’s 18.4% pass-rush win rate and 14.6% pressure percentage were both top-25 marks among edge defenders, and he managed to add 9.5 sacks to his total, which brings him to 111.5 for his career, a top-40 mark all time. For a team looking for a menace on passing downs, Houston is still that guy entering his age-34 season.
12. EDGE Frank Clark
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
13. EDGE Kyle Van Noy
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
The New England Patriots released Van Noy heading into the second year of a two-year, $12 million contract, and he greatly outperformed his one-year, $2.25 million pact with the Los Angeles Chargers for 2022. The savvy veteran has played both as a true off-ball linebacker and more near the line of scrimmage rushing the passer in the past two seasons, offering a unique and valuable skill set to potentially interested teams, with grades above 60.0 in every facet in 2022.
Van Noy recorded a pressure percentage of right around 10% with at least five sacks in each of the past four seasons, and his 82.1 coverage grade over the past two seasons is fifth among linebackers. There aren’t many Kyle Van Noy’s out there, and he’s played at least 700 snaps in each of the past six seasons even as he gets older.
14. EDGE Rasheem Green
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Green is an intriguing inside-outside pass rusher fresh off earning career-high marks in PFF grade (62.4), pressure rate (9.7%) and run-defense grade (62.9).
Green signed a one-year, $2.75 million flier with the Texans in 2022 and earned an additional $500,000 through playtime incentives, but he could cash in on a larger multi-year deal after improving his game in all facets.
15. EDGE Lorenzo Carter
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
*Re-signed with Falcons
Carter signed a one-year, $3.5 million flier with the Atlanta Falcons after an injury-riddled rookie contract with the New York Giants, and the former third-rounder logged a career-high 909 snaps. He racked up 39 tackles with 28 defensive stops, and over his career he's been solid on the occasional coverage snap as an outside linebacker. After demonstrating that he can stay healthy for a full season, Carter should look to get a solid multi-year deal with a team looking for a standup outside linebacker who still has room to grow.
16. EDGE Dawuane Smoot
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Smoot signed a two-year, $10 million extension with the Jaguars and took major strides as a pass rusher, setting new career highs in pass-rush grade, pass-rush win rate and pressure percentage. From 2021 to 2022, Smoot's 15.9% pass-rush win rate ranks among the top 35 at the edge position. Unfortunately, Smoot tore his Achilles tendon in Week 16 of this past season, which likely puts him at risk of missing the early portion of the 2023 season. As a result, he may have to take a one-year flier to rehab and then look to cash in down the road.
17. EDGE DeMarcus Walker
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
Walker got off to a very slow start to his career, logging fewer than 350 snaps combined over his first three seasons. However, he's played more than that amount in each of the past three seasons since as a solid rotational edge rusher.
Walker set career highs in quarterback pressures (30) and defensive stops (16) in 2021, and he backed that up with 32 quarterback pressures, seven sacks and 21 defensive stops in 2022. He has posted a pressure rate above 10% in back-to-back seasons. A lot of teams could benefit from Walker logging around 400-500 productive snaps off the edge.
18. EDGE Carlos Dunlap
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
19. EDGE Bud Dupree
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
20. EDGE Shaq Lawson
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
21. EDGE Anthony Nelson
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
22. EDGE Dante Fowler Jr.
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
23. EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
24. EDGE Robert Quinn
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
25. EDGE Carl Nassib
Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings
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