• Danielle Hunter to the Houston Texans: He finished another season with 900-plus snaps, 70-plus quarterback pressures and double-digit sacks, giving in Demeco Ryan's defensive scheme an excellent edge defender to pair with Will Anderson.
• Tyron Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs: After agreeing to a revised one-year deal worth $6 million for 2023, Smith outplayed that deal once again. We’d love to see him make a push for a ring once and for all with the Kansas City Chiefs — á laAndrew Whitworth with the Los Angeles Rams.
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The 2024 free agency period is well underway, but there are still some difference-making players available. Here are 10 moves we’d like to see.
EDGE DANIELLE HUNTER: HOUSTON TEXANS
Hunter was a revelation in Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores' blitz-heavy scheme, though he was just as productive in 2022. Teams that run a 3-4 or 4-3 could probably find a way to deploy Hunter effectively, and injury concerns of a few years ago seem like distant memories. He finished another season with 900-plus snaps, 70-plus quarterback pressures and double-digit sacks, giving in Demeco Ryan's defensive scheme an excellent edge defender to pair with Will Anderson.
T TYRON SMITH: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
When Tyron Smith is healthy, he is an impenetrable brick wall as a blindside protector, no matter the matchup. Smith playing through nearly the entirety of the eight-year extension he signed in 2014 is something we will probably never see again, and he provided enormous surplus value to Dallas despite the time he missed here and there.
After agreeing to a revised one-year deal worth $6 million for 2023, Smith outplayed that deal once again. We’d love to see him make a push for a ring once and for all with the Kansas City Chiefs — á la Andrew Whitworth with the Los Angeles Rams — but he deserves a solid payday if he wants to pursue one, with perhaps the New York Jets stepping up.
WR MARQUISE BROWN: DENVER BRONCOS
The Ravens traded Brown and a third-round pick to the Cardinals for a 2022 first-round pick, and his time in Arizona was a journey, to say the least. Between his own injuries and Kyler Murray‘s torn ACL, the former college teammates weren't able to team up as much as the old regime probably hoped, but he has flashed when in the lineup. It's hard to come up with a solid comparable player for a 5-foot-9, 180-pound outside wide receiver (although now the NFL is adding more of this archetype each year), and it's also fair to wonder how badly Arizona wants to extend anyone, given the team's timeline and the emergence of rookie wideout Michael Wilson.
Brown would provide Sean Payton's offense with an effective receiver to help replace Jerry Jeudy, who was recently traded to the Cleveland Browns.
DI D.J. READER: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Only injuries slowed Reader down in Cincinnati. Otherwise, he was a dominant force on the interior of a talented defensive line that was able to control the line of scrimmage and win big games up front over the past few seasons. The eighth-year veteran was the anchor in the middle. Reader is as stout as they come and nearly impossible to displace by just one blocker. And while he'll never fill up the stat sheet with sacks, he can push the pocket and free up teammates as well as any nose tackle. Reader, unfortunately, suffered a torn quadriceps injury in Week 15 that knocked him out for the remainder of the season. We will await more details on the recovery process before changing his projection, but the injury could obviously impact his market.
Reader's ability to stop the run would be a welcome addition to a team that ranked in the middle of the pack in PFF run-defense grade.
LB PATRICK QUEEN: SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Queen's pass-rushing prowess carries significant value in addition to his strong play against the run and in coverage over the past two seasons, and no one knows that better than Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald. His 48 quarterback pressures and eight sacks over the past two seasons are both second among off-ball linebackers. With Baltimore's addition of linebacker Roquan Smith (the highest-paid player at the position after last year's extension) and the team having several other pending free agents, Queen should get to test the market and potentially do quite well for himself.
WR CALVIN RIDLEY: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Ridley's contract situation is a true one-of-one. He returned to play in 2023 after missing all of 2022 while serving a suspension for sports gambling and had stepped away from football before the 2021 campaign was over but was a top wide receiver in 2020. There were drop issues in 2023 as Ridley returned to full speed, but he still proved capable of taking over a game while breaking off a series of explosive receptions. Equally fascinating are the conditions on Ridley's trade to Jacksonville, where the pick the Jaguars will send to the Atlanta Falcons escalates to a second-rounder if the two parties agree to an extension. We're not 100% certain that the same language for the condition exists here as it did when Leonard Williams was sent from the New York Jets to the New York Giants, but there, the Giants did not have to send a better pick by merely placing a franchise tag instead of signing Williams to a multi-year extension in 2020.
Ridley would give New England's 2024 quarterback a friendly target who can help lead to better offensive production moving forward.
EDGE CHASE YOUNG: BALTIMORE RAVENS
Finally healthy in 2023 after spending the better part of two seasons recovering from a torn ACL, Young exploded early in the year and finished among the top edge defenders in pass-rush win rate on the season. A strong run defender as a rookie, Young does lose contain at times and occasionally gets guided upfield beyond the play, but a half-season of working with defensive line coach Kris Kocurek in San Francisco is the best free agency preparation around. The No. 3 overall pick in 2015, Dante Fowler Jr., signed a one-year, $12 million deal following his rookie contract that began with a torn ACL in his rookie season. Perhaps this type of framework could serve as a blueprint, and Young can bet on himself once again to repeat in 2024 and then truly cash in.
The Ravens routinely help veteran edge rushers — such as Jadeveon Clowney last year — thrive in their defense, giving Young the ability continue to build on his 2023 success.
RB DERRICK HENRY: DALLAS COWBOYS
There is only one ‘Tractorcito,' with Henry's usage as a screen receiver in recent seasons adding another element to his game, causing comparisons to players like Steven Jackson and Chris Ivory to fall a bit short. Henry has not yet hit the proverbial wall, whether that is tied to a running back's age or total carries. His 3.32 yards after contact per attempt in 2023 was still a top-tier mark. Going forward, Henry may not break off as many explosives as in years past, but he looks to have a few more seasons of bowling over defenders and scoring double-digit touchdowns in him.
After losing Tony Pollard to the Tennessee Titans on Day 1 of free agency, the Cowboys could look to Henry to lead their backfield in an all-important year for head coach Mike McCarthy and company.
DI SHELDON RANKINS: DETROIT LIONS
Rankins plays with good leverage, engaging in blocks with a low center of gravity and often driving his blocker back several steps into the lap of the quarterback. He also has a suddenness to his game as a pass-rusher, quickly getting on the toes of opposing guards and deploying his inside spin move or flashing across the line on stunts. When blockers are able to latch onto him, he struggles to disengage, getting driven past the quarterback or limiting his ability to complete the play, but he continues driving his legs through contact nonetheless and doesn't stop until the whistle.
He fits what head coach Dan Campbell and the Lions value in a defensive lineman like a glove.
LB JEROME BAKER: PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Baker will get caught on blocks at times or fail to enthusiastically fill a gap in the run game, but he's still one of the stronger coverage linebackers in the game with the long speed and effort to chase down ball-carriers. On the play he, unfortunately, injured his wrist, which required surgery and may have spurred his release, he ran across the field to the far pylon and was just a second late to making a potential stop right before the touchdown.
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