• Marvin Harrison Jr. might be the best WR in the free-agent and draft groups: Harrison is the total package at the position, with no flaws to his game and coming from Hall-of-Fame bloodlines.
• Tee Higgins remains a top trade option despite his franchise tag: The Bengals placed the franchise tag on the Clemson product but could still trade him if an enticing offer appears.
• Draft and trade for yourself: Try PFF's Mock Draft Simulator — trade picks and players and mock for your favorite NFL team.
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Quarterback is the most important position in football, but who those quarterbacks are throwing to might be the second-most important.
Any passer lacking targets is going to struggle to have an impact, while an elite receiving corps can raise the game of a team’s quarterback.
Many NFL teams need receivers, and each will have opportunities to improve their roster in three key ways this offseason: free agency, the NFL draft and the trade market. Here, we will explore the landscape for each.
Best 2024 NFL Free Agents
- Marquise Brown (No. 17 in PFF’s Free Agency Rankings)
- Calvin Ridley (25)
- Darnell Mooney (61)
- Gabe Davis (64)
- Odell Beckham Jr. (70)
- Tyler Boyd (75)
- Curtis Samuel (76)
- Kendrick Bourne (87)
- D.J. Chark (108)
- Michael Thomas (116)
The franchise tag has shorn the free agency class of its best receivers. Tee Higgins and Michael Pittman Jr. were both scheduled to hit the market, and the Buccaneers agreed to a deal to keep Mike Evans away from free agency.
That leaves the top players in this group as Marquise Brown and Calvin Ridley, each of whom has demonstrated that they are not true No. 1 difference-makers in the NFL. That’s not to say they aren’t still very useful players, but if a team needs a superstar, they’re not finding one in this free-agent crop.
Brown and Ridley are both quick, speedy receivers who win through separation but don’t excel at the catch point. Ridley, in particular, left many plays on the table last year as he came back from a suspension to play with Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. Overall, this is a free-agent class to improve a receiving corps, but not one that can transform or fix a weak one. For that, teams are going to need to focus on the draft or the trade market.
Best 2024 NFL Draft Prospects
- Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State (PFF Big Board Rank: 2)
- Malik Nabers, LSU (4)
- Rome Odunze, Washington (7)
- Brian Thomas Jr., LSU (21)
- Troy Franklin, Oregon (26)
- Ladd McConkey, Georgia (31)
- Keon Coleman, Florida State (37)
- Adonai Mitchell, Texas (40)
- Devontez Walker, North Carolina (44)
- Jermaine Burton, Alabama (46)
As seems to be the case nearly every year recently, this is one of the best wide receiver draft classes in recent memory. Marvin Harrison Jr. is talked about as one of the best receiver prospects to enter the draft in decades, perhaps as far back as Calvin Johnson in 2007.
Harrison is the total package at the position, with no flaws to his game and coming from the bloodlines of a Hall-of-Fame father.
Malik Nabers from LSU and Rome Odunze from Washington are both so good that they could have been the top receiver available and a top-five draft pick in any other draft. Odunze impressed at the NFL Scouting Combine, while Nabers is going to wait until his pro day but has elite tape and tops several player tracking charts for in-game speed.
The depth of this class is also exceptional, with somebody like Adonai Mitchell from Texas currently at No. 8 on PFF’s receiver rankings but potentially a clear first-round player after his Combine performance.
Even beyond this top 10, there will be players throughout the draft who can make an immediate impact to upgrade an NFL offense.
Best WRs Available Via Trade
- Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
- Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers
- Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers
- Jerry Jeudy, Denver Broncos
- Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos
There is still an element of risk attached to the draft, and a receiver-needy team may value the comparative certainty of proven NFL players to the point they are willing to pay for it. A few years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles sent a first-round draft pick to the Titans for A.J. Brown, in addition to some other bells and whistles. It was the best first-round pick spent that year, even factoring in the contract they had to pay him.
Tee Higgins has been franchise-tagged by the Bengals, just as they did to Jessie Bates III before him, but unlike Bates, Higgins might draw considerable trade interest from teams. If the right offer is on the table, the Bengals may choose to cash in now rather than get one more year out of Higgins before letting him walk.
Brandon Aiyuk emerged as a superstar in 2023, and the 49ers could afford to bring him back, given the cheat code of Brock Purdy’s contract. But they already have five players with a cap hit north of $21 million for 2024, and five more over $14 million, with that Purdy deal looming on the horizon. If a team waved a first-round pick in front of them, they may find it hard to say no.
Denver’s receivers have been on the trade block for what seems like years, and Pittsburgh might be happy to move on from Diontae Johnson.
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