Best wide receivers available in the 2022 NFL Draft and free agency

The Super Bowl is done and dusted, which means all 32 NFL teams are firmly into team-building season. The 2022 NFL offseason is all about 31 teams trying to build a roster capable of winning next year’s Super Bowl, while the defending champions make sure they can retain their crown.

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The big debate is where to invest resources. Teams can attack positions of need in free agency, the draft and even via trade. In this series, we will take a look at each position group and where the strengths lie in each of those areas for any teams in need. Today we'll look at wide receivers.

Best 2022 NFL Free Agents

1. Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers (Rank among PFF's top-200 free agents: 1)
2. Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3)
3. Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers (7)
4. Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears (10)
5. Odell Beckham Jr., Los Angeles Rams (19)
6. Michael Gallup, Dallas Cowboys (28)
7. Antonio Brown, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (29)
8. Juju Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers (42)
9. Christian Kirk, Arizona Cardinals (50)
10. D.J. Chark, Jacksonville Jaguars (51)

It’s a strong group of free agent wide receivers, at least on paper, as we start to approach the first team-building portion of the offseason. The big question will be how many of these players actually hit the open market.

If Davante Adams makes it that far, he would be one of the best free agents at any position to hit the market in years. Adams is arguably the best receiver in the game right now in the midst of his prime, but these are all reasons Green Bay can’t let him walk if they still have Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. If Jordan Love ends up taking over, it seems almost equally unlikely they can afford to let his only viable receiving weapon leave, but maybe they could be induced to accept a trade and apply the franchise tag on Adams in that scenario. More on that later.

Allen Robinson timed his first real underachieving season badly as he heads to free agency. Robinson has been phenomenally quarterback-proof during his football career dating back to high school, but he didn’t play at his usual high level this season and earned a 66.9 PFF grade, which ranked 65th in the league — some 20 grading points lower than last year. Robinson still has elite, No. 1 receiver skills and may end up proving a relative bargain for a team.

Chris Godwin may end up being the best receiver to make it as far as free agency. Godwin has been used all over the formation and can win in a variety of ways. He typically has excellent hands, with only 18 drops in an NFL career featuring 496 targets.

Mike Williams has been a big-play deep threat for the Chargers with a career average depth of target 14.9 yards down field. 

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2022 NFL free agency rankings for every position via PFF.com

Odell Beckham Jr. is an interesting gamble given what he showed down the stretch for the Rams, but a torn ACL in the Super Bowl complicates his market.