2026 NFL Free Agent Rankings: Edge defenders

NFL free agency is a year-round process, as teams scout opposing players to beat them during the season and perhaps sign them in the offseason.

As the 2025–26 NFL season comes to a close, free agency is coming into focus, and teams are beginning to evaluate potential targets to address roster deficiencies. Here are the top edge defenders slated to hit free agency in 2026.

For now, each player’s profile includes three-year snap counts and three-year PFF grades, offering a broader, more stable view of performance than a single-season spike or dip.

Click here for PFF's full list of the top 250 free agents.

1. Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals

Snaps: 1,850 | PFF grade: 90.1

Hendrickson battled injuries throughout the 2025 season but still ranked sixth among all edge defenders in PFF pass-rush grade (90.0). He has now posted five consecutive seasons with a PFF pass-rush grade above 85.0 and generated 23 total pressures on 177 pass-rush snaps this year.

2. Odafe Oweh, Los Angeles Chargers

Snaps: 1,712 | PFF grade: 80.7

A midseason trade from the Baltimore Ravens to the Los Angeles Chargers sparked a career year for Odafe Oweh at an ideal time as he heads toward free agency. He recorded three sacks and two forced fumbles in the Chargers' playoff loss to the New England Patriots and ranked 11th among edge defenders in PFF pass-rush win rate (16.5%) after arriving in Los Angeles.

3. Jaelan Phillips, Philadelphia Eagles

Snaps: 1,371 | PFF grade: 78.4

Injuries have plagued Phillips‘ career, but he looked closer to his best after arriving in Philadelphia ahead of the trade deadline. From Week 10 on, he earned a 70.2 PFF pass-rush grade and generated 44 total pressures.

4. Boye Mafe, Seattle Seahawks

Snaps: 2,022 | PFF grade: 76.3

Mafe has developed into a consistent presence on the edge, where he has racked up 146 pressures over the past three seasons — the 31st most at the position. Over the same span, his 41 stops in run defense rank 34th.

5. Joey Bosa, Buffalo Bills

Snaps: 1,477 | PFF grade: 74.5

Bosa steered mostly clear of injuries for the first time in a long time in 2025, and he looked more like himself as a result. His 54 quarterback pressures were his most since 2021, and he generated the 19th-best PFF WAR (0.18) mark among edge defenders.

6. Khalil Mack, Los Angeles Chargers

Snaps: 2,080 | PFF grade: 91.9

A healthy Mack is good for around 50 quarterback pressures and eight sacks per season at this point in his 12-year career — and that's plenty of production for an edge-needy team. His 240 pressures over the past four seasons are the 11th most among all edge defenders. However, Mack is reportedly contemplating retirement.

7. Jadeveon Clowney, Dallas Cowboys

Snaps: 1,769 | PFF grade: 83.2

Playing for his seventh team in eight years, Clowney again showed why he is perennially one of free agency's best value signings. Only Micah Parsons and Will Anderson Jr. topped his 19.1% pressure rate in 2025 with the Cowboys, and he was a top-15 edge defender by pass-rush win rate (16.8%), too.

8. Dre'Mont Jones, Seattle Seahawks

Snaps: 2,168 | PFF grade: 62.7

Dre'Mont Jones posted a 64.7 PFF grade in 2025 across stops with Baltimore and Tennessee, while setting career highs in sacks (8) and total pressures (51). Since entering the league in 2019, he has been a steady interior pass rusher, ranking in the 56th percentile in PFF pass-rush grade and the 71st percentile in pass-rush win rate. Jones has also been highly reliable as a tackler, never missing more than three tackles in a season and recording just 18 missed tackles on 200 career tackle attempts.

9. Arnold Ebiketie, Atlanta Falcons

Snaps: 1,312 | PFF grade: 71.5

Ebiketie is hitting the market at the right time on the heels of a career-best year as a pass-rusher. Despite playing only 384 total snaps in 2024, the former second-round pick produced a 73.4 PFF pass-rushing grade and a 16.8% pass-rush win rate. Ebiketie fell a bit out of favor in the Falcons' young pass-rush room, but he profiles as a solid option for teams looking to better get after the quarterback.

10. Cameron Jordan, New Orleans Saints

Snaps: 1,924 | PFF grade: 72.9

One of the all-time great Saints, Jordan has slowed somewhat as a pass rusher in recent seasons, finishing with a PFF pass-rush grade below 64.0 in every year since 2023. He remained effective against the run in 2025, however, earning an 82.1 PFF run-defense grade. If he returns for the 2026 season, the eight-time Pro Bowl selection can still provide disruptive play along the defensive front.

11. Brandon Graham, Philadelphia Eagles

Snaps: 871 | PFF grade: 82.5

Graham is reportedly still weighing whether to return in 2026, having unretired in the middle of the 2025 season. It's unlikely that he will play anywhere other than Philadelphia. He recorded 11 pressures from 69 pass-rushing snaps this past year and can still be a solid rotational pass rusher at 38 years old.

12. K'Lavon Chaisson, New England Patriots

Snaps: 1,571 | PFF grade: 60.7

Chaisson's 54 quarterback pressures in the regular season ranked tied for 18th among edge defenders, and he has added another 18 in the playoffs. He's never quite lived up to his first-round draft slot but is coming off his most productive season as a pass rusher at the perfect time.

13. Kwity Paye, Indianapolis Colts

Snaps: 2,087 | PFF grade: 68.7

Paye hasn't lived up to his billing as a first round draft pick, earning PFF pass-rush grades below 60.0 in each of the past two seasons. But he is still just 27 years old and has played more than 3,000 snaps in his five-year career, so perhaps more of a rotational role would help him unlock production.

14. Dante Fowler Jr., Dallas Cowboys

Snaps: 1,275 | PFF grade: 68

Fowler is coming off the highest-graded season of his 10-year career, earning a 77.6 PFF grade after previously topping out at 72.0 in 2019 with the Rams. His 72.8 pass-rush grade was his best mark since 2022, and he generated 30 pressures — three sacks, seven hits and 20 hurries — on 248 pass-rush snaps. Fowler's 14.1% pass-rush win rate ranked 30th among the 93 edge defenders with at least 200 pass-rush snaps and marked a career high.

15. Derek Barnett, Houston Texans

Snaps: 1,215 | PFF grade: 78.1

Derek Barnett was a useful rotational pass rusher for Houston in 2025, logging 387 snaps — 209 as a pass rusher — and producing 16 pressures, including six sacks and six hits. While his sack production remains volatile, Barnett has finished plays at a high rate, ranking in the 79th percentile in sack rate over the past three seasons. He has also been dependable against the run, earning an 87th percentile run-defense grade and a 67th percentile grade on true pass rushes in that span.