2024 NFL Free Agency Primer

Quarterback and running back written by Patrick Daugherty. Receiver and tight end written by Denny Carter.

The “legal tampering” period begins Monday, with free agency formally kicking off on Wednesday. As we know by now, deals will begin to flood in on Monday, with the official Wednesday kickoff more of a suggestion than a rule. With the salary cap continuing to soar upward, the money spigot will again be set to full flow.

Teams With The Most Cap Space (via the indispensable OverTheCap.com as of 3/7)

1. Commanders — $91.542 million
2. Patriots — $88.751 million
3. Titans — $75.817 million
4. Texans — $70.000 million
5. Cardinals — $56.632 million
6. Bears — $56.465 million
7. Colts — $49.208 million
8. Bengals — $48.551 million
9. Lions — $46.342 million
10. Eagles — $41.916 million

Teams With The Least Cap Space

32. Dolphins — -$20.402 million
31. Chargers — -$20.159 million
30. Saints — -$17.292 million
29. Cowboys — -$10.603 million
28. Ravens — -$10.032 million
27. Bills — -$9.052 million
26. Broncos — -$2.656 million
25. 49ers — -$285.281 thousand
24. Chiefs — $3.462 million
23. Browns — $6.799 million

Teams That Could Address Quarterback In Free Agency: Broncos, Bucs, Falcons, Giants, Jets, Raiders, Steelers, Titans, Vikings. 

Kirk Cousins. It’s rare for someone with Cousins’ pedigree to reach free agency. So what’s the catch? He’s 36 (in August) with a popped Achilles’ tendon. Concerning, but the four-time Pro Bowler is still a gamble worth taking. He was playing some of the best all-around football of his career before last season’s injury, and he’s always known what to do with a well-stocked skill corps. The cupboard will remain full in either of his most likely landing spots, Minnesota or Atlanta. Cousins has long been the premier “maybe the grass is greener” quarterback. It’s so tempting to imagine life beyond him. The Vikings may do just that. But life with him is just as easily taken for granted. Minnesota probably won’t like it if he’s gone.

Cousins’ Best Fit: The Falcons. The Vikings could end up with immediate seller’s remorse, but they’re allowed to look on the other side of the fence after six years in the Cousinsverse. The Falcons have a strong skill group to go along with a solid offensive line and defense. Cousins profiles as the “missing piece” in the weak NFC South.

Russell Wilson. This is a player in terminal decline. 19 quarterbacks have made at least 35 starts since 2021 (two seasons plus one game). Wilson is 17th in completion percentage (63.8), 17th in sack percentage (9.09) and 18th in passing success rate. He still protects the ball well while providing a solid enough touchdown percentage, but he also has just 67 passing scores over his past 44 starts. Wilson’s greatest recent “success” came when Sean Payton did everything humanly possible to hide him last season. On the open market, Wilson is a durability and baseline bet. He’s probably — not definitely — still slightly better than league average. He’s a bridge to someone’s near future.

Wilson’s Best Fit: The Raiders. Vegas can’t commit to its needed rebuild. It wants to place at least one bet on new coach Antonio Pierce’s good vibes. You could argue Wilson’s forte is dashing vibes, but he deserves the chance to serve as the 1A with a 1B like Aidan O’Connell. Befouled by a recent series of poor coaching fits — Pete Carroll was tired of him, Nathaniel Hackett had no clue what to do with him, Payton hated him — Wilson could be revitalized by Pierce’s no-nonsense yet player-friendly style.

Baker Mayfield. Coming off the renaissance season no one saw coming — you may remember the Bucs had Mayfield competing with Kyle Trask last summer — Mayfield admittedly feels like a blackjack draw where you would be unwise to “hit.” That would discount the fact that 2023 was his first truly healthy season since 2020, and that it was a more credible career year than, say, Daniel Jones’ 15-touchdown 2022. Mayfield probably still lacks a ceiling, but it’s clear he provides a higher floor than he had been given credit for.

Mayfield’s Best Fit: The Bucs. Without question, this pairing should be run back. The Bucs aren’t ready to rebuild, and anything is possible in the downtrodden NFC South.

Gardner Minshew. That’s Pro Bowler Gardner Minshew to you, pal. Never mind the shambles the NFL’s all-star game currently finds itself in. Minshew may be overrated, but he has proven his bridge quarterback bonafides. He might occasionally embarrass you, but he will never beclown you. Your season lives to fight another day even if he single-handedly loses a game or three. Minshew is a good leader who makes just enough plays that you might head into your next quarterback plan with a winning record.

Minshew’s Best Fit: The Jets. Gang Green is all in on Aaron Rodgers’ surgically-repaired, 40-year-old Achilles. They were the ultimate “this team makes the AFC Championship Game with Gardner Minshew” team in 2023. It’s time to potentially put that theory to the test as we hold our breath for Rodgers’ health.

Jacoby Brissett. Brissett can win you a game. A season? He’s never had a fill-in stretch quite as good as Minshew’s 2019 or 2023. It’s debatable, but Brissett’s age isn’t. He’s almost five years older. I will let that break the bridge quarterback tie in favor of The Mustachioed One.

Brissett’s Best Fit: Brissett has already been linked to the Broncos. That would be his best bet for actually starting games. A return to his ancestral New England home to mentor a rookie would probably be a more sensible outcome.

Joe Flacco. Although Flacco just completed his legendary comeback from being old, he’s not as good of a bridge/fill-in option as Minshew. He’s 12 years older with a lengthier recent injury history. Flacco felt like someone flying too close to the sun before he predictably crashed into it during the Wild Card Round. This is an interesting, unexpected epilogue to Flacco’s strange career, but 2023 doesn’t change the calculus as much as you might imagine.

Flacco’s Best Fit: The Browns. Deshaun Watson could barely stay on the field last season. A Cleveland honeymoon that never started seems to already be over. Flacco should serve as the in-house fire alarm ready to be pulled at a moment’s notice.

Ryan Tannehill. Seemingly no longer ambulatory in 2023, Tannehill got crushed for sacks as he tossed more picks than touchdowns. Extremely injury prone over the past two years as his movement skills have evaporated, Tannehill is no longer a starting-caliber quarterback.

Tannehill’s Best Fit: Tannehill needs to be the No. 2 for an offensive coordinator who knows how to hide the quarterback. He would be a season-ending proposition for a coach who doesn’t operate in the Kyle Shanahan mold.

Quarterbacks, Also Out There: Since no one can un-see Jameis Winston’s 2019, he seems doomed to finish his career as the league’s wiliest backup. … Brock Purdy stayed healthy, depriving Sam Darnold of the opportunity to prove he was just a Kyle Shanahan adjustment away from being the next Baker Mayfield. … Tyler Huntley provides more big-play ability than the average No. 2 quarterback. Just don’t think about his lost fumble in the 2023 Wild Card Round. … Tyrod Taylor is an excellent backup who gets injured the second he becomes the starter. … Defenses seem to figure Josh Dobbs out in a hurry, but he’s a solid enough 1-2 start backup. … Carson Wentz remains an active NFL football player. … Mason Rudolph is a “free agent” in the sense that he’s yet to sign the Steelers contract that has been sitting on his agent’s desk for the past two weeks.

Running Back

Teams More Likely To Address Running Back In Free Agency: Bengals, Bills, Bucs, Chargers, Commanders, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Jaguars, Panthers, Patriots, Raiders, Ravens, Texans, Titans, Vikings.

Derrick Henry. The Big Dog hits the open market as one of just two active players with more than 2,000 career carries. No one else has more than 1,593. Henry is shedding tread on the highway, but he’s still remarkably durable, appearing in 33-of-34 contests over the past two seasons. He has missed more than one game one time in eight years. Despite decreased efficiency, Henry remained on the positive side of the ledger in terms of rush yards over expected in 2023. He is the NFL’s ultimate “what you see is what you get” player and likely capable of outrunning the age curve for another season or two.

Henry’s Best Fit: The Ravens. Baltimore had so little faith in its backfield in the AFC Championship Game it pulled the plug after just three Gus Edwards carries. The Ravens have long put too much on Lamar Jackson’s plate, moneyballing the backfield to the point it went broke. In an offense where the “special trait” is the quarterback’s running ability, don’t put all of the responsibility on him on the ground.

Saquon Barkley. 2023 clocked as a bad year for Barkley’s box scores, but he actually remained 13th in average rush yards over expected. He was eighth in 10-plus yard carries. There was just only so much he could do in the Giants’ horrendous offensive environment, hence his 3.9 yards per attempt. Having just turned 27, Barkley remained healthy by his standards over the past two seasons. He makes sense as a box score bounce-back candidate.

Barkley’s Best Fit: The Eagles. Philly wants to be a balanced, run-capable offense but has always been slightly too reliant on committees. D’Andre Swift had a decent 2023 but like Miles Sanders before him was routinely pulled off the field for some of the most important snaps. You wouldn’t need to sub Barkley out for Kenneth Gainwell or Boston Scott.

Josh Jacobs. Late-report Jacobs never really showed up on the production front in 2023, watching his yards per carry crater from 4.9 to 3.5 as he fell from 11th in average rush yards over expected to 41st. He did remain a three-down back and important leader for Antonio Pierce’s post-Josh McDaniels offense.

Jacobs’ Best Fit: The Raiders. Although Jacobs is only 26, he’s eighth in active career carries (1,305). Like Ezekiel Elliott, he’s played through a lot of injuries and has probably suffered diminished explosiveness as a result. This means his “vibes,” versatility and experience are more important than ever, and there is nowhere where they would have greater import than Las Vegas.

Austin Ekeler. Ekeler decisively lost his contract protest then promptly went out and suffered a high-ankle sprain. It destroyed his rushing efficiency just as all the touchdown opportunities dried up in a collapsing offense. Ekeler remained well above average as a backfield pass catcher but to his great consternation, the Chargers dramatically reduced his targets.

Ekeler’s Best Fit: The Chiefs. Ekeler did a reasonable enough impression of a three-down back in 2021-22, but there’s no reason to keep up the facade. The Chiefs are comfortable with committees and have an excellent early-down hammer in Isiah Pacheco. Even an aging, diminished Ekeler would be a massive upgrade on Jerick McKinnon.

Tony Pollard. Neck and neck for the title of “league’s most efficient back” in 2022, Pollard parlayed his “1B” explosiveness into a franchise tag and unquestioned starting role in Dallas. But he did so after suffering a traumatic leg injury during the 2022-23 postseason, a fact fantasy managers probably too easily glossed over. With no Ezekiel Elliott to hide behind, Pollard crashed to the bottom half of the NFL in average rush yards over expected, squandering more touchdown opportunities than should be possible in the process. Of Pollard’s 60 carries inside the 20-yard line, only five resulted in scores, an almost-unfathomable level of futility.

Pollard’s Best Fit: The Texans. Pollard has blamed his rough 2023 on the leg. He’s unlikely to ever get another lead back crack, but his versatility remains in vogue in the modern NFL. The Texans need a complete backfield overhaul and Pollard would be a great place to start a committee.

DeAndre Swift. Swift was both better and worse than expected for the Eagles, coasting to new career highs across the board while nevertheless: 1. Struggling to score touchdowns. 2. Grading out dismally in rush yards over expected. 3. Watching his efficiency plunge as a pass catcher. The good news is he stayed healthy and averaged 18 touches between his bit player Week 1 and inactive Week 18.

Swift’s Best Fit: Although Swift is still only 25, he’s unlikely to get another lead-back opportunity. He just wasn’t impressive enough in 2023. He would be an excellent complementary/fill-in back somewhere like … well, somewhere. I honestly don’t know.

Antonio Gibson. The one-time fantasy favorite finds himself in NFL no man’s land as he heads to free agency for the first time. Never truly trusted as an early-down back in Washington, Gibson has also never reached the key number of 50 receptions as a pass catcher. He came close last year, though his yards per route run declined from 1.48 to 1.22.

Gibson’s Best Fit: Gibson is an ideal No. 2/committee member because he can catch passes and handle big workloads in a pinch. The Ravens probably wish they had Gibson instead of Justice Hill last season.

Devin Singletary. Singletary surprisingly, easily surpassed Dameon Pierce on the depth chart but operated as one of the league’s poorer lead backs. Actually, “poor” is probably pushing it. Singletary was just painfully average in every category, save for pass catching where he remained abysmal.

Singletary’s Best Fit: The Texans need to upgrade. As durable as it gets and capable of handling all three downs, Singletary is a Jamaal Williams type in that you might not necessarily want him on the field, but he is never going to torpedo the operation.

Zack Moss. The author of perhaps the most surprising rushing campaign of 2023, Moss went from scrap heap free agent flier to the runner who kept the Colts’ backfield afloat amidst Jonathan Taylor’s trade and injury travails. An advanced metric darling, Moss placed fifth in average rush yards over expected. He twice produced more than 120 yards on the ground, and his 27 receptions were a new career high.

Moss’s Best Fit: Moss has become a plug-and-play 1B back in the mold of Alexander Mattison behind Dalvin Cook. That might sound like damning with faint praise, but it’s a surprising outcome after Moss’s Bills struggles. Going on 27 after wearing down near the end of last season, Moss is unlikely to get a starting shot.

Gus Edwards. J.K. Dobbins went down in Week 1, but Edwards still never reached 20 carries in a contest. He remained an early-down third-and-short setter upper and goal-line rim finisher, with his 13 touchdowns providing 2023’s answer to Jamaal Williams.

Edwards’ Best Fit: Edwards could easily wind up back in Baltimore, but he sure seems like a good fit for the ground-based attack Jim Harbaugh wants to install in L.A.

Running Backs, Also Out There: The active career leader in carries, Ezekiel Elliott will probably be 2023’s top “off the street” option. … After predictably flopping as the Vikings’ lead back, Alexander Mattison at least arrives on the open market with a good health history and plenty of film on all three downs. … AJ Dillon was simply never good for the duration of his rookie contract in Green Bay. He could struggle to make a 53-man roster, but his supposed “power” will undoubtedly earn him a spring contract. … Like Dillon, Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s recently completed rookie deal featured him standing out in precisely zero areas. Whereas Dillon will hope someone gambles they can unlock his power game, CEH needs a coach still willing to project some catches. … D’Onta Foreman is arguably the back the Packers wanted Dillon to be. … Kareem Hunt seems totally out of gas.

Receiver and tight end by Denny Carter

Wide Receiver

Teams More Likely To Address Wide Receiver In Free Agency: Giants, Bills, Ravens, Cardinals, Colts, Lions, Patriots, Chargers, Chiefs, Titans, Dolphins.

Calvin Ridley. Ridley spent his first season in Jacksonville seeing low-percentage sideline shots from Trevor Lawrence, who led the NFL in bad throw rate and who had zero chemistry with Ridley upon his return to the NFL following a two-year hiatus. In a terribly inefficient season, Ridley turned a whopping 136 targets -- the 14th most among receivers -- into a humble 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns. Ridley had the tenth most air yards among wideouts and the 27th most actual yards. It was, in a word, disappointing.

Ridley's Best Fit: The Jaguars seem intent on bringing back Ridley for some reason. Without a team or two champing at the bit to snag Ridley in free agency, I suppose he’ll end up in Jacksonville for another season. Ridley enters his age-29 season with his best seasons firmly in the rearview. Unless his receiving profile changes, affording the veteran more short-area looks, Ridley will once again be a frustrating fantasy option in 2024.

Marquise Brown. Brown, whose specialty is running fast in a straight line and drawing some of the softest pass interference flags you’ll ever see, has been a tantalizing talent for five NFL seasons, only one of which saw the downfield burner crack the 1,000-yard threshold. Whatever Brown is, he’s certainly not a No. 1 receiver. He’s a complementary big-play threat and an air yards machine. The problem: In his final year with the Cardinals, Brown converted 32 percent of his air yards into actual yards, the fourth lowest mark among wideouts with at least 50 targets.

Brown's Best Fit: The Bills losing Gabe Davis to free agency leaves them without a real downfield threat. Brown could fill that role while an aging, declining Stefon Diggs and Dalton Kincaid vacuum up intermediate looks from Josh Allen. Allen’s 76 pass attempts of more than 20 yards ranked second in 2023, trailing only the freewheeling Jordan Love. Just imagine all the flags Brown could draw on Josh Allen cannon shots.

Gabe Davis. Davis, who has become a spreadsheet warrior as he enters free agency, managed 746 yards and seven touchdowns on 45 catches in his final season with the Bills. However frustrating for fantasy purposes, 2023 saw Davis post a career high success rate. He never proved to be much of a target earner in Buffalo’s offense, ending his Bills career with a 15.2 percent target per route run rate.

Davis's Best Fit: Davis would suffice as a downfield weapon for Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, a replacement for cardio kings Marques Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson. The role of downfield threat in the KC offense has less shine today than it did a few years ago. Mahomes was tenth in attempts of more than 20 yards in 2023 and 20th in yards gained on downfield throws, just below Desmond Ridder. Even so, Davis could be the Chiefs WR1 if he signs there.

Odell Beckham. That OBJ never emerged as an every-down wideout for the wideout-starved Ravens doesn’t mean he wasn’t an efficient producer in 2023. He was top-25 among receivers in yards per route run and his 23 percent targets per route run led all Baltimore wideouts. At 31 years old, Beckham posted the highest average depth of target (13.9), yards per reception (16.1), and yards after the catch per reception (4.4) of his NFL career. Beckham demonstrated some of his early-career burst while struggling through a series of nagging injuries that dinged his playing time.

Beckham's Best Fit: Beckham fit well enough in the Ravens offense that I wouldn’t be stunned if Baltimore brought him back on a one-year deal. He seemed to have solid chemistry with Lamar Jackson and became the team’s only trusted downfield threat. The only things missing were consistent snaps and pass routes.

Tyler Boyd. A reliable-enough slot receiver over the past eight years, Boyd could never replicate his statistical success of 2019, when he had 90 grabs and cracked the 1,000-yard mark for the only time in his NFL career. Boyd, running 82 percent of his routes from the slot since entering the league, has certainly shown enough to function as a Thielen-like check-down option in an offense with one or two superior pass catchers.

Boyd's Best Fit: The Chiefs would make sense as a landing spot for Boyd if the team is done experimenting with Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore as slot options. A reliable veteran receiving presence is what Kansas City sorely missed in 2023. Boyd could see a glut of targets in KC considering Patrick Mahomes’ check-down tendencies against two high safety coverages.

Kendrick Bourne. Just as Bill O’Brien and the Patriots coaching staff began to realize Bourne was their only good player, the receiver sustained an ACL tear in late October. Bourne, so often in Bill Belichick’s Las Vegas Sphere-sized doghouse, had 16 catches for 152 yards in the two games before his season-ending injury. A yards-after-catch phenom of the peak of his powers in San Francisco before three forgettable seasons with Belichick’s down-bad Patriots, Bourne in 2023 showed he can still be a functional WR2 in the right offense.

Bourne's Best Fit: Bourne would do well to land in the Shanahan-adjacent Dolphins offense this offseason. Miami had no viable pass catchers outside Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, and Bourne is the kind of wideout who can create for himself on over-the-middle passes -- a foundational part of Mike McDaniel’s offense. Wrestling targets away from Hill and Waddle would prove difficult, however. A move back to the slot -- where he played on 40 percent of his 2020 snaps with the Niners -- would make Bourne an interesting fantasy option.

Greg Dortch. Dortch over the past two seasons has done nothing but make plays for the Cardinals and the mainstream media refuses to acknowledge it. His production on precious few targets has created a generation of Dortchpilled fantasy managers who will keep a close eye on the shifty wideout as he enters free agency. With 24 catches for 280 yards and four touchdowns in 2023, Dortch ranked seventh among wideouts in yards after the catch per receptions (6.4). Get this man the ball.

Dortch's Best Fit: Dortch could see instant volume in New England, which last year sported the worst receiver group in the league. The quality of targets Dortch might see in New England is another question entirely.

Curtis Samuel. After two PPR scammy seasons in Washington -- and three overall with the Commanders -- Samuel will bring his scam elsewhere in 2024. Samuel in 2023 had 62 receptions for 613 yards and five touchdowns for the ultra pass-heavy Commanders, running 71 percent of his pass routes from the slot. Samuel’s 6.6 aDOT was the lowest of his NFL career, as he operated strictly as an underneath dump off option for Sam Howell.

Samuel's Best Fit: Samuel could serve the same function for the Titans, with DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks lined up out wide. It would hardly be the best fantasy landing spot for Samuel since Will Levis has no interest in the check down pass and the Titans overall should be massively run heavy even after the departure of Derrick Henry. Samuel to the Chiefs would be much more fun. That goes without saying.

Chase Claypool. On-field and off-field effort issues continue to dog Claypool, now four years removed from a promising rookie campaign in Pittsburgh. He had a depressing eight receptions over 12 combined games with the Bears and Dolphins last season. His 29 percent success rate in Miami was the stuff of analytical nightmares.

Claypool's Best Fit: It’s hard to believe anyone would want Claypool at this point. The Patriots can’t be choosers though, and might take a flier based on Claypool’s early-career flashes. Having the worst wideout room in the league tends to shape how a team views veteran castoffs.

K.J. Osborn. Osborn was easily surpassed by rookie WR Jordan Addison in 2023. The veteran, with his playing time slowly fading away down the stretch, had 48 catches for 540 yards and three touchdowns in his final year with the pass-first Vikings.

Osborn's Best Fit: The Giants are in desperate need of a reliable intermediate-area pass catcher. Osborn, sporting a career aDOT of 9.9, could fill that role for Daniel Jones and company. Osborn has largely split his time out wide and in the slot. The Giants could use some of that positional flexibility.

Marques Valdes-Scantling. MVS ended his miserable run in Kansas City with 468 regular season routes and 40 targets. He had 63 catches over 34 regular season games in the KC offense. That’s as bleak as it gets from a statistical standpoint.

MVS' Best Fit: Valdes-Scantling would make some sense catching deep balls from Kyler Murray in Arizona. The Cardinals, without Marquise Brown, don’t have a legit downfield pass catcher headed into free agency. Wherever he lands, MVS has almost no chance of holding any real fantasy value.

Darnell Mooney. Missing two games with injury, Mooney in 2023 failed to take the next step as a reliable WR2 for the Bears. He had just 31 catches for 414 yards and one touchdown. His 41 percent success rate was among the league’s lowest among receivers with at least 50 targets. The speedy wideout caught only three of his 13 downfield targets for 84 yards and a score.

Mooney's Best Fit: Mooney would suffice as a reasonably good deep threat for Josh Allen. His straight line speed would be very much welcomed in a Buffalo offense without a receiver who puts the fear of the Almighty into safeties.

Wide Receivers, Also Out There: Sterling Shepard, long besieged by catastrophic injuries, is finally leaving the Giants after posting a bulky 26 percent targets per route run on 86 routes in 2023; Josh Reynolds should be a somewhat sought-after possession receiver after some late-season success; DJ Chark will continue his horrifically inefficient tour of the NFL; Donovan Peoples-Jones remains an active NFL player; Noah Brown, following his weird Week 9-10 blowup in Houston, will likely sign elsewhere; Chris Moore, who only makes big plays anytime he’s given decent playing time, could be an intriguing name for WR-hungry teams; and Van Jefferson will continue running in a straight line without any threat of seeing the football somewhere outside Atlanta in 2024.

Tight End

Teams More Likely To Address Tight End In Free Agency: Panthers, Bengals, Colts, Broncos, Chargers, Jets, Seahawks, Bucs, Titans, Commanders, Dolphins.

Hunter Henry. Henry enters his age-29 season after posting a career-low 1.13 yards per route run in a moribund New England offense -- an abysmal number by any standard. Henry’s yards after the catch ability also fell off a cliff in 2023, as the veteran averaged 1.8 YAC per reception, well below his career 3.9 mark (and his career high 5.5 YAC/catch). It wasn’t all bad for Henry in his final year with the Patriots: His 64 percent success rate was the third highest of his NFL career.

Henry’s Best Fit: Coming off a late-season knee injury, Henry will be fortunate to sign with any team offering more than an incentive-laden deal for the veteran. He would make sense as a situational player for the Commanders or Seahawks as they move on from Logan Thomas and Noah Fant, respectively. Henry’s best-case scenario would be turning into a PPR scam in a pass-heavy offense in which he’s running 80-90 percent of the pass routes.

Jonnu Smith. Henry’s former Patriots teammate was unceremoniously dumped by the new Falcons regime after former head coach Arthur Smith made every effort to get the ball into Smith’s hands in 2023. That usage fueled a career high 50/582/3 line in the run-heavy Atlanta offense. He was used from the slot on a career-high 53 percent of his pass routes last season and continued posting impressive yards after the catch numbers. In fact, only David Njoku and Isaiah Likely had a higher YAC/catch than Jonnu in 2023. He still has the juice.

Jonnu's Best Fit: Though Miami doesn’t use its tight end all that much, Jonnu could be a nice addition to a Mike McDaniel offense in desperate need of a play-making pass catcher outside Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle (I wrote that sentence a few hours before reports that Smith and the Dolphins were working out a short-term deal, so feel free to pat me on the back). YAC monsters have done well in Shanahan-style offenses, and Jonnu would fit the bill. He would likely lack volume in a Dolphins offense with a highly concentrated target distribution. Miami tight ends totaled 41 receptions and zero touchdowns in 2023.

Gerald Everett. Everett’s final season with the Chargers saw him catch 51 of his 70 targets for 411 yards and three scores and a respectable 50 percent success rate in a dismal offensive environment. The hyper-athletic Everett -- while prone to boneheaded plays -- pops in a number of metrics. He led all tight ends last season in broken tackle rate and evasion rate, and was eighth among tight ends in yards after the catch per reception. There’s every reason to believe Everett could thrive if given an every-down role in a balanced or pass-first offense.

Everett’s Best Fit: Everett could profile as a viable No. 3 pass-catching option in the pass-heavy Bengals offense, which has swung and missed on free agent tight ends in recent years, including Irv Smith in 2023. Everett could be used as a sort of hybrid TE/WR in Cincy’s offense with Tyler Boyd likely to land elsewhere this offseason. Everett would (rightfully) become a much sought after later-round fantasy pick should he join the elite Bengals passing attack.

Noah Fant. Fant, as you probably know, has been a perennial fantasy disappointment after entering the NFL with one of the best eye-popping pedigrees of any tight end in league history. Though he only managed 32 receptions for 414 scoreless yards for the Seahawks in 2023, Fant posted career highs in success rate and yards per reception. His pass routes remained limited and he was mostly deployed as in-line tight end during his final season in Seattle.

Fant’s Best Fit: Fant could finally be the pass-catching tight end answer the Colts have sought for at least the past four seasons. He could serve as a nice complement to Michael Pittman -- if he remains in Indy -- and second-year WR Josh Downs. The Colts’ veritable clown car of tight ends in 2023 combined for a 21.8 percent target share, with Kylen Granson leading the way with a meager 9 percent share. Give most of that to one guy (Fant) and he should have plenty of fantasy viability.

Irv Smith. The injury-marred Smith, who has managed to play 20 games over the past three seasons, had 18 receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown last year with the Bengals. The once-heralded tight end prospect has struggled to return from a major 2021 knee injury. In 2023, Smith -- who was easily outplayed by fellow Cincy TE Tanner Hudson -- missed five games with the highest ankle sprain you’ve ever seen. His success rate last season (38 percent) was by far the lowest of his NFL career.

Irv's Best Fit: The Seahawks would make some sense for Smith. They’re losing Noah Fant and Will Dissly in free agency and have shown an unwillingness to invest much in the tight end position. The problem for Smith would be that no pass catcher outside Tyler Lockett or DK Metcalf score any fantasy points in the Seattle offense.

Will Dissly. A beloved player in Seattle over the past six years, Dissly, 27, will join fellow Seahawks tight end Noah Fant in free agency this offseason. Dissly, operating mostly as a part-time player, recorded 121 catches -- including 13 touchdowns -- over the past five seasons. It’s hard to say if Dissly ever really came back from a 2019 Achilles tear that ended what looked to be a career year.

Dissly's Best Fit: Dissly, graded by Pro Football Focus as the league’s third best blocking tight end in 2023, would make sense in what should be a run-heavy Broncos offense. Head coach Sean Payton seemed to favor blocking tight ends over Greg Dulcich, who seems less-than-enthusiastic about any kind of blocking.

Logan Thomas. The Thomas era in Washington is finally, at long last, over after three straight unproductive seasons from the QB-turned-TE now entering his age-33 season. Thomas’ yards per route run (0.95) in 2023 ranked 36th among 46 qualifying tight ends as his average depth of target curdled to a career low 6.5.

Thomas' Best Fit: It’s hard to imagine any team being excited about signing the slow-footed veteran this offseason, but I suppose he would make sense as a rotational player in Tennessee, where they tend not to care about speed or performance so long as you’re a solid veteran presence.

Tight Ends, Also Out There: The positionless, hybrid Mike Gesicki will hit the open market after a predictably terrible season with the Patriots (29 catches in 17 games); Robert Tonyan will likely find a new home after a forgettable year in Chicago; veteran journeyman C.J. Uzomah was given the boot after a catastrophic campaign with the Jets; Austin Hooper, PFF’s best blocking tight end in 2023, could land with a run-heavy offense; and Johnny Mundt could get some free agency attention after acquitting himself well as Minnesota’s TE1 following T.J. Hockenson’s season-ending injury last year.