2025 NFL free agency: Best team fits for top 50 players - ESPN

A few weeks ago, we ranked the NFL's top 50 free agents available this offseason. Now, we're taking that same list of 50 stars — with a few small updates — and picking the best team fit for each player. Which landing spots would make the most sense?

NFL free agency opens at 4 p.m. ET on March 12, two days after the legal negotiation window begins. Players can be re-signed or franchise-tagged before reaching the open market, but the players who reach free agency will be looking for perfect situations. Our best fits are mainly focused on team needs, scheme and potential future production, though we also factored each franchise's salary cap situation. But remember that every team's cap room will shift up and down before free agency as front offices restructure, cut and re-sign contracts. And yes, for some of these fits to work, teams might have to get creative.

Who can help fill a roster's biggest need? Who can fix a troublesome quarterback situation? And who could slide perfectly into a team's scheme and immediately dominate? Let's pick ideal team fits for this offseason's best free agents.

Jump to a fit for the top-ranked:
QB | RB | WR | OL | DL | LB | DB

Best team fit: Washington Commanders

The Commanders could pair Higgins with Terry McLaurin to give quarterback Jayden Daniels two true difference-makers on the perimeter. At 6-foot-4 and 219 pounds, Higgins can win at all three levels of the route tree in OC Kliff Kingsbury's system. And with 23 career red zone touchdown catches, he would be a top target for Daniels close to the end zone. Injuries limited him to 12 games in 2024, yet he finished with 73 receptions for 911 yards.

Best team fit: Chicago Bears

The top interior lineman on the market, Smith would upgrade a