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

NFL free agency can be an unforgiving place. The most promising players sign for significant, market-moving deals within 48 hours. The ones who miss out on those millions of dollars have a much harder time finding their new homes. While most of these notable players will end up securing some sort of opportunity, they'll be parachuting into an organization that isn't offering a multiyear guarantee for coaches who clearly didn't see them as an immediate priority.

Increasingly, the definition of «promising players» excludes veterans who have completed their second NFL contract (the deal a player signs after his rookie-scale contract ends). As I run through the 13 players who represent the best left in free agency — though one signed on Wednesday afternoon — nine are either already 30 or will turn 30 this year. Seven are first-time free agents, with many of those players having spent their careers as valued stars who earned extensions before ever hitting the open market.

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This is also a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, which might represent an opportunity. Many of the players here didn't have their best 2024 seasons because they were either impacted by injury or slowed by age. Could they represent potential bargains next season? Let's take a look at why each of these players has yet to find a new team and why each could still be useful in the right location. I'll also identify a few potential landing spots for each of them. And, naturally, it seems right to start with one of the league's most legendary players:

Jump to a section:
Allen | Cooper | Diggs
Dobbins | Gilmore | Hernandez
Jenkins | Judon | Robinson
Rodgers | Samuel | Simmons | White

2024 team: Jets

Why he's still a free