Mar 14, 2026 - 12:39
By espn.com

2026 NFL free agency: Best team fits for remaining free agents - ESPN

Many NFL players about to hit free agency dream of being the subject of a bidding war between teams. Those guys agree to deals in the first few hours of the negotiating period. By the time we get to Day 3 of the new league year (and Day 5 of the free agent window that opens with the start of the negotiation period), there aren't many of those bidding wars happening. Players who might have expected to pick between three or four teams might just be hoping the right one sends them an offer. The market flips from players to teams quickly.

Having said that, there are still plenty of useful players who can make a difference for NFL teams in 2026. The Eagles signed star running back Saquon Barkley early in the 2024 free agent window, but they waited until late April to sign Mekhi Becton, who played a key role for them up front as they won the Super Bowl. The 2025 Seahawks snapped up Sam Darnold and DeMarcus Lawrence quickly, but Cooper Kupp didn't sign with the future title winners until Day 5 of the window.

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Let's run through some of the players who are still available in free agency. Why are they still available? What do they have to offer? And is there a team that makes sense as a likely landing spot after what we've seen over the first few days of the 2026 offseason? I'll throw some names out there and answer those questions for each player.

Why is he still available? Timing. While it was public knowledge that the Falcons intended to release Cousins, Atlanta couldn't officially cut the 37-year-old until the start of the new league year Wednesday afternoon. Cousins became available at that point, and