Top NFL free-agent wide receivers for 2022 - Execs weigh in on Davante Adams, Chris Godwin, Odell Beckham Jr., others

Slumping NFL franchises usually struggle with the same things: developing team chemistry from the front office on down, finding decent offensive line play and identifying a franchise quarterback through free agency or the draft. Those things are consistently hard to do.

So they might as well take the lay-up where they have it: finding good receivers.

They are everywhere. Just look at our list of the top 50 free agents, from ESPN's Kevin Seifert. It includes eight wideouts, and four come in the top 10. And don't forget about the past two draft classes, which have produced a combined 11 first-round receivers and saw 23 selected in the first two rounds — good enough for 36% of the player pool. Receivers who can microwave a cold offense can be found anywhere in the draft.

And yet several teams need an infusion of talent at the position. Having talent at the position can go a long way. Just look at the four remaining playoff teams. The Bengals showed what happens when an offense has three star wideouts, and the other three teams have Deebo Samuel, Cooper Kupp or Tyreek Hill. That only deepens the intrigue for 2022 free agency, which has numerous high-end receivers, beginning with arguably the best in the game.

Rarely does a receiver of this caliber hit free agency. But if the matching Instagram posts from Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams over the summer about «The Last Dance» — channeling Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen — foreshadowed what's to come this offseason, Adams will be the most coveted free-agent wide receiver since… Jerry Rice to the Raiders in 2001?

By applying a franchise tag of around $19.1 million, the Green Bay Packers can stop that from happening. Or they could negotiate a long-term deal over the next two