The start of NFL free agency will be in a little less than a week, with the “legal tampering period” or what would better be described as the negotiating window opening up this coming Monday. Deals can’t become official until the start of the league year on Wednesday but a major chunk of the action will be done by then. 

Lots of money will change hands, as always. The NFL salary cap is higher than it’s ever been and pushed past the $300 million milestone this year. Teams may grumble about the quality of players available in free agency but that money has to get spent. Sometimes it’s surprising who or how much. 

That’s what we’re diving into with today’s article, highlighting a whole bunch of names that have come up as players who could have markets that are sneakily better than expected. Some of it is based on the buzz coming out of the Combine, some of it is based on good old-fashioned instinct and gut feeling from a staff that’s been covering the league for a while. 

Vikings WR Jalen Nailor

One downstream impact of how the wide receiver market has exploded isn’t just that the top guys are getting $30 or $40 million a year. The complementary players are cashing in for eight figures, too, guys like Giants WR Darius Slayton, Bills WR Josh Palmer and Rams WR Tutu Atwell. There’s already buzz starting to build about Nailor’s market from a couple of different outlets, so by the time free agency starts, he might not be a sleeper anymore. 

Nailor should outpace all of those guys and could get into the range of $12-$15 million per year. Operating behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, Nailor wasn’t the top priority in Minnesota’s passing attack. He had just over 400 yards in each of the past two seasons. But when Addison or Jefferson were out and Nailor’s place in the pecking order rose, he made an impact. His 10 touchdowns over the last two years speak to that, as does the way the Vikings’ coaching staff raves about him. 

Browns LB Devin Bush

Our No. 15 player in our Top 100 2026 NFL Free Agents list, Bush is a player that it feels like a lot of people haven’t caught on to yet. It doesn’t help that he’s toiled in relative obscurity in Cleveland for the last two seasons. But things clicked for him this past year. Bush had a career-best 125 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles, eight pass deflections and three interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. 

The former No. 10 overall pick by the Steelers in 2019 is probably still viewed as a bust by the general public. Pittsburgh declined his option and let him walk after four years, and after a nondescript 2023 with the Seahawks he landed with the Browns. But Bush asserted himself as an impact player this past season. There’s a history of linebackers taking time to figure things out before having their best seasons in their late 20s and early 30s, and Bush turns 28 in July. The Browns have made retaining him a major priority but there will be other teams that could easily test the bounds of their budget. 

Panthers C Cade Mays

A former highly-touted recruit who slipped to the sixth round, Mays has gone from practice squad level player to viable starter the past two seasons. He started 20 games over the past two seasons for the Panthers, and now is looking at a healthy market from teams desperate for interior offensive line help. Mays is 6-6 and 325 pounds, which is absolutely massive for a center, so teams that want more size and brute strength up front will find him appealing. Reports have put his market in the $8 million per year range, which would flirt with top five at the position. 

Jets G Alijah Vera-Tucker

Vera-Tucker has plenty of fans around the league as a former first-round pick. The challenge with him and the reason the Jets seem content to let him test the market is injuries. For one reason or another, Vera-Tucker has missed 42 games in his first five years. He’s played in 43. 

That sort of availability isn’t tenable for most teams and there has been a school of thought that it would depress Vera-Tucker’s market to something like a one-year, prove-it deal. However, there are a ton of teams willing to pay up for guards in free agency, Vera-Tucker has been a legit plus starter when he’s been on the field, and he will be just 27 in 2026. Additionally, while he tore his Achilles in 2023, his other major injuries have both been torn triceps, and muscle injuries like that don’t typically present huge risks of recurrence or compensatory issues. 

It’d be a risk to sign Vera-Tucker to a major multi-year deal with guarantees but one that it’s easy to see multiple teams talking themselves into. 

Commanders G Chris Paul

Paul has also cropped up in multiple Combine notebooks as a candidate to cash in. ESPN listed him in its own list of sleeper free agents and Commanders beat reporter Ben Standig highlighted his market as well. The former seventh-round pick supplanted former third-round pick Brandon Coleman and started 15 games this past season. Pro Football Focus wasn’t high on his overall body of work but did give him a super strong pass protection grade. Guard is another position that’s seen significant salary growth in the last couple of years, which is good news for Paul. 

Giants WR Wan’Dale Robinson

Robinson isn’t flying under the radar as a prominent receiver set to be available but I’m not sure if his market is quite being priced into expectations. This is yet another example of the rising tide at receiver lifting all boats.

While Robinson is exclusively a slot receiver, teams have paid up big for that archetype. The Bills gave WR Khalil Shakir, a draft classmate of Robinson’s, a little over $13 million a year, but it wouldn’t be surprising if, coming off a 92-catch, 1,000-yard season, Robinson wanted more in the range of $18 million annually. That’s what the Jaguars signed WR Christian Kirk for all the way back in 2022, and Kirk was primarily a slot receiver too. He was a little more productive than Robinson but the cap has also grown a lot since then. Robinson is also still only 25 and there aren’t many 25-year-olds in unrestricted free agency. 

Chiefs CB Jaylen Watson

We have Watson as our top cornerback in our Top 100 2026 NFL Free Agents and he’ll lead the free agent board for plenty of teams. He’s not a secret inside the NFL. In his first year as a full-time starter in 2025, he picked off two passes, broke up six and had a couple of sacks to boot. However, it’s probably fair to say he’s not a household name, not one most fans would expect to command north of $15 million a year. 

Seahawks OLB Boye Mafe/Colts DE Kwity Paye

These two are grouped together because it makes sense to discuss them in the same tier, as most teams in free agency will be doing. Both are 27-year-old former high draft picks who have been solid starters but not terribly productive per se. Paye had four sacks last year and 30.5 in his first five seasons despite starting 74 games. Mafe had nine in his second season but just two last year despite much better indicators in stats like total pressures and pass rush win rate. 

However, teams will bet on traits over production at pass rusher, more than just about any other position. In a crowded second tier of pass rushers, there will be a high demand for both players that should push them into the high teens in terms of average annual salary. Think DE Dayo Odeyingbo, who profiled similarly and got $16 million a year from the Bears last year. 

Ravens TE Charlie Kolar

There’s a healthy market for tight ends who can block even if they aren’t the most accomplished receiving threats. That’s not going anywhere with how many teams are increasingly relying on under-center formations with multiple tight ends as big pieces of their offensive system. Vikings TE Josh Oliver and Commanders TE John Bates are recent examples who signed in the range of $7 million a year. 

Kolar had just 10 catches last year — a career-high — but he could do better than those two and not just because of natural salary cap inflation. Opportunities were even fewer and farther between for him with both Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely ahead of him on the depth chart. At just 27 years old, his agent can make a case that there’s more receiving production Kolar can tap into if given the chance. I’m curious to see if he gets into eight figures as a free agent. 

Giants CB Cordale Flott

The Giants couldn’t figure out what to do with Flott for a few seasons, initially pushing him inside to slot corner because of his slim build at 6-2 and 175 pounds. Flott is at his best as an outside cornerback, however, and gradually he forced the team to put him on the field. He got better each season and had his best year in 2025, starting 14 games, picking off one pass, forcing a fumble and recording 11 pass breakups. He doesn’t even turn 25 until August. True ascending players in free agency are rare and Flott certainly profiles as a guy whose best football might be ahead of him. That will drive the market up. 

Chiefs WR Tyquan Thornton

NFL teams love speed, especially in the current landscape where explosive plays have become even more of a premium. Last year guys like Atwell and Dyami Brown got one-year, $10 million pacts from the Rams and Jaguars respectively because they were fast, and that was about it. Thornton is an under-the-radar guy to watch in that archetype. He had just 19 catches last year but they went for 438 yards and three touchdowns. 

It was a low bar, but no other Chiefs pass catcher had that level of success downfield. A former second-round pick by the Patriots who washed out of New England, the 6-2, 185-pounder who ran a 4.28 40-yard dash at the 2022 Combine (fastest among all wideouts that year) has put himself back on the NFL map. 

Raiders CB Eric Stokes

Teams love giving second chances to former first-round picks because often the pedigree that made them such a highly-ranked prospect can win out over the long run. The Raiders bet on Stokes on a one-year flyer after an injury-marred Packers career, and they were rewarded with a solid season despite the overall struggles in Las Vegas. Now Stokes will have a chance to cash in, especially because he started 16 games. The 6-1, 193-pounder who ran a 4.25 40 at his pro day checks every athletic box teams want at corner, and will be 27 in 2026. 

Bills OL David Edwards

Although Edwards’ age will put a natural cap on his earning potential, he should still do quite well for himself this offseason. The soon-to-be-29-year-old reasserted his place as a starter over the past two years and was a quality cog in a very successful Bills offense. PFF graded him as the 22nd-best guard last year and he has over 2,000 snaps under his belt the past two years. Buffalo wants to keep him but might not be able to afford to. 

Texans G Ed Ingram

Another interior lineman poised to do well, Ingram was a nice find by the Texans in a low-cost trade last March as they were renovating the offensive line. He went on to start 14 games, and while Houston’s offensive line as a whole had struggles, Ingram graded out high per PFF (No. 12 guard). The Texans’ downhill blocking scheme seemed to suit him better than the system in Minnesota, which drafted him in the second round in 2022. The Texans will likely push hard to keep the 27-year-old in Houston as they try to rebuild the front five again. 

Packers OLB Kingsley Enagbare

Enagbare has played somewhere between 40-50 percent of the snaps for the Packers each of his first four seasons and hasn’t had more than 4.5 sacks in a single year. However, he’s good against the run and still just 26 years old. 

Patriots OLB K’Lavon Chaisson

There are already rumors that Chaisson’s market will get into the low eight figures. Every team wants to copy the Seahawks’ model of having waves of pass rushers, and Chaisson was a pleasant surprise for the Patriots in 2025 with 7.5 sacks. It’s the second straight productive season for the former first-round bust of the Jaguars, as he had five sacks for the Raiders in 2024. Chaisson has signed for $2.5 million and $3 million over the last two years, so expect a significant raise on that number in 2026. 

Saints C Luke Fortner

Fortner started two years for the Jaguars at center as a former third-round pick, but was benched in Year 3 and traded to the Saints in August of Year 4. He ended up being a much better fit for New Orleans and started 10 games last year. He’s another big center like Mays at 6-4, though not as stoutly built. He should also benefit from the premium being put on interior linemen. 

Bears LT Braxton Jones

Jones isn’t coming off his best season, playing just six games and starting four as he worked through a knee injury. He missed time each of the previous two years as well so his medical evaluation will be crucial. There was a sense Bears HC Ben Johnson preferred other options at left tackle as well. However, the former fifth-round pick started 40 games his first three years at an average to above-average level. Solid tackles rarely hit free agency and they usually make bank when they do. Jones is a solid tackle — if he’s healthy. 

Falcons OLB Arnold Ebiketie

Ebiketie has missed just one game in four seasons and had back-to-back years of six sacks apiece from 2023-2024. The 27-year-old former second-round pick should get looks as a designated pass rusher type — and his market to stay in Atlanta might actually be strong given the uncertainty with 2025 first-round OLB James Pearce Jr.