2013 NFL Free Agents: Top 50 List

By
Nate Bouda
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Here’s our Top 50 list of 2013 NFL Free Agents.

  • 2013 NFL Free Agents list
  • Top Free Agents: 51-100
    • F =  Franchise tag 2012

 

Top 50 – 2013 NFL Free Agents
Rank Player Team Pos. Age Status
1 . Mike Wallace  MIA WR 27 F
2 . Cliff Avril  SEA DE 26 F
3 . Greg Jennings  MIN WR 29
4 . Paul Kruger  CLE OLB 27
5 . Sebastian Vollmer NE OT 28
6 . Dashon Goldson TB S 28 F
7 . Andy Levitre TEN G 27
8 . Michael Bennett SEA DE 27
9 . Jake Long STL OT 28
10 . Andre Smith  CIN OT 26
11 . Aqib Talib  NE CB 27
12 . Wes Welker  DEN WR 32 F
13 . Sean Smith   KC CB 26
14 . Jared Cook  STL TE 26
15 . Jermon Bushrod CHI OT 29
16 . Tony Gonzalez ATL TE 37
17 . Danny Amendola   NE WR 27
18 . Martellus Bennett CHI TE 26
19 . Steven Jackson  ATL RB  30
20 . Louis Vasquez  DEN G 26
21 . Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie  DEN CB 27
22 . Philip Wheeler MIA OLB 28
23 . Desmond Bryant  CLE DT 27
24 . Glover Quin  DET S 27
25 . Dannell Ellerbe  MIA ILB 27
26 . Louis Delmas DET S 26
27 . Phil Loadholt MIN OT 27
28 . Chris Houston DET CB 28
29 . Brent Grimes MIA CB 30 F
30 . Kenny Phillips PHI S 26
31 . Gosder Cherilus IND OT 29
32 . Osi Umenyiora ATL DE 31
33 . Alan Branch  BUF DT 28
34 . Dwight Freeney SD DE/OLB 33
35 . Dustin Keller MIA TE 28
36 . Ed Reed   HOU S 34
37 . Reggie Bush  DET RB 28
38 . Daryl Smith  BAL OLB 31
39 . Keenan Lewis   NO CB 27
40 . Connor Barwin PHI OLB 26
41 Ricky Jean-Francois  IND DT 26
42 . Derek Cox SD CB 26
43 Eric Winston  OT 29
44 . LaRon Landry DEN S 28
45 . Fred Davis WAS TE 27 F
46 . Mike DeVito  KC DE 29
47 . Ahmad Bradshaw  NYG RB 27
48 . Adam Jones  CIN CB 29
49 Delanie Walker  TEN TE 29
50 . Antwan Barnes NYJ OLB 28

Continue to Free Agents: 51-100

Complete list of 2013 NFL Free Agents

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28 COMMENTS

  1. A. Bradshaw’s still not picked up ? New York made a mistake letting him go. He was a hard runner..I don’t think David Wilson is quite ready to carry the load… YET,but he is a game changer.

    • Salary cap casualty along with Phillips we’ll miss them both and have to hope Wilson and Brown can step up in the running game–Ross, Webster, Brown, Anakamura? in the secondary.

  3. Although ill be the first to admit jermon bushrod isnt a outstanding LT, he has made 2 pro bowls and LT is arguably the 2nd most important position in the game. i think he should be up around if not inside the top 20 certainly for pass oriented teams.

    • Zac,

      Your points are well taken. Bushrod is a solid player, but his stock will be impacted by the sheer number of OTs available this year. If this was 2010 or 2011, there’s no doubt he would be in the Top 20. I’ve never since this much talent available at OT before. With that being said, franchise tags could eliminate a number of these guys. We’ll give Bushrod a bump up in the next few days, but he may not crack the Top 20 until after franchise tags.

  5. I’m not buying Richard Seymour being ranked 25th. I understand he has the notoriety and some rings, but his body and skill-set has been on the decline.

    Yes, if he played 16 games he’d be on pace to have similar numbers to previous years, but two of his sacks came against putrid offenses with putrid QBs in the Jags and Chiefs.

      • Unfortunately the only reason I know this is because of my love for the Raiders. Outside of that, no other complaints. Thanks guys.

        • Haha! We appreciate hearing from fans of specific teams because more times than not, they can provide some interesting perspective on the organization and their deficiencies.

  6. Jarius Byrd should be the number 1 as he’s more valuable at his position than Clady is at his position in comparison to other players and FA at those positions. Henry Melton probably is too high because he’s only done this once, he could easily be a one hit wonder. Victor Cruz should take a hit for being a RFA since that makes him less accesible. Steven Jackson deserves to be a couple spots higher due to the fact that he is one of the few quality RBs on the market and arguably the only one that has been consistent, even at 30 yrs old, plus he would probably choose a championship team and take less $$$ to win the big one, making him more attractive to those organazations

    • Ethen thanks for the comment. Some real good points here.

      We don’t factor in the addition cost for restricted free agents, which is something that we probably should adjust for. I’m glad you pointed that out.

      Jarius Byrd is awesome! He’s certainly in the discussion for being the No. 1 overall player, but given how dominate Ryan Clady has been and the fact that he’s only 26, makes it really hard to overlook him for the top spot, at least from my perspective.

      Melton played over 600 snaps and graded out as No. 16 overall player in 2011 and this season he improved upon his performance. It’s hard to find a guy who’s only 26 and provides an incredible ability to rush the quarterback from the interior defensive line. His market value right now is through the roof.

      Your point about Steven Jackson is well taken. I feel like he should be a little higher considering that he’s still an impact player, but our system hates aging running backs, so it took some additional adjustments to get him this high. I’ll consider moving him up a bit in the coming weeks.

  7. Joe Flacco ( if he ever hit the market which he won’t) is by far the most desirable free agent. He is the only average+ qb on the market, and at least 10 teams would be drastically improved by him. Its supply and demand – there is no supply and lots of demand.

    • Great point Tom. There’s no question that Flacco would have a whole list of teams ready to make serious offers if does in fact become available.

  8. How do you have Andre Smith Ranked so high? Not to mention he’s ranked higher then Jake Long and Brandon Albert. Andre Smith is an average at best right tackle, which hold little value in comparison to left tackles. Jake Long and Brandon Albert are two of the more talented left tackles in the game. Also Phil Loadholt is a better right tackle then Andre Smith…

    • Jacob, this is a very good question that should help to shed some light on our methodology for this list.

      Our Top 50 list takes into account a number of variables such age, position value and overall performance. Andre Smith got off to a terrible start with the Bengals, but has really turned things around in a dramatic way the last two years. Because there isn’t much to work with in terms of stats for offensive lineman as well as other positions, we decided to factor in Pro Football Focus’ ratings for each free agent.

      Here’s a look at the players that you’ve mentioned and how they breakdown based on these ratings:

      Andre Smith: #28 (2011), #4 (2012)
      Jake Long: #21 (2011), #46 (2012)
      Branden Albert: #18 (2011), #26 (2012)
      Phil Loadholt: #24 (2011), #22 (2012)

      You’ll see that you’re correct in that Smith wasn’t better than any of the players that you mentioned in 2011, but showed dramatic improvement this season. I should also note that our rating system weights 2012 production slightly higher 2011 simply because recent performance always has an impact on a free agent’s market value.

      Smith is also helped by the fact that he’s just 26 years old and has two years on both Long and Albert. Long has been dealing with injuries and hasn’t been the same player that he was in his first few season in the league. The Dolphins reportedly would consider re-signing him but only at a reasonable price.

      Our list changes as free agency draws closer, so we’ll take your points into consideration for our next update that will hopefully include more players after teams start addressing their rosters.

        • aint that the truth but they are in Salary Cap Pergatory. They are going to have to get creative just to get under the cap. Maybe through the draft if we are lucky. Wish we could do something with Doug Freis bloated contract.

        • John,

          I get your spirited concerns regarding Andre Smith and the fact that we have him ahead of Jake Long. Our rating take into consideration a number of factors like age, position value and performance. Since OL positions don’t offer great stats to measure a player’s performance, we rely on Pro Football Focus for ratings for each player in the list.

          Above you’ll see a breakdown of why Smith gets the edge over some of the other OTs in this year’s class. PFF rated him as the #4 OT in 2012 and the fact that he’s only 26 really helps his market value.

          The Dolphins are reportedly interested in retaining Long, but only at their price. His performance has dipped in the last few years, and several reports have indicated that teams may no longer view him as a top OT in league.

          Thanks for the comment

    • Cliff Avril is the most overrated player mentioned and he’s number two. Just goes to show these aren’t experts when it comes to football.

      • Pro Football Focus has Smith rated as one of the leagues best tackles and the fact that he’s younger helps his stock value. We’re by no means the only ones who are high on Andre Smith.

    • Andre Smith is the highest rated right tackle in the game. Do your fact checking before posting. Jake Long is a health risk and Albert doesn’t have the run blocking ability of Smith which is the corner stone of a right tackle. Albert is a better pass blocker though. (You run off the right side)

  9. Aqib Talib is with NE now… how do you not have Wes Welker ranked at least no. 3? And Joe Flacco? no. 9? Realy? And how is he and half these guys higher ranked than Tony Gonzalez, Mike Wallace, or Stephen Jackson? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to these rankings.

  10. Aqib Talib is with NE now… how do you not have Wes Welker ranked at least no. 3? And Joe Flacco? no. 9? Realy? And how is he and half these guys higher ranked than Tony Gonzalez, Mike Wallace, or Stephen Jackson? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to these rankings.

    • Thanks for pointing out that Talib’s team hadn’t been updated.

      This list actually takes into account a number of variables when determining the rankings. We factor in ability, age, position value and their Pro Football Focus rating for the last two years.

      Wes Welker is an amazing WR, but NFL teams don’t pay players based solely on what they’ve done in the past. If that were the case, Welker would already have his long-term contract in place with the Patriots, but they’ve shown no signs of wanting to commit that kind of cash to him.

      Flacco is the only starting QB available on the market, as of now, so his position value really comes into play here. Teams are prone towards overpaying average quarterbacks and Flacco would find plenty of interest on the open market. You could easily argue that other players are better in terms of talent, but this list accounts for more variables than just that, which brings me to Tony Gonzalez.

      Of course Gonzalez is better than some of the players ahead of him, but the fact that he’ll be 37 next year factors in greatly. Would you rather have a single season of Tony Gonzalez or the next 6 or 7 years from some like Mike Wallace?

      Ranking players will always require a certain amount of subjectivity, so we try our best to account for a number of variables to limit the impact of our personal opinions as best as we can.

      Thanks for the comment Doug.

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