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There’s no shortage of optimism for NFL fans in the spring, and nothing says hope springs eternal like a brand new free agent acquisition. The player your team just signed is totally going to be the difference this year; you just know it!
While there are a few names still on the market, most of the biggest money has already been spent in the weeks since NFL free agency began on March 9.
As a responsible media organization, we should probably caution you not to put too much faith in free agency. You don’t have to be a complete Ted Thompson-style skeptic about it, but landing a whole new batch of veteran players is never a panacea for covering up bad management or terrible coaching.
Last year, the Jaguars were lauded for their free agent moves. Unfortunately, a roster loaded with talent wasn’t enough to overcome Gus Bradley’s coaching. The Giants, on the other hand, spent a bundle in free agency to give their defense an injection of talent, and it worked like a charm.
All we’re saying here is not to let the excitement of being an armchair general manager cloud your grip on reality.
The Jaguars dipped their toes into the free agency waters again in 2017, dishing out big money to Calais Campbell, A.J. Bouye and Barry Church. Better luck this time around, Jacksonville.
A few notes about our top 100 list.
This list, as with any kind of rankings, is subjective. The SB Nation NFL staff worked together to create it. We put a great deal of thought into it, but you will inevitably disagree with it. That’s fine. Save your tweets. We know. This is merely a guide to help the world keep track of which free agents are signing where.
The final salary cap for 2017 has now been set at $167 million. That’s a jump of nearly $12 million over last year’s $155.7 million cap. That’s consistent with the annual bumps we’ve seen since the 2011 collective bargaining agreement went into effect.
*Yes, Tony Romo was not technically a free agent, but he was kinda available until he decided to retire and take a job with CBS.
We’ll keep this list updated with players who get cut as well as for who’s signing where and for how much. So keep checking back.
OK, enough of the blah blah blah. Let’s get to that list!
Top 100 NFL free agents 2017
| No. | Player | Pos. | 2016 team | 2017 team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Player | Pos. | 2016 team | 2017 team |
| 1 | Le'Veon Bell | RB | Steelers | Franchise tag |
| 2 | Tony Romo* | QB | Cowboys | Retired |
| 3 | Kawann Short | DT | Panthers | Franchise tag |
| 4 | Chandler Jones | OLB | Cardinals | Franchise tag |
| 5 | Eric Berry | S | Chiefs | Chiefs (6-year, $78 million) |
| 6 | Kevin Zeitler | G | Bengals | Browns (5-year, $60 million) |
| 7 | Dont'a Hightower | ILB | Patriots | Patriots (4-year, $43.5 million) |
| 8 | Melvin Ingram | OLB | Chargers | Franchise tag |
| 9 | Kirk Cousins | QB | Washington | Franchise tag |
| 10 | Calais Campbell | DE | Cardinals | Jaguars (4-year, $60 million) |
| 11 | Jason Pierre-Paul | DE | Giants | Franchise tag |
| 12 | T.J. Lang | G | Packers | Lions (3-year, $28.5 million) |
| 13 | Brandon Williams | DT | Ravens | Ravens (5-year, $54 million) |
| 14 | Trumaine Johnson | CB | Rams | Franchise tag |
| 15 | Martellus Bennett | TE | Patriots | Packers (3-year, $20.25 million) |
| 16 | Alshon Jeffery | WR | Bears | Eagles (1-year, $14 million) |
| 17 | Andrew Whitworth | OT | Bengals | Rams (3-year, $36 million) |
| 18 | Tony Jefferson | S | Cardinals | Ravens (4-year, $36 million) |
| 19 | Logan Ryan | CB | Patriots | Titans (3-year, $30 million) |
| 20 | Larry Warford | G | Lions | Saints (4-year, $34 million) |
| 21 | Terrelle Pryor | WR | Browns | Washington (1-year, $6 million) |
| 22 | Stephon Gilmore | CB | Bills | Patriots (5-year, $65 million) |
| 23 | Nick Perry | OLB | Packers | Packers (5-year, $60 million) |
| 24 | Rick Wagner | OT | Ravens | Lions (5-year, $47.5 million) |
| 25 | A.J. Bouye | CB | Texans | Jaguars (5-year, $67.5 million) |
| 26 | Jabaal Sheard | DE | Patriots | Colts (3-year, $25.5 million) |
| 27 | Johnathan Hankins | DT | Giants | Colts (3-year, $30 million) |
| 28 | Lawrence Timmons | OLB | Steelers | Dolphins (2-year, $12 million) |
| 29 | Dontari Poe | DT | Chiefs | Falcons (1-year, $8 million) |
| 30 | DeSean Jackson | WR | Washington | Bucs (3-year, $35 million) |
| 31 | Eddie Lacy | RB | Packers | Seahawks (1-year, $5.55 million) |
| 32 | Chris Baker | DT | Washington | Bucs (3-year, $18 million) |
| 33 | Morris Claiborne | CB | Cowboys | Jets (1-year, $5 million) |
| 34 | Dre Kirkpatrick | CB | Bengals | Bengals (5-year, $52.5 million) |
| 35 | Russell Okung | OT | Broncos | Chargers (4-year, $53 million) |
| 36 | Ryan Clady | OT | Jets | |
| 37 | Kenny Britt | WR | Rams | Browns (4-year, $32 million) |
| 38 | Zach Brown | LB | Bills | Washington (1-year, $4.65 million) |
| 39 | Bennie Logan | DT | Eagles | Chiefs (1-year, $8 million) |
| 40 | Kenny Stills | WR | Dolphins | Dolphins (4-year, $32 million) |
| 41 | T.J. McDonald | S | Rams | Dolphins (1-year, $775K) |
| 42 | Prince Amukamara | CB | Jaguars | Bears (1-year, $7 million) |
| 43 | J.C. Tretter | C | Packers | Browns (3-year, $16.75 million) |
| 44 | Abry Jones | DT | Jaguars | Jaguars (4-year, $16 million) |
| 45 | Riley Reiff | OT | Lions | Vikings (5-year, $58.75 million) |
| 46 | Pierre Garcon | WR | Washington | 49ers (5-year, $47.5 million) |
| 47 | Barry Church | S | Cowboys | Jaguars (4-year, $24+ million) |
| 48 | Brandon Marshall | WR | Jets | Giants (2-year, $12 million) |
| 49 | Mike Glennon | QB | Buccaneers | Bears (3-year, $43.5 million) |
| 50 | Nick Fairley | DT | Saints | Saints (4-year, $30 million) |
| 51 | Gerald Hodges | LB | 49ers | Bills (1 year) |
| 52 | Mario Addison | DE | Panthers | Panthers (3-year, $22.5 million) |
| 53 | Ronald Leary | G | Cowboys | Broncos (4-year, $35 million) |
| 54 | Lorenzo Alexander | LB | Bills | Bills (2-year, $9 million) |
| 55 | Charles Johnson | DE | Panthers | Panthers (2-year, $9.5 million) |
| 56 | Perry Riley | LB | Raiders | |
| 57 | Captain Munnerlyn | CB | Vikings | Panthers (4-year, $21 million) |
| 58 | Alan Branch | DT | Patriots | Patriots (2-year, $12 million) |
| 59 | Jay Cutler | QB | Bears | Retired |
| 60 | Darius Butler | CB | Colts | Colts (1-year, $3 million) |
| 61 | D.J. Swearinger | S | Cardinals | Washington (3-year, $13.5 million) |
| 62 | Nick Mangold | C | Jets | |
| 63 | LeGarrette Blount | RB | Patriots | Eagles (1-year, $2.8 million) |
| 64 | Datone Jones | LB | Packers | Vikings (1-year, $3.75 million) |
| 65 | Mario Williams | DE | Dolphins | |
| 66 | Jahleel Addae | S | Chargers | Chargers (4-year, $22.5 million) |
| 67 | Brandon Carr | CB | Cowboys | Ravens (4-year, $24 million) |
| 68 | Michael Floyd | WR | Patriots | Vikings (1-year, $1.5 million) |
| 69 | Jarvis Jones | LB | Steelers | Cardinals (1-year, $3 million) |
| 70 | J.J. Wilcox | S | Cowboys | Buccaneers (2-year, 8.5 million) |
| 71 | DeMarcus Ware | LB | Broncos | Retired |
| 72 | Bradley McDougald | S | Buccaneers | Seahawks (1-year, $2 million) |
| 73 | Torrey Smith | WR | 49ers | Eagles (3-year, $15 million) |
| 74 | Kendall Wright | WR | Titans | Bears (1-year, $4 million) |
| 75 | James Harrison | LB | Steelers | Steelers (2-year, $3.5 million) |
| 76 | Jared Cook | TE | Packers | Raiders (2-year, $12.2 million) |
| 77 | D.J. Fluker | OT | Chargers | Giants (1-year, $3 million) |
| 78 | Danny Woodhead | RB | Chargers | Ravens (3-year, $8.8 million) |
| 79 | Julius Peppers | OLB | Packers | Panthers (1-year, $3.5 million) |
| 80 | Ted Ginn | WR | Panthers | Saints (3-year, $11 million) |
| 81 | Jared Odrick | DT | Jaguars | |
| 82 | Johnathan Cyprien | S | Jaguars | Titans (4-year, $25 million) |
| 83 | Sylvester Williams | DT | Broncos | Titans (3-year, $17.5 million) |
| 84 | Kevin Minter | LB | Cardinals | Bengals (1-year, $4.5 million) |
| 85 | Adrian Peterson | RB | Vikings | Saints (2-year, $7 million) |
| 86 | John Sullivan | C | Washington | |
| 87 | Micah Hyde | S | Packers | Bills (5-year, $30 million) |
| 88 | Jamaal Charles | RB | Chiefs | Broncos (1-year, $3.75 million) |
| 89 | Stefen Wisniewski | C | Eagles | Eagles (3-year, $9 million) |
| 90 | Latavius Murray | RB | Raiders | Vikings (3-year, $15 million) |
| 91 | Jack Doyle | TE | Colts | Colts (3-year, $19 million) |
| 92 | A.Q. Shipley | C | Cardinals | Cardinals (2-year, $3.5 million) |
| 93 | Darrelle Revis | CB | Jets | |
| 94 | Cordarrelle Patterson | WR | Vikings | Raiders (2-year, $8.5 million) |
| 95 | Kelvin Beachum | OT | Jaguars | Jets (3-year, $24 million) |
| 96 | Darren McFadden | RB | Cowboys | Cowboys (1-year, $980K) |
| 97 | Leon Hall | CB | Giants | |
| 98 | Duron Harmon | S | Patriots | Patriots (4-year, $20 million) |
| 99 | Brandon LaFell | WR | Bengals | Bengals (2-year, $10 million) |
| 100 | Stephen Hauschka | K | Seahawks | Bills (4-year, $12.4 million) |
| 101 | Sam Shields | CB | Packers | |
| 102 | Jairus Byrd | S | Saints | |
| 103 | Manti Te'o | LB | Chargers | Saints (2-year, $5 million) |
| 104 | Quintin Demps | S | Texans | Bears (3-year, $13.5 million) |