10 BEST NFL FREE AGENTS STILL AVAILABLE PART 1

BY ADAM GREENE

We are now a good three weeks into NFL training camp and, thanks to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, there are still plenty of high-value free agents available. In any normal season, guys on this list would have already been snapped up, likely midway through the free agency process at the latest. With the NFL shutting down travel this offseason, that didn’t happen.

There were no face-to-face meetings, no health checks or workouts.

Now, with teams actually in camp and the NFL riding high after a less than one percent coronavirus positive rate, there’s even less incentive to bring anyone new into your “bubble.”

But injuries will happen and roster upgrades will become far too tempting for teams not to upgrade their roster, with whatever COVID-19 restrictions and isolations they can keep in place.

In compiling this list, I primarily looked at what the player could add to a team long term. This crop of talented available free agents is uncommonly young, with a few exceptions, so I’m factoring that into the ranking.

10. Josh Gordon, Wide Receiver

(Age: 29. 2019: 27 catches, 426 yards, 1 touchdown)

Gordon is an enigma. He was drafted in the supplemental round of the 2012 draft by the Cleveland Browns and became  a near instant superstar, catching 87 passes in his second season and leading the NFL with 1,646 receiving. Then, he spent the next six seasons getting periodically suspended, missing the 2015 and 2016 seasons entirely.

How good is Gordon now? Nobody really knows. His audition last year amounted to 11 games split across two teams (the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks), but if he’s anywhere near what his talents have shown in the past, he’s worth a look now that the NFL has a saner drug policy.

Best Fit: New York Giants

9. Tony Jefferson, Safety

(Age: 28. 2019 21 tackles, three passes defended)

Jefferson tore his ACL five games into last season. Happy with the defense they fielded in their AFC North title run (and unable to medically test Jefferson’s knee), the Baltimore Ravens cut him this offseason.

If Jefferson is back to 100 percent, and his injury happened early enough in the 2019 season that it’s likely, an NFL starting caliber safety in his prime that’s started nearly every game for which he was healthy since  2016 is sitting on his couch.

Best Fit: Miami Dolphins

8. Dre Kirkpatrick, Cornerback

(Age: 30. 2019: 33 tackles, two for a loss, four passes defended, one fumble recovery)

Like Jefferson, a knee injury cut short Kirkpatrick’s 2019 season after six games. Also, like Jefferson, no team doctors have been able to check out Kirkpatrick’s knee and give him a physical.

It took Kirkpatrick awhile to get going as a pro and first round pick out of Alabama in 2012. But he did finally develop into a starting cornerback and has started all but two games for which he was healthy since 2015.

Best Fit: Washington Football Team

To be continued in Part 2

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