• Tee Higgins and Terry McLaurin? Sign us up: Both players are coming off career years in 2024 and would instantly form one of the most lethal receiving tandems in the NFL.

• Chicago could make a big splash with Trey Smith: The Bears need to protect Caleb Williams, and Smith has a proven track record over his four NFL seasons.

Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

The NFL offseason is underway. We’re less than a month away from the start of the new league year, and with it comes a host of players finding new places to call home. The legal tampering begins Monday, March 10, so today we’re looking at some free-agent signings we want to see when the window opens.

WR Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals

New Team: Washington Commanders

Drafting Jayden Daniels in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft set the Commanders on a new path of success. The second-overall selection burst onto the scene in his first year, capturing an incredible 90.6 PFF overall grade this past season — the second-highest mark recorded by a rookie signal-caller in the PFF era (since 2006).

Not every team can afford to acquire high-priced free agents, but those with quarterbacks on rookie contracts are rewarded with that ever-elusive cap flexibility. Armed with the third-most cap space in the NFL this offseason, Washington is poised to attack free agency and build a foundation to sustain that momentum into the future.

Finding more weapons for the Offensive Rookie of the Year would be a good use of their ample resources, but grabbing the No. 1 free agent this cycle would, without a doubt, put the rest of the NFL on notice. Tee Higgins has maintained a stellar level of production worthy of WR1 money, and he proved that this past season while playing on the franchise tag by earning the highest PFF receiving grade (88.3) of his career. 

Pairing Higgins with Terry McLaurin, who is also coming off a career year in 2024, would instantly create one of the most lethal receiving tandems in the NFL.

G Trey Smith, Kansas City Chiefs

New Team: Chicago Bears

The Bears secured their future franchise passer in Caleb Williams with the first-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and now must protect that investment. The team’s offensive line struggled to reach any level of consistency in 2024, having surrendered a league-leading 37 sacks. The interior was particularly suspect, producing the 22nd-ranked pass-blocking efficiency rating (91.9).

New Bears head coach Ben Johnson knows exactly how intertwined powerful offensive line play is with offensive success. Johnson authored one of the most productive offenses in the NFL, largely because of the investment the Lions made up front. Detroit’s front-five has finished as a top-five offensive line in each of the past two seasons. 

If the new-look Bears wanted to put the NFC North on notice, securing the top offensive lineman in this free-agent cycle would certainly do that. Trey Smith has been the model of health and consistency on the interior. Over his first four seasons, he has never fallen below a 72.0 single-season PFF overall grade while playing more than 1,200 snaps each year. In 2024, Smith continued to polish his pass protection, earning career-best marks in pressures allowed (40) and pass-blocking efficiency rating.

CB D.J. Reed, New York Jets

New Team: San Francisco 49ers

With Robert Saleh returning to San Francisco as defensive coordinator, Reed and the 49ers should have a mutual interest in reaching a deal to reunite the cornerback with his former defensive play caller in New York. Reed endured a noticeable drop in PFF coverage grade pre- and post-Saleh coaching with the Jets, with his 90.8 mark plummeting to 54.0 from Week 6 onward this season. 

Since 2021 — when Saleh was hired as the New York Jets‘ head coach — no defense has run more quarters coverage than Saleh’s Jets. During Reed’s time with Saleh in New York, he earned a 90.1 PFF coverage grade in quarters looks. 

Saleh also highly values outside cornerback who can stand up in man coverage in his scheme, something Reed has excelled at. In their time together, Reed clocked 469 man coverage snaps, forced an incompletion on more than 17% of targets into his coverage and earned an 83.1 PFF coverage grade.

DI Milton Williams, Philadelphia Eagles

New Team: Minnesota Vikings

Milton Williams played a crucial role in the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, dominating as the highest-graded pass-rusher (91.4) during the 2024 postseason. That performance pushed his PFF pass-rush grade to 91.7 this past season, overtaking Chris Jones as the NFL’s highest-graded interior pass-rusher over the 2024 campaign. 

The Eagles defensive tackle made major strides in 2024, which will undoubtedly earn him a lucrative payday in free agency. He finished with career-high marks in sacks (six), pressures (44), pass-rush win rate (17.7%) and pass-rush productivity rating (8.2) in the regular season. 

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is known for his aggressive blitz package but tends to struggle to find pressure without the blitz, ranking 28th in total pressures (144) without the blitz. Adding Williams to the mix would be an instant injection of energy into Minnesota’s pass rush and would provide a perfect fit at 5-technique in Flores’ scheme.